Mama's Happy Birthday!

So, today is Cathy's Happy Birthday! That's how the kids say it. "My Happy Birthday".

What are you getting me for My Happy Birthday? When is My Happy Birthday? My Happy Birthday is coming up! That is exactly how both Justin and Ethan talked about their birthdays. See that's what you and I call it. I call it my birthday. You call it your birthday. The boys have used the whole phrase "Happy Birthday". And it pretty much sounds, with the accent, like, "Heppy Burfday". And that's not meant to be teasing, just appreciating the kids' accents and their trying to say it in English.

We are hearing Masha's voice a lot more. And it sounds AWESOME. We are also hearing her whine. She's not a big fan of learning English or reading. Like any kid, she just want to sit around in her pajamas and play video games all day. We know all about that from Ethan, so Cathy has written out a sentence for her, "No whining." "English first, then games."

Today, maybe because it was Mom's birthday, Masha had a lot of energy and spark. She smiled more. She laughed. She was actually playful. She showed some attitude and a certain amount of cunning when we played Uno. Some days she has been very quiet and timid. We're all sad when we have to leave at the end of our visit.

I brought a calendar along with and I marked the days. There are some days that are marked with question marks because we just don't have a timeline yet. Once we have our court date then our timeline will be better laid out. Ten days after our court date we will get our court decree and then I'll be able to sign her out of the orphanage and bring her back to the apartment. From then on, it will be another countdown. Before I can sign her out, I'll get her birth certificate. Then we'll get her passport photo. The passport comes next, then physical, then the trip to the Embassy for her visa. And then we are on our way home. I've guestimated some of those days with question marks on the calendar.

But, when I first gave her the calendar, I marked her Happy Birthday and Cathy's Happy Birthday. Next, I have to mark down Mama and Popi's anniversary on May 6th. A couple of years ago, we took Justin to Chicago when we celebrated our Anniversary. He was so adamant that he had to get us something for our anniversary, we stopped at a grocery store and gave him some money. We wandered around the store trying not to follow him as he ran around looking for something to get us for our anniversary. He got Cathy some flowers and he got me a Kit Kat and a Mt. Dew Amp. We treasured the gifts, because of how serious he was and how badly he wanted to get us something. "I have to get you something for your anniversary!" He kept saying it over and over. We're not expecting this from Ethan and Masha. But it is nice to see how they respond when presented with the information. It is very cool to see Masha and Cathy bonding.

If you're a fan of birthdays and cake, here's my favorite comedy bit from Jim Gaffigan. I hear this every time someone I know has a birthday. "Hope it's chocolate for ME!"