Day 1: Bonding

I woke up to the midnight intruder last night again. This time I heard footsteps, went into the den and found the light was turned off. Davis wass lying on the counch in the pitch dark and said he didn't want to wake us! Needless to say it was a horrible night again. Davis went to bed at 9:00 and was up for good at 1:30am. Milon and I slept at most 3 hours last night. And that is with tag teaming all night. He wakes up and is bouncing off the walls. I think we are going to try to keep him up all day today and put him to bed as late as possible and see if that works. Anyone have any suggestions? We are going nuts. My throat is killing me and I am so tired I feel dizzy and nauseas. We are really contemplating how to work the next trip or 2 so we don’t bring him. I think by the time he adjusts, we will be headed home.

We were able to visit the orphanage from 4-6 today. The “baby” didn’t cry when handed to me! She is enjoying her new found legs! We hold her and let her stand and she gets very excited. She cries when we sit her back down. She was dressed in the same orange outfit that we met her in the first day. She had on so many layers! She had an undershirt on, thick footed tights, long sleeve long pants onsie, then this orange all in one outfit, and socks and of course the same yellow hat!

We were told to bring in diapers for her. She is size 2 and of course I had to bring Pampers! We are able to feed her dinner starting on Monday. I need to bring in outfits, but will have to wait until the luggage comes. I need to go to the store to by tights, new hat and thick socks. I am worried my outfits will be rejected! I only brought 1 or 2 size 3-6 month outfits which I don’t think are that warm.

We were told we would meet with her doctor today but something happened and he didn’t show up. We are getting a little discouraged by the lack of medical information we have received. Basically none. We are eager to get the pictures and information to our international doctor for their seal of approval. That seems to be the last hurdle we have left to overcome. Meanwhile, we did more research on what is normal for her age. She seems to be not very far behind. The caregiver says she can babble and says ma ma ma. She said she is very active and can hold her own with the other babies. She was able to lift her head up and chest leaning on her arms. She was also able to respond to sounds, follow objects, pick up a small object off a table, and keep her head erect when being pulled up from lying down position. All are good signs but we won't rest easy until the International Doctors agree!

Here are some pictures of the bonding room we will spend 4 hours a day in. We have to sit on the couch with her because they say it's too cold for babies to sit on the floor. They truly believe babies get sick from being cold. We had to keep her in a huge blanket and of course this time I remembered to wrap her legs as well! They are very concerned about Davis being cold. Gulnara our coordinator gave us boots for him to wear which was very nice. We have not left the apt with him because of his shoes. One of the doctors said Davis needed a scarf to wrap around his neck. Of course, I don't have one so that is on the list to buy. I am quickly learning to do "whatever" it takes to please. I can agree, I would like him in a sweatshirt and thicker socks in the bonding room but until our luggage comes I can't do anything about it.

This is a picture of our translator Ainura. She is a 22 yr old girl who lives with her parents. This is her second job which she fills in with. She works as a manager’s assistant as her full time job. Ainura loves to play with Davis and is always worried about him being cold. Ainura said that Kazakhstan won the bid to hold the next winter Olympics. She said that Kazakhstan has a long term economic and social plan that they hope to complete by 2030. In the bonding room, they have a poster with a picture of the president and the year 2030.

Our driver Ceric is a very nice man with limited English. He has 5 children. He is very interested in Davis and always is speaking with him, although Davis doesn’t understand a word of what he says! Ceric asked us about what we thought of Obama becoming president. They are very worried here because they said how our economy is doing determines how their economy does.

After seeing the same people day after day it is evident that people have limited means here. We have seen several people that have worn the same outfit since we arrived 3 days ago. There are always people digging in the dumpsters for food by our apartment. It is quite sad. I love to sit at the window in our apt and watch people go by. Everyone is dressed up and looks so nice. Women are walking in ice and snow with high heel boots! Fur coats and hats are everywhere.