My story
Hi Alla,
Just a little update on Sergei,
He is currently playing basketball and just finished playing fall baseball...he is quite a talented athlete. He continues to make progress in school, however, reading remains a struggle. He is very smart and is working on grade level concepts despite his reading problems. In math he remains at a 3rd grade level, but he is making gains there also. He loves to play the piano and it seems to come easily for him, he says that maybe his "tummy mommy" played the pian too. He often has emotional moments and has difficulty managing his anger, but this is also improving rapidly. We are so proud of him and how hard he works at everything he does. We are amazed at how well and how quickly he has adapted to his new life here. He speaks often of friends at Detsky and wishes they could all be here. He speaks fondly of several teachers there, and not so fondly of some others. He often says I wish that you found me sooner, he says he has missed so much time....
Here are some more pictures of Sergei and his adventures. As I said he is a HUGE basketball fan and he loves to watch Bobcats games in Charlotte. He even got to go down on the court to shoot a couple of free throws. We call him Dr. Dolittle because he has a very special way with animals, our horses love him. He is very, very active, he hates to be still or bored, so he is always looking for something fun and creative to do. He learned to swim within a couple of weeks of arriving home and has been a "fish" ever since. He likes to go snorkeling at Blue Springs, a natural hot spring near my Grandparents home in Florida (we travel often).
Once Again we can not Thank You enough for the joy you helped bring into our lives. Sergei is so full of life and he truly enjoys the world around him. He wants to take in everything all at once and sometimes he can be a handful (what 10 year old isn't), but everyday when he looks at me and says " I love you Mom" I can not help but feel so blessed that he came into our lives. So many times people say to me, "he is so lucky that you adopted him", but the truth is we are the lucky ones, lucky that he came into our lives and lucky that we have the opportunity to be a part of this special little boys life and I know that his little sister feels lucky that she has such an awesome big brother. She worships him and follows him everywhere.
He is a fantastic child and remains the light of our world. There is no doubt that we have had some tough times, but knowing everything I know now, I would not change anything.
He is very excited about his upcoming birthday and Christmas!
Just thought you would like to know.
Love, BJ Waelz, North Carolina