KazMum101

Mr Polite

2012-01-22T08:59:00.002-05:00

Denis is a really polite child. It amazes me how quickly he says 'please' and he always says 'thank you', even for things I wouldn't normally think would need a 'thank you'.

As his English/talking skills improved, Denis started saying 'Thank you much". It struck me as very strange. Then I heard myself one day, I always say, "Thank you so much" but I tend to swallow the 'so'. I guess Denis doesn't really hear it. That will teach me to speak clearer at all times.

On Christmas Eve, Denis demonstrated how to be really polite. I had to go grocery shopping and anyone with a child knows grocery shopping with a 3 year old is never easy, and shopping on Christmas Eve can be a nightmare. To say the least I was not looking forward to the experience.

To prepare, or should I say survive, I'd purchased an iced gingerbread cookie for Denis, just like me he loves those things. I figured I could get most of the shopping done while he ate. And I brought what Denis calls the medium stroller (an umbrella stroller), as long as he was sitting I'd be able to sort of whip around the store. Luckily we didn't need much and I had reusable bags to load up as we shopped.

Unfortunately half way through the expedition Denis decided he not only wanted to walk, but he wanted to push the stroller. To avoid a major meltdown when I had just a little shopping to complete and knowing it was well past nap time I consented but I reminded Denis to stay very close to me and to move very slowly. At least with the medium stroller he can actually see over it. I was ever so thankful that he actually listened and did what I asked.

But as we moved into the meat / deli section there was a group of people chatting and Denis found he couldn't get past. Denis said 'Excuse me', and then waited a moment but nothing happened. Before I could help out Denis pulled on the coat of the man standing in his way and said, 'Man, I said scuse me!" The man jumped out of the way apologizing. Denis walked past saying 'Thank you much man." and off he went. Boy was I proud and amazed by his behaviour.

The adults he'd interrupted looked amazed too and complimented me on his manners. As I frequently do, I marveled that this wonderful little guy is mine to raise.

Thank you for dropping in on our little blog. LOL

What AM I Teaching Him

2012-01-21T23:28:00.002-05:00

We had a wee bit more snow last night. I think we got about 3 cm. I have a contract with a gardening company to plow my driveway, but they usually have some kind of rule about the amount of snow they will come out for and I have to admit it is confusing as I thought this new company said they would come for all snow. Anyway . . .

Denis and I were going out and I decided we'd have to shovel the driveway. I got my snow shovel and gave Denis my emergency car shovel (which lives in the garage instead of my car - good lot it will do me IF I ever get stuck in deep snow). There we were, shoveling the driveway and Denis says he is a 'man'. And then he turns to me and says, "We are two mans working!" HUH!

Okay, so all the people who have done any work around the house or the cars since he came home happen to have been men, and the gardening company (who arrived JUST as we finished shoveling the driveway) are 2 guys, is this enough for my son to think 'mans' do the work. I know I'm the culprit here as I do tend to say things like, "Stand back and let the man finish installing our high speed Internet" etc, etc, but talk about unintentional outcomes.

I'm going to have to work on this!

P.S. Denis has been asking 'Big Snow' for more snow. I don't remember a year with so little snow, and the little that's fallen won't stay long as we are suppose to have temperatures around 9 C (that's plus 9 Celsius) this coming Friday.

I'm concerned these days as we had 2 snowfalls this week, which coincided with me teaching my students a poem called 'Snow'. Next week's poem is called 'Ah-choo'!

Skating

2012-01-15T16:02:00.002-05:00

Today, Denis and I went skating for the second time. Wish I had photos, but the city has a by-law that you can't take photos in their spaces. It's a good by-law as the purpose is to protect the children but I'd love to have had a photo of him his first time skating at the rink.

What a difference a week makes, not skating wise, but weather wise. Last week, Loretta and I tried to take the boys out to an outdoor rink, but because of the above freezing temperatures the ice was too soft and no one was allowed to skate. This week it is too cold to skate outdoors because the said rink is totally exposed to the wind, and it is cold with the wind.

Instead, for the past two weeks, I've been out to a city rink. On Sundays, between 1:30 and 2:30 they have a toddler and caregiver skate time. It is so nice to be on the rink with other beginners and not to worry about the speed demons with no concern for the safety of others.

I have been holding Denis' hands and helping to keep him up. The first day he was willing to try and skate on his own because he believed he could do it, only he kept moving his feet way to fast and falling. This week he is so much steadier and moving so much better, but he thinks he'll fall so he wouldn't let go of my hands. I also think he was much more tired this week.

He has a great nap on Sundays after skating, but there is a problem, I'm so tired after skating I can barely stay awake and I don't get to enjoy the 'free' time to do stuff around the house while he's asleep. Ah well, who needs a clean kitchen floor anyway?

Sting of the Scorpio

2012-01-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

I'm learning about life with a Scorpio child. This is a description I found here.

Scorpios are extremely strong-willed and powerful by nature. They know exactly who they are and that most people don't have the strength, knowledge, nor stamina to match their own.
They have a tendency to believe they were born with a crown on their heads and that they don't have to follow the rules that other people follow. They will laugh and mock you as you lay down the rules. You have to be strong and firm while teaching Scorpios that yes, the rules do apply to them too

Oh yes, this describes my little guy. He is totally strong-willed and bossy. He was only home a few weeks when I told him I was the boss. He barely spoke English and was still learning how to say his name yet but that didn't stop him from saying, "No, Danon the boss."

He has taken to screaming when he doesn't get his way, and he will throw things when he is displeased. I had tried time out a while ago, but I felt it was too hard on me and it took forever for Denis to stay on the time-out mat. Well I figure if he can tell that a king is missing from a drawing, he can understand time-out.

This evening, he was drinking from a regular water bottle and twice spilled water all over me and the couch. I told him that he wasn't using the bottle correctly and would have to drink from the red (no-drip) bottle. Denis was NOT pleased. He screamed so loud my ears are still recovering and threw the bottle across the room. So off to the bedroom for time-out.

In the past, I've used the technique of putting him back on the mat when he moved off. But it hurt my back and he decided it was a fun game. And as with the description of a scorpion, he has much greater stamina, we could play that game for over an hour. I've decided that he would have to put himself on the mat.

Prior to the water bottle incident I had told him that he'd be going to bed in about 30 minutes. I think he decided he would beat the bedtime by not getting on the mat. I told him that he had to sit on the mat for 3 minutes because he threw the water bottle, but he would be going to bed at 8 whether he sat on the mat or not. Then I sat in the room against the door (he'll walk out no problem otherwise) and then I began to read my book.

Oh, my lord, he had me struggling to not giggle. He was ever so cute trying to get my attention and make me laugh. He would repeatedly poke me (gently) or he would put his face between my nose and the book. He made faces and funny noises. It was a totally struggle not to laugh.

In the end, he didn't sit on the mat, he decided to just go to bed. I'm just glad he didn't push his luck and fight after I settled him into bed, after fighting a few little ones in my SK/Grade 1, I don't have the stamina for too much of Denis' fighting.

He must have been tired as he was asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Where Da Udder One?

2012-01-08T20:51:00.004-05:00

At mass today, Denis and I joined the children's liturgy. While the leader read and discussed the gospel, Denis seemed more interested in playing with his juice bottle and being silly. I was amazed by the knowledge of some of the children (3rd grade and younger) they knew the names of the 3 kings who traveled to see Jesus, and what each one brought. I will admit I would have to look that information up and the leader only knew as it was written in his children's liturgy manual.
After the reading the children were invited to complete a craft involving cutting gluing and colour a camel and king. On the paper there was a camel, king, the three gifts of the Magi, and a small illustration of how to construct the finished product.
Denis get his paper and looks at it and says, "Where da udder one?"
I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I asked for clarification. He points to the large king, then to the illustration of the finished product, he counts one and then two, then repeats "Where da udder one?"
I was shocked! Not only was he listening, he has 1 to 1 correlation up to the number 3. Not bad for a 3 year old I'm thinking.

Got Skates Ready to Play Hockey

2012-01-06T18:39:00.003-05:00

Today I bought Denis a pair of skates. He tried them out in the living room.

It is really a good thing I hate the living room carpet as Denis bounced and jumped around in the skates.

Now he has skates he has declared that he is ready to play hockey.

Identity Crisis

2012-01-04T17:10:00.002-05:00

I'm having a crisis of identity. See it all began when I was reunited with Denis and started using "Mommy" to describe myself. I'm sure I'm not the only one who says such things as "That's Mommy's. Or here let Mommy do it". Fine, that's easy, I am a mommy, I'm saying it to my son, everything is fine and dandy.

Until I went back to work. I never realized that I my Ms name when talking about myself in the classroom too, but I do. And one day I heard myself say 'mommy' instead, oh no.

And then my sister came home for the Christmas. Now with Kathryn I use Sha sha, Kathryn never learned to say Michele, instead it has always been Sha or My Sha (my favourite). Kathryn, hearing Denis and my brother refer to me as Mommy, started to call me Mommy too.

Well, the true crisis began yesterday when I was getting Denis ready for school. He wanted to wear his knapsack (which he calls a mapsack). He then declared that he was Dora. And then, then he decided I was Boots.

Who the heck am I anymore?

This Time Last Year

2011-12-31T13:18:00.011-05:00

This holiday season has been making me very sentimental about my Christmas and New Year last year in Kazakhstan. In many ways I feel like I didn't have much of a Christmas or New Year because I was so away from home, friends and family, and I didn't get to enjoy the lead up to the holidays. And of course, the celebrations there were different.

Here are some photos of my time in Kazakhstan from a sentimental me. I had a good time overall in Kazakhstan, but would have had a great time if I hadn't had the underlining feeling of fear that something would go wrong and Denis wouldn't be my son.

This is the view on a snowy morning from my apartment kitchen window.
And here is the same view in November, just after I arrived in Kaz.
And looking out the same window watching some work. Really, how many men does it take to dig a trench at minus 26 degree C.
Here is said kitchen window. It was the window from which I could see the town center and watch the fireworks on Independence Day and on the day of the tree lighting.
This is the kitchen in the apartment. It was a very quiet and clean apartment with a very bright kitchen.
I took this picture while standing on the balcony of the apartment. That's the main road of Uralsk and the nightclub CumCum pronounced SimSim was directly below me.
And the view the other direction, toward the Orthodox church.

And this was the living room. The couch was my bed while I was in Uralsk. The chair too would pull out to be a bed.
The stair case in my apartment building. I was on the sixth floor and I walked up and down the stairs unless I was with people or had my suitcase. I did not like the elevator.

This is the door of said scary elevator. It was small and you had to use a card to go up or down. It was good for my health going up and down with all the water jugs and shopping.
The door at the end of the hall was in the hall and my apartment door and another door were behind these doors. I got told off by my neighbour for not pulling these doors shut properly when I had gone out one day in my first week in Kaz,

And this is the hallway leading to the outside door. There was a homeless man who would often be found on the stairs ahead leaning against the radiator on the right hand side as you go down.

Baby House 1, where Denis moved to the second week I was in Kaz. It was the one close to the Ram store mall. I also learned that it was around the corner from the Catholic church that I had hoped to visit while I was in Kaz, but didn't know where it was until I returned to collect Denis.The playground on the ground of Baby House 1, donated by families from the US who had adopted prior to 2006, or so said the plaque on the side of the climber.This is unit 7, Denis' group and this is their dining room. Denis is in black sitting on his care giver's knee. I took this picture during the final days I was there prior to leaving to return home for the month.
Denis' bed in the sleeping room.
Group 7's playroom. The large windows were Denis' spot where he would stand looking out waiting for me to come each day. These are the toy shelves in the room. Not a lot of toys for up to 12 children. As to that, I know Denis has more toys than that in the house. Wow!
I think this was Denis' favourite toy in the room. I would often see him playing in this 'bus' with one of the other children, they loved to look out the window at each other while sitting on the benches.

The other rooms in the unit were a classroom, the isolation room (both rooms where I would go to visit with Denis. And beyond the sleeping room there was a large room used to store toys such as the bicycles, it is the room connected to the outside door and stairs.
And here is the music room and the goodbye to the fir tree party. All the children were dressed in the finest clothes and immaculately groomed. The children are each putting an ornament onto a little Christmas tree, or as they called it the fir tree.

And finally a picture of me at the memorial flame. I went there 4 times during the time I was in Uralsk and no matter the weather I was never the only one there.

And finally, Uralsk airport. This was February 14th, the day I returned to collect Denis. Jody's mother and I were flying in together. They'd had a huge snow storm the day before and our flight was delayed by about 4 or 6 hours. I can't remember, I was just so glad to be back and getting my little boy.

Wow, I do love looking at these pictures. Doing this has been a nice way to spend the final day of 2011. And now I'm looking forward to all the marvelous things that 2012 will bring.

Happy New Year!

Thoughts of Them

2011-12-31T12:38:00.004-05:00

I often think about the children in Denis' group that are still in the baby house.

There were 8 in his group when they moved back into Baby House 1. By the time I left to return Denis in January there were 5 left, including Denis. When I returned there were just 2 that I recognized and 8 new children.

So, what has happened to those children. Did they get adopted, collected by their families or moved to another room. And where are they now?

I especially think of these two, Artomb and Anna(I spelt his name phonetically).

He was the little boy who I gave the first pair of shoes I bought Denis but were miles too big (he's just growing into that size now). Artomb's face completely lit up, I don't believe he'd ever had anything new or his before. Must mention, they were not in his cubby weeks later, who knows where the shoes went.

And Anna, she fell one very cold and icy day when we were walking outside. It was a hard fall right onto her face. She picked herself up, wiped her own face and kept going. When I made to help her she looked at me as if I was strange. At the age of 2 she didn't look for comfort and/or help as they were completely foreign to her.

Neither of these two talked much, like Denis when he was in the home. And I don't believe anyone visited them. They were the only 2 left in the room when I returned last February to collect Denis. I think about them daily. I hope they are healthy and happy.

Their faces haunt me, I just wish I could have done more/ do more for them.

Super Mom

2011-12-30T22:04:00.002-05:00

The other night, as I was in the kitchen making a pot of tea after putting my sister to bed, I could hear Denis and my brother in the living room talking.

Denis wanted my brother and I to watch Thomas the Train on his DVD with him. As my brother went to join Denis on the couch he was told in no uncertain terms that the couch was off limits to him. My brother pretended to cry saying he was very sad. Denis told my brother not to worry, Mommy would be in soon and would give Un-con (Denis' version of Uncle John) a hug and Un-con would feel better (I must point out Denis never offered to allow my brother a seat on the couch though).

So when I came into the room I had to give my brother a hug (Yuck). And then Denis said, "See you feel better now.

My hugs are legendary, at least to Denis. How great is that!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T10:13:00.005-05:00

This was Denis' first real Christmas.

Last year I got to visit Denis for 20 minutes. I totally agonized over what kind of gift I could give him, as any toy would have to leave with me as he wasn't allowed to keep anything between visits. In the end I gave him the red stripped t-shirt.

I had a plan to have a Christmas the weekend Denis and I arrived home from Kaz, but because my sister was so unwell we had to put that plan off until March 26th. Kathryn had spent Christmas 2010 in the group home so she hadn't had a Christmas either. I put up the tree and we had a nice dinner together. It was nice, but very low key, but it just wasn't really Christmas.

This year I got Denis really into the preparations for Christmas. We attended 2 parades, a tree lighting ceremony, visited Santa at a mall and we went to Uncle John's school's children's Christmas party. We also had a Costco wooden Advent calendar to count the days too Christmas. Every day I'd put a couple of chocolates into the little cupboard so we would take out the little carved toy and hang it in Santa's workshop while he ate the chocolate. And my brother and I bought and read a dozen little story books about Christmas. I even found two beautiful picture books appropriate for a 3 year old about the true story of Christmas (Denis said the baby was cold in the manager).

Finally we had a wonderful family Christmas, just like I'd imagined all those years as I waited. Denis and I picked up my sister on Saturday evening (she's staying with us until tomorrow afternoon). We have our macrame tree hanging in the living room (my late mother made it as a decoration, but the finished tree was so big it became our tree for years). I'd had thought about buying a real artificial tree but in the end decided to go with the tried and true and really easy tree. When I finally did put the tree up, Denis saw it and immediately said it was a Christmas tree. As long as he doesn't complain we'll keep the macrame tree.

Denis woke up on Christmas morning at 8 (thank you so very much) and I had to remind him that Santa came during the night. He went out into the living room and saw all the presents. He said, "Too many". I told him that there were presents for him and me and for his aunt and uncle. He went running back to the bedrooms to tell his aunt and uncle to get up and come see the tree and that Santa had brought them presents.

As soon as all the presents were unwrapped Denis was upset and wanted to know where all his presents were. It was too funny. I kept the food easy as it is too hard to do a big meal and look after both my sister and son. So we had cold cuts and store bought salads. My brother made a huge pot of French Onion soup, yummy.

Now that Christmas is over, Denis keeps saying, 'Where my calendar? I need my calendar!" I interpret that that "I need chocolate". He also keeps saying Santa is coming again. So sad at this age that all the fun only happens on that one day and then you have to wait an ENTIRE year to have so much fun again.

A Whole Year Later

2011-12-28T00:03:00.003-05:00

It was a year ago today that the judge said "Da" and I knew that I was to be Denis' mother.

I was so anxious as I stood in front of the judge. I'd tried to memorize the speech I'd been given with it's awkwardly translated phrases. I have NO problem talking, but I am not good at following a script. I'd had nightmares about that speech, only to have the judge cut me short and outright ask me questions to get at the heart of the matter. What a relief!

I had to wait 5 hours for the judge to give her judgement. I really thought that I would learn the judgement right away, I was so startled by the delay. My team was confident that everything would be alright, but I was a little worried.

Then, finally it was time to stand again in front of the judge to hear what she had decided. It was so anti-climatic. She'd agreed to the adoption application and the request to change Denis' name and to list me as the mother on his birth certificate. And then I was done and could go. Wow. All those years of waiting, and with a simple statement my dreams had come true.

After the judge's decision I was able to go to the baby house to see Denis. I remember he was so interested in my legs as it was the only day I wore a skirt while in Kazakhstan.

My day ended with a trip to a beautiful church. My driver was there to arrange his daughter's baptism. It was so worth the detour on my journey back to my apartment.
The memories of my time in Kazakhstan are so amazing. I can't believe that it happened, but the proof is sleeping down the hall.

It was a year ago today, wow! Good memories baby. We continue to make such great memories each and every day.

First Christmas Party

2011-12-11T07:57:00.002-05:00

Last night, Denis and I attended a Christmas party hosted by a childhood friend. It was Denis' first house party and first Christmas party.

I had Kathryn home for the day (we are still recovering from the flu and colds and I'm just not up to having her for longer). After dinner I got us all changed and out the door in less than 20 minutes. I told Denis that we couldn't talk about the party in front of Aunt Ka as she loves parties but she couldn't come with us. He never said the word party while she was with us. As we drove to the group home, I told Denis that he'd stay in the car while I took Aunt Ka up to the house. He got very upset. I asked what was the problem and he quickly and clearly said that he wanted run up the ramp (there is a ramp at the group home entrance). Wow, it is amazing how his language skills have improved. So I agreed that he could get out of the car and run up and down the ramp. He LOVED it, what to be surprised by, my little guy loves running at all times.

The party was great fun. Denis met many of my childhood friends for the first time, and I ran into many people I know from my former job. It is amazing how small the world and how interconnected we can be.

Denis has only visited 2 other families in their homes, and this was the first back split (my house is a bungalow and the other houses were both 2 story houses). Denis loved going up and down the stairs, all the stairs. He also loved how there was candy in all sorts of places in the house, he has such great candy radar.

The party was held in memory of my friend's daughter who suddenly passed away 8 years ago in her sleep at the age of 2 and a half. They raise money for a children's charity though craft sales, donations, silent auction and raffle.

Halloween and Birthday

2011-11-27T22:54:00.004-05:00

My first day back to work was Halloween. What a great (not) day to start back to work in a classroom. I have a senior kindergarten/grade 1 this year. Halloween is big and very loud at this age.

Denis was Woody from Toy Story, he has watched the first 2 movies over and over. I thought he could relate to the image. He kept saying he was a cowboy and pretending to ride a horse all over the place.

After work, Denis and I joined Loretta and Alex for trick-or-treating out in their neighbourhood. Denis LOVED trick-or-treating, he was upset that I wouldn't let him sit down on the steps of each house and eat the candy he'd just received.

2 days later it was Denis' 3rd birthday. I had planned a simple party with Denis, my brother and myself. Unfortunately Un-con was stuck at school writing report cards. I had set up the table with the cake prior to picking Denis up from day care, so it wasn't like I could delay. We celebrated more when his uncle came home.

I had planned a party at a fun house for Denis 2 weeks later. Unfortunately Denis and I came down with the flu 2 days piror to the party and we had to cancel the party. I've actually rebooked with the fun house to have the party in February to celebrate Denis being home for a year. The party in February was Loretta's idea, this way I don't lose my deposit.

