Two years ago yesterday, September 30, a judge in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk finally wrapped up two days of hearings on an adoption petition. Two years ago yesterday, this judge, new to the family court bench, decided that I would be a good mother for a little boy who had spent most of his life in an orphanage nearby. Two years ago yesterday, I got to tell that little boy that he would be traveling on an airplane to meet a big brother, a grandma, a grandpa and lots of cousins, and to start a new life.

It's hard to believe that it has been two years already, and to believe all that has happened since.

Two years ago, I had a scrawny, stoop-shouldered kid who had probably had a bout of rickets. Now, he's still a bit scrawny, just barely cracking 39 pounds at his last doctor visit. But his shoulders are strong and straight from two summers of intensive swimming, and his legs can power him through a mile of bike riding every afternoon. Two years ago, he spoke a very babyish Russian. Now, he gives lengthy explanations in English of the airplane he is building from Legos, punctuates it with a phrase picked up from a favorite TV show, "OK, gotta blast," and heads for take-off.

When he woke up yesterday, I told him that it was a special day for him. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Mom, can we make noodles for breakfast?" Translation: Enough with the sentimentality, Mom, there are other things to do. Sort of like his behavior on the day, two years ago, when I walked into the orphanage after the hearing ended. He took the bag of new clothes from my hands, stripped butt naked in the hallway, put on the new stuff, grabbed my hand and said in Russian, "Let's go."

This kid has a lot of things to do, and every day he shows me how determined he is to do them.

Happy Gotcha Day!

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