Food, Glorious Food To blog or not to blog...that is the question when there are no new photos and really nothing major to report. So I'll take a shot and apologize in advance for putting you to sleep.

The day started as it often does in our house, with Jesse entering our room at 4 a.m. Then--as has happened a handful of times before over six years--he proceeded to lose the previous night's dinner in our bed an hour later.

Zoe awoke with the commotion of our scrambling to tend to a moaning Jesse and get the bedlinens into the washer. By 5:45, at her insistence she was bathed and all dressed up for the day...with nowhere to go. No medical appointments. No playdates. Sick brother. Forecasted pouring rain all day. Clearly, today was an inside day.

So I did what any responsible father would do when faced with the opportunity to stay home with one kid vomiting and the other choosing to alternate between crying at him and giving him the silent treatment. I got in the car and headed to work for the first time in a week. But by the time I got to the office, Jesse had two more episodes and was asking for me. So back home I went.

When I opened the door, there was Zoe, by herself at the kitchen table, wolfing down a bowl of dry Froot Loops. She wasn't entirely thrilled with my surprise entrance, and started to cry. Sari came from her office to settle her down, and reported the following:

• I had interrupted her fourth bowl of Froot Loops.
• She had managed to relocate her step-stool from the bathroom in an attempt to reach the stockpile of bananas and rice cakes left recklessly on the kitchen counter.

Finally, the stories we were warned about were coming true. Children fresh from an orphanage have no concept of portion control, and if served something they like, they'll eat as much of it as is made available or is visible to them. Apparently, Froot Loops, bananas, rice cakes, and jelly sandwiches are now on Zoe's short list of acceptable foods.

Adopted Russian children also have been known to horde food and then hide it in places where it presumably won't be taken from them, like under their pillows. My ancestry is 100% Russian, and I can attest to doing the same with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in my desk drawer. So far, Zoe has seen the Costco-sized supplies of rice cakes and bananas, and I think she realizes there are plenty of them...all for her.

In addition to adding some new favorite foods to her diet, Zoe is exploring, and has discovered desk drawers. And kitchen drawers. And bathroom cabinets. We quickly discovered where we had left all our old childproofing apparatuses.

And so ends another day. G'night.  ¶ 9:20 PM