The some total of my illnesses since returning to work (less than a month ago) are a cold, 2 solid weeks with pink eye which I caught from a student, and the above mentioned flu. Really what a great year I have ahead, wonder how many more times I'll be sick. Denis gets better SO much faster than I do.

Updates Eaten by the Computer

2011-11-20T11:34:00.002-05:00

I had almost finished an update covering the past three very busy weeks when the computer crashed. Gone was my post and gone were all the photos ready to be posted.

So now I'll redo the post but not the entire 3 weeks at once, just one milestone at a time.

First Concert

2011-10-28T11:40:00.002-04:00

With less than 2 months of daycare under his belt, Denis was in his first concert yesterday. His daycare had their annual general meeting and to get the parents to attend the meeting all the children perform at the beginning. It was so cute.

Denis` group sang two songs. Denis didn`t sing, no he yelled `Hi Mom` coughed into this elbow and then made sure to tell me that he`d remembered to cough into his elbow and not his hand, complained that the girls on either side of him had held his hands during the chorus, and then he waved at me.

I was SO proud. Actually, his daycare worker and I weren`t sure that he`d even stay up with his group for the song. He did well all things considered.

Denis` daycare is actually the satellite daycare from the main daycare. At his site there are only 20 children from ages two and half to 5. The main site has the over 80 children from two and half to 12. When Denis enters the 1st grade he`ll actually go to the other site for before and after care. They walk from one school to the other at the beginning and end of the day.

I hope he has a good day today as he was one tired puppy this morning. He hasn`t quite developed the stamina for the entire week at daycare just yet. By Wednesday evenings he shows signs of exhaustion and tries harder and harder the next 2 morning to convince me that we should stay home. It has been so hard not to give it to him as I`m still on leave, but come Monday that all stops and I`ll be back at work full time.

Not that I haven`t been going to me school for many days already. I realized yesterday on my drive home from my school that I`ve already put in more than a full week at school. Teaching, the job where you regularly work for days without pay at the beginning of the school year and then spend your own money on things for the classroom. I tried to limit how much I spent this year, but the class is new so there really isn`t any equipment or toys for the senior kindergarten students, so I`ve been to the dollar stores, Costco and IKEA. It only became a SK class at the end of September or I`d have spent the summer going to yard sales.

Canakaz Republic Day

2011-10-23T21:15:00.002-04:00

Today was our 5th Annual Day get together. 5 years ago 2 families, one who had already a little boy from Kazakhstan and another family beginning the journey decided that it would be wonderful to bring the families who were a part of an on-line community together for a party.

At first they thought that 5 families would be getting together, on the day I think we were over 50 people. Instead of an intimate house party we had to use a community center. Most families were in the paper chase stage (as I was at the time) or waiting for their LOI. I met both Loretta and Diane that day, never knowing that they would become so important to me.

On that first day there were 3 children at the party who had been born in Kazakhstan. Wow, how the times have changed. Today we were a small group of 11 families with 12 children born in Kazakhstan. Sometimes we are almost 30 families. It is wonderful to get together and see how the children have grown. Each party (we also have a party in March to celebrate Nauryz) there is a new little one or two to meet and marvel over. Today there was a new little one born in Russia not far from her big brother's hometown of Uralsk.

Having a party with a dozen children between the ages of 7 and 18 month it is amazingly relaxed. Oh, don't get me wrong there are lots of squabbles over toys, there are lots of 2 to 4 year olds. Diane found us this old lawn bowling club which is a wonderful location. There is a kitchen so we are able to have a pot luck meal. And the room has great floor to ceiling window looking out onto the bowling greens. The children run around and have a blast while we parents get a chance to talk and catch up.

I have to say though, it is SO MUCH more fun going to these parties now that I have Denis.

I didn't take any photos as Denis had the camera today. I'll have to look at his pictures to see if there are any I can put on the blog.

Thanksgiving and Aunt Kathryn's Birthday

2011-10-21T20:08:00.005-04:00

October has so far been a very busy month and we've had Aunt Kathryn home for two visits.

The first visit was for Thanksgiving. Kathryn was home for 2 nights that weekend. The weather here in Toronto was remarkable on Thanksgiving with temperatures in the near 30 C.

We shared a wonderful dinner, if as the cook I do say so myself, on the Saturday evening. Turkey is the usual fare for Thanksgiving, but roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is the favourite in my family.After dinner Denis insisted on doing the dishes. Hmm, I am raising a lovely child. Now, just to figure out how to keep him doing the dishes when he's a teenager.That Sunday I brought Kathryn out to mass and back to her group home. And in the evening Denis and I joined my cousin Donnie and Chantalle at their new house for a wonderful turkey dinner. Denis especially loved running in and out the balcony doors.

This evening we celebrated my sisters 47th birthday. I always find marking her birthday to be so bittersweet as 7 years ago I packed up her belongings and helped her move into her group home. It is hard allowing someone else to care for Kathryn, but she is ever so wonderfully cared for at the home. And I always remind myself that it is because of the group home I was able to adopt Denis, as I could never have considered adopting if I was Kathryn's full time caregiver.

Here is a picture Denis took of his aunt and I. It is a wonderful picture.October 31 is fast approaching and that will be my first day back at work. What a great day to start in a Senior Kindergarten /Grade 1 class. I will have a great day and that evening I will be taking Denis out for his first trick-or-treating. It should be fun.

By Any Name Still The Same

2011-10-19T13:49:00.002-04:00

Suddenly last month Denis started calling my brother Un-Con. From the time Denis came home he has been able to say Uncle John. I guess he just decided it was too long of phrase and he has shorten it down to Un-Con. At first I thought he was saying uncle in a strange way, but no, it definitely is Un-Con.

After just a few months Denis decided not to call my sister Aunt Kathryn, he shortened her name down to just Ka, which exactly what Kathryn calls herself.

My brother said he'd always heard of children changing a person's name, but most times it is because the child has difficulty saying the word. In Denis' case it was to make the job easier. That's my boy, look for the easiest means to the end.

Stay Home

2011-10-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

Denis likes day care, but he'd prefer if I'd stay with him all day. If I can't stay with him he thinks that he shouldn't go at all. So he's come up with a couple of plans to get out of going.

First he says that we shouldn't go to day care (as his day care is in a school, we just say he is going to school). Denis said to me, "Stay home, no school, watch DVD". Needless to say it didn't work and he ended up at day care.

Last week he took his play phone and when it ran he answered it. Then he acted really sad and said, "Nobody school, Denis stay home, okay". Then he turned to me and told me that school was closed because there was no one there. That didn't work either.

This morning Denis told me we should stay home again but this time he said, "Stay home, Mommy knit." I laughed so hard. Right, so if staying home to watch DVD doesn't work for me, then maybe letting me do what I enjoy would work. Unfortunately it didn't work either, poor lamb.

It would be really funny if he didn't act so pleased at the end of day when I returned to pick him up. He also always says, "Mommy came back." And last week he said thank you. Does he think that one day I won't come and he'll have to stay forever at school. Only time will show him the truth.

A Snowsuit Forever

2011-10-14T18:48:00.004-04:00

The other day, Denis and I went out to Zellers to look at snowsuits. The snowsuits were on sale and we found a 'Cars' snowsuit. Denis wasn't interested in buying it, he was more interested in riding up and down the escalator, but we bought the snowsuit anyway.

So the other night I was putting the snowsuit into the cupboard and suddenly I was so emotional. The new snowsuit in some ways represents Denis staying with me permanently. It is hard to explain, but in many ways having Denis at home seems so . . ., for want of a better word 'temporary'. In many ways it feels like Denis has always been here, but at the same time it is hard to imagine the future. But that evening as I put the snowsuit away (for what I hope will be a LONG time) I could visualize a future with him wearing this new snowsuit.

It certainly is strange the things that bring home the future of our lives together.

Help! The couch is eating me!

2011-08-19T22:24:00.007-04:00

Happy 6 months home little guy, it has been a wonderful ride so far.

We have many more crazy days, months and years ahead.

My little man, I love you heart and sole.

Hugs and Kisses from Mommy!

6 months today

2011-08-14T16:26:00.003-04:00

The day of my dreams. The day that seemed to be oh so far away.
The day six months ago when Denis and I were finally mother and son forever! Wow, it has been 6 months. He was a baby when I collected him, today he is a little boy.

Mama Tired Too!

2011-08-13T22:35:00.003-04:00

As I carry Denis to the bedroom at night time he will try and convince me to lie down with him. Every day he ups the ante and it is so cute, he absolutely has me in stitches.

The other day he gently stroked my cheek and said, "Mama lie down, Mama tired too." as he nodded his head and looked at me with a very serious concerned look on his face.

Tonight he told me that I was tired too and then he took my hand and pulled it up to my mouth and told me to 'try' and he used my hand to gently tap my mouth. Oh I get it, I should try to yawn because I'm tired. Ya gotta love it.

Water Fight

2011-08-06T17:10:00.003-04:00

I took these pictures, or should I say I tried to take these photos one day when Denis had the water hose in the backyard.

These photos make me think of Denis playing with my brother.

My brother and Denis have pretend water fights in the living room. They pretend to have hoses and they spray each other.

Denis LOVES these fights. I love watching Denis pretend to turn on a hose and spray my brother while he makes a 'shshshshs' sound.

I hadn't realized how totally invested Denis gets into these fights. During one pretend water fight the other day Denis ran out of the living room. I followed him as it was very unusual for him to leave a game. Denis went into the bathroom to wipe his imaginary wet face and arms with a real towel.

Gotta love it eh?

Mommy Home

2011-08-05T23:23:00.002-04:00

The other night as Denis and I sat on the steps of the porch putting on our socks and shoes for our evening walk Denis touched the house and we had the following conversation.

Denis: Mommy house.
Me: Yes this is Mommy's house. And this is Denis' house too?
Denis: Where Denis house? (looking around)
Me: This is Denis' house.
Denis: Denis house? (touching the house)
Me: Yes, this is Denis' house and Mommy's house. Forever.

Denis touched the house again then his face lit up and he began to dance around singing, "Denis house, Denis house." It brought tears to my eyes. I think he is beginning to get it.

This is your home buddy now and forever!

Whew, I Did It

2011-08-01T18:52:00.003-04:00

I survived and thrived with my sister home for a week.

To say that my son and sister don't actually get on would be an understatement. For the first 4 months or so my sister acted as though Denis wasn't there, that drove Denis crazy as he tried to get her attention. Then suddenly last month, during the Canada weekend, Kathryn started to demonstrate her awareness of Denis. Sometimes she points at Denis, sometimes she smiles, but mostly she gives him the evil eye or makes her mad sound at him.

Denis is forever telling my poor sister that she can't do things (as in get out of bed, use the shower, drink milk etc, etc). One day this week, Denis ran to the car as we prepared to go out and threw an imaginary item out to the seat where Kathryn would sit crying 'SNAKE' as he did it. As I helped my sister into the car Denis cried, "SNAKE BITE" I'm not sure if that was a warning to my sister or an order to the snake.

For years we as a family have said that Kathryn's abilities were at the level of a 2 1/2 year old. Since bringing Denis home I've realized that my sister's abilities are well below those of his age, she is much needier than Denis. I can show Denis something once and he adds it to his store of knowledge and moves ahead. Kathryn learns but a much, much, much slower pace, as in years slower.

But we all survived the week of Kathryn's day program holiday. Here's what we got up to.

Denis and I picked up Kathryn last Sunday and we went to TimHorton's and then to the farmer's market, all on my own with the two of them. We all walked into Tim's but at the market I put my sister into her wheelchair, and shortly afterwards I put Denis into his stroller (he was way past his nap time and getting very difficult). I then pushed both the wheelchair and the stroller back to the car at the same time. (The parking lot was very quiet other wise I'd have done one at a time)
Tuesday my brother joined us for a morning at Pioneer Village.
Wednesday my brother babysat Denis while Kathryn and I went out to knit night.
Thursday evening we all went out to Wendy's for dinner.
Friday Kathryn join us as we (my brother, Denis and I) had our chiro adjustment, shopping and a snack at TimHorton's.

And on Saturday evening I took Kathryn back to the group home on my own, she was not in a good mood and I was afraid she might attack Denis as I was driving.

I'd dreaded the week as I knew the needs of both son and sister, and I wasn't sure if either would accept me going out with the other, but it didn't seem to be a problem. Denis and I either went to the park each day or to ride the escalator at the mall while my sister watched her beloved Lawrence Welk.

There are 2 multiple day closures of my sister's day program, summer and Christmas. Next summer Denis can go to daycare during the day when my sister is home, so this summer was the real challenge. I feel very successful, like I've conquered a mountain or something. I'm not thinking about Christmas just yet, well not much.

Sad thing was dropping her off at her group home and the feeling of relief that washed over me. My anxiety level hovers around 9 out of 10 when my sister is with me. To think I lived that way the entire time she was with me and on all those weekends. No wonder my poor mother passed away at the early age of 71, the stress is a killer. Raising Denis requires I decrease the amount of time I have my sister at home which will decrease my stress a lot. So sad, but true.

Get In

2011-07-30T00:08:00.005-04:00

From the first days home, Denis has had a thing about getting into baskets or bags and asking us to pick him up.

Almost daily my laundry hamper gets dump and Denis will climb into the bag. Then he calls out for my brother or I to come and pick him up. I'm sure the manufacturers of the laundry bag didn't design it to hold 30 + pounds of child.

Here is Denis getting a ride in the laundry hamper. My brother is so accommodating. I mentioned that I didn't think the bag was strong enough to carry Denis around, so my brother has changed the activity to bouncing Denis in the bag on the bed. Yeah, Denis LOVES that game.

The laundry basket is another of Denis' favourite 'toys'. I have had to carry Denis and the laundry upstairs from the laundry room as he 'helps' me put the laundry from the dryer into the basket then climbs in.

Once I've folded the laundry, Denis then climbs into the empty basket saying 'baby'. He'll curl up in the basket and then tell me that I need to sing Rock-a-Bye-Baby while either dragging the basket and forth on the carpet, or tipping the basket on it's end and spinning Denis around in the basket. I marvel at the games he has invented.

Now I thought that my collapsible shopping basket was way to small to climb into. Denis had to try anyway and as you can see he managed to get into the basket.

He needed assistance getting both into and out of the basket. As I helped him (I know, I know, but he says "Please Mommy, just try." how can I resist?) as I was saying, as I helped him I thought back to first days I carried the basket friends said it looked like a Moses basket and that I was carrying a baby in it. LOL

He also loves the black box I purchased to hold some of his toys. He dumps out all the teddy bears and soft toys that are kept in the basket and climb in.

Sometimes he hides in the basket.

Then of course he asks us to pick him up.

My brother as always is so accommodating and will pick Denis up. As soon as I saw the two of them that day I ran to get the camera. It is too cute to miss.

One day Denis won't believe me when I tell him about climbing into all these baskets and bags. He should grow to be over 6 feet tall, he'll look at the bags and baskets and think, "I was never that small." I'm so enjoying this time with Denis, but is it no wonder both my brother and I have pain in our backs and shoulders, it's from picking up Denis in baskets and bags.

Singing His Heart Out

2011-07-29T23:25:00.003-04:00

Last week Denis and I went to Black Creek Pioneer Village a couple of times. I've had a family membership to the village for years, and love going to the village any chance I get.

Denis loves to go into the Town Hall. He will stand at the front and sing a song in his own nonsensical language. I have to sit on one of the benches and be his audience. When he is finished, it is my turn to go up and sing a song and he would be my audience.

Denis is a real showman.

Hey, Look At Mommy

2011-07-29T00:17:00.005-04:00

As I bought my camera, the man in the store asked how old was my child. When I said he was 2 the man responded with, "Ah, yes, the back of the head years." I remember that statement every time I TRY to get a photo of my boy.

Here are some recent photos taken in the past month.

Trying out his new garden chair.

At the zoo on a school trip with Uncle John and all the grade 7's.

At the zoo with Mommy and Uncle John.

At the water park with Alex and Loretta.

At Canada's Wonderland riding on the Carousal.

Hopefully in the future I can get him to look at the camera when I take the picture and get his beautiful face into the photo.

No Cry

2011-07-05T23:17:00.003-04:00

Tonight as I was putting Denis to bed he said, "No cry, mommy, no cry."

For the past month or so I read a couple of books with Denis and then put him into bed, give him a kiss and leave.

Denis cries. Oh how he cries. He bawls and bawls and bawls. Heart wrenching cries. The 'you are such a mean mommy for leaving me all alone in this bedroom' type of cry. Yesterday, when I checked on him he said as he stopped crying, "Look mama, my eyes drip." Too cute.

So tonight when he said, "No cry, mommy, no cry." he was saying he wouldn't cry, and he didn't.

It twas a Happy Canada Day

2011-07-03T00:17:00.003-04:00

We had great fun on Canada Day.

It was a quiet day for the most part as Denis and I have had a really busy week. My sister Kathryn was home and my brother was celebrating the start of his summer holidays. It was nice to sit around and just spend time together.

I tried to watch the celebrations from Ottawa and the Royal couple, but Kathryn wasn't pleased to not be watching Lawrence Welk and left the living room in protest. When I finally convinced her to return we found Denis had taken over her couch with a totally innocent look on his face daring us to protest (good thing he is still small as I just hauled him off the couch and got her settled). Denis is still very jealous of his Aunt and it didn't help that he was exhausted after our week, so he had little time for her and let her know he wasn't pleased to have her around, poor Kathryn.

Here's what Denis and I had been up to this week.

Monday we attended two parties. It was my work end of year party where we saw a 9 day old baby (Denis LOVES babies) and I said an official goodbye as I won't be a consultant next year. Then we drove right across the city to Julia's 11th birthday party at a trampoline place, Denis was too young to jump, but the guy in charge took Denis out onto a trampoline and jumped with him in his arms 3 times.

Tuesday we joined Uncle John's grade 7's on a trip to the zoo. It was Denis' first trip to the zoo, but it won't be his last. He loved it. Good thing I bought a membership. School trips for my brother with 7th graders are so different than my experience with K to 3rd graders. The students go off on their own to meet up at the end of the afternoon. Denis and I spent the day with the other grade 7 teachers wandering around the zoo running into students at every corner and restaurant.

Wednesday we had to get up early to drive Uncle John to school. We then went to IKEA for breakfast, shopping and nap before we returned to school to pick up Uncle John. We then all went to his end of year party.

Finally on Thursday we visited my new school for next year (I'll be teaching grade 1 come Halloween, great day to return to school eh ?). I wanted to meet the teachers I'll be working with and get a look at my new classroom, Denis just wanted to roam around the school, drink from water fountains and climb stairs. When we finished at the school we met Diane, Ciera and Tienna at Canada's Wonderland for a few hours that ended up to be 5 hours.

After a week like that, having a quiet Friday was a treat. Denis and I did make shortcake to go with our fresh Ontario strawberries for our Canada day dinner dessert.

After dinner Denis and I went out to see the fireworks at the city center. The plan had been that all 4 of us go out for fireworks, but Kathryn said no, so she and my brother stayed home and watched Lawrence Welk. Isn't my brother the luckiest person around? Denis loved the fireworks and didn't seem at all bothered by the huge crowd. Now he has another new word in his vocabulary, fireworks!

Hope you had a great Canada Day my Canadian friends, and Happy 4th of July to my American friends.

Such a Boy

2011-06-29T22:56:00.002-04:00

If I was ever in doubt that I have a boy:

he likes to burp and fart
at the farm he was most impressed by the poo and the animals' bums
there are toy cars all over the house
he's learning the names of the different types of trucks and machines (as is mom)
he corrected me and 2 others the other day when we said he had a nice toy car, he said it was a truck - he was correct.
he likes playing and watching video games
he wants to see the pictures of guns and wants to play shooting and 'fall down dead' games

If I was ever in doubt that my boy is very athletic:

he likes to go jogging,
he likes to play ball,
he runs every where
we HAVE to go to the park every day
he doesn't like the climbers for 2 to 5 year olds, he likes the climbers that are for 5 to 12 year olds
after spending the day at the zoo where he walked for most of the day, that evening he insisted we do the 3+km walk and not the shorter walk I had planned.

Denis doesn't walk the 3 to 5 km we do most nights, no he skips, jogs, hops, runs and spins along the way. And he I think he walks at least a half km more than I do as he goes backward and forward as we go along.

We take the stroller (the medium stroller as Denis calls it) but not for Denis to ride in for most of the journey. No he likes to push the stroller for most of the journey, and for some really strange reason we have to pick up and carry the stroller for some of the way too. I thought the evening walk was to help the little one relax so he gets a good night sleep, it just seems to make him more energetic .

How He's Grown!

