We Are Better! (Day 2 & 3 - Long Post!)

We must begin with a huge thank you for your comments, thoughts, and prayers. We have Internet issues (more on that in a minute), but I can download and read your comments via my work-issued Blackberry. I spent the last 48 hours reading them and reading them and reading them. I'll never be able to thank you enough.

So, let's talk family!

With each day, we are settling in further. We are thrilled to announce that we signed our papers this morning officially selecting our son. As we believe his initials will be ZM ("M" is his given name), that’s how we’ll refer to him from this point forward until the big reveal.

The weather here is beautiful, if not HOT, so we had the opportunity to go outside on Tuesday morning. ZM is still so unsure of what is happening around him, and he just wanted to lay on the blanket we brought with us and wiggle and cry and whine. In some ways, it was like watching a 3-month old, and it was a little freaky.

While we thought we’d seen him take a step or two the moment we first met him (it all happened so fast when they brought him in and handed him to us that we weren’t quite sure!), we never saw anything resembling walking from that point forward. So, when we came back inside, we mentioned to the coordinator that we were a bit concerned. She snatched him out of my arms, took him into his group room, and said something briskly to his caretaker. Then, she stood ZM on his little legs, and they both leaned down and spoke firmly to him. We suspect it was something like, “these freaked out parents think we are misleading them when we say you can walk, so let’s prove them wrong and get your little buns moving.” Sure enough, he toddled across the room. It was funny, heartwarming – and humbling and embarrassing to be the freaked out parents.

From there, we were escorted to the baby house doctor’s office for our pre-arranged appointment. With the help of a translator, the doctor read through a large hand-written file. We had prepared a list of questions, using information provided by our IA doctor and supplemented by information we found within Suz’s links on her “second” blog. We imagine that the doctor has faced parents such as us with pretty much the same list of questions, so she provided us with answers to just about every question before we could even ask.

For those who have yet to travel, here is the type of information we received:

- Birth mother full name and date of birth
- Prior births for this birth mother
- Medical pathology of birth mother (illnesses)
- Location/region of birth
- Height, weight, APGAR score, head and chest circumference – all at birth
- List of medical tests and results from birth through present
- Ongoing height, weight, head and chest circumference – about every six months after birth.
- Multiple other “seen by this doctor and nothing was wrong” reports

We also received a wonderful gift – a picture of ZM when he was first brought to the baby house at 12 days old.

He’s been receiving great care and apparently he’s not missing many meals – I put a 12-month shirt on him and it was snug; an 18-month shirt was just about right. He weighs about 20 pounds.

After our doctor visit, we had lunch with Matt and Suzanne (just before they went to court – successful thereafter, YAHOO!), and Anne and her 6-year-old son. We then headed off to the market to buy Pampers, and rested a bit before our afternoon visit. If we bring diapers to the baby house, they will keep ZM in diapers. Otherwise, they have him use the potty. ZM was much happier on this Tuesday afternoon visit – we stayed inside and played, and he has discovered that it can be quite fun to take all of the books and toys out of our backpack, and then put all of the toys and books back into the bag – over and over again. He also warmed up completely to Glenn (sans Bengals hat). He loves to drop something (usually a book) while Glenn is holding him, and then Glenn holds him sort of upside down as he reaches for the item. We heard our first giggles during this afternoon visit, and we captured those amazing sounds on video.

Today is day 3, and ZM was whiny and clingy during both visits. While it is about 80 degrees outside, it feels like 100 degrees inside … especially when you are crawling around on your hands and knees pretending to be a koshka (kitty) or sabaka (doggie). At least I am getting some exercise while here! And, I’ll do just about anything to get a giggle out of our little guy. He's sweaty and tired, we're sweaty and tired, and we're all still trying to figure one another out.

I know, I know, I know that everyone says, “these kids just need love” – and I have read dozens of accounts of children who were practically motionless when they were first introduced to their parents, only to blossom with two or three hours of direct daily interaction. So, I felt totally prepared to expect as such. And, it was still scary and overwhelming and we could barely hold it together. Thank you again for the encouraging words!!!!

And, we think we are over that hump and now we are a set of parents that, too, can say, “these kids just need love.” Our little guy needs a lot of love, and we cannot wait to shower him as such for the rest of our lives.

Out and about in Ust, we are growing more comfortable each day. I haven’t had to use my extremely-limited Russian much (except to say “I don’t speak Russian” -- Edita, I am trying!), as when Matt is with us, he is the pro. Every shop keeper has a little calculator of some type onto which he/she will type in whatever it is that you owe. They will then hand you the calculator so you can see the total in the little display. Once you grow accustomed to the Tenge denominations, it’s relatively easy to shop, order, and pay for groceries, meals, etc. – especially if charades is your game. (I LOVE charades!)

We also made the decision to upgrade our hotel room, which has made a huge difference in our psyches. As if the experience wasn’t draining enough, we initially were in a teeny tiny room with two tiny twin beds and a bathroom that reminded me of the bathrooms on a house boat or cruise ship (the “economy deck”), but even smaller. The sink was about 6 inches in diameter, and every time I tried to lean over to splash water on my face or brush my teeth, I would poke one of my eyes out on the faucet handle. We kept trying to tell ourselves, “Don’t be spoiled. You can live here. So what if you keep tripping over the suitcases to get to your bed. A little hop, skip and a jump is good for the heart.” But, it wasn’t working.

We so appreciate that our agency was trying to save us money by putting us up in the least expensive room, but we are soooooo much happier now. And, in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that much more expensive. Ability to wash my face without putting my eye out: Priceless.

The lack of Internet access is driving me crazy (ugh, there I am sounding spoiled again!). We brought two Macbooks with us, and we have introduced a foreign species into this PC/Internet Explorer-oriented hotel. My fabulous IT colleagues back in Cincinnati are working like crazy trying to figure out how I can tap into the WiFi at the hotel. Not sure that will ever be able to happen. I can receive work emails on my Blackberry, and I will try to park myself in the hotel’s business center for at least an hour every day so I can stay further connected to friends and family. An hour of dial-up come and go Internet access doesn't buy alot of "connection time", but I really want to document our experiences, so I will try to be diligent from this point forward.

We miss everyone so much and we feel your love and your prayers. Keep ‘em coming!!!