Green Legs and Ham

Modelling green casts and the Thomas Tank Engine blanket, a gift from our friend Jamie. I dare say Maxim has stolen her heart. Thank you Pam for your beautiful work, as usual, on the blanket. It is already one of Maxim's favorite things.


I can't believe we have come through the second week of casting already. Maxim has slept wonderfully, found ways to do everything he desires despite the extra weight to lug around and if there have been any bumpy spots in attitude at all, I can safely say they haven't had a thing to do with the process he is going through to correct his feet.

Last week, he chose green for his casts. Joel is determined to sign every set Maxim has to wear, so he is sporting big brother's signature as I write.

As we go through the days, Maxim is of course picking up on more language and definitely notices when we are talking about him, so we have to be sensitive to not making him feel uncomfortable that anyone would discuss him in any way that he can't understand. He is so comical sometimes, both intentionally and unintentionally, that the others are frequently running to each other to report the latest antic. For example, today Joel was making devilled eggs at lunch time and Maxim was observing from his chair, which Joel had positioned nice and close. As he worked, Maxim watched every detail and wanted to know what these interesting items were called. Maxim is absolutely convinced now that they are called W eggs. Onion rings are onnun dings. Tacos are thank yous. It is hard not to laugh sometimes, and Maxim is quite a ham who revves right up for drama if he knows he has our attention. However, I don't want him to ever feel mocked as he tackles this new language or other challenges ahead.

Last night, at meal time, Maxim asked if he could pray by himself. Understand when I say this that all he did was put his little hands together in a typical prayer position and ask "Maxim?"
I said yes. He said, "Dear Gah, tankooo Mama, Papa, Joel, Cy--------anna (Cyan), Beeta (his version of Brina), Lamma (his version of Grandma), Lampa (his version of Grandpa), Anya, Valya, Dada (last three are the people we stayed with in Kiev), machinas (Russian for cars), Ninny (his version of our dog Sydney), Jesus name, Amen.

Daniel is travelling a lot for work since Maxim came home. Just part of the territory right now since there have been so many layoffs. He is an electrical engineer by experience rather than degree. He has worked for the same company since 1984 and we have been so blessed to have such consistency. He has worked there in many capacities which is a good thing right now. At the moment, they need him on the road frequently since the majority of service guys are laid off. Going to various plants to help set up or trouble shoot machines he programmed is not unusual overall but now that responsibility is spread between far fewer guys. Anyway, this week Daniel and his dad are working over in Ontario, Canada. Maxim often asks where Papa is and when I tell him "business", he just sighs, puts his hands on his hips and says, "Again?" Yup, that's life right now. No complaining here, though. To have consistent work and income is never something to take for granted.

Tomorrow, Maxim will have the green casts removed and new ones constructed within minutes afterward. At the moment, he is leaning toward asking for yellow.

Dr. Reinhart also intends to do something called a hip pull to try to manipulate Maxim's right hip into a more correct position. She anticipated that this will be difficult and possibly quite painful so wrote a prescription for a carefuly set dose of a valium-type medicine to relax Maxim beforehand. May we actually experience and recognize peace straight from the Father.