Our Christmas Present

Merry Christmas everyone! We actually forgot it was Christmas! We miss everyone but can't think of anywhere else we would rather be. Other than at home with all 4 of us!

We got to see the baby for 2 hours from 4-6pm today. This doesn’t count as the official 15 day bonding period but it was nice to see her. This time the caregiver handed her to me and she cried for maybe 2 minutes. It was a dry cry as she didn’t have any tears. After that, we sat on the couch with her and Davis. We forgot a blanket to put on the floor as they don’t like babies sitting directly on the floor due to the cold.

She was wearing a pink outfit today with the same red socks and yellow hat. She had an undershirt on under the pink outfit and tights on under that. They brought a blanket to wrap her in because they said it was too cold. It was probably 69 degrees in the bonding room. Although, I can say the bonding room was much colder than I was anticipating. I was also anticipating her having a snow suit on! We did get scolded because when the caregiver came back to take her she said we didn’t have her legs covered in the blanket. Now, I was holding her on my hip with the blanket wrapped around her and I guess she didn’t like the fact that her legs were exposed. I know others that have adopted from this orphanage got yelled at as well, and yes I will learn to do what is expected soon! Okay enough of that…

I had brought a play cell phone that lights up and makes sounds. This was a big hit. At first she just watched but then reached for the phone. Davis was so interested in her. He sat with us on the couch playing with her the entire visit. He copied everything I did and said to her! He tried very hard to make her laugh and was able to crack a smile a few times. He brought her toys one by one and showed her how to play with them. I wanted to see if she was able to grasp for items which she readily did. She even transferred toys from one hand to the other. We blew a balloon up for Davis and she was able to follow the balloon as he hit it across the room. She would work hard to get a toy if she dropped it. Davis asked to hold her several times and we let him (of course holding her also). She loves toys! Every toy Davis brought over she would look at and kick her arms and legs in the air and start babbling and smiling. At the start of the visit she was very serious. It took standing on our heads to get her to crack a smile. Towards the end of the visit she definitely came out of her shell. I held her letting her stand up on her legs and it was evident she wasn’t sure what to do. By the end, she got the hang of it and was jumping.

We still have not gotten her medical records. Supposedly, tomorrow we will speak with the head doctor. I can say from everything I have read she is achieving a lot of the major milestones for 8 months. She has a slight rash on her forehead where her hat rests and under her neck in the folds. It looks like prickly heat from sweat to me. It isn’t anything serious, just looks like an irritation of some sort. I am sure some butt paste would take care of it, but I am not sure if I am allowed to put it on. We haven’t been told very much as far as what we can bring her. Our translator said we needed to bring juice (which of course I will spike with some vitamins), clothes and diapers. We might need to go shopping because I didn’t bring that many 3-6 months outfits which I am guessing she is in. I know I didn’t bring wool socks and tights!

We are told we will visit only once tomorrow from 4-6pm because of paperwork that is being submitted at 10am. They said it will still count as Day 1 of bonding. We are told we will meet with the head doctor tomorrow.

On to the rest of the day. I woke up to what I thought was someone in our apartment! I heard foot steps in the apartment around 12:30 and freaked out! I had left a light on inside so if we need to get up we would be able to see since I have no idea where the light switches are. I walked into Davis’ room and looked in the bed and didn’t see him. I walked around the apartment and finally saw him sitting on the floor in another room. He said he tip-toed quietly past our room so he didn’t wake us up! Is this the same kid that is afraid of shadows at home? Needless to say, we didn’t get very much sleep last night. We watched Tom and Jerry in Russian!

Adjusting to the new time zone is going to be harder than we thought for Davis. He was up from 5:30- 10:30 with only having slept 6 hours. I took the 12:30 to 2:30 shift. Milon took the 2:30-5:30 shift and I took the 5:30-7:30 shift. Davis did nap for a few hours until 12:30.

Taking Davis on this trip has added a whole layer of complications. He isn’t eating very much and is having difficulty adjusting to the time change. If it were just Milon and me, we could sleep during the day to catch up but that is not possible with him. All in all, he has been a trooper so I won’t complain. I would never have guessed he would be able to sit still for 7 hours, multiple times within a 24 hour period! We use to gobble our food down because he couldn’t sit still at a restaurant for 10 minutes!

We are realizing we should have brought a DVD player and some more movies. TV is in Russian, even though he doesn’t seem to care. We are playing movies on the laptop but that means the laptop is occupied. I did bring Handy Manny, Scooby Doo, and Dora videos and quite a few movies but I can see where we will be sick of seeing them by the end of this trip.

I think once our luggage arrives we will find this trip easier. We packed a ton of toys and comfort items which we are finding uncomfortable to live without! Like my hairdryer! I wound up using the iron they have here to flatten my hair! It was so frizzy from air drying. It didn’t really work so I just wore it up. I have been in the same shirt now for 4 days! By the time our luggage arrives it will be 6 days! Milon forgot to put the extra shirt that I had out in the carry on luggage. They do have a washing machine so we are doing wash everyday so at least our clothes are clean although we only have soap for 1 more wash. Our jeans are very stiff from air drying and I didn’t realize how much I rely on the dryer to shrink my pants after wearing them! On a good note, the coffee isn’t bad. We found some instant coffee and what I think is milk. It isn’t bad although the coffee will get better once my coffee press and creamer arrives!

The weather here is cold and there are a few inches of snow on the ground. I would guess it’s in the 30’s but windy. Everyone here wears fur coats or fur collars and sleeves. Hats are a major fashion statement. I am glad I brought my dark blue pea coat instead of my lime green Nothface jacket. I would have really stood out as most wear dark colors and are pretty dressed up.

Milon made a run to the store again. He bought some mortadella, salami and some more bread. Davis ate cheese, salami, mortadella and olives for lunch. I feel like we are in Greece instead of Kazakhstan! The grocery stores are pretty small. Maybe half the size of Trader Joes. The only vegetables we could find were cabbage and potatoes. Fruit is pretty sparse as well. We did find bananas, mangoes, lemons and limes.

Me, the homesick queen, am so far doing okay. We do have a lot of downtime and with it being so cold and not having boots and warmer clothes, Davis and I are staying inside. I am missing a few things pretty badly like diet soda (which I did just find), salt (which I need to look for), my coffee press (which is coming). Other than that, I am excited for our visits to the orphanage and getting on a schedule will be helpful.