2011-06-23T23:22:00.003-04:00

I was looking at some photos today, photos from back in December. I had to take some photos of Denis for court. I needed a head shot and a full length photo. I can't believe how much Denis has grown. The pants he is wearing in this photo puddled on the ground have long been given away as they were too short. And even his face has changed so much.

I met a baby and now I have a little boy.

He likes it, really, he does!

2011-06-16T21:43:00.003-04:00

On Sunday I left Denis with my brother while I took my sister out for a couple of hours. Denis loves to spend time with his uncle and my brother generously gave up some of his precious free time during report card and exam prep to play horse and tow truck so I could see our sister.

My outing with Kathryn wasn't that exciting, but she doesn't crave excitement, she likes simple things. We ate lunch at Tim Hortons and then shopped at the SuperStore.

While at the SuperStore I saw a Little Tykes swing. I thought it would be a great gift from Aunt Kathryn for Denis and a great toy for our backyard (maybe allowing me some time to actually work on the yard). I've been trying to build a positive relationship between Denis and my sister. It has been hard as she has been so ill, and we haven't had her home that often. When she has been at home Denis has quickly realized she needs as much care and attention as he does. Can we say Jealous.

When I came home, Denis was having a nap. I set the swing up in the backyard hanging the swing from a branch of the apple tree. When Denis woke up I took him outside to check out the swing.

You can see by the area behind Denis that the yard needs a LOT of work.
Denis loves being on the swings and his usual request is for a 'big' push. I promise you he wasn't asking me to get him out, he was asking for the camera.
And here he is not crying in panic, he is saying that the camera is his and that I should give it back to him.
Finally, he figures if I won't give him my camera then he will just ignore me. I swear that's what was happening.

It is near impossible these days to get a good picture of Denis, he thinks it is a game not to smile for the camera. The wacky thing is he smiles beautifully when playing with my brother's computer's mouse which he pretends is a camera and we have to take pictures with it. Typical, eh?!

Oh, and with him on the swing I did get some yard work done. Now if only Denis would be nice with Aunt Kathryn and not try to hit her or stomp on her broken ankle. Come on, can't I have everything?

BIG

2011-06-15T23:17:00.005-04:00

Big seems to be Denis' new favourite word. Everything is big, and you can't say big unless you drop your voice down an octave and spread your arms wide to demonstrate.

Today we went to the 'big water' which means the swimming pool. This place is not to be confused with the 'big water' we went to on Tuesday, the Pond in Unionville where we saw geese and ducks. He also uses tiny and medium, but hands down big is his favourite word.

Now, having said Denis likes the word, I must mention that Denis has difficulty with understanding size deferential. For instance, this is Denis trying to get his old shoes on his uncle's foot. He'd outgrown the shoes and decided that they would be good shoes for Uncle John.
His solution to the shoe not fitting was to ask my brother to take his sock off.

On the weekend Denis was playing a game while sitting on my brother's knee. Eventually my brother said he was tired and that the game would have to end. Denis had a simple solution to the problem, he wasn't tired so Uncle John could sit on his lap. I just had to get a photo.
We'll have to work on his concept of size, we don't have to work on his self imagine as he sees himself as BIG!

Where My Gramma?

2011-06-13T00:08:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Denis and I were watching Caillou on Treehouse. At the end of the episode there was a vignette where Ciallou tells about his grandmother. Denis was sitting on my knee watching when he turned to me and asked, "Where my Gramma?" Whoa, great way to make get me all choked up little man.

I told Denis his Gramma, who would have wanted to be called Granny, was in heaven. But I took him to see a picture that I have on the fridge of my parents with my sister. I pointed out his Granny and Granddad and his Aunt Kathryn.

Denis loves watching Caillou and he is learning a lot from the show. On one episode, Caillou visits a ranch where he feeds, grooms and rides a horse. At the end of the episode when he and his family are back home, Caillou's father pretends to be a horse. Since seeing the episode Denis makes a neighing sound and indicates that he wants either my brother or I to get on all fours to be a horse. We are then feed imaginary carrots and groomed vigourously.

I just got an email

2011-06-10T22:12:00.003-04:00

I just got an email to say that Denis' passport has been picked up by the the courier company. It isn't ready for me to pick up, but the Consulate is finished with the passport.

How fast is that?!

Visa Interview

2011-06-09T21:28:00.003-04:00

Today was Denis' US Visa interview.

I had originally thought I'd take the subway downtown to the US Consulate. However, I quickly changed my mind when I read the list of items that can't be brought into the Consulate (food, electronic car keys, cell phones, etc). I don't think I could stand to try traveling downtown for the day without my cell phone and I knew I couldn't find food Denis would easily eat in the area immediately around the Consulate, and with an 8:30 appointment, he'd be famished when we got out of there, so I drove downtown. At least I remembered that my main route south was under road construction and took another route.

Denis' appointment was for 8:30 and we were there in plenty of time and after standing outside in line for 15 minutes or so we were actually in the waiting room following security screening and 4 paper checks at exactly 8:30. The finally paper reviewer is in the waiting room, and the lady we spoke with was Russian speaking and very taken with Denis. She spoke to him and made him laugh. He was so happy he didn't want to leave her, but we had our number so we said, "Paka" and waved goodbye to her. Then the waiting and the fun started.

After the final paper review check you are told, "You can take a seat and wait for your number to be called". In security speak this means you must remain seated until your number is called.

Denis was becoming very agitated after about 30 minutes, so I took him to the window where we could see into the Consulate's parking lot . Oh my was that ever a no no. A guard quickly arrived and told me not to go near the window and that I needed to sit down.

Later Denis got away from me and ran to the entrance/exit of the room. I went after him and had another guard ask me if my number had been called, I explained that no, I was just chasing after my son, he told me that I 'must' stay seated until my number was called.

I didn't want to get us thrown out so I dutifully went and found a seat and held Denis on my lap. As you can imagine he was not happy at the idea of having to sit still. We'd been in the waiting room for about 75 minutes at this point. Now a 2 and 1/2 year old who is bored and who is being forced to stay seated will vocalize his displeasure. So what does the guard do, he comes over and tells me that the child needs to be quiet. Yeah, good idea,eh?!. Then to show how little he knew about children he pointed to a sleeping infant no more than a few weeks old and says, "That one is better behaved". I smiled and said, "Yes she is so much quieter, I'm envious of the mother" I actually was envious of the mother as I'd have loved to have held and known Denis when he was only a few weeks old.

Luckily at the 90 minute mark our number was called and we had our very quick and very nice interview with one of the staff of the Consulate. She told me her children were from Russia. The Visa will be processed over the next 3 business days and then I'll go pick it up closer to home. After all the waiting the actual interview was so easy it seemed anti-climatic. I had to ask if we were all done to make sure I was actually done, and yes we were done so finally we were out of there. I must say I said 'Thank God" when our number was called, I'm sure everyone else in the waiting room thought the same thing. LOL

Back to the car, I paid the $15 for the less than 2 hours of parking (why I hate driving downtown) and on our way to the park.

Soon Denis will have a Visa allowing him to travel to the US and next year we will attend Kazapalooza.

Oh, I was asked why I didn't get Denis the automatic citizenship. I was starting that part of my paperwork just at the time that the law was passed (2007). My agency was told that the Canadian Embassy in Russia wasn't equipped to process the new citizenship applications so I should go the sponsorship route instead. Who knew that I wouldn't travel for another 3 years. I am glad I went the sponsorship route as the 2009 change to citizenship would give children with automatic citizenship limited rights. A little time now is well worth the hassle if it saves Denis hassles in the future.

No Kazapalooza For You

2011-06-05T10:02:00.002-04:00

Back in January I read about Kazapalooza being in Florida this year. It was in the minus 20's Celsius in Uralsk and the idea of being on a beach in Florida was so appealing.

Unfortunately I didn't apply for Denis' US Visa interview early enough to get his visa so we are not in Florida this weekend for the party.

Next year hopefully.

Kitchen Car Accident

2011-05-15T23:39:00.006-04:00

The route through the kitchen was unexpectedly blocked by a truck and the car driver smashed into the truck. Who would leave a truck in the middle of the road way?
The car driver was in shock.
He examined vehicles for any damage.
Then the driver took pictures for insurance asking the cars to smile for the pictures.

There were no reports of injuries or damage.

3 Months Anniversary

2011-05-14T22:03:00.008-04:00

It has been three months now since the day I returned to Kazakhstan and went to the Baby House to be reunited with Denis. WOW! I can't believe it has been such a short time because it feels like Denis has always been a part of my life. Today I finally got to have the kind of day I've been dreaming of for years, a celebration with the four of us, and here we are my brother, Denis and I, and my sister.

Denis has been having a hard time getting to know Aunt Ka as he calls Kathryn (she calls herself Ka too, which is too funny). The first 2 weeks Kathryn was in hospital with pneumonia. And then I've only been able to have her home for a few day visits and 2 over night visits, so they haven't spent a lot of time together. And when she is here he tries to engage her and get her attention but Kathryn just ignores him. Well to be truthful she is watching Lawrence Welk, Kathryn ignores everything when she is watching Lawrence Welk.

Denis is jealous of Kathryn to no end, Denis told Kathryn that the Lawrence Welk videos were his and that she couldn't watch them, he also owns the shower and she can't use it, and oh yes, no juice or chocolate milk for her, they belong to him. The second time Kathryn was home Denis watched me helping my sister in the bathroom and he said to me, "Mommy, Aunt Ka lala", meaning Aunt Kathryn is a baby. Which is so true. We've always said that Kathryn's abilities are like that of a 2 1/2 year old, but truly Denis is so much more able than his aunt. I often call Kathryn my baby, I think I must have done it around Denis and he did not like hearing that, but she will always be my baby.

Here are my too babies from earlier today.

We had a celebratory dinner with cupcakes for desert. I asked my brother to take a picture of Denis eating his cupcake, I guess he doesn't trust my brother, he wasn't letting my brother anywhere near the cupcake.

Here's the evidence that Denis really enjoyed that cupcake. And here's to all the month to come with my wonderful little man.

A Car For My Boy

2011-04-28T13:09:00.005-04:00

Denis loves the car and is positive that he should be able to drive MY car. Last week I finally bought him a car of his own, I purchased a LittleTykes Cosy Coupe. Denis loves his car.
The day we bought the car he couldn't wait for me to get it out of the box

Today I couldn't find my car keys. Look where I found them.

Look closer, they are actually in the car as if they were in the ignition. The kid doesn't miss a trick.

Yaba Daba Do

2011-04-25T22:42:00.002-04:00

I have got to find my flip video recorder as Denis has taken to talking up a storm and I want to capture it. Since Friday he starts these long and involved monologues of gibberish. He rides his Little Tykes car over to where I sit on the couch, gets out of his car, closes the door of the car and (my favourite part) leans against the door and begins talking. I swear I've heard 'Starbucks' and 'yaba daba do' out of him quite a few times.

Today I took Denis grocery shopping and we called JB to see what he needed. I dialed home and passed the phone to Denis. After a few moments Denis began his talking. He is a delight to watch as he has these eye and body movements to go with a conversation. He talked and talked and I began to wonder if my brother was actually on the phone. JB was there, but he wasn't sure if Denis even knew it as Denis really didn't respond to anything JB said to him.

I have the box for the video recorder and the instruction manual but no camera. I think I put it in a safe spot prior to going to Kazakhstan in November, hopefully it won't be November before I find it.

Nightmares and Stuff

2011-04-24T21:14:00.002-04:00

I had a nightmare the other night. I was on my final trip to collect my child. But this child was not Denis I will note, just the unknown child, as in how my dreams worked prior to meeting Denis. I was in line to check-in for the flight home from his/her country when I realized I didn't have his/her passport. I didn't have the child with me, there seemed to be a hurdle I had to pass where I had to get through the airline check in and then the child would magically appear. Except I didn't have the passport so I was going to fail this hurdle and then I was going to be stuck in the international adoption limbo.

I was frantically trying to call my mother (who passed away almost 7 year ago, long before I began my true adoption journey). But instead of calling my home phone number, the number that has been my home number my entire life, I was calling the house of a friend from work and getting her answering machine. Of course these calls were long distance and seemed to take forever to dial and connect. I'm not sure what I thought my mother on the other side of the world was going to do as the passport couldn't have been at home, but don't you always call Mom first when you run into trouble.

I was standing in that line slowly snaking our way up to the check in desk and frantically trying to get someone back home to look for the passport while all the time trying to appear calm as I knew all eyes were on me to see if I was good parent material.

The panic was so profound that when I woke up I found it near impossible to go back to sleep. It is hard to get past the anxiety and fear that is a part of your every day when you are in the process to adopt. You arrive home and poof, the fear that this wonderful child will be taken away from you should go away. But I've found that hasn't happened. I still find it hard to believe that Denis really is my son forever. It is a really strange feeling because at the same time Denis has so beautifully slipped into our lives that it feels like he has always been apart of our family, and not home for just over 2 months.

I mentioned to my brother just today how I can't believe that Denis is really here and that this is real life. He wondered how long the feeling will continue, or will it be just one of those things that months from now I'll suddenly realize that I haven't had that feeling for a very long time.

My brother told me how he has a hard time picturing Denis in our future. At first I wasn't sure what he meant. Then he explained how he can picture me and what I will be doing in 10 years, he has an idea of his life in those 10 years, and he can pretty well figure out how Kathryn's life will go, but he can't imagine Denis beyond how he is today. I thought a lot about what he was saying and realized I felt the same way. We really are just getting to know Denis and we can't imagine what his life or he will be like in the future. Scary and exciting at the same time.

Kathryn has been home for the Easter weekend. On Thursday my brother came home from work early so he could watch Denis I drove to her group home to pick her up. It was the first time I have been apart from Denis since I collected him from the baby house. There were tears on both are parts, and then some nakedness, but that was only with Denis, I kept my clothes on. My poor brother had to deal with trying to get a diaper back on Denis who thinks running around without a diaper to be the greatest game going.

When I have Kathryn home I feel so guilty at all times. I feel guilty for not being able to be with Kathryn the way I was prior to Denis coming into my life and I feel guilty for not being able to do things with Denis that I do when Kathryn isn't here. Guilt is so unproductive.

The plan had been for me to take Kathryn to mass this morning and then back to the group home while my brother looked after Denis, but last night Kathryn had 2 grand mal seizures. We tried to remember the last time she had seizures with us and it would have been quite a few Christmas' ago. She has been having a lot of drop seizures this winter/spring. My brother and I automatically start thinking that we did or didn't do something that caused her to have the seizures (again with that worthless guilt stuff). I'm thinking that this is just one of those years when she has a hard time with seizures.

We got her to bed last night around 11, fighting all the time as she just wanted to go to sleep. And then today she stayed in bed until 5 ish. It is worrisome as you can't get medicine into her and she didn't eat yesterday or today until she got up at 5. Now she is lying on the couch watching her Lawrence Welk and smiling away. She gets an extra day with us at home, and extra day to watch Lawrence and hang out with her siblings and nephew, not bad all considered.

Happy Easter by the way,

I miss my Kazakhstan Internet

2011-04-17T21:42:00.003-04:00

Sad but true, I miss the speed of the internet that I had in Kazakhstan. From reading so many blogs I knew one of the challenges in Kaz was the speed of internet. So I decided not to upgrade to high speed here at home and we stayed with dial up (I know, I bet you didn't know anyone still used dial up, no YouTube here).

I got to Kazakhstan and Nastya arranged high speed internet for me. I had difficulty at times connecting, but once connecting I loved the speed. But now I'm home I can't stand the internet. I sometimes try to get online when Denis is napping, but I can be still waiting for a website to load and Denis is awake.

Job for this week, setting up high speed wireless internet.

Catching Up - Flying Home

2011-04-03T12:55:00.007-04:00

Thank you to all of you who have asked for updates and for me to continue our story, I too want to record our adventure to help me remember in the years to come.

Denis and I stayed in Almaty for 3 days. They were fun and stressful days.

On Saturday, February 19th at 1 am the driver returned to the hotel to collect Denis and I. I'd put Denis down to sleep at the usual time, but I couldn't sleep as I was so anxious that I would over sleep or that the driver wouldn't come and I'd have no way to contact him. But when I was in the lobby settling my account the driver arrived, I was so happy to see him. I was also intrigued to see the couples paying for their rooms at 1 am, sort of wondered how many hours they planned to use the room (wink, wink).

We drove through the vibrant Almaty to the airport. As we drove I tried to absorb as much as possible to remember so I could tell Denis in the future .My flight wasn't until 3:40 am and I'd planned to be at the airport 2 hours early, but when we arrived we had to wait in the general area as they were not ready to take passengers. I used the money exchange in the airport to change the left over Tenge I had back into US dollars. It wouldn't have been the best rate, but it was convenient, and it isn't like I could do it once I got home.

Finally we were able to go into the check in area. There was a small problem as Denis didn't have an assigned seat for the second flight, but I knew that so they calmed down. Then it was time to go through passport control. I'd been so worried about it, but it was totally simple. A few moments and a second set of security we were in the waiting room. I spent the last of my Tenge to purchase a juice for Denis and then we had a couple of hours to wait for boarding.

In the waiting room I met a new mom from Georgia who was returning home with her infant daughter. It was nice to chat a bit and exchange stories of our experiences.

The feeling of getting on to the Lufthansa airplane for the flight for Frankfurt is hard to describe. All the fears and anxiety of the past 3 months and truly many years were relieved as we buckled in for the beginning of the journey home.

The flight was 6 and 1/2 hours long. I measured it in the things spilt on me (juice, water, tea etc). I'd brought a change of clothes for Denis, I never thought to bring a change for myself. Denis had a blast on the flight and the air crew couldn't have been nicer.

Then it was our 4 hours in Frankfurt airport. We played on the teeny tiny climber, had french fries at McD's, and tried to find as many things as we could to pass the time. Denis actually fell asleep in the airport about 40 minutes before our flight was due to board. I cried when I saw the Air Canada plane, it was so nice to see a sign of home. It actually was our plane for home.

The final flight was the hardest. Denis was tired of flying and I was plain old tired. I have few memories of that flight, only that I was working on keeping Denis quiet and happy. At one point 2 hours into the flight Denis put on his hoody and boots and said "come on" to me to leave the plane, oh how I wish we could have gotten off that plane.

We actually had great tail winds and arrived in Toronto 40 minutes early and then breezed through customs and immigration. Then we waited for friends and family to come and meet us.

Thanks to Diane, Ciera, Tienna, Loretta, Aline, Christine, Alex and my brother and sister who came out to meet us. And to Anna, Rosemary and Julia who just must have missed us.

Denis and Alex had a great time playing with toy cars that Aline bought for them, you'd never think we were in the arrivals area.

Finally it was time to go home.

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-03-13T16:36:00.002-04:00

Denis and I have been home for 3 weeks now, 3 wonderful and horrible weeks at the same time.

Denis has been great. He is learning English at a great pace. The other night my brother turned to me at dinner and said that the sounds from Denis had suddenly changed from just sounds to more wordish. I had to agree. He has put on weight, at least a pound if not more. He is a typical 2 year old with the wonderfully inconsistent eating patterns. What he loves today he calls kaka tomorrow. 3 words of Russian commonly are heard in our house, da, niet, and kaka. The later two are heard more often than the first, he is a two year old.

The challenge since arriving home has been my poor sister's health. My brother brought Kathryn to the airport to meet us on the 19th, I hadn't seen her seizure so badly or so awful in years. I had planned to take her home for the Family Day weekend, but she was well beyond my ability to take care of her, so we brought her back to her group home. The following day her caregivers decided they too didn't like how poorly she looked and brought her to the hospital, she was admitted and remained in hospital for a week and a half. Eventually she was found to have pneumonia, whether that was the cause or the affect it is hard to say. After the first 48 hours, the group home couldn't send staff to stay with her, though many of her caregivers went to visit her on their own time. Denis and I visited her most days, sometimes twice a day. We bought her a portable DVD player and brought it with a Lawrence Welk DVD, even though she was feeling awful, she was so happy to watch the show. I have to say the nurses and other hospital staff were great too.

Luckily, after a course of antibiotics she is much better, that was until Friday night when she fell on the stairs and cut her head open. Again she was back to the hospital for another CTScan to check, luckily again, nothing was wrong and after 8 hours she was released and sent home.

The hardest part of Kathryn being ill was my inability to be with her. In the past I would have been at her side from the beginning until her release. Not being able to be there to keep her company and help her through such a scary ordeal was heartbreaking. Every day when I had to leave her in the hospital I felt awful. I am so blessed that Kathryn does have such wonderful caregivers to take care of her.

I knew our lives would change, but boy not so suddenly or dramatically.

Spring time in Almaty

2011-02-17T04:04:00.001-05:00

I don't know if it is the weather is typical of February in Almaty, but today is a beautiful day again. It is 9 C this afternoon. Just beautiful.

