Happy Birthday Kristina!

Robin here. Yesterday, Friday, October 13th was Kristina’s 6th birthday! To celebrate what might possibly have been the only birthday party she’s ever had, we invited Igor and his wife Nadya to our apartment for a spaghetti dinner, birthday cake and ice cream.

Earlier in the day, Igor and Greg had gone on a shopping excursion to find a stuffed animal similar to one Kristina had in the orphanage. It was a rabbit who sang the “Cheburashka” song, which is something she sang along with during some of our playtimes together. Unfortunately, there were none to be found, but Greg did manage to pick out a great bunny that didn’t do anything but look cute. Igor helped Greg to negotiate the purchase of some wrapping paper and bows to wrap her gift, although once home, the bows and a number 6 birthday candle that was purchased at the same time as her cake were nowhere to be found. Fortunately, the really important items like the cake, ice cream and bunny were in the bag – so all was not lost.

I put Kristina down for her nap while her Papa and Igor were shopping, but after an hour and a half she hadn’t gone to sleep and then began to cry out of frustration. Greg had just gotten home when this occurred, so we immediately comforted her and let her get out of bed. She calmed down in a short amount of time and then found herself very curious as to what was in the bright pink wrapping paper that Papa placed on the hallway bureau. We told her that it was her birthday present – but she would have to wait until Igor and Nadya arrived before she could open it.

Kristina was a very happy little girl when Igor and Nadya arrived. And, she was even happier when they presented her with a bag containing a striped pullover shirt and a fishing game comprised of a small pole with a workable reel and nine colorful plastic fish with magnets on their noses. The bait at the end of the line had an opposing magnet and Kristina wasted no time setting up the game and catching fish. She played the fish game for awhile and then wanted to open our gift to her. In addition to the stuffed bunny, we also gave her two coloring books to go with the crayons she already had. She hugged her bunny and played with it while we visited with our guests and she was very tolerant of the camera flash going off in her face each time we spotted her looking adorable.

When dinnertime came, Kristina ate heartily and was then ready for her cake and ice cream. Since the birthday candle never made it from the store to our apartment, we improvised and turned six stick matches upside down in the cake and then lit them and sang the fastest “Happy Birthday” song on record. Let’s just say that stick matches burn a heck of a lot faster than candles and it was a race against the flames burning down to the cake and the completion of the song. The song won out by a hair and there was even a second left for Kristina to blow out the candles (okay, matches) successfully! And, for the record, Kristina loves cake and ice cream -- imagine that.

It was a long and exciting day for our little munchkin and even at a mere six years old, I think she understood that her best gift of all on this and every birthday to come is all about finally belonging.