Mr. Cheeseburger Surprises Us--Twice

Mrs. Beaver:

One of our nicknames for Alexander is "Mr. Cheeseburger." While finishing up the adoption of Alexander and his sisters last fall in Moscow, we ate a couple of times in the world's most famous fast food chain. As soon as he tasted McDonald's all-beef patty topped with a blanket of cheese, Alexander was sold on the american import. Since coming to live in the U.S., he has been known to beseech his new family as we drive by the Golden Arches to stop and get him a "fix," no matter the time. With his wining grin, it's not always easy to say, "Not now."

Alexander's love of cheeseburgers may have started at McDonald's but isn't limited to that restaurant. If he can get a cheeseburger, he orders a cheeseburger. Until today.

We're driving to Denver to celebrate my parents' 5oth wedding anniversay, and we stopped at a Wendy's for lunch. When Alexander was asked what he wanted to eat, he surprised 12 of us by ordering a chicken sandwich.

Alexander surprised us earlier this week, too.

We were reading Proverbs together as a family on Wednesday morning. When we got to the verse in Chapter 4 that says, "Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanting!" I stopped us to check our newest son's understanding of what he had just read aloud.

I asked, "Do you know what "acquire" means?

"Yes." Alexander said with the smile that is his trademark.

Without a pause, he went on in his charming Russian accent, "A group of people singing."

Alexander's understandable confusion was a reminder of how daunting it is to learn a new language. We've heard that immersion is the quickest way to do this, and our three new kiddos have made tremendous strides in their five months in America.  It's important for our family to remember what a difficult task they face, frought with unexpected--albeit sometimes amusing--subtleties.