A year ago today, our voices and our legs shook in a Russian court room as we asked if Gus could join our family.

The memory of that day is a favorite of mine. After our court hearing, we went to the baby house and we met Gus. Yes, we’d visited him several times before– we met the laidback child, sedated by fear if not also sedated by medicine.

That day, we began to see the feisty wild child he really is.

Here are some recent photos which show him most accurately.

Playing in a bucket of water.

Someone stole his tricycle.

And he stole his sister’s sunglasses, with a messy after dinner face.

Learning to climb. Everything.

His usual dirty self.

In a calmer moment with one of his canine friends.

Playing in the rain.

And in a creek.
 

Happy court day to Gus, a feisty and fab addition to our family.