When Mom and I met Daniil in Apatity this past February, I had in hand a Flip video recorder, about the size of a half deck of playing cards. But stupid me, I neglected to put it to use except for two minutes on the first day at the orphanage. I kick myself for not using it during each of my hour-and-a-half visits, five in all, especially when I was given the privilege of witnessing Daniil in class with his teacher. He took such obvious pride in counting (par Ruski) on his fingers, placing blocks and matryoshka dolls on a little platform (fine motor skill development), identifying small farm animals, and repeating words while watching himself in the mirror to refine pronunciation. And then there was all that playing we did together in the orphanage play room, climbing up stairs hand in hand, sliding down the slide side by side, tossing balls back and forth, singing and blowing bubbles, reading books with my boy nestled in my lap.
Instead, I took only one video, short and uneventful, of Daniil messing around with my mom's camera. This was my first attempt at using the Flip and, as you'll see, I was shaky, literally. Nonetheless, I cherish this short film now that I'm back in the States and thousands of miles away. Daniil embodied, animated, in motion! I love his curiosity and quick smile. I love how he offers the first animal cracker to Grandma ("Babushka" in Russian) and how he reaches out his little hand and places it on her leg, such a trusting gesture upon first meeting. And his little voice, it kills me each time I hear it.
Click the triangular play button to view (underneath screen on left).
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I, too love his little bell like voice...I also noticed, in this short film, his spontaneous way of having a good chuckle, even in the face of trying to figure out the object he was holding (camera?), and, also, his very wise little choice to ask for help with the object he was holding. Plus, he's a snuggler! Yay!
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