Continuing from part 1.... Here is an old journal entry. I was looking back at the first 4 months home with Natasha.

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She had very poor language skills even in Russian. My translator had a very hard time understanding her. Part of the problem is that Natasha actually used a strange mish mosh of Ukrainian and Russian together.


And based on what I found out in her language screening (done after being home 6 months), Natasha rarely understood what was going on. She typically guessed what I was talking about when replying.


I was under a lot of stress but did not notice it at the time. I caught every cold, flu that came around. I was sick almost non-stop for 4 months; colds, flu, pneumonia, sinus infections, ear infections.


Did I mention that I am a single mom ? :) I didn't have built in respite (planned temporary relief) and didn't understand just how much I needed it. When I was in the middle of stress, I didn't see my stress. So I didn't have a clue why I was getting sick all the time.


Natasha was not a small child when I met her. She could wear 3T clothing. She was 3 feet, 1 inch tall and 31 pounds.


I adopted Natasha from a specialized orphanage, which can be translated to handicapped. She was in this orphanage because of crossed eyes. This was fixed with 45 minute outpatient surgery after being home 2 months.


I really cannot tell you what the biggest challenges. There were just so many. But I treated it like the bear story.

Question: How do you eat a bear?
Answer: One bite at a time.

I tried to completely avoid the word no. I wanted Natasha to hear the word yes all the time. And I focused on one behavior at a time. This was "no hitting" week for example. And then I would catch her doing "no hitting". I would guide her to that behavior that I wanted to see.


To be continued.....


Want to chat or share your experiences? You can email me at adoptukraineblog@adoptionmail.com or comment below.