We had a court today

We are officially Victor's parents!!! We had our court today and the waiting period begins. Because of the holidays - Easter and Labor Day here, we won't be able to pick up the official decree until May 5th. It ends up being 14 days instead of 10...

We weren't able to visit Victor in the morning because of the court and poor baby was waiting for us all morning. Nannies told us he was playing outside and kept looking at the gates and entrance for his papa and mama. Ladies from the Sunday shift forgot to let ladies from this morning know that we weren't going to make it this morning. They were excited to learn we had the hearing today and kept asking when we'll be able to pick him up. We would have picked him up that moment if it was up to us.

The weather in Odessa is very nice these days and kids are finally wearing spring like cloth. Up until 2 days ago, Victor was wearing a winter hat - poor kiddo. We bought him a spring hat but he is so used to his old one that he would not put it on for more than a few minutes. Today, they brought him out in a spring hat and we let him take that off - it was too hot to be wearing a hat.

Our visits continue to be very interacting and he is opening up and learning more and more each day. We learn new words, new colors and numbers and he clearly remembers everything the next day. When we first met him, the only number he kept saying was "odin" - one. Now his favorite number is "tlee" as he says it which is three. He also seems to like "tlinatzsat" - thirteen. I remember I was measuring him and asked Ruslan to write down 13 for some measurement and now Victor keeps saying it every time he sees a measuring tape - very funny how kids pick up words and associate them with objects.

We enjoyed watching him play in the sand box for the past 2 days. You should have seen the joy on his face. I don't think they're ever allowed to play in the sand, at least the younger ones are not since it's not around their play area. He was jumping, screaming with joy and throwing sand outside the sand box. It was hallarious! He also likes to copy older kids. He won't repeat what they're doing right away, but after some time he'll do exactly what he saw someone older do. Today he kept standing up on the swing as he saw a 4yr old do earlier. He doesn't seem to be afraid of heights or danger. When we take him on the slide, he throws himself into Ruslan's hands not even checking if it's safe. I'm so afraid he's going to fall and hurt himself. Ruslan says all boys are like that - they have to try everything and learn: whether it's eating the sand (which I'm watching out for) or falling off the slide and learning to be safer.

I don't have any new pics to post, but will post in the next day or two. Thanks everyone for following our journey and warm comments.