This morning after breakfast, Denis and I walked up to the Tsum store. Okay, I walked, he rode in the stroller which he absolutely loves, I'm not so happy with it as it veers to the left, but for 15 dollars and folds small enough to come in my suitcase, I'm happy enough with it.

We checked out the pedestrian mall and the third floor of Tsum and bought stuff and I need to get more cash, darn the stuff just disappears - the money that is.

Around 11:30 we started back to the hotel, and you what I discovered? There are two Ramstores right near each other, and one is not near my hotel. LOL. There is a subway (true sense of the word, not the Toronto meaning) under the major insection, while I was underground I thought I'd gone under the east west street instead I'd gone under the north south street and started walking east instead of continuing south. Luckily I had my map and after crossing the same street 5 times I found my way back to the hotel. But along the way I found that other Ramstore, who knew, certainly not I.

Denis is having his nap, and after nap we will go out for a walk again. Thanks for all the suggestions of places to go. Must admit I'm lacking the energy and frankly the guts to try anything far or complex. Truly walking to the Tsum store was fun and challenging on its own, and Denis is just loving everything.

Okay, you know how 2 year olds just HAVE to have certain things, well Denis just has to have the luggage label. It is a Canadian flag luggage label. It was the first thing he saw when he arrived in the hotel room on Monday back in Uralsk. I took it off the suitcase as he was dragging the case around by the label whimpering, and now the luggage label goes everywhere. And of course it is too big to keep around his wrist, but Lord help me if I attempt to shorten the loop, that is NOT what he wants. So, of course the luggage label is prone to falling off while we are walking. Now I do have a second label (which he has asked for a couple of times, but it is on the suitcase - for now). By the other Ramstore as we crossed the wrong street for the 3 time on our way the correct way I realized we didn't have the label, so back across the wrong street for the 4th time and back through the Ramstore and we found the label, and then back outside to cross the street for a 5th time. Yup, I'm a mom!

The pictures are of Denis showing off his luggage label. As I teased while in Uralsk, Denis is a little bit of baggage I picked up this trip. LOL And the last is just Denis hamming it up for the camera, I have to use the camera with the front screen so he can see himself when I'm taking pictures, and he loves to make faces during pictures, just like his Uncle John!

Bye for now,

Goodbye Uralsk Hello Almaty

2011-02-16T14:21:00.000-05:00

Pictures:

The Uralsk airport
Denis and I on the plane
Uh, is this a sign of the future, replace the toy cell phone with the real one and change the water bottle for a coffee - business man in the making?!
Ah, to sleep - wished I could afford Business class the whole way home.

Denis is a flying pro. I didn't need to give him any kind of medication, he didn't flinch at take off or at landing. He totally enjoyed the flight and the only fuss he made was when I made him take a nap, this flying stuff was so much fun. The best part was the putting on and off of the seat belt, luckily he hasn't mastered undoing the seat belt - that was my job, but he would put it together repeatedly.

We arrived just a little late of our planned arrival time to a 35 degree C temperature difference. It was -31 C in Uralsk in the morning, and 4 C in Almaty. WOW. I hope the weather holds for the next two days so Denis and I can explore the city.

I was met by a very nice driver that Nastya arranged for me. He drove us to the hotel, I'm staying at the Astra which is a lovely hotel near the train station and more importantly the Ramstore - oh the goods of shopping it was huge and I didn't need much, but it was so nice to see so much STUFF.

After dropping off our luggage at the hotel the driver drove us to the Hyatt Regency hotel as the Lufthansa has an office there. The hotel was lovely and Denis saw a water fountain - so many new things to see and explore it is so wonderful. At the Lufthansa office the lady booked Denis a return ticket as the one way was 3 times as expensive. She was so nice and kind to Denis, she said she couldn't understand someone not wanting such a sweet little boy. I have to agree, but I'm glad as that allowed me to become his mother.

So, now we are in our luxury hotel suite (and only 22 000 tenge a night - or for those not into the exchange around $150 a night) As I'm leaving at 1 a m on Saturday morning I will only have to pay 1/2 a nights room rental - not bad eh?

Tomorrow Denis and I will go exploring. He loves the stroller and happily goes into it when we put on our coats. I am so looking forward to a world without stairs to carry the stroller up and down. I have a map of Almaty from the lobby of the hotel so I'm ready.

Bye for now,
Michele

I have my son

2011-02-14T10:52:00.001-05:00

This will be a short post as I'm totally exhausted.

I left Toronto on Saturday evening on the 6:40 flight to Frankfurt. 8 hours later I was in Frankfurt. 4 hours after that I was on the 6 hour flight from Frankfurt to Almaty. 10 1/2 hours later, way up from the 6 hours stop over I was suppose to have, I was on my 3 1/2 hour way to Uralsk. Needless to say we were wiped when we arrived.

We arrived at just after 12:30 in the afternoon, by the time we collected the luggage and got on our way to Uralsk it was after 1:30. Jody's mom was my traveling companion. It was lovely have someone along on the enormous journey.

I had from 1:30 to just around 3 to shower and organize the gifts for everyone. At 3 Yulia and Andre took me out to purchase Denis' airline ticket to Almaty for Wednesday. And then the event that I think I've waited for my entire life, we returned to the baby house to get Denis.

There have been many changes during the month I was away, including another child leaving and many children coming into the room. Denis came flying to me as soon as he saw me. I gave the gifts to the caregivers and the doctor, to the director and to the caregiver for the children. I got Denis dressed into his Valentine's special red clothes. I signed the register in the director's office and then we were away.

There were tears though. Tears from me as I walked him down the stairs for the final time, and watched him give the caregiver so many kisses at her request. I'm glad it was my favourite caregiver working today. Then tears from Denis as we stood in the director's office and later in the car as we prepared to drive away. His life has changed forever! I think he cried because he was scared.

Yulia and Andre took me to a local grocery store where I bought some things to get me through the next few days. Then back to the hotel. While I'd been away the staff had set up a crib for Denis. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, it was the young man I'd asked to set up the bed, he was returning my laundry. I'd put the pants and shirt I'd worn through the journey into a laundry bag and meant to drop it off at the desk tomorrow on my way into breakfast. I certainly didn't expect them back this evening.

I don't think Dniis will use the cot, he's on the bed right now, but at least it stressed for him that he was to sleep here. Barb, thanks for the soft picture book, I gave that to him to take to bed. He has a bit of a cold and it was a stressful evening, so it didn't take him long to fall asleep, and I don' t think it will take me long to get to sleep tonight either. I've put the pillows and the mattress from the cot on the floor under his side of the bed, just in case.

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives. I couldn't be happier.

And I hope this post makes sense as I'm exhausted.
Good night!

What a Wicked Weekend

2011-02-06T16:31:00.004-05:00

Here I am, just 5 days from returning to Kazakhstan to collect Denis, and I have a wicked case of stomach flu. I'm happy, for want for a better word, that if I had to be sick it was this weekend and not next, next weekend would have been disastrous. But I have so much to do before I leave and getting sick wasn't in the plans.

I will have to take some days off this week to recover from this flu as I need to be tiptop before leaving on Saturday. Wished I had the energy to do what needs to be done. I think I'll be working on stuff between naps.

I think I let myself get run down by trying to do to much since coming home. I wanted to cram everything into my short 4 weeks home. It isn't in my personality to take things easy, but for the next 5 days it will be my new creed, need to let stuff go and focus on the important things.

First on the agenda is finishing the sweater I've knitted for Denis. I knitted to get through the waiting, so a knitted sweater that fits for my son is of a top priority. The other two sweaters I knit for my imaginary child are too small. I can't express how much fun and satisfying it has been knitting for my real son. I think I had a smile on my face through each and every stitch.

2 Weeks Down 2 Weeks to Go

2011-01-31T15:38:00.002-05:00

I'm in the half-way point of my wait to go back to Kazakhstan, in fact I will be back in Uralsk in 2 weeks today. I am so excited with the idea of being back with Denis. On the weekend I bought and set up his toddler bed. Everytime I look at it I just can't help smiling. My little boy is going to sleep there very soon.
It is very strange to be home. Everything is exactly the same, but at the same time nothing is the same. I arrived home on a Sunday afternoon and actually returned to work on the Monday morning. I was jet lagged and stunned but boy was it ever so nice to be earning money again.
It has also been wonderful to have my sister home again. I so missed her while I was away. I have never been away from my sister for such a long period of time. It was really hard. Kathryn is the only one that I couldn't speak to while I was away. And I wasn't able to get much information on how she was doing as I seemed to only get agency/relief staff at the house when I called. I don't know if she understands that her nephew will be here in 3 weeks. I show her pictures of Denis and tell her all about him. She can say something that sounds like Denis, it is really similiar of 'dance' what she calls Lawrence Welk. My brother really hopes that Denis doesn't come to love Lawrence Welk like his aunt.
Now back to more child proofing the house. Where did all that stuff come from?

Started Home

2011-01-15T02:01:00.001-05:00

I've begun my journey home.

I would have said that I'm part way home, but in fact I'm further away from home today then I was yesterday. I'm in Almaty. I flew here last night, and very early tomorrow I will fly home. I was very sad to say goodbye to Denis, Yulia, Nastya and Andre. I know I will be back in one month to be reunited with my little man, and we will never have to say paka again. I'll teach him to say goodbye instead :-)

Almaty is so much bigger than Uralsk. I'm in the big city now. I've been on highways and been in a grocery store 4 times the size of any of the grocery stores that I shopped at in Uralsk.

I'm staying with Louisa and her family in an apartment in Almaty. It is wonderful to be with her again. We've chatted on-line most days since she came back, but it is so much easier when you don't have to type.

In 13 hours we will be packing up and moving off to the airport to fly home. I know I'll have to pay for a second bag. What a shock! I was allowed to bring 2 free bags here, but I only get one free bag going home. I'll know better next journey. Frankly my bags are packed with a ton less than I brought, and I know I won't be bring anywhere near as much next time, I barely used the stuff I did bring.

Paka paka and see you from the other side of the world.

Denis is Officially My Son

2011-01-13T11:32:00.001-05:00

Well, it is official. I have seen the final adoption decree, Denis is 100 % my son.

I am absolutely delighted and absolutely desolate at the same time. He is my son, but tomorrow I leave. I think he sort of understands that something is changing as he cried so hard today when I had to leave. We actually arrived in time to join his group going outside. As we walked around the Baby House building we saw my driver pull into the grounds of the Baby House, poor Denis began to cry, he must have thought that II would be leaving right away. Instead, Andre offered to give the children in Denis' group a ride around the baby house in the car. What a treat! The children and Andre had a great time. But all to soon I had to leave. I had to bring Denis inside and he cried the whole way. I quickly got him out of his clothes, gave him to the caregiver inside, and ran away, I was afraid I too would start to cry as hard as Denis. I was bad and just stuffed his clothes into his cubby, I wasn't neat at all.

After the baby house, Nastya and Yulia came to my apartment to help me fill in the last of the documents I need to do for Denis. Tomorrow I go and sign at the Register's office for his birth certificate and then back to the notary to sign some very final papers. I have one final visit with Denis and I head to Almaty. I will be leaving Denis with the photo album and a stuffed teddy bear, so I'm hoping the leave taking will not be so hard. It will also be hard saying goodbye to the team that has supported me here, Yulia, Nastya and Andre. I hope I can make it on to the plane without tears.

I'm very lucky tonight, my apartment has heat and hot water. I shall enjoy both.

Paka paka

Goodbye to the Fir Tree

2011-01-12T23:40:00.001-05:00

Yesterday when we arrived at the baby house, it was to meet Denis' favourite caregiver rushing around as the children were going to see a special fairy tale. The children were all dressed in their finest clothes and were all beautifully groomed. We went into the music room and I was given permission to stay and watch. The children sat on benches and the nurses did the fairy tale.

First they told the story in Kazakh, then they repeated the story in Russian. It is the story of a little girl who goes into the woods to get a fir tree to decorate for the New Year. At the first tree she finds and decides to cut down she is stopped by the squirrel/chipmunk (or maybe a bird I couldn't quite see) that lives in the tree. At the second tree she is stopped by the fox who lives by the tree and at the third tree she is scared away by a bear. Upset that she can't find a tree she meets up with Father Frost who rewards her with a tree because she was kind and thoughtful to the animals of the woods when they asked her not to take their trees. Or I should say this is my understanding of the play without being given a translation.

After the 2 versions of the story, the caregivers gave each of the children an ornament to put on the little tree that they had used in the play. Then they all recited a poem and the lights on the tree came on. The children who had learned a poem or song during the Christmas/ New Year season were invited to stand up and recite the poem or sing the song, about 5 children spoke or sang. And finally all the children were given some treats to eat.

Before they left the music room, all the children recited a poem about the fir tree going away for another year and that it will return next year. There is a big decorated fir tree in the music room, on Friday the staff will be taking it down. They caregivers wanted to have a special ceremony to help the children understand. It was delightful.

The children, about 20 or so, probably 3 groups, were very well behaved. The oldest were under 4 and the youngest around a year and a half. I realize how far behind Denis is in his speech as 2 of his group mates were able to say a poem of 4 to 6 lines on their own, Denis uses a rare word spontaneously. Then again, many of the children were silent for the entire time, not even mouthing the poems recited as a group, I think many have speech delays. I can also see the problem in that the two groups 7 and 8 were together for the past 9 months or so and they would have had both Kazakh and Russian spoken to them all the time, it must have been confusing. Now I've added English to the mix. It is evident that Denis understands what is said to him as he does exactly as he is told.

After the play the children returned to their group area for afternoon meal. Today it was a roll filled with a cabbage, onion and carrot mixture and some biscuits and warm milk. As he was eating Yulia and I told Denis that I would be coming for 2 more visits and then I would be away for a many days. I used your phrases Amy about getting his bed ready and buying toys (his eyes lit up with that one). He also closed his eyes and pretended to sleep as Yulia was speaking to him, I know closing his eyes is one of Denis' coping mechanisms, I saw that a lot in the very early days of my visits. Then it was time to say goodbye for the day. I brought him back to his friends where they were eating in their little dinning room. His caregiver told him to blow kisses to his mama, which he very happily did.

So I have 2 more visits before I leave. Today I will go and buy a stuff toy for him for when I am gone. Thanks Diane for the encouragement.

I've pretty much packed everything and made the apartment as clean as I can. I did my final load of my laundry yesterday only to think I'd be returning home without all those clothes. The washing machines are front loaders here, but unlike at home, once you start them going they lock and cannot be opened until the wash finishes. I started the wash about and hour and 45 minutes before I needed to leave to go for lunch yesterday, the wash was suppose to take one hour and 20 minutes. At 11 (I needed to be out of the apartment at 11:25) the wash had 2minutes to go, great I thought, it will finish and I can hang the wash up to dry before I go. At 11:25 the wash was still going and still had 2 minutes to go, I was afraid if I left it, the machine would still be going when I came back from lunch, so I unplugged the machine. After lunch I plugged the machine back in and it said it had 3 minutes to go, 45 minutes later it was finally done. Whew, I was so happy to get my clothes back. I will be doing some more laundry before I go, but only with towels and linen from the apartment.

Oh and there is no heat, or barely any heat and no hot water in my apartment today. They are replacing the chimney for the boiler, so of course the work is being done now in January when the night time low goes to -26 or so. The apartment isn't actually cold, more in line with the temperature we'd have our home, but after the heat of the past 9 weeks it feels chilly.

And my other complaint is I think I've lost my satellite tv again. I don't know if it is time for the monthly payment, which wouldn't make sense to pay as I'm leaving tomorrow. Can you see me, no heat, no tv and the internet wouldn't stay connected, I was not a happy camper. I ended up going to bed at 9, I was so tired I think I went out like a light. But as the saying goes, early to bed early to rise, I was up just before 6 am our time.

I have to go the notary today to do something and I need to do paperwork for Denis' entry visa to Canada and today the judge is suppose to sign the adoption into reality as the 15 day appeal period ended yesterday. Tomorrow I go sign for his birth certificate, which here in Uralsk has to be done by the parents in person. And then I will have done everything I need to do.

I will have a visit today and a visit tomorrow and then I will be going home for the month.

Paka paka

Thanks for all the Great Suggestions

2011-01-11T11:40:00.001-05:00

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions on how to help Denis deal with my absence. I actually have a baby's photo album that I brought with me. It was an idea I got from Diane, she'd made one for Ciera. I brought the album with photos of my brother and sister, and some of my friends and their children. Now the album has pictures of Denis and I. During every visit we look at the pictures. I'll be leaving the album with him when I leave.

Also my translator is going to be going to the baby house with Jody every day, so she will from time to time go into Denis' room to see him. We hope he doesn't think that I am there when he sees her.

Denis' favourite caregiver will be working tomorrow. I will be giving her all the diapers I need to leave while I am gone, and Yulia and I have spoken to her about when I am away. She asked for a photo and I showed her the album, she thought the album was a great idea.

Oh and Susan, thank you for the idea about notes from the caregivers. I bought a little notebook and I will leave it there with them this week, Yulia will pick it up next week and translate the notes. The caregiver was very happy with the idea.

Today Denis was so cute he had me laughing my head off. When we go into the isolation room, our bonding space, he firsts wants to look out the window. Today when I lifted him up, he leaned on the sill and then asked to be let down. I put him on the ground and he went into my knapsack to get the snack ziplock bag. I helped him open the bag and he pulled the face cloth I bring. Then he asked me to lift him back up to the window where he promptly began to wipe the window sill and scrub at a mark on the wood. I'm sorry JB, but your nephew is into clean, you'll have to change your ways.

Later we had our first temper tantrum. Denis found a pen in my knapsack and I let him use it in a notebook, but then he decided that he wanted to write on the furniture and on the floor. On his second attempt I took the pen away. Oh the crying and the throwing himself on the floor. Unfortunately it was at the end of our ever so lengthy 20 minutes visit, but he did let me comfort him and he was smiling when he said goodbye.

3 more visits and then I'm head for home. I'm in the process of trying to change my tickets right now. It will only be the third time I've changed these tickets. They do say the third time is the charm, right?!

Paka paka

Baby It's Cold Outside

2011-01-10T22:48:00.001-05:00

The temperature as I write this is -23 C, that's without any kind of wind chill factor, just the bare temperature. Yesterday at the same time (just after 7 a.m) the temperature was around the same, however for both days the forecast has the night time low around -16C. You have no doubt that it really is that cold when you are out walking, every painful breath lets you know that, yes it is cold. And yet we see people walking everywhere. This is a city of people who walk.

Yesterday we were back to normal, in other words, a twenty minute visit. I was actually there about 30 minutes earlier than normal and discovered that the children were just getting dressed again after their afternoon nap. After nap they get a snack of hot milk and some kind of bread or cookies. One day it was blinis or crepes lightly buttered and yesterday it was a nice soft roll and some cookies.I happen to know that the roll was nice and soft as Denis insists on feeding me during our visits. I've bought many packages of cookies for the children thanks to a lovely librarian I know who gave me money to buy treats for the children. B. that money has gone really far as cookies are not that expensive.

I found the journey to the baby house to be difficult as I'm in my final count down. I only have 4 more visits and then I will be going home for a month. I'm actually fine when I'm with Denis, but on the way I'm starting to feel emotional and have to keep from crying. As Denis played yesterday I was telling him that in a few days I will be leaving for a month and then I will return to bring him home forever. He was sitting in front of me playing and after each phrase he'd look back at me and smile. When I said that he'd be coming home to live with me forever he turned and kissed me. I have no idea how much English he understands, and I know that he can't understand what is going to happen to him, but oh what a joyful feeling that he is happy with the idea. Hey, I am allowed to fool myself that he understands.

Today Denis' favourite caregiver was working, so he was not upset to leave me. She has taught him to blow kisses, so when he leaves me he goes to her and she tells him to blow me a kiss. She'll be working on Wednesday so I'll be bringing a month's worth of diapers on Wednesday to leave with her. I'm also sorting out his clothes to leave while I'm away.

Well it's back to packing and sorting out my apartment. I can't keep track of the day of the week and I'm getting anxious that I've forgotten something or that I'll be late. After 8 weeks here I'm thinking I have so many things to do, who knew I'd run out of time. LOL

Paka paka

What do you do with an hour????

2011-01-09T12:29:00.000-05:00

The International Doctor was here to see Jody's baby today and it was decided that we would be at the baby house at the same time so I got to spend the entire time with Denis which was over an hour. After about 25 minutes he'd been through everything in the knapsack, drunk as much of the juice as he wanted (and spilled as twice as much on my jeans) Denis looked at me with his hands in the air as if to say 'Now what do we do?" I was hysterical. Denis has become so accustomed to our short little visits that he was bored by the 25 minute mark. The funny thing is Yulia was shortly at the door to say she was bored and wondered what we were doing as she had nothing to do. It was too funny.

Actually I sat there in the isolation room with Denis as he took everything out of the knapsack and I thought those 2 long flights home next month should be a LOT of fun. Actually I hope Denis will be so interested in everything that the journey will be fun. I do have to get a lot of electronic toys for him because he likes things that do something.

