Day three

Today was our best day yet

and I need to give a huge shout out to Stacey for it.

Stacey brought her son home from Russia a few years ago

and right before I left she emailed me with a bunch of great advice

and one of the things she suggested I pack was some balloons.

They were a major hit

and brought LB completely out of her shell.

We had a couple blown up and started swatting them back and forth

which gave her the giggles and she just worked herself up into hysteria over it.

It was indescribable to watch her come to life

right in front of us.

She played with all three of us and at one point looked right at mom 

and said, "Baba" before hitting it to her.

Be still my heart.

She wore herself out chasing the balloon back and forth

and then Lacey built a tower out of the stacking cups

which she promptly came over and knocked down

laughing hysterically again.

I took a chance and scooped her onto my lap

and she just laid there and giggled

so I started kissing her on the cheeks and forehead 

and she looked right into my eyes and just laughed and laughed.

Best. Moment. Ever.

We got to take a peak at where she lives

and got to meet her little groupa 

who all chimed out a big "Zdrasvooy!" when we walked in the door.

They have a little common room with tiny tables and chairs

a small bedroom with 14 toddler beds standing end to end 

around the edges, and down the centre of the room

all with matching yellow and orange bedspreads

and lastly, a little cloak room with individual cupboards all labeled with the children's names.

I am so grateful we were given the opportunity to peek in

(no pictures allowed though)

Before I left for this trip, on my last day of teaching

one of my younger dancers realized that I was going to be in Russia for Halloween

and very excitedly asked me, "Will you get to go trick or treating with all the orphans?"

Oh my.  I didn't see that one coming and it kind of hit me in the stomach

thinking about the different realities we all live

and the stark differences between life in an orphanage in Russia

compared to life in a loving family in Vancouver.

My short answer to her however was, "they don't celebrate Halloween in Russia"

(seemed like the simplest response at the time)

to which she piped up, "well you should tell them about it Miss Candice

because its so fun!"

I told her I would.

Fast forward to today and packing my bag to see LB

I have a little snack trap that I've been bringing some little gerber fruit puffs in

but in light of today being Halloween I put a few smarties in there.

Well!

When LB discovered the smarties everything else temporarily ceased to exist.

She tucked her red balloon behind her back

(she is very territorial about toys and food which is normal for institutionalized kids)

and dug into that little cup like there was no tomorrow.

It was adorable and a little sad to see her so intent on them

head down

arms protecting her little stash of 7 smarties

stuffing them into her mouth and chewing as fast as she could.

In her little world nothing is purely hers

everything is up for grabs

and she has learned these little survival skills in order to keep what's hers 

from being snatched by someone else.

That's her current reality.

I wasn't surprised at all when I got too close to her and she swatted at my arm.

Her little reflex kicking in

This is mine

She told me.

And in my heart I whispered back

You are mine LB and every Halloween from now on

you will eat your little heart out on candy my girl so go ahead and dig in.

xo

We get to soak her up tomorrow for one last visit.