Bittersweet Sunday....

Yesterday we received more pictures of our little man from our dear translator, Anna. She made me promise before opening them that I would not cry all day like I did last time. So I didn't. We noticed the nuances of his many smiles caught in photographs (Some are confused smiles, like why am I being singled out and photographed? Some are caught when he is busy with his hands and show more of a determined grin. Just a few capture genuine moments of joy. In our favorite one he is standing at the top of a metal side, and looking off to the side at the caregiver obviously holding onto him for dear life. I can hear her saying "Stas! You need to sit down or you'll fall down the slide! Que mischievous grin.) These pictures are a doubled edged sword. We cherish them because it gives us a glimpse into his daily life. Somehow that if we study them close enough they hold the key to all of our answers. Has he had enough to eat? Is he in good health? Is he happy? clean? safe? We study his clothes, his new scrapes, his hands, his feet. All of these things are after found after we stopped starring at the obvious. His HORRIBLE new haircut. I wonder if it was his first..... Buzz cut with a reverse mullet. (Party in the front, business in the back) Yikes. The pictures were all taken outside on the playground. We are so use to seeing him all bundled up, we were shocked to see him without a shirt on! And gasp....NO HAT! (Except one where he is riding a rusty bike and a backwards red ball cap.)
But we are happy that he looks happy. We are so thankful for the wonderful, kind, ladies looking after him. We pray that he doesn't need to wait for us too much longer or keeping growing up without his mama and papa. You keep praying too, ok?