One thing he played with today was my camera. I gave in and let him play with it when he came over and took the wrist strap and put it around his tiny little arm like a pro and then looked at me as if to say, "Well look I'm responsible and ready to use the camera". I'd showed him how to use the strap about a month ago when I let him look at the photos on the camera, it's touch screen and likes making the pictures move. Today he LOVED taking pictures. They were almost all of his left fingers as he holds the camera with a finger or two over the lens. I'd already decided to let him have my old camera, good call.

Oh, at one point during the visit the door flies open and there in the doorway is the doctor and one of the nurses. She looks in and then walks away. I felt quite smug as I had my mask over my face when she looked in, and I was so happy that I didn't have Denis on the window ledge or upside down, he was just in my arms. Whew, that was close. I actually wear my mask most of my visit and as I've said before Denis will put it back on if it slips off. Won't he be in for a surprise when I take him home and he learns that I don't wear them.

This afternoon Jody had Kendra, her family and I over for lunch. It was a lovely afternoon. We had a great time telling stories and watching Kendra's daughter's antics. Jody and I walked to the Chagala after lunch so that Jody could use the internet, she still doesn't have it in her apartment. I'd brought my knitting, so we had a nice hour in the lobby of the Chagala. And then we froze on the walk back to our apartments. As we were only walking a couple of blocks we both figured we wouldn't need long johns, WOW we were wrong. That was a cold walk home. Tomorrow promises to be around the same temperature. The upside of the temperature is the beautiful sunshine. It has been rare to see the sunshine in the past month.

Oh, I had an interesting morning before going to the baby house. When I got up there was normal electricity, however after a few minutes the power dropped dramatically and 20 minutes later their was no electricity at all. Jody mentioned the lack of street and traffic lights on her walk to my apartment this morning, so the power outage was more than the just my building. The power was back by the time we returned from our morning outing. I have to say that going through your morning routine by candle and flash light is really interesting.

Well,I'm back to a 20 minute visit tomorrow, Wednesday will mark the end of the appeal period and Thursday the judge can sign the adoption decree into fact. Tomorrow also marks the beginning of my 9th week here, I think I'm ready to go home, especially after learning the finally paperwork seems to be taking 5 to 6 more weeks. That would just be too long away from home. I'm ever so sorry to leave Denis, but living here with a 2 year old would be near impossible, especially as the temperature is dropping and I'm sure there will be more snow. I can't imagine trapsing all over town to get water and groceries with a two year old, and there isn't much to do here with a child. We actually don't see to many children out and and about, I don't know where they are hiding but they aren't often out in public.

Paka paka

Another Day Another 20 Minutes

2011-01-08T05:44:00.001-05:00

I was wondering the other day how much time I've actually spent with Denis, and then I decided I probably didn't want to be any more sad than I am. I'm getting organized to leave and I'm amazed at how sad I am at the thought of leaving this city that I've come to consider home. I was teasing Yulia today that I now know exactly where to go for most of the things that I need or want. As I've said before I'll be sad to say goodbye to my friends. During the drive to the baby house Yulia told Andre that I will be leaving soon and he said that I can't go I'm almost a citizen I should get my passport and not worry about Denis'. LOL

My visit was suppose to be 20 minutes but I think it was actually 30 minutes. It is such precious time. He is such a loving boy. He really enjoys giving and receiving love and attention. I so can't wait to have him forever. Towards the end of our visit he decided to check out my purse and found my sunglasses case, he decided that would be a great thing to keep and he put up quite a fuss when I said he had to return it. I quickly redirected his attention by having him turn off the light. Then we went and took a picture with today's caregivers. I think there are 4 teams of 2 who work with the children. I have photos of 3 of the 8 caregivers, and I have photos of all the children still in his group. I need to learn all their names so I can tell Denis when he is older.
These aren't new photos, just the three I had printed today,

We are family - taken just after leaving court after learning the judge said yes
Playing outside on a beautiful day at Baby House 1
My favourite picture of Denis and I taken our first week together at Baby House 2

I brought a baby photo album for Denis. When I arrived there were photos of my brother, my sister, Dastan, Alex and Loretta. I wanted to show how Dastan and Alex have grown and I wanted to show Denis the people he will come to know when he comes home. Today after our visit Yulia helped me to get some photos of Denis and I to put into the photo album. I was looking at the picture of Denis and I from court day, the day we became family and I realized that we really do look alike. I especially like how our smile is so similar. I'm so glad that I trusted the journey that God took me on to find my son, this certainly has been a journey of blessings and Denis is the greatest blessing of all.

While we waited for the photos to be printed, Yulia and I went to the big church so I could purchase an icon. I want an icon of the Virgin Mother and infant Jesus. Yulia thinks the exact same way I do, as she suggested the same icon when I told her I wanted a religious icon. As Yulia said I was here for Christmas and I became a mother here. Today I saw the icon I liked, but unfortunately there wasn't a lady working in the store on that side, supposedly someone will be there tomorrow. However, Yulia told me about a prayer card you can purchase with your name on it. I purchased one with Denis' birth name. It has a prayer and it states his name day celebration. He actually gets two, lucky boy.

Tomorrow I go to the baby house at the same time as Jody. The International doctor is coming to see her baby. I hope the doctor takes a long time and I can spend all that time with Denis. We go for 9 a.m., it will be dark when we leave the apartments.

Paka paka

It's getting random

2011-01-06T08:26:00.001-05:00

Well life here isn't getting random, but the things I thought about writing for my blog are sort of random ergo the title of the entry.

It snowed today, not a lot but just enough to make everything look pretty.

When I logged into google to write this entry the temp. sky condition, and wind speed were identical in Toronto and in Uralsk. We are 10 hours different and the humidity was different otherwise...

I was asked by an assistant magazine editor to use a photo of the shawl above in their upcoming issue of the magazine that I got the instructions to knit the shawl. I have to get a picture of someone wearing the shawl. Umm, I gave it to Louisa and she is 3 and 1/2 hour flight away, hopefully I'll see her next weekend, I hope the magazine can wait.

I bought red grapes yesterday at the mall. They were quite sweet so I washed and cut in half a few to bring to Denis. I really doubt he's tried grapes before. I put them into a container with sliced banana. I had to slice the banana as he would stuff way too much into his mouth at time from a full banana. Anyway he tried a grape half and decided it wasn't for him, but wasn't too keen on eating the banana as it made his fingers dirty (very neat and tidy my son) so I feed him the banana (oh, and don't forget you can play with stuff if your mother is putting the food into your mouth for you, did I mention he is smart too????) After a while he looked at the grape again, then tried to feed it to me through the mask. It was a great game. Eventually he pulled the mask away and fed me the grapes. He was intrigued that I liked them, then he must of figured if momma likes them they must be good. He put one in his mouth and the face, you'd think he was sucking a lemon, but he ate all the remaining grapes.

Today he was just finishing snack when I arrived. It was his favourite caregiver working. He came running to see me and gives me tons of kisses. The caregiver always has him give her a kiss when he comes with me, she is the one who taught Denis to blow kisses. He wasn't too interested in eating or drinking, but he decided we should share his drink of juice. Then he began a game of pretending to be asleep and wanting me to comfort him, telling eh? I so look forward to when I will be doing that for real.

Today Jody and I walked to the WWII monument and then to the Pushkin Hotel for lunch. We had steak and fries with a can of pop for $14 each, not bad in one of the better hotels in town. It was nice to walk in the snow, it wasn't too cold but it was overcast.

All too soon it was time to leave again, I won't see him tomorrow as it is Christmas day. I will be going on Saturday and maybe Sunday too, we'll see.
Paka paka

Reunion

2011-01-04T23:51:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was finally back to the baby house after the New Year holiday. Earlier in the day Jody and I had helped Kendra and her mom move their belongings back to their apartment after their stay at the hotel. We ate lunch at Kendra's apartment and enjoyed talking, as we tend to do a lot of that. By 3 I was back in the apartment and at 3:35 I was getting dressed for going to the baby house, but then I began to wonder if I really was going. I picked up my cell phone to call Yulia to ensure that I'd be going and my cell phone rang with Yulia calling to make sure I remembered that I was going. Too funny.

We arrived at the baby house to find the front doors locked. We walked around and went in using the court yard door. We never know what door will be open or locked. One night we went to leave and the front door was locked, we had to go out the kitchen door.

Upstairs we went and I get the play room door to see Denis sitting on the couch. He saw me and came running a smile breaking out on his face as he got closer to me. I bent down and he threw himself into my arms and gave me a great big hug. We were at the door of the play room for a few minutes talking to his friends and getting and giving hugs and kisses. Yes, kissing through a face mask is an experience not to be missed.

Eventually we went into the isolation room for our visit. Denis quickly got out his juice and banana. I've started cutting up the banana as Denis was stuffing too much of the banana into his mouth at a time. But excuse me, my son doesn't like to have dirty fingers, and I will give him the fact the banana was really slippery, so I ended up feeding him the banana. He'd discovered that my watch, which clips onto my purse, has a button which when pushed shines a red light. Well we had that red light everywhere. Then I gave him my flashlight. Ah the fun you can have at 2 with a flashlight.

At the end of the visit I pulled out his diapers and clothes for tomorrow and Denis knew that time was up. He tried to hide that he was holding the flashlight, I moved from the isolation room into the hall where the cubbies are and he looks at me while hiding the flash light and says "paka mama' and blows me a kiss. Total monkey eh? The nanny took the flashlight away from him and returned it to me, and Denis let us all know that he wasn't happy.

While Denis cried I took one of his group mates with me to my knapsack. It turns out the first pair of running shoes I bought for Denis the ones around 4 sizes too big, are the perfect size for Artomb. The nurse last week asked if it would be okay if I gave them to Artomb. So I gave him the shoes. He went to put them into Denis' cubby, but Yulia said no they are not Denis' they are yours. Oh what a marvelous grin broke out on his face. He was very happy to put them into his cubby. Denis knows what clothes are his, so I'm hoping he won't cause a problem when he sees the shoes.

Today is already beginning to brighten outside and it is only 9:30. Not sure what we will do today. We are still on the hunt for fruit and vegetables. I think I saw a delivery of potatoes at a store up the road yesterday when I was there buying my essential. I bought 5 bags of potato chips. Hey, nights are long here and I haven't been able to find chips at the stores closer to me. After the baby house Yulia took me to a store that sells notions as I need a button or two to finish the hat I knit for myself on the weekend, unfortunately they were doing inventory, maybe the store will be open today. I'm so getting comfortable here in Uralsk, I will be ever so sorry to leave.

I'm still not sure about my time line for returning home and for returning here. I think I'll be changing my airline tickets for going home for a 3rd time, by the time I get home I'll have paid almost twice the value of the ticket, ah such is life with International adoption. Time for breakfast and then phone calls to determine today's events. It's cold out there -8 C with a 26 km wind, I know it is much colder in the Eastern part of the country, but that is cold when you walk for 30 to 40 minutes. We'll have to start taking the bus.

Paka paka

Changes

2011-01-03T03:22:00.001-05:00

I've always loved looking at the changes in the photos of the children from beginning of bonding 'till later, so that what I've posted today. The first picture is on the day I met Denis and the second was taken the day the judge said yes. Oh, the green mark on Denis' head is marker stamp of some kind, it lasted quite a few days.

I haven't seen Denis since the 31st because of the holidays. I'll be back to the baby house tomorrow, it will be great to be with him again. I've started thinking about leaving and returning home. I can't believe I've been here for 7 full weeks. I will be so sad to leave, and not just because I will be leaving Denis. I know the sooner I leave the sooner I'll be back to collect him, no the sadness comes in knowing I will be saying goodbye to the wonderful people I've come to know here. Yulia, Nastya and Andre will be hard to say goodbye to. When I return I'll probably only be in Uralsk for a couple of days. If everything goes right the entire trip will take no more than a week. I'm getting into the final stretch, I can't believe that it is coming to a conclusion, one I've dreamed of for years.

Paka paka

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T23:14:00.001-05:00

It has been a busy last few days, absolutely frantic here in Uralsk as everyone dash about for last minute presents and all the food for celebrating the New Year. New Year's is the big day, a combination of what we celebrate on Christmas and New Year. Religious Christmas will be celebrated on January 7th.

My visits are still 20 minutes long. It is just begun and it is time to say goodbye. The Baby house has been all decorated for the holidays and on Thursday the children were making playdough Christmas trees with the nanny/nurse (I'm still not sure what the care giver's title actually is). Yesterday when I arrived Denis was getting a massage. To assist in muscle development the children get regular massages. Ever so good.

Yesterday (the 31st) was my last visit for about 3 days. I brought some new blocks for all the children and treats. I brought juice, cookies, yogurts, bananas and mandarin oranges. For the caregivers I brought a box of chocolate. I took Denis downstairs to the music room where they had the fir tree as they call it all decorated. Yulia and I took pictures of Denis all dressed in his rabbit costume from the concert. Then we went upstairs and I got photos of Denis with his favourite Nanny and his group mates. It was nice.

We've been waiting here, my team as I call them (coordinator, translator and driver) for Jody to arrive from Canada. We'd hoped that she would arrive on Thursday, but the flight was fully booked. As we waiting Andre, my driver took the rest of us, Nastya, Yulia and I out for some dinner. We went back to that nice pancake cafe. This time we started with Pelmeni which are little meat dumplings in broth with sour cream and fresh dill and spring onion. It was delicious. Then I had a pancake with sugar milk or sweetened condense milk. The bowl of pelmeni wasn't that big and the pancakes were those thin crepe kind, but I was so stuffed after eating them.

Yesterday, we went to the baby house at 10. Then at 2 the team picked me up again and we went to the airport to meet Jody. Then Jody had to do some formal stuff and then we went to her apartment which is just across the street from my apartment. We got here settled into her apartment, then she had to pack up her stuff for the night as we were going to the Chagala hotel. That's where I am now. I saw the New Year in with Kendra, her daughter, her Mom, her brother and sister-in-law and Jody. We had a lovely meal that Kendra's brother made and we sat in their apartment unit at the hotel laughing and watching the fireworks. There was nearly 3 hours of fireworks all around the town. It was very beautiful and the windows are so good here that you barely heard anything. That was important as I went to bed before the fireworks ended. The bed here is wonderful, I had a great sleep. I'll stay here again when I return to collect Denis.

Happy New Year and Paka paka

More Photos

2010-12-29T07:54:00.001-05:00

This is what I look like to my son. I've had to REALLY wear the mask for the past 3 weeks because of the quarantine, he doesn't seem to mind and will put the mask back on me if we knock it off with our play.
My son with his rabbit hat for the New Year Concert. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see the concert today I'm sorry to say.

The children must have had a very exciting day. The baby house had been decorated with Christmas decorations for the New Year. I think there must have been some good treats to eat too, as Denis wasn't too interested in having his snack. I think the children will find it hard to sleep tongiht as they were really wired when I was there today.

Again it was a 20 minute visit. First he wanted to show me the decorations, and he pointed to each of the items on the decorations such as the tree, the ornaments and the animals decorating the tree. As we stood by his cubby so I could take out his dirty clothes, put in the diapers and check his clean clothes, I showed Denis the new shorts I bought for him that he can wear tomorrow. He was very pleased and even showed Yulia.

Then we went into the isolation room where he dug into my knapsack. I'd bought Denis a new pair of running shoes yesterday, the previous pair I'd bought a few weeks ago were size 27. They were like Ronald McDonald shoes they were so big on Denis. The new shoes are size 25 and they are still on the generous size, but not totally oversized. Denis loved opening the plastic bag and the shoe box to find the shoes. We put them on right away. Then he began to take everything out of the bag and play with it for a few minutes and on to the next item. There was toy from the baby house in the bag, I think it's been there since the day the immigration doctor checked him out back on November 26th. As soon as Denis saw the toy he took it out of the isolation room and put it into the play room. I'm amazed at how observant Denis is.

As usual the time was over way too soon. Today he decided to keep the blue car. He became very upset when I tried to put it away in the knapsack. He hasn't played with the car, well actually a tonka truck since 19th or 20th of November. I think he want to show it off in front of his group mates. The nurse said he could keep the toy and they'd put it into the cubby at bed time. He was very happy and blew me kisses when I went to leave. The nurse told Yulia that Denis will go to the window after I leave to watch the van drive away.

Tomorrow I visit again at 4 and then on Friday I visit at 10 because I will be going to the airport to meet Jody who is arriving from Ottawa. Jody and I will stay the evening at the local hotel where Kendra and her family are staying. We'll see in the New Year together. We all have much to celebrate. Hopefully Jody will meet a baby perfectly suited to her next week, what an exciting and anxious weekend she will have. And it will be a long weekend as I understand it considered to be a 4 day weekend. But don't panic the stores will be open all 4 days, including January 1st. I've just been warned to make sure I have as much cash as I think I might need for the weekend as the bank machines have been known to run out of cash on the New Year holiday. There's a chore for tomorrow.

Paka paka

Let me Introduce my Son

2010-12-28T08:09:00.002-05:00

At 3:15 this afternoon, a terribly long 4 hour wait after the hearing, the judge read her decision. She approved the application to adopt. I am now a Mommy.

Let me introduce you to Denis Owen Sergei. He is named for my paternal grandfather Denis and my maternal great uncle/godfather Owen.

November 17th, the day my son and I met
My favourite photo taken outside at Baby House 2 during our first week
Denis doing what he loves to do most, reading a book
My son and I happy to be together

After the court decision I was able to go to the baby house to see Sergei. He was more interested in learning that Mommy has nice legs as I was dressed in a skirt for court. And then he spent some time trying to convince me that I should take off my nice boots (wrapped in plastic bags to keep the baby house clean) and instead put on my slippers.

I am so filled with emotions. I keep tearing up. I will go past a mirror and look at myself and realize that the lady in the mirror is a Mommy. 5 years of waiting have been fulfilled.

We are still with Plan D. I will stay until the court finalizes the adoption and then I will go home for about 2 weeks, and then I will return to collect my little boy and go home forever. At this point I will return home on the 21st and come back here the first or second week of February.

Oh, so what do I do while waiting 4 hours to learn what the judge will say. I take my wonderful team to lunch and then I buy yarn. I couldn't be happier!

Paka paka from a very happy and tired new Mom!

Merry Christmas from Kazakhstan

2010-12-26T00:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a lovely day. It began very early for me as I got up at 6 am. I called my brother and we had a nice long chat. Then from 8 to 9:30 I watched Foyle's War. It may not have been the best decision on Christmas morning, but it has become a habit while I've been here in Kazakhstan. Unfortunately the episode was quite sad.

As I was dressing to go visit with MLM Diane called me on my cell phone. She had just finished putting the final touches together for her first Christmas with her 2 daughters. It was lovely to speak to her and such a gift to have that phone call, but I found myself getting very emotional and I had to quickly say goodbye before I completely fell apart. But I didn't have time to cry as I was off to see my little man.

I'd brought a red shirt which I'd never worn here in Kazakhstan, so that became my festive garment. For MLM I'd bought a red striped shirt. I'd put it into a beautiful little plastic bag and it was to be his present. I'd really struggled with the idea of presents because there a toy or book I would have to take home with me, and that seems to be the worse thing to do with a gift.

Off I went, tearing away to meet my driver and translator. I'd discovered on-line at 6 a e-Christmas card from my coordinator and I got into the car to receive a gift from Yulia. I now have a large Santa magnet on the fridge and a very cute Merry Christmas Snowman sitting on my television. My apartment finally seems festive. Luckily Yulia was very helpful on the drive to the baby house making me feel better and helping me to laugh, I was much calmer when we arrived.

MLM was as always delighted to see me. We were able to go into the classroom today, and I began our visit by giving him his gift. He was very interested and enjoyed shaking the shirt out of the bag. His delight at seeing the shirt was very rewarding, and then he began to pull the shirt he was wearing off to put on his Christmas present. We even got a game of Coo-Coo as he changed. Then he had a little snack of apple juice, the apple he was eating when I arrived and the banana I'd brought. All to soon, and yes it was still just a 20 minute visit, it was time to say goodbye. He is beginning to equate Yulia coming to the door with me leaving so he tries to very gently close the door so Yulia can't tell us we have to say goodbye. I know he is a smart cookie. I then turned my crying little guy over to the nurses and we quickly left. I am proud that I didn't cry, but it was very hard.

Back at my apartment I quickly got myself organized for Christmas day with Kendra and her daughter Alexis. For Alexis I'd knit a little blanket for when she is in the stroller and I'd given her a little red truck that I'd brought from Canada (MLM has a blue one that he never chooses to play with), and for Kendra I'd bought a pound of American bacon (it was very dear, but well worth it, I hope it tastes as good as it looked).

