Day 6

Check out those red shoes!

Bozi had his usual cup of aryan, two eggs, yogurt and and entire bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. Seriously, I don't know where the kid puts this food. I then went and dressed him in a 6-12 month snazzy outfit--crazy. He won't be in that for long if he continues this eating regimen. He wore his red shoes for the first time today. A friend gave them to me before I left and today confirmed my suspicion that he loves the color red. He carried those shoes around whenever he had them off. He wanted to hold them and look at them. He's been wearing the same exact pair in a different color all week and never got this excited.

Oh, but before I changed his clothes I decided it was time for a haircut. I had two choices for my implement, tiny nose hair scissors or kitchen shears. I opted for the less dangerous and less scary nose hair scissors. Bozi has been sporting a mini rat tail and hair hanging over his ears since we picked him up. As cute as he is, I just couldn't take it anymore and we are taking family pictures on Thursday. I had to draw the line and that day was today.

Kev gave him snacks. I trimmed around his ears and trimmed his hair a little on the back. He wasn't a fan, but we all made it through. Then we gave him a bath. He still screamed, but not as loud and not as long. He even stopped screaming and played in the bubbles for a few seconds, then started screaming again. We felt pretty good about that achievement, so we promptly rewarded him, took him out and dried him off. The girls have been dying to give him a faux hawk. I even brought hair paste with me to make it happen. We attempted, but did not succeed. I think we will need a real hair cut on the top, sides and back to make that doable. I wasn't going to tackle that with scissors with an inch-and-a-half blade.

After his morning snack of an entire banana, more yogurt and more aryan, the girls and I took Bozi to
the little playground outside our building. There are monkey bars there that we originally thought were in the shape of a rocket ship, but have learned are probably intended to be in the shape of a nuclear missile. Interesting.

Rocket or missile?

While we were there I received some disapproving looks from a family. This is something we have grown to expect since we have Bozi with us. He is Roma and most European people aren't fans and think we are crazy or wrong for adopting him. While I think prejudice is completely wrong, I typically don't take it personally, because it's ignorance. So, this same family that I was watching glare at us promptly guided their little kid to the side of the playground so she could squat and pee for all to see. Now I'm not going to do that with my kids, but I get things are different here. I like different cultures and I tend to embrace the differences, especially when I'm in other countries. I find the different customs sooo interesting. Ordinarily, this situation wouldn't have bugged me except the family was staring us down like we were disgusting neanderthals the entire time she peed. There's this story about a pot and a kettle...

After lunch and Bozi's nap, we walked to the park near the mall. I'm pretty sure it's referred to as a dog park, but it's the largest dog park I've ever seen. Anyway, on the way to the park we walked past some young ladies and they were not being very friendly. They were pretty girls and Bozi apparently liked them. He kept staring at them and was practicing walking. Then he started twirling around and showing off. They couldn't help themselves and had to smile. This kid was determined to win them over and he certainly won that battle. They were laughing by the time we left and he finished his show. The same thing happened with an older man. Our little guy is just too cute, it's really not a fair fight.

Sound of Music worthy!

We took our daily trip to Billa. I just don't understand why we keep having to go back, but I guess the fact I'm seeing some of the same people when we go means we aren't the only ones doing that. We ended up eating dinner there at the mall since our other dinner arrangements had been postponed. I have really started noticing the stares from people. I didn't at first, but it's definitely become more obvious. Afterward, we walked back through the dog park to our apartment. The evening was gorgeous, with plenty of people sitting around socializing and enjoying the weather. The girls call this park "the hills." They love to run down them. The background for the hills is the Balkan mountain range. It's beautiful. It reminds me of that beginning scene from the Sound of Music and I truly want to run on the hills with them singing "The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!" I would be wearing Maria's dress and frolicking with them, but that would just get us more stares and Bozi won't let me run unless he goes too--that's not happening.

Oh another thing, nothing about this place is handicapped/stroller friendly. (Kev says it's not "ADA compliant.") The girls are great at helping us carry the stroller up the stairs to the elevator in our apartment if Bozi is not in it. Yes, after the ramp to the front door of our apartment building, there is a half flight of stairs to the elevator. I'm currently rolling my eyes, it does not make sense. Bozi loves when I am pushing him and Kev has to lift the bottom of the stroller up, he looks up at me and just stares at me and smiles. That tiny boy melts my heart in less that a second.

We put him to bed and while I was laying there waiting for him to go to sleep I received a text from my awesome neighbor. I had left my key to the house with her just in case. She had gone to our house and cleaned out our fridge and freezer. One of the things I was most dreading about going home (whenever we make it there) was trying to figure out a time to clean that out with Bozi permanently attached to me. It was going to be a challenge. Plus, by the time we get home, you are talking possibly 2 to 2.5 weeks of raw meat, popsicles, ice cream and pizzas all defrosted, disgusting and swimming in their juices. My friend did that for us and dealt with the nastiness so we didn't have to. That is a sweet friend.

If you follow my blog regularly you probably have experienced my roller coaster of adoption emotions, plus everything else going on makes it worse. I appreciate the sweet texts and comments. We are so grateful for so many things... The shower given to us and the many people who participated and the people who regularly check in on us. God has truly demonstrated to us through this process how the Church body is supposed to function. We care for each other and also reach out to those around us in need. The Church extends far beyond the walls of any building.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14
"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many."

For anyone that wants to help in Wilmington and other effected areas, the greatest need is money. So many people have lost everything. Homes that were not in flood zones flooded, and those people do not have flood insurance. Because we have a mortgage, we are required to have wind and hail insurance. Many people do not have wind and hail insurance, because it is very expensive. People have homes and belongings that are ruined and rebuilding/remodeling funds will come out of their own pockets or through the generosity of others. Click here to donate to Samaritan's Purse. There are other sites that have other suggestions; this is just one. I know my blog has a strong following of generous and loving people because I have experienced it firsthand, so I am just putting this out there for you to consider.