One Year Ago

One year ago today, we met Maksim in the orphanage directors office in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The video above was taken about 1 minute after he was brought into the room. It felt like we were meeting a rockstar. Everything went into slow motion. He was so trusting. He communicated with us fairly easily. Mostly he was interested in his toys. And none of that has really changed!

In the past year, he has gained 10 pounds and grown 5 inches and his English skills are amazing. Sometimes we just laugh at the funny things ways he phrases things.

We have our challenges of course. His attachment difficulties are very hard to deal with somedays. It is hard for Mom to give all her love and hard work and then be pushed away at strange moments. Dad is amazed at how far he has come from how he was at the beginning. We had days when we worried if we would be able to calm our boy. We had days when we worried if Maks would accept the love we have for him.

But being Maksim's Mom and Dad is getting easier and much more enjoyable now. Most days are filled with laughter and silliness. The progress we have made gives us hope for the kind, sweet, and smart boy we know Maks is growing into. He has all but stopped rocking himself, he asks for hugs and kisses and cozy cozy snuggles all the time, he isn't as superficially charming with strangers and especially women, he loves to be together as a family hiking, walking and biking. He never turns down listening to Blue Grass music, going to the beach with his cousings or reading books. He is also doing awesome at his preschool and likes to help others and is very polite.

We always ask him "How do you suppose out of all the boys in the whole wide world, we got the very best one?!" He loves to hear that. We love that we got the best boy.

He fits in our family perfectly and we cannot imagine life without him!

We love you, Maks.

The video below is our boy, now. I took the video sideways and haven't figured out how to turn it, yet because I am not smart enough. I will work on it.