I walked over to Kendra's apartment making a little detour on my way. On Friday Kendra and I explore another little mall and we'd found a real yarn store (and JB that is YARN not YAM store). This was a 6 foot square store filled to the ceiling on 3 sides with yarn. I decided to return to the store to purchase a crochet hook to make snowflakes as a New Year gifts for my team and black yarn to make a hat for myself. Okay, I'll be truthful, it was just nice to be in a yarn store. I may go back today.

After that I went to the little grocery seller across the road from Kendra's apartment where I bought a litre of Coke and a litre of Fanta. I also found a Toberone bar and some ice cream sundaes, we were in for a real Christmas feast. Kendra had a frozen pizza and she'd made a salad of yellow pepper, cucumber and tomato.

I arrived at Kendra's apartment at 12:30 and I stayed until 4:30, the day went so fast. Kendra had Christmas music on her IPod and we enjoyed our feast while Alexis napped and then we were entertained by Alexis opening her first Christmas presents. And then further entertained watching her play with the box her toy came in. A typical Christmas with a one and a half year old. All too soon it was time to get back to my apartment before it became too dark.

The walk to Kendra's had been very dicey as the temperature was just around freezing and it was raining meaning there was ice with water on it everywhere I went. The temperature had risen while I was at Kendra's and the walk home was fine for the most part.

I spent the evening crocheting snow flakes and watching DVD's on my laptop. And finally just before going to bed I put on my Josh Grogin album Noel. I brought it thinking I'd be going home on the 19th of December and that I might need something to help to get into the Christmas feeling. I finally felt like listening to it last night.

Today, Boxing Day is mild again, the temperature is already over 2C and it is only 10:20 in the morning, but it is wet outside. I'm not sure what Kendra and I will get up to today. I don't go to the baby house until 4 on Monday and then on Tuesday I go to court to ask to be his forever Mommy. I'm so nervous I can barely eat.

I hope everyone at home had a wonderful Christmas, and that the feast you shared was as delicious and joyful as ours.

Merry Christmas from Kazakhstan!

Weepy Wednesday,Th'Okay Thursday

2010-12-23T09:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was not a good day. In the morning we went to the baby house and Yulia, my translator went inside to speak to the director about my visits. He hum and ha'd a bit and then said I could come at 4 o'clock for 20 minutes. 20 minutes, I thought 30 was a short visit. So my driver drove me back to my apartment (the drive each way from the baby house is about 20 minutes).

So there I was, in my apartment before 11 o'clock with nothing to do. I knew that Kendra was out at the Ramstore in the morning, and by the time she got home it would be nap time. I would need to be ready to go back to the baby house at 3:40, so I knew we wouldn't be meeting up. It is amazing how much one begins to depend on the visits to the baby house and then for visits with another English speaking person. I ended up watching a little television, knitting, reading, fretting about court, and worried a huge mountain of worries.

I know that every family that has gone ahead of me here in Uralsk has been successful in their adoption, I keep worrying that I'm going to be the first refusal. Now I know that there is absolutely no reason for the judge to turn down my application, and so far everything had been going extremely well, but you do tend to worry. When I was cut down to 20 minutes for visiting I began to think that maybe they know the judge will say no and there are keeping my visits short so that MLM doesn't get to dependent on me. Hey, I know, it is paranoid, I told you I was fretting and it was not a good day.

I got the baby house and MLM was so happy to see me. All his little friends were happy to see me to, and usually I like to give them all a little attention (to the displeasure of a little man I know), but I didn't have time to waste. So I quickly moved the two of us off to the little isolation room. It was wonderful to be with him, he is such a sweet heart. Any way, the 20 minutes passed way to quickly and I had to hand him to his nurse. I had to hand him as he was crying so hard. It made me weepy too.

Then, by the time I got home I needed to talk to someone and Skype was down. I tell you it wasn't a good day.Oh did I mention that it had snowed during the night, but then was raining so everywhere there was a slushy mess, not a nice day weather wise either.

But by bed time I was feeling much better first I got through on Skype to talk to my brother for a whole 5 minutes (better than the day before when we had to chat using Facebook) and then Diane called me long disatance using my cell phone, I couldn't think who would be calling me at that time. Actually Diane had to call a couple of times as the phone kept disconnecting. And we talked and talked and I was reassured that everyone going to court has the same fears and that come next Tuesday everything will be just fine. And finally I had a chat with L using Facebook. As I say, I went to bed feeling much better.

Today was a much better day. Not so much weather wise as it is just around above freezing and drizzle/snow mixture. The roads and sidewalks are really wet and there are huge puddles around. Kendra and I walked over to Univegmag and checked out the second floor. Kendra's little girl was in a wonderful mood and enjoyed walking around a little bit. Later we went into Tropicana for a pizza and sparkling water (total for both of us 825 tenge or about 5.75 in Canadian money). Then it was walk back to Kendra's apartment and walk back to my apartment and then wait to go to the baby house.

On the drive to the baby house I told Yulia that I'd gone to Univegmag and she said, "I know'. She told me that she was on the phone with a friend of her's who works in the book shop at the Oral Mall, I'd met her the first time I went into the Oral mall, and her friend saw me today as I walked passed her. They say that 300 000 people live here in Uralsk, but it is a small town. At the baby house, the children were having their afternoon snack of cookies, blinis and milk. At first the nurse wanted me to wait until MLM was finished before we had our visit, but Yulia told her I was only allowed to visit for 20 minutes. I don't think she was going to have much of a choice as he'd seen me. He came running down the hall to be with me. The nurses and all the staff were actually wearing their masks over their faces today, not just under their chin, so I guess the quarantine is very serious and I'm not feeling so paranoid about the 20 minutes.

The nurse came down to speak to Yulia. She told Yulia that MLM is very close to me and loves me very much and that she is happy he has such a loving mother. Then she answered some questions that L had about her son. Finally she asked if I would be able/willing to buy a costume for MLM to wear in the New Year concert. Yulia asked if we could attend, the nurse said absolutely, and then learned that it is on the 28th at 10 am, exactly when I will be in court.After praying for court to be on the 28th, now I'm wishing it could be on another time so I could see MLM in his first concert. I might ask one of the nurses if they can take some pictures with my camera.

We were once again in the isolation room, and I got to watch my little man eating his snack. The nurse came to give him his milk and told Yulia that he is a very obident boy, and he is very smart, he knows exactly which of the clothes are his. The other day all the children were taking off their clothes to go to bed and had thrown them on the playroom floor. He saw the nurse begin to pick up the clothes, He went to the pile and found all his clothing and put it into his cubbie.

We had just a short time to look at the picture book that he likes so much and it was time to go. We could hear his friends coming down the hall. MLM jumped up, went to the door and very gently closed the door, as I moved towards him as I realized it was time to go, he held up his hands to say stop and a huge grin spread across his face. He thought of a way to keep me and keep me away from the others. I was heart broken that I had to tell him it was time for me to leave. MLM realized that I was leaving and he began to howl, the nurse asked us to leave quickly. I do hope he settles easily. I'd hate to think that he cries a long time.

On the way home Andre (the driver) took Yulia and I to Univegmag so that I could find the costume for the play. I was suppose to find the parsley (yes as in that green thing they put on your plate in restaurants, or a rabbit) We couldn't find a small parsley so we settled on a little white rabbit. All the children dress up for New Year's according to a traditional folk tale. I'll try to find the story to share. And I will take a picture of the costume.

Skype seems to finally be back so I can give friends and family a call. I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I've decided not to bring a present for MLM as I would have to take the present away again as the children really don't have their own belongings, and that doesn't seem right with a present. I'd already decided that JB, Kathryn and I will celebrate together when I finally get home with MLM, so I guess in that sense it isn't Christmas to me here yet. I will be going to the baby house from 10 to maybe 10:30 on Christmas morning, and then I will go to Kendra's apartment for lunch. I've knit a little stroller blanket for Kendra's daughter and I will look tomorrow for a little something for Kendra. Here in Kazakhstan, Father Frost bring toys to the children on New Year's Eve, so I think I will go out and buy each of the 5 children (including MLM) a teddy bear and get them wrapped for the New Year. That way I will be able to leave it for him. I don't know if they will be able to keep the toys separate, but each child will have the opportunity to unwrap a gift, and I will be able to share this with MLM.

Anyway Paka paka for now.

Sherlock and Watson

2010-12-21T09:16:00.001-05:00

My coordinator was back today, just one day out of the hospital. She is feeling better but very weak. She doesn't have time to be sick as she has so much to do. I'm in court next week and there is another lady arriving next week. Nastya needs a holiday, too bad she was sick in hospital for this past 4 day holiday.

I got a little longer at the baby house this morning as my driver and coordinator were off being Sherlock and Watson. They were off to find MLM's birth mother as she must appear in court to confirm her intention of releasing MLM. Here in Kaz the actual letter she writes states that she is refusing him. Her original letter was written just over a month ago, so she must appear in court. After my visit they said that they'd found the right address but that the girl wasn't there, they'll have to go back this evening.

I mentioned to Yulia that it was very quiet in my son's area lately, and that I haven't seen some of the bigger children. She asked and learned that 3 of the children have left to join their parents so there are only 5 children left. The remaining girl's parent are suppose to be coming for her soon too. When one of my friends was collecting their child last week they were told that there are only 80 children in the entire baby house at the moment. Yulia was also telling me that her husband's cousin just adopted his second child from the baby house. I had heard that domestic adoptions are very much increased.

MLM was very happy to see me and we had a lot of fun looking out the window, drinking juice and water and just playing. He seemed a bit tired though. He kept asking to be put into one of the cribs that are kept in the isolation room. As soon as I would put him down in the cot he would lie down and pretend to sleep. I'm sure if I left him he would have fallen asleep. I wouldn't let him though as it would totally screw up his afternoon nap, and then I'd get in trouble and so far I've never been told off. I'm trying to keep that record. So I'd make MLM get up and then he'd move around the crib as if he were a baby. He is a delight to watch.

MLM loves to play being a baby. He likes me to cradle and sing to him. I am very happy to oblige him in playing that game. He is such a cute little guy. Oh, did I mention he's had another hair cut. I wasn't certain as it hadn't grown all that much since the last time, but sure enough I saw one of the other boys and confirmed it for me.

Yulia was sitting in by the cubbies waiting for me when the doctor came into the group area. The doctor was very upset to see Yulia because supposedly all visits had been canceled because of the count. I'm not sure what count that would be. I was wondering if it was an end of year thing or something new with the new director. The doctor said we were suppose to check in with the secretary. Well, I haven't done that since the 3rd of December. On the 3rd we were told that I wasn't to use the front door anymore, I was to use the door that lead to MLM's group. So my poor coordinator has to call the doctor and find out what is going on and if I can visit tomorrow. We were hoping that I'd be allowed to have longer visits this week not thinking that my visit would be canceled completely.

I've sent the change of travel request to my agency's travel agent. On Mondays and Wednesdays there is a flight leaving at 9:50 am arriving in Almaty at 1:45 pm, then on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the flight is from 10:30 pm arriving the next morning at 2:25. I barely saw anything of Almaty the last time, so I've asked my agent to book me on the Monday. Then I've asked her to book me on the flights home to Canada on the Friday. I don't really plan to spend a week in Almaty. Once I've reached Almaty, I can then go to Luftansa and find out about changing my tickets. It is just way too easy to have flights from Uralsk delayed, canceled or rerouted, I want to be prepared.

Today Kendra and I just went for a walk. I think the really expensive pizza and mineral water of yesterday was just too much for us. Actually, we walked in the blowing snow to the Univegmag or Tropicana mall yesterday, and after doing a bit of shopping stopped at the Tropicana restaurant for a snack. We had a Margarita pizza and 2 500ml bottles of mineral water and the total came to less than $7 for the two of us. For the most part it is difficult to spend a lot at most restaurants for a meal. Today was a lovely day with bright sunshine and much warmer than yesterday so we just walked a very long block. Kendra's daughter enjoyed it to the very end. Then I walked home stopping at the Locomka store to buy a bread knife, a sieve and some more of those lovely baked goods. The ladies at the store are beginning to know me and I can actually get them to crack their expressionless faces into smiles. I think they find my antics trying to show them what I want very funny.

Well, who knows what tomorrow will bring, until then Paka pak

A Light Dusting of Snow

2010-12-20T02:18:00.002-05:00

We had a very light dusting of snow this morning, but it is colder. Right now it is -9C and the wind is between 20 to 30 km/hr. On my way to and from the baby house this morning we saw about 3 fender benders and one 3 car accident. Yup, people around the world drive the same in bad weather, poorly and too close to the car in front.

MLM was playing with one of his groupmates this morning when I arrived. They were sitting in a wooden bus and sticking their heads in and out of the windows saying 'coo-coo'. It was cute to see. I called his name and he was so happy to see me he came tumbling out of the bus. His nanny made him put the toy he'd been playing with away before he came to me.

We were in the isolation room today for our visit as the classroom was being used for the other students lessons. I showed MLM the falling snow, like any child he was fascinated. I look forward to having him home and taking him outside to play in the snow.

After the look out the window it was time for his snack and juice. He won't use the sippy cup any more, he insists on using the cup. I guess you can't really battle with what he does everyday. What is funny is I bring a facecloth to help keep him clean. When he insists on drinking right from the cup, I tuck the facecloth under his chin. Today he tucked the facecloth under his chin and then tried to take the lid off the sippy cup.

During our visit his favourite nanny came in to the room to give MLM a cookie. I can tell she really loves and cares for MLM. She saw the picture book that MLM just loves to look at. She really liked the book. She then bent down to MLM and tried to get him to say some of the words in Russian. He would only say the word for baby which is lala. Then she would say a word and he would point to the picture. I motioned to her that he knows words but won't say them, she nodded yes. And then she rubbed his head and gave him kiss, and then asked him for a kiss. I've liked her from the first day. I know from one of the other nannies that MLM is one of their favourites because he is such a good little boy.

All to soon it was time to leave. As soon as he sees me starting to pack up he begins to cry and hold on to me as hard as he can. I carry him back to the playroom and say paka. All the other children say paka to me, and then I duck out as fast as possible. I can usually hear him crying as I walk around the outside of the building to the car. It just breaks my heart.

This afternoon I'll walk over to Kendra's apartment and we will walk to the malls near her place. It is always nice to have something to do.

Yesterday my translator and I were exchanging posts on Facebook. It was fun. I know she enjoyed using her English skills.

Paka paka

Missing Delayed Flights

2010-12-19T05:33:00.001-05:00

You know life is strange. I got up this morning and was watching CNN news where they were discussing the snow in Europe and the closed airports and/or delayed flights. I was suppose to be flying home today, that was the original plan (I said I was going with Plan B, but I think I might already be on Plan D there have been so many changes to my plans already).

I checked the flight that I was originally booked on. It is still delayed leaving Almaty. It is about 11 hours delayed now and they are saying it might leave at 6 tonight. But then the transfer point would be Frankfurt which is virtually shut down with snow, and totally packed with stranded passengers. Who knew I'd be delighted to have had to change my travel plans.

My visit with MLM this morning was a delight. He was very happy to see me. He actually had a tear on his cheek when he came out of his play room, but I don't know why. We continued with our new toy, the water bottle. He was very thirsty and guzzled down the juice I brought for him (or just to be truthful, it is really about 25% juice and rest water - I follow Jamie Oliver very closely). Then I pulled out the water bottle. I'd removed about 1/2 the water from the bottle, then I pour a bit into his sippy cup. That became the game for the morning: open the bottle (he can open the screw top, but struggles with closing it), pour a little bit into the sippy cup (with the lid off, because he just hates the slow flow of the water, he's thirsty you know) and then drink the water, repeat. And when I say repeat, I mean about 15 times.

We also checked out the world outside the window. That was the first thing he wanted to do when we went into the classroom. There wasn't anything really happening out there. Though he did see some birds and he thought it would be fun to pretend that he was afraid of the birds and I had to save him (SuperMom). Towards the end of our 30 minutes he wanted to look out the window again. This time my driver had returned and was parked outside. MLM waved at the car and my driver waved back, MLM was so delighted, he's whole body shook with his delight.

Unfortunately it was then time to say goodbye. I thought we'd passed the stage of hanging on and crying, but then his buddy left to join his forever family and I was missing for 2 days, so we are back to his hands wrapped around my neck and very tearful goodbyes. I really look forward to the day that I never have to say goodbye again.

I'm learning my speech for court. I'm getting nervous about it and it is giving me the weirdest dreams. The mind is a strange thing.

I'm feeling absolutely exhausted this afternoon, so I told Kendra that I wouldn't be coming over. I instead walked over to the Atrium to see the upstairs. I've been to the Atrium about 6 times but this is the first time I've gone upstairs. I wanted to look at the strollers that they have on sale just in case I need to get one for MLM in 2 weeks. They had one I liked, I'll have to see what the price is like. MLM and I could easily walk over there to purchase it if I have his company.

I stopped at my favourite little store to buy milk, bananas and water. I wanted some mantee (steamed beef dumplings), but they didn't have any, so instead I bought some pastries and buns. The one I had when I returned to my apartment was a lovely flaky apple pastry, it was delicious, I'll be going for that one again. It is such a surprise when you cut open things as I can't read the sign. I call it adventures in shopping and eating LOL

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday
Paka paka

Oh, I found my camera cord this morning, so I should be able to post some pictures again in the near future. Just not today. I'm too tired :-)

An A-typical Day

2010-12-18T02:12:00.001-05:00

It was back to the baby house this morning. I was so glad to see MLM, two days seemed like such a long time. He was very happy to see me. Yulia and I think there is a new little one in the room who wasn't there before. Maybe he has come to fill the space left by L and A's son. We'll have to look in the cubby tomorrow.

When I arrived MLM didn't have a diaper on. I left 15 diapers on Wednesday, but I guess they'd gone through them all already. He was very helpful while I put the diaper on. Then he wanted to look out the window. We were in the little classroom today. The window looks out to a small street. We could see my driver's van. MLM started playing peek-a-boo which is called coo-coo here. He would put his hands on the window so he couldn't see the van, and then move his hands and say coo-coo. Another new word for MLM. Too bad my driver couldn't see him. We told Andre when we got back into the van.

MLM was VERY thirsty again today. He nearly drowned himself trying to drink all his juice. He couldn't get it fast enough with the lid on, so we took off the lid. They don't drink from sippy cups here, they go from bottles to regular cups. I had also brought a bottle of drinking water for him. Well, who needs to bring a toy when you have a bottle of water. I had to teach him how to open the bottle (I was wondering if this was a good thing to be teaching him, but oh well) Then I struggled to teach him how to drink from the bottle. He kept trying to put the entire opening of the bottle into his mouth. We fought a little battle over the bottle. Finally I showed him how to sip. 1 model and he was in the know. He of course struggled with the amount of water he got into his mouth, but by the end of the 30 minutes he could sip a bit without soaking himself or choking.

After the baby house we went to the hospital to visit my coordinator. My poor coordinator has been in hospital since last Tuesday night. I think she might have flu or something, her head is spinning and she has a fever. She wanted to know what I was doing with regard to my airline tickets, I think she is very relieved that I plan to stay a while. And that I understand that MLM's passport will take time to be prepared. She also was arranging with me to pay for my apartment for another month and to pay the internet and satellite t.v.. She is working even though she is in hospital, poor woman. She did want me to know that everything is going well for court and that I should have no problems. I also learned today that my translator will probably be translating for me in court.

Oh, visiting in a hospital means standing in a tiny foyer with all these people and then the sick person comes out to the foyer to meet with you. We stood not far from the doors and spoke with my translator, driver and coordinator. There were about 8 women who were sick in the foyer and their friends and family.

Tomorrow the owner of the apartment will be coming to collect some clothes. It should be interesting, she'll come around 6. She will speak to my coordinator, who will call my translator, who will call me to confirm the time. Luckily I have seen her a couple of times, so I know what she looks like. But it does mean I'll have to give everything an extra little cleaning tonight.

I just checked my iGoogle page and it tells me the weather in both Toronto and here in Uralsk. It is -3 C in both places. That happened so many times while I was waiting to travel. Lately though it has been much colder at home. We've been lucky with most days above freezing and very little snow.

Tomorrow I get to go to the baby house again. Only for 30 minutes but it is much better than no minutes. Today when I was saying goodbye MLM held on so tight to my neck and cried and cried. He didn't want me to go. Little did he know that I didn't want to leave either. It will be difficult leaving him every day for the next month, and even harder to leave for the 2 or 3 weeks that it takes to make his passport.
Paka paka

Busy Social Life

2010-12-17T08:22:00.002-05:00

Another day without a visit to MLM, but boy have I been busy. First this morning L and A and their boys dropped by my apartment to drop off a bag of items for me to bring to the baby house, they are off to Almaty tonight where they will stay until their little guy's passport and visa are done. I walked back with them and said goodbye for now on a street corner. It was lovely having them here, and we'll talk using Skype while they are in Almaty.

Then I walked over to Kendra's apartment. I go to her apartment to help bring down the stroller, as it would be impossible to carry a 17 month old and a stroller down the 4 flights of stairs. Now we understand why we don't see so many strollers. Mother's carry their children in their arms. So scary when you see how slippy the sidewalks tend to be.

We then walked back to PizzaHot where we enjoyed a large pizza and a litre of warm coke. The first was yummy the second not so much, but we still drank the whole thing. Kendra's daughter ate and ate and ate, she is such a cuty.

After lunch we walked back to the Univart Mall, or the Tropicana mall (as that is the name of the restaurant/cafe). We went so that Kendra could buy lights for her little Christmas tree. She is more adventurous than me, as I haven't bothered to decorate my apartment. As we were walking into the mall I saw one of the ladies who works at the baby house. Uralsk has a population of 300 000 yet I've know seen both this lady and the director when I've been out and about. Talk small world eh!

Afterwards we walked back to her apartment and then I walked back to my apartment. I'm getting so comfortable with the layout of the city that I can take different roads going and coming from my apartment.

I was in luck yesterday and got to enjoy a beautiful firework display at the end of the concert at the city hall to celebrate Independence Day. I watched out my kitchen window. I do have an apartment in a great location.

Tomorrow I go back to the baby house. Unfortunately it is only for the 30 minutes. I look at it as 30 more minutes to get to know and build a relationship with this special little person. I'm so lucky to be with him for however many minutes a day. I'm hoping on Monday I get a longer visit.

To all my teaching friends I wish you a wonderful final day before the holidays. Enjoy the next 2 weeks and forget about the planning, marking, tests, students and all the other joys of teaching.

Paka paka

Happy Independence Day

2010-12-16T08:55:00.001-05:00

As I write, I can hear the music from the town hall. Today is Independence Day. On 16th December, 1991 Kazakhstan adopted the Constitutional Law on the independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. When I was at the museum across the road with Zhanar they have a room dedicated to the signing, and all the aspects of statehood. It is a wonderful room to check out. Today schools and business were closed for the day, but it was a regular day at the stores, markets and cafes. I kept thinking it was the weekend, I forgot it was Thursday.

I arranged not to call my brother this morning as I wasn't going to the baby house, so I could sleep in. Yup, I got up just after 6:30. Instead I watched t.v. I got to watch Larry King's second last live show. Gosh I think I'll get up tomorrow morning too to watch his last show. How exciting! (Please read the last two statements with LOTS of sarcasm)

Last night my cell phone was working hard. First I was talking to L and A who FINALLY returned here to be reunited with their son. It was nice to be talking locally with them, even if it is only for a few days. Later Kendra and I were on the phone talking about our plans for today. She was settling her new daughter for her second night together. And later I spoke to Diane who was on the other side of the country with her new daughter and their first night together. 3 children joined their forever families. I will admit I am envious but there success is the hope that keeps one going.

Kendra and I met at her apartment to go on an outing with her daughter. We had planned to check out Galaxy, but it didn't open until 1 p.m. (nap time), so we walked down to the mall past the mosque. I know it has a proper name but I can't remember what the name is. While at the mall Kendra bought a stroller for her daughter. It seems like a good one, but you should have seen the two of us losers trying to figure out how to open the darn thing. Finally the mall security officer took pity on us and opened it. There is so much to explore at that mall. It is about a 30 minute walk from my apartment. I plan to return to explore more.

We ate lunch in the little cafe on the main floor of the mall. They have an English menu, but don't have many of the items on the menu. We decided on a dish with pork, potatoes, onion, tomato and garlic. It came on one of those cast iron hot plates, and it was a mess of french fries mixed with garlic, onions and beef. It was surprisingly good, but definitely greasy. Kendra's daughter was hysterical as she quietly told her mother that she wanted more from the plate. We giggled each time she told her mother off.

After lunch we walked back to Kendra's apartment. It doesn't have an elevator, and Kendra's flat is on the 4th floor. That will make using the stroller a challenge until Kendra's mother comes. I said I'll just come upstairs next time on our outings. I'm really beginning to feel confident walking around town. But, Nadia my friend you would be completely and forever lost here as it is nearly impossible to distinguish one building from another and one of the major cell phone internet providers is Bee and they have their bubble bee advertisements EVERYWHERE!

Later I went over to the Chagala Hotel where L and A are staying. I was able to give them some things they need and they gave me some things they brought from Canada for me. We visited for about 2 hours in the really nice apartment unit they are staying in. I'll use one when I return here to collect MLM.

Well it is full dark now and I'm hoping that the fireworks everyone has told me about will actually take place.

Paka paka.

Decisions, Sigh of Relief, Court Date

2010-12-15T08:50:00.001-05:00

In life we want guarantees. We want to know for sure that something will happen in a predictable order on an assigned date. When you are involved in an adoption in a foreign country this is never more true, we want a predictable timeline to outline events that happen exactly on certain dates. We, the adoptive parents, want some semblance of control. Well, this is real life, and real life is perfect or to a timetable. I've been struggling with my plan for returning home. I have tickets booked, which you all know about, and I wanted to know when I'd go to court to ensure I could use those tickets. But a death in the family (translator), hospitalization (judge), cancelled flights due to weather (friends) and lack of alternate flights (everyone travelling for the holidays) is the reality of real life. I've been trying to fit my life into this pattern, but I couldn't get a guarantee and that was stressing me out. So last night I decided to extend the time I'm here until mid-January. Whew, what a relief.

As my new friend Kendra would say, I've abandoned plan A and I'm focusing on plan B. Here's the new plan. I'll stay here until the end of the 15 day appeal period. Then I will go and get MLM's birth certificate, which here must be picked up in person. Then I will give it to my coordinator to take care of the passport and visa situation. Passport and visa should take roughly 3 weeks, and during those weeks I'll be at home working. After the 3 weeks are over I'll return here to pick up MLM, a short 7 to 10 day trip. There you have it plan B.

What finally tipped the scale for me was watching the difficulty my friends have had with their trip home and back recently. Both journeys took an additional 2 days. Keep in mind that the usual trip here is a 3 day journey. Bad weather lead to the cancellation or rerouting of their flights. That, for me at this time is just unnecessary stress.

Now that the decision is made, I feel so much better. Then this morning in the car on the way to the baby house I learned that my court date is the 28th of December. Just what I was hoping for LOL.

Of course in the end, this is my plan with the appeal period, the judge could decide to wave the appeal period and I'd have to come up with a totally new plan, but then that would be totally normal in the world of international adoption.

On the MLM front, we had a lovely 30 minute visit today. He was very congested and very thirsty. I'll have to buy a small bottle of water so I can give him water after his drink of juice. We looked at the baby word book and the picture album. He points to pictures in album for me to tell him who the people are, this is new. Of course he equally points to the cartoon animals that are printed on the plastic photo album as well as the pictures of my brother, sister and friends. At the end of our time he walked with me to the playroom and waved, I think he trusts that I will return to play with him again.

This morning my friends arrived, finally after a 2 day delay, they are exhausted. This afternoon they picked up their son from the baby house. I will miss seeing him everyday, it will be strange not to see him on Saturday (the next time I'm to go to the baby house).

I learned this morning that my coordinator, who wasn't feeling well yesterday, is in the hospital. I hope it isn't something serious. She told my translator that she doesn't have time to be sick as she has so much paperwork to do.

Okay, it is nearly 9 am back home, I have a few phone calls to make to let people know I'll be returning in mid-January.
Paka paka.

Situation Normal-ish

2010-12-14T03:46:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a very exciting day at the baby house, well, not when I was there, but later in the day. It was the grand re-opening of the baby house. The mayor of Uralsk was going to be there at 2:30 to see the building. The older children put on a little show for him. This was important for me as it meant I couldn't go to the music room as they were practicing with the older children for their performance. I couldn't go into the group classroom as the nurse was giving the younger children in MLM's group an art lesson. So instead MLM and I got to spend time in the isolation room.

The baby house is divided into little units, each unit has it's own sleeping room, eating room, bathroom, playroom, classroom, isolation room, storage room and kitchenette. There might even be more that I don't know about. The nurses don't prepare the food in the kitchenette, but they can make themselves a cup of tea, and they can make snacks for the children in that room. The main meals are prepared in the kitchen and brought to the unit. The isolation room is a little room with 2 cribs, a change table, kiddie tables and chairs and a sink. It is a really small room for so much furniture. The idea is to separate a child who is sick, but not needing to be in the infirmary.

So far I've been into the classroom, playroom, kitchenette, and bathroom. I still want to see the sleeping room and eating room. The baby house was built in a square around a central courtyard, with each of these units accessible by it's own outside door way, allowing for safety in case of fire, but also easy of entrance/exit with the children to the out door space. In addition, each unit is accessible from the main corridor in the lower level. It still feels like a bit of maze as each hallway at the bottom level looks the same.

Each unit is also separate from the other unit, so much so that you don't hear any noise. Supposedly there are 120 children in the baby house, I only see the 8 in MLM group these days, and I rarely hear any others. I have to say though, that many of the rooms have an unused look about them, I've noticed as I walk around the building.

Kendra and I were laughing on the weekend about the moving furniture. Every day when we arrive the furniture has been moved, change, or rearranged in some way. Yesterday the bench in the cubby room was moved and there was a beautiful soft yellow sheer curtain hanging where the bench had been situated. Today there is a bench, a new bench against the wall but behind the sheer curtain. I think the bench is to keep the children away from the radiators, there is only one word for those radiators and it is OUCH! They are very very hot, which is why the baby house is so hot.

MLM has very little expressive language. At his 2 year evaluation his nannies said he used 2 or 3 words. Many of the other children in the room talk away like crazy, but not MLM. But he is beginning to copy all the sounds I make. We were playing a game of copying sounds and I guess I said 'OH MY' well oh my oh my oh my was his next set of sounds. Then I said "OH NO", and then he started saying oh no oh no oh no. The other day Yulia (my interpreter, who is my new friend on Facebook I'll have you know J ) and I heard MLM say 'CA", now in Russian they say the raven, which we were watching says 'CAW" and we were telling MLM that, and moments earlier we'd watched a car drive by and I'd said both MACHINA (the Russian word for car - it isn't spelt that way, but is sounds like that) and CAR. So who knows what MLM was saying, but it is nice to hear him attempting words.

I still don't have a court date. Today my coordinator said the judge would let me know after Independence day holiday. It is a 4 day holiday starting on Thursday (oh but the stores don't shut, Yulia was so surprised that I would even think such a thing LOL). The judges clerk told my coordinator that it would be either the 28 or the 29^th. I told my translator I need to know this week as I need to let work know if I am returning to work on January 3^rd. My coordinator said if I have tickets to Canada on the 29^th than I can go to court when I return. No I'm not doing that. That would mean another 7 to 8 weeks here to finish all the paperwork, I've also heard that the judge doesn't like it when people leave before court, I'm not doing anything the judge might not like. I only want to go home to pass the time while the paperwork is being done. So my coordinator said she would learn for me tomorrow what is happening. The big difficulty is I can't get a flight home between the 30^th of December and the 7 of January. Oh, and can you imagine coming home and having to return to go to court. I'd be a complete basket case, no way am I leaving before court.

The last two days also marked a change, as MLM didn't cry when I returned him to his group. He isn't happy, but he doesn't cry and roll on the floor. Yesterday I think the idea of using scissors was the attraction, today he just seemed to be okay. Yulia says it is because he knows I will come back. I had almost an entire hour with him this morning, which was wonderful. One of the nurses said that I was getting the best little boy of the entire group. She wanted to know if I had other children. I must say the staff are always so nice. And the children are always so clean and well looked after.

After the baby house we went to the Ramstore at the Oral Center. It is a shopping center. I needed to buy shorts and t-shirts for MLM. The lady at the store said it was very strange to need shorts and t-shirts in December, luckily she had them. 2 sets of underwear, a T-shirt and a pair of shorts cost me just over 15 dollars. I'm suppose to take MLM's clothes home each day to wash, that way they don't get mixed up with the other children's clothes, but the lady who collects the clothes is there before me and there is never any dirty clothes, and MLM is missing a few of the things I've brought or bought for him. With my sister living in the group home, I am ever so familiar with the disappearance of clothing and take it to be situation normal.

It is overcast and drizzling right now. I try to go for a walk everyday, but it is too slippery today. I go to the baby house tomorrow, but I don't go on Thursday or Friday because it is Independence day, then I will go again on Saturday and on Sunday. I should be in prime location to see the fireworks on Thursday for Independence day, I thanked my coordinator for finding me such a great apartment.

Okay Paka paka for now, I'm off to make lunch and see what is on the television. I also have a great novel I'm reading on my Kobo. Anna and Nadia I can never tell you too how much I adore and am saved by this wonderful thing. It is so much fun going onto the Kobo sight to find books I might want to read. It is like going to the bookstore whenever I want.

30 out of 1440 Isn't Enough

2010-12-12T21:36:00.001-05:00

Just putting it out there, but 30 minute visits make for a very long day (I did the math, the whole day is 1440 minutes. Needless to say my visit with MLM is the absolute highlight of the day. I still get really nervous every morning as prepare to go. I find I can't eat and I just feel so scared, of what I'm not sure. And then I see his little face and he comes running into my arms and I feel wonderful. When I'm with him it seems the most natural thing in the world. But the whole time I with him I'm aware that very soon it will be time to say goodbye.

I love when the staff sees me because they all say "--------------- your mama". It is amazing how that phrase sounds the same in English and in Russian.

Oh, I felt like I'd failed my first parent/teacher interview the other day. One of the main nurses, MLM's favourite nurse told me that MLM is a naughty little boy since his mama has come. Now he doesn't listen and he won't do as he is told, he just wants to laugh and run around. She wasn't complaining and didn't want to be mean, I think, as she was smiling when she told me.

I see all the children in his group when I pick him up and when I return him to his playroom. All the children are looking for attention, all would love the one-on-one attention that a 'mama' gives. I know that MLM doesn't understand what a 'mama' really is, nor that one day I hope to bring him home with me forever. At the moment I'm like the cookie he teased Kendra's daughter with the day we were in the music room together. I'm a treat, something he really enjoys and doesn't want to see leave, and something he has that the other children don't have. If the other children are around he holds out his hand in that universal sign of stop, as to say 'don't come here, this is my momma'. I think it will be a while before he will want to share my attention with others.

Kendra and I have spent the last two afternoons together . On Saturday we went to the Dixie Pub. I'd heard from Amanda that they make a wonderful veal masala with mashed potatoes, only they didn't have an English menu at the restaurant. Okay, picture this, Kendra and I going through the menu back and forth, looking at the Russian, and we kept looking, as if the more we looked the more we'd understand. In the end we settled for pizza which was quite good. As we sat and talked, a group of children at a nearby table all received tall glasses of some sort of milkshake. Well, we both caved and each ordered one, it was a banana milkshake. It was good as long as it was cold, which wasn't for too long, but it certainly quenched our curiosity.

Today we went down the main road to the Pushkin hotel. First we walked over to the WWII memorial. It is such a moving site. It was a beautiful sunny day around freezing. Then we went back to the hotel to have lunch. Kendra really enjoyed the menu in English. We both ended up ordering the Steak Diane (served with a lovely balsamic vinegar sauce) and the French fries. It is sad when French fries make you really happy. After lunch we walked back to where her apartment as she showed me the market where she buys her fruit and vegetables. I think it is too far from my apartment (about 20 minute walk) but it was such a nice day today I enjoyed the walk.

I have to say that I really lucked out when it comes to apartments. I have a wonderful view out both my exposures, and as it is the main street just down from city hall, I get to see anything that is going on (Tree lighting ceremony). Also my apartment comes with satellite tv. I pay extra for it, but Kendra's apartment doesn't even have the option. Also, I have this internet service. Kendra's is true dial up using phone cards. Her's isn't fast enough to support Skype. As I say, I really lucked out. I'll have to thank Nastya big time for finding me this nice apartment.

Tomorrow Kendra goes to court. She was suppose to go on Friday but the judge was sick. I'd hoped to hear when I go to court, but, yup the judge was sick. The judges clerk said it will most likely be the 28^th or 29^th of the month. I have tickets to fly to Almaty at 9:50 on the morning of the 29^th and then tickets to Toronto for the 30^th, so let's pray that court is the 28^th. I don't expect the judge to wave the 15 day appeal period, so I'd like to come home for those 2 weeks, and then return here for the 3 - 4 weeks it takes to get the birth certificate, passport and entrance visa. If my court date is the 29^th, then I'll plan to stay here until the 15 days are over and then get the birth certificate, at that point I have to decide if it is worth coming home just to return to pick MLM up. There are no flights to Frankfurt from the 31^st to January 7^th, if I'm staying for a whole week, I might as well stay the second, and then…

I have to say all this thinking does a person in.

Paka paka!

Part two

2010-12-10T12:58:00.000-05:00

The last post was sent before I had a chance to proof read or for that matter finish.

As I was saying, time was over way too fast. I hate saying goodbye and he cries when I return him to his play room. I have to carry him into the room, I now walk well into the room, give him a hug and lots of kisses and then lay him on the floor and leave. He throws himself to the floor otherwise, so I figure I'll make it easy for him. Outside, as I walked past his room, I could see his roommates and we waved to each other.

On the way home my driver took me out for blinis and a cup of tea. It was really nice, he'd told me the week before that this restaurant made the best pancakes. They were delicious. We each received two blinis filled with a meat and onion mixture. As we ate we watched a documentary in Russian about the Winchester family, makers of the guns. Who knew they would have such a strange house.

I was back at my apartment at 11:30. I called Kendra, the lady from Montreal only to learn that her visit times had been moved back to the afternoon, so we couldn't get together. And then I discovered that my internet was out. It wasn't even noon and I had nothing to do for the remainder of the day. It was a LONG day. I ended up watching many episodes of Charmed on my computer and finished knitting a shawl.

It's nearly 11 my time, and I need to go to bed. The water gets turned off every morning around 8, so if I want a shower I need to get up earlier.

Keep well everyone, paka paka.

Lack of Internet

2010-12-10T12:48:00.001-05:00

I was off the internet for most of the last two days. It was horrible, I so missed the internet.

Thursday was the day of my interpreter's mother-in-law's funeral. I know someone asked about my interpreter, she hasn't worked as interpreter before, this has been her first week at the baby house and working in English since she graduated university about a year ago. Lovely lady, I really enjoy my time with her.

It was just my driver and I on Thursday. Andre is a really nice man who has a 5 week old little girl at home. When I got into the van on Thrusday morning he had photos on his camera for me to see of his daughter. I as delighted, she is so cute. What can I say? I love babies. We talked on our way to the baby house, which is so funny as I know just a tiny tiny bit of Russian, and he only knows a bit of English.

At the baby house I was only allowed to visit for 30 minutes. I noticed that the lights were on in the music room, but the upstairs classroom was empty so I took MLM into the little classroom. MLM was looking for my interpreter, he has really taken to her, unlike the first lady. During the 30 minutes we were visiting all of MLM roommates at one point or another came into the room or opened the door. They all crave attention.

At first when we went into the classroom MLM wanted me to hold him up to look out the window. We watched cars and trucks and people pass on the road outside the baby house, remarking on everything we saw. MLM would say "Mama, mama and point to what he saw" At one point a man drove into the baby house parking lot just outside the window and began to check underneath his car. MLM tried to get the man's attention by banging on the window (very quietly), and calling to the man. We were up two stories, so the man wouldn't have heard, but I was amazed to see the difference in MLM since I first met him when he would close his eyes and shut down when he saw anyone.

After a bit, he decided it was time to have his juice. He knows where in the knapsack to go for his juice. As he drank we looked through the Happy Baby's First Word book again. This is the book that MLM spent the first 90 minutes of bonding looking at. He spent a good 15 minutes looking at the book this visit. He is beginning to react to the pictures. There is a picture of a baby sitting in just a diaper. Now when he sees the page MLM pretends to tickle the baby's tummy. And on the last page there is a picture of a baby having a bath. MLM pretended to have a bath himself, and to take some of the suds from the picture and use them to wash himself. He loved it when I used the face cloth I bring every visit to pretend to first wash the baby in the book and then him.

But WAY

New Year's Light Festival Photos

2010-12-08T09:27:00.001-05:00

These are the photos I took from my apartment last Friday during the Festival

The view from my apartment at dusk
The view just as the speaker was talking
The view as the switch was thrown (hey, I take action photos here!)
And then as my friend from knitting said "In Russia we have New Year as the main holiday. And it is Father Frost and his daughter Snegurochka (Snowgirl)Her mom is Spring:))))They are the main characters at the NYear festivals" Father Frost is responsible for all the presents children get on December 31st.

Ciao, actually, I don't know why I use Italian, Anna's influence I'm sure, I'm in Kazakhstan, from now on it is PakaPaka

Paka, paka!

Photos

2010-12-08T09:15:00.001-05:00

Photos from my tour on Saturday.

