We're Into Single Digits :):)

Only 9 more days till we come home. You have no idea how good that sounds to us!!!

Today was a very good day with Emma. The last couple of days have been extremely difficult as she has been quite defiant. Today is the first day papa didn't have to spank her!

We're really trying to sit down with Emma to teach her. She is very behind and we're concerned about catching her up. With the language barrier, we know it will be lots of work! And as far as learning our language is concerned, she has no interest at all. She'll repeat the odd word here and there, but I don't think she understands. The only words she knows for sure are mama and papa and truck. But she doesn't say truck...it's more like tru-vuck. Oh well, we'll take what we can get.

Today we actually got to sit down and try and do a puzzle with us. This is a huge accomplishment because we've been having a hard time to get her to sit down and do anything. The puzzle is quite easy but she still doesn't understand how to put the pieces together correctly. But we'll keep working on this one till she gets it, then we'll get a new one. We also worked on counting today. We are starting in Russian just to see how much she knows. She is able to count to 5 when she is in a good mood. If you try and get her to count or learn anything if she is not in the mood, she gets very frustrated and walks away. The main thing is that she's opening up to us and trying here and there. I know when someone strange comes to talk to her, she clams right up and doesn't say anything. We're getting there. It's only day 3!

Another issue we've run into is potty training. You'd think a 6 year old would know. Well, Emma knows how to use the toilet, the problem is she doesn't know WHEN to use the toilet. At the orphanage the kids only went during certain times of the day. If they had to go at any other time, I don't think they were really supervised. So that's something else we're working on. The only time she'll run to the toilet is when she has to poop (thank God!) There have been a few accidents, so now Terry is super paranoid and makes me take her to the washroom every 10 seconds! Bedwetting is also an issue. Any tips out there?

Overall, we feel things are going very well. This is a HUGE adjustment for the three of us and it's going to take some time. Living in a hotel isn't the greatest environment either. A good routine can start once we get home. I'm not too sure how the 20 hours of flying is going to go. If she's in any mood like she was yesterday, it could be pretty scary!! :):):)