Mama, I’m so fortunate!

Those were the words I heard from Rachel when I picked her up from school! Yes, you read this right – she’s already enrolled in school! Originally I wanted her to start school a little bit later, but when the school district indicated she can start on Wednesday, I decided to go for it. The sooner she starts school, the sooner she starts learning English! I tried to teach her English, but it doesn’t really work since we speak Russian at home all the time.

Anyway, we survived the first 6 days at home, and Rachel is adjusting remarkably well, which can’t be said about her mother :) I’m still adjusting to the time difference, and recuperating from everything I’ve been through in Ukraine.

The first couple of days we did a lot of administrative tasks – applied for a Social Security Number, registered for school and had a physical done. On the first day of school both Rachel and I were a little bit apprehensive – it’s always scary to go to a new school, and if you don’t speak the language it’s even scarier. But all my worries were unnecessary. When I came to pick her up, she came out with a huge smile on her face and said: “ Mama, I’m so fortunate, I love my school!” She started her first day of school with a one-on-one session with ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and spent the rest of the day in the regular class setting. There is one Russian and one Ukrainian girl in the class, so Rachel has somebody to talk to and ask questions if needed (she speaks Russian and understands Ukrainian). Currently the school assigned her to be in the 4th grade, but I’m thinking she’ll be better off in the 3rd grade, so I’m going to talk to the school counselor about it. But overall I’m very pleased with the school so far – we have great public schools in our town.

Our house is much louder now with the 2 girls :) We haven’t set the routine yet – it’s hard for me to go from 1 to 2 kids (Alex doesn’t count :) – who takes the shower first, who goes to bed first, etc. But I’m sure we’ll be able to set a schedule that works for everybody.

The other change I need to get used to is the amount of groceries :) Victoria hardly eats anything, and I don’t mind since she is in the 85% in weight. Luckily she loves to eat her vegetables and to drink her milk, so I don’t have to worry about it. Alex is never home, and Oleg and I are not a big eaters. Rachel is totally different :) This tiny girl can eat! So far I can’t get the amount of groceries right – we went to Wegmans on Sunday, and on Monday night I needed to go again. Then another Wegmans visit on Wednesday night. Today is Friday, and it looks like we need another grocery run before the weekend :)

So far Rachel is on her best behavior, and though I know it’s still a “honeymoon”, I hope it will continue! The fact that we speak the same language is a great help, and she feels very comfortable in our house. She had a lot of “firsts” since she came here 6 days ago, and it’s a joy watching her to discover something new. The garage door opener was a hit – how come the door is opening by itself :) The next one was the fact that Mom can drive. “Mama, can you drive? REALLY? Are you a good driver?” And on and on and on. But the most remarkable “first” was her first ever English sentence. She told me “I love you” in English, and I didn’t teach her that!

Here are some pictures from our last week in Ukraine: