Over the long Christmas holiday week, my Mom and I took care of my two nephews while their parents were away for a funeral in Michigan. As auntie, I drove Zildjian to a basketball clinic, where I witnessed him make a basket. Good shot! I also brought Misha to his weekly therapy session where he gets to play for an hour while he is observed. Two huge innertubes were used like bumper cars with another child. Also, Misha ran and jumped through one as if a ring of fire in a circus. Finally, Misha pretended to be Spiderman and went down a wire dropping into the pen of colored balls.
Misha was adopted several years ago and is progressing along quite nicely although there are certain development stages he skipped over. He needs to learn his right from left and cross over skills. I helped him clean his room with all the toys that were strewn all over and it took an hour to put them all back where they belonged. I had to categorize with first picking up clothes, then books, then toys, etc.
The last night I was with Misha, he read to me a bed time story, reversal from my having to read to him last year. He has his two front teeth but can not pronounce his “th”s yet. A little interference with his first language of Russian but he has quite a vocabulary built up in English. Truly, it was a joy to be with these two dear nephews. Zildjian reads and reads when he is not with his playmates and that is a very good example for little Misha who is 9 but looks like he is 6. Oh, to be a kid again! How both of them love to go to McDonalds and eat a McFlurry. Auntie does too.