A yurt in the museum across the street from my apartment. (Yurt is actually the Russian word for this, but I can't remember the Kazakh word)
The WWII memorial
Baby House 1
MLM - I know you want to see his face, but you will have to wait until after he is legally mine.

Ciao

Prayers For My Interpreter's Family

2010-12-08T08:42:00.001-05:00

Please pray for the family of my interpreter, her mother-in-law died Monday night in a house fire, she was only 56 years old.

My interpreter came to work today, but during the hour we were together she must have had over a dozen phone calls from her poor husband. I can understand his inability to think at such a horrible time. My interpreter told me that he was very close to his mother. It was very sad day for my interpreter, I think though she enjoyed having the short break with MLM and I.

When we arrive in the section of the baby house that my son is in, I stop at the cubbies to put clean clothes into MLM's cubby with diapers for both my son and my friends' son. Today my interpreter was interested to see what the children were doing. As soon as MLM saw my interpreter he came running, right passed her to find me. He always has such a sweet smile when he sees me, such a gift. My interpreter was so pleased that he knew who she was, and if she was there I was nearby too. I think it made her day.

I only had 30 minutes today with him, the baby house is still under quarantine. Not only are the children falling sick, but the staff as well. The other day I learned that the doctor that takes care of my son's group was down with this bug. I believe there are 3 doctors in all taking care of the children in the baby house.

We went outside for our 30 minutes. MLM loves to hold my hand and if he isn't holding my hand he has a hand touching me. My interpreter says that maybe he is afraid I will leave him. I guess that it is a part of it, but I also believe the children lack and want that simplest of things 'touch'. I keep thinking of the joy on MLM face when he tickled my tummy. He had given me the best thing he had ever received himself. I've also noticed how the children don't look for help or fussing when they fall. One of the little girls in MLM's group, probably around 2 years of age, fell really hard on Saturday when we were outside for our walk, she didn't make a sound, she simple got herself up and kept walking. It made me want to cry to see a little one like that not seek comfort. I want to take all the children in his group home with me, they all deserve love and family.

After our 30 minutes were up the dreaded thing happened, MLM went flying while we battled to get his clothes off and he hit his head. He both cried and sought attention from me. I felt awful for not preventing the fall, and at the same time so glad that he feels that I can be a source of comfort. His nurse gave him a cracker, a guess it will do for comfort if that is all you can give. I could tell it was standard practice. Then I had to leave him, it does get harder each day.

After the baby house we finally got to the notary office to sign all the forms for court. I'm hoping tonight to get a call from Julia, (oh, by the way that is the name of my interpreter, don't know why I didn't use her name earlier) to tell me my court date. Tomorrow I go to the baby house on my own as it will be the funeral for Julia's mother-in-law. My coordinator will not be there either, it will just be my taxi driver and I. Oh this shall be fun.

I'm having difficulty getting the internet to stay connected long enough to add photos. Usually I get a great connection in my morning, but for the past few days that hasn't been the case. I'll try a post with just some photos.

I see from CP24 on twitter that Toronto is having some lovely cold weather. It's above freezing here. Ha ha, who'd know.

Ciao for now.

Oh Another Canadian

2010-12-08T07:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a mildish day, overcast and damp, the type of late fall day that is very common at home. On the drive to the baby house I learned my translator's mother-in-law had passed away yesterday. I don't think she could have been very old. My driver and coordinator were in the car, but couldn't tell me what was going on, my translator had to tell me by cell phone.

We arrived at the baby house to find MLM favourite nurse was working. She said I could take MLM outside and that I could stay for an hour. Yippee!!. MLM is very helpful as we get him dressed to go outside, and it is amazing how quickly he does what I ask. It as if he understands what I say to him. The funny thing is I'll say something in English and he response immediately to it, someone else says something to him in Russian, and he just stares at them as if he has no idea what they are saying.

We walked around the baby house to the playground. I encouraged him to play on the climber and slide, but where yesterday with all his room mates on the climber he was willing to go, today he was too scared and didn't want to go. That's okay, there will be many other climbers when he feels more confident. In fact, as we investigated the other out door toys, he stayed right beside me, he really is a mamma's boy. He likes to see the cars and trucks that pass the baby house. This house though, unlike baby house 2, is set off from the main street and there is limited traffic passing.

After a while, we went back inside, I still had about 20 minutes with him, but that wasn't enough to go anywhere, so we just visited in the cubby room. He hates for me to take off his clothing, so where he is so helpful dressing it is the opposite undressing. He is so cute with it too, he holds onto sleeves so I can't pull his hands out, or re-zippers the zipper I've just pulled down. (Dang why did I teach him to pull on zippers). I have to be so careful to make sure he doesn't go flying while I undress him, he puts everything into keeping those clothes on. Luckily he thinks it is a great game.

My friend's son comes to visit me every time I am there. I'm sure he is looking for his family, only 5 more days and they will be back. I put MLM's scarf into his hat for safe keeping, yes that's what I thought until my friends' son thought it would be a real treat to hide them on me. He made sure I knew what he was up to when he walked away with them, and made sure I knew where he was going. He'd put them into a little room off the cubbies with 2 cribs in it. It looks maybe like an isolation room for maybe a sick baby or two. But not only had he put it into the room, he put the hat and scarf into the furthermost corner of the furthermost crib. I had to stretch to reach it.

Watching his pal go in and out of the little sleeping room encouraged my son to play games of 'chase me'. He is so cute making sure I'm watching him, he goes just far enough to be out of reach. I'm really beginning to hate saying goodbye as he cries and cries and cries.

As I was undressing him, the other interpreter came into the cubby with the mother from Montreal. I got her cell phone number, I couldn't remember mine so I couldn't give it to her. When I got home I gave her a call and we decided to meet for a late lunch. We met at PizzaHot (not to be mistaken with PizzaHut). PizzaHot is a 24 hour pizza place just 3 blocks from me. We shared a lovely pepperoni pizza and a litre of coke for about 4.50 each. We spent over 2 hours talking. It was delightful to be able to just sit and talk. We plan to go out again.

I have internet connection, I'll post while I can.

Ciao

Identifying Bumps in the Night

2010-12-06T22:35:00.001-05:00

Well, technically I guess you would actually say it wasn't alwasy the night time, but as the sun doesn't start to come up in the morning until about 9:30 and goes down around 5:30 it feels like night. I kept hearing this heavy metal banging sound. It wasn't consistent Some nights I'd hear it over and over again, and other nights I'd never seem to hear it. This morning it finally dawned on me what the noise was, it's the front metal door to my apartment building. During the rest of the day the ambient noise means I don't hear the door closing, but in the quiet of night time I do. Thought I'd share that amazing discovery with you all. LOL

I had another short visit with MLM yesterday. He is ever so cute and loves to tease and be silly. The director of the baby house came into the music room where I was bonding with MLM as they are putting up a large frame and needed to discuss the proper location. As I didn't think I'd have much fun with the crew putting up the big frame of Kazakhstan flag, emblem and national anthem, I decided we'd go back upstairs even though I had a minute of two left.

We arrived into MLM's area to find his friends dressing for outside. The staff said if I was staying I could take MLM outside too. Yipee!, So my translator and I helped the little ones get dressed and outside we went. The temperature is just below freezing. When we were outside, we met up with the other children who used to be in MLM room at the other baby house (now he only has 7 or 8 room mates, as apposed to the 12 to 16 (I could never count them, they were so active). At this baby house they are in different areas. We walked around the baby house twice, with their teacher talking about what they say on the ground (cones, ice, etc). Then we went to a playground that families donated to the baby house back in 2004. It is one of those lovely plastic and metal climbers with slides and bridges. The children loved playing on it. As they moved to the other baby house back in March or April, for most of the children this would be their first time using it. Pros, every single one of them.

MLM stayed with me the entire walk, holding my hand and enjoying himself. When his friends went onto the playground, I encouraged him to play too. He would go, do something and come flying back to me. If he went away from me, he kept checking to make sure I was there. I think we are becoming attached to each other.

At the end of the time outside, I decided to hurry back to the room to help him undress, so I could say goodbye as his friends returned. It is getting harder and harder to say goodbye as he cries every time. As my translator and I walked back to the car, we passed by his room and I could still hear him crying. Poor little guy.

Today, my Tuesday, I hope to finally get to the notary to sign the forms to apply to court to adopt this little guy. Later this week I should hear when I get to go to court. Keep praying it is before the 28th, otherwise I'm going to have to re-re-book my flights and that will cost more money.

Bye for now,

Michele

Visit, Tour and Poor Internet

2010-12-06T07:17:00.001-05:00

There is a bit of flu and/or colds going through the baby house, so the baby house is under quarantine, that means my visits can only be for 20 minutes once a day. Instead of going anywhere in the baby house, we used the little classroom right beside the play room. MLM had his juice and played with his Etch-it-Sketch, he loves writing and erasing. When the 20 minutes were up I had to bring him back to the playroom. All the other children (there seem to be about 7 other children) were on the children's couch eating a cookie. MLM got his cookie and I said hello to all the children. Then it was time to say goodbye, it gets harder and harder for both of us.

In the afternoon, I met up with a friend of Loretta's from her time here in Uralsk. Zhanar has a tour company. We'd arranged to meet at 1 o'clock. It was wonderful. She took me to 3 museums, 2 churches, the WWII monument and the new mosque. We talked about all the families she has met from Canada and the United States, life in general, and tons of other things. We rode e bus at one point. The bus costs 40 tenge, which is the equivalent to 28 cents Canadian. For the 40 tenge you can ride from one end of the city to the other. It was sad to say goodbye because I felt that I had to say goodbye to really good friend.

I've tried to post this many times over the weekend, but I couldn't keep the internet connection long enough. Finally I seem to have a good connection, so I'm finally posting, I need to download my photos onto my computer and make the files smaller before I post, so hopefully tonight I'll have some luck with the internet.

So, just as I finished this for posting, my internet didn't go down, instead my computer went blue screen. so I'm posting as quickly as possible.

Have a great Monday, I am!

Ciao

Street Festival

2010-12-03T08:21:00.001-05:00

As I write this the road that my apartment is on is closed to traffic and there is music coming from the Town Hall Square just about a block away. I think there is going to be a festival to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season. Christmas isn't celebrated here in Kazakhstan on December 25th, instead it is celebrated on the Russian Orthodox date that we call Little Christmas in January. The big celebration is New Year's. But there is a jolly red dressed man with a pretty lady who are very much visible at this time of year. I'll try to get photos when I'm out tomorrow.

MLM and I had company in the music room where we go for bonding. There was a little girl with her mama from Montreal. MLM was a tease and an observer and learner all in the short time we were in the music room with them.

When I picked MLM up from his section, he was eating a cookie. He brought his cookie downstairs to the music room. The little girl saw the cookie and MLM tried to tease her that he had the cookie and he wasn't going to give it to her. Then he became enamoured with her toys (most of them made noises and moved). I didn't bring too many toys like that because they are aimed at a younger child, this little girl is just 16 months old. But I forgot that MLM may have never seen such toys or played with them. I kept saying there not your toys, your toys are in my knapsack, you can look but you can't touch. He seems to understand me as he then began to pull at my knapsack to get his toys. He pulled out his Leap Frog cell phone and played with it the entire visit. At one point he started saying "Allo" into the phone, just like adults here answer their phones, then he would push my hair away from my ear and hold the phone up to my ear. I would say "Allo and the Da, da da (yes). The toy says Bye bye at one point, and MLM says Bye bye and waves at the screen.

The little girl, however wasn't very interested in the toys her mama had brought instead she was interested in running around the room. MLM found watching the little girl to be very interesting. At one point the director of the baby house came into the room and left the door ajar. The little one went right towards the door to escape, MLM told me and smiled watching her. Excuse me, he is a mature 25 month old child, he can open the door if needs be, and he would never do something as immature as try to escape.

It is amazing to think that for both children the baby house has been their home for most of their lives, and yet they may never have seen each other prior to today. At one point the little girl picked up the facecloth I bring to wipe MLM's face when he's drinking, (or spitting which he thinks is a great game, I'm not to happy with that game). I was afraid that MLM would get upset and try to grab his facecloth back as he is very possessive of his belongings. But instead he was very content to just watch the girl, and he laughed at her attics.

You may wonder where he was during all this action. He was sitting in his FAVOURITE place, on his mama's knee. Whenever I do stand up, he grabs my hand, walks me back to the chair and pats the chair. As soon as I sit down he climbs into my lap. Today he indicated he want to play a game where I try to kiss him and he giggles and tries to avoid the kisses. Such a cute boy.

When the little girl and her mama left the music room, MLM decided to try and play a game he'd seen the little girl play, that of mama chase me. I of course obliged and chased him around the little space we had in the music room. He thought it was a wonderful game.

As we left, one of the staff came up to tell us that there are many babies down with colds, as such we are being restricted to one 20 minute visit a day for the time being. At least I can still visit.

Tomorrow I go with my new translator. I felt so bad today as the old translator was told that we wouldn't be using her services any more. She told me to feel free to call her anyway if I had any concerns. She was a nice lady, I just don't think she had enough conversational English to be comfortable, she struggled to convey the simplest message.

Okay, I'm off to my kitchen window to take part in the street festival. I get the best of all worlds, warmth, safety and the festival.

Ciao

Hair cuts and a Surprise 2nd Visit

2010-12-02T22:26:00.001-05:00

Oh, today was a COLD day. The high temperature was suppose to be about minus 13 C, but it never got above -16 C. Like at home though, it was a bright and beautiful day, the sky was a milky blue and there were no real clouds to see.

We arrived to MLM's room to see he'd had his hair cut, and quite a cut it is (not that he had really long hair to begin with). Because the play room is so warm, the children are dressed in light t-shirts and shorts, so I have to dress him up before we go to the music room to play. I need to buy him a pair of shoes, at the moment I borrow any shoes that are available.

In the playroom I gave MLM a new toy to play with, it's a Leap Frog cell phone that teaches numbers. He Loved it! As far as he was concerned there was no need for another toy for the full 90 minutes. He loved pushing the buttons and he knew how to hold the cell phone to his ear. He would also wave his hand to the music. The toy has a music button and it plays about 4 or 5 little songs. "If you are happy and you know it" is one of the songs and they must teach it at the baby house as he clapped once to the music (there are no lyrics to 2 of the songs, just the music) The toy was certainly a big hit. I'm not sure what made him cry more this time, saying goodbye to me or to the toy.

I had hoped to go to the notary today to sign all the papers, but we are waiting for a letter to come from Astana, so maybe tomorrow or Saturday.

In the evening I unexpectedly got another trip to the baby house. My coordinator was concerned about the ability of my translator, so this evening I went back to visit with MLM with a new translator. She's never done any professional translating, she just graduated from university in the spring.

I learned more about MLM's words/sounds in that 30 minutes than in the past 2 weeks with my other translator. She told me that a sound I'd heard was actually the word 'take' as in take this, and that in Russian they don't say peek-a-boo they say cuckoo. He reacted more favourably to this translator too, though he still acts shy and loves to stick out his tongue.

On the drive back, my translator was telling a story about what happened while we were in the baby house (and my translator told me the story - WOW) It seems the doctors have not been able to get their computers working, so my coordinator went in to get them together and working. They have a saying in Russian, that when something doesn't work just give it a push. So as my translator was working on the computer, the doctor said, 'Oh, just give it a push". It was wonderful to know the conversation. I was able to tell them the story about my father and his 5lb hammer he called 'Gentle Persuasion", any time he had trouble with a chore around the house he'd say 'It just needs a little gentle persuasion." They thought that was a funny story. It was also so nice to be able to talk with someone, I hadn't realize how little speaking I've been doing since I've been here. For my friends and family you KNOW that is a huge shock LOL

As a result of tonight, I will have my original translator tomorrow and then on Saturday this new lady will begin. I look forward to it.

Well that's all for now, have a wonderful evening everyone,

Ciao

2010-12-01T22:31:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a very exciting day. We took MLM out for some passport photos, that is such a hopeful happy idea, that my son needs a passport.

We arrived at the baby house during music/ instruction time. MLM wasn't in his main play room, he and the older children were in the other room for lessons. In the main room the music teacher was using an accordian and was teaching the children a traditional song. The nurse, the one that I know MLM really likes, was in the room, she asked us to wait until MLM came back from his class as it would only be a few more minutes.

We decided to use the time to go and find the baby house manager so I could sign the book. Every day I need to sign the register to say I've been there to see MLM. Now, they have just returned to this building and they have done some major renovations. I think they have made a lot of new offices. My translator asked where we were suppose to go. Everyone she asked gave us slightly different directions. The baby house is built around an open square, and each wing is pretty similar to the other wings. Eventually we found the lady we were looking for and she took us into her office to sign the register. I had to sign for a lot of days as I hadn't been able to sign with all the confusion during the move.

Then we returned to MLM's room to collect him. We dressed him up in his coat, hat, scarf and boots and off we went. He was very happy saying goodbye to his caregiver and coming with me. When we got into the taxi, as soon as he was sitting on my lap (ya, no car seats here, and no one uses a seat belt either) MLM says 'GO". He was so mesmerized with everything he was seeing. For the first little while he would react to seeing buses and trucks and people, but then he just became quiet and was taking it all in.

It actually made me cry a little when I think of all the things in the world he still has to see and experience. This was probably his second car ride in a week, as he was driven between the two baby houses, but I don't think he has had many other car rides in the past. I'm so excited about bringing this little boy home with me and helping him to learn about the world and everything in it.

We drove to a photo studio to have the passport photos taken. When he first sat on the chair for the photo he began to cry, and when the studio lights came on he couldn't see and scrunched up his eyes. But with me holding his hand scrunched up on the floor below him, and my coordinator showing him how to hold up his head, and a good photographer who calmly and gently worked to get the right look, we were able to get a really beautiful picture. The funnniest thing was trying to get MLM to have a neutral look, he kept wanting to smile.

As the photographer printed the pictures, we went out into the car to wait. It was a busy little parking lot with cars, trucks, a cherrypicker with workmen, and people moving through. MLM loved watching and pointing at everything he saw.

When we returned to the baby house I needed 2 more photos of MLM to present in court. I needed a head and shoulders shot and full body shot. I had no trouble getting the head and shoulders shot, but MLM thought it was quite the game for the whole body shot and would run away when I moved far enough back to get his full body in the shot. When I tried to hold him and my translator tried to take the shot he would go all limp and slither down onto the ground. Finally I think I got the shot.

Then it was his least favourite time of the day, when I say goodbye. He fights me taking off his jacket and shoes, and then he clings to me and starts to cry. It gets harder and harder to leave him. I know that he'll be fine in just a few minutes, but oh how hard it is to leave.

Today I go to the Notary after the baby house to sign the papers to apply to adopt MLM. The bonding days are almost over and now I'm applying to court. I'm hoping for a court date on either the 24th or 27th, maybe the 28th but not as much on the 28th.

It is minus 19 C right now. I'm hoping at least it is sunny today. Hope everyone has a nice day,
Ciao

It Snowed Last Night

2010-11-30T08:48:00.001-05:00

Today's Pictures:

1. A building down the street with beautiful art panels on the walls

2. Christ the Saviour Church

3. A delicous treat I buy from the corner grocery store (love the 3 raisins - always three)

I woke up this morning to see it had snowed during the night. It is comforting to know that drivers here in Uralsk forget how to drive in the snow just like they do in Toronto, there were lots of little accidents on the roads this morning.

I misunderstood the time I was to go to the babyhouse, so I didn't get as long as normal. It was so cute to see MLM, when he saw me he came running to me and the first thing he did was show me his finger which has a banged up fingernail. Now, I'd seen that on Friday, but I guess he forgot he'd told me LOL. The nurse said he it wasn't new, and I said I had seen it on Friday, but I was so very happy that he wants me to know that he needs comfort. I had noticed the first few days we were bonding, that if he bumped his head, and I mean a good knock, he'd laugh and go on as if nothing happened. It is good that he knows one of my jobs is to comfort him when he is hurt.

My translator and I weren't sure where we were suppose to go for our bonding today. We first went back to the music room, but the door was locked. So we returned up to MLM rooms, there is a little playroom beside the big play room and that is were we played today. He still likes to sit on my knee and be silly. He loves to drink his juice, but he barely drank any today, but he does like to have it in his hand. Actually as soon as he has greeted me with tons of hugs and pats on my face, he goes down and starts to open my knapsack to find his juice and his treats.

I brought some soft balls for him to play with this morning. While we were waiting for my translator to find where we were suppose to go, we stood in the hall and he found the balls. He immediately began to try to bounce and throw the ball, yah, not such a good idea while standing in the hallway. We also looked outside into the courtyard at the snow. MLM knows what the snow is because he pretended to be cold and pretended to shiver and threw himself into my arms for a hug. He is cute, really cute.

In the time we had he climbed in my lap, played a game of going up and down (I'm working on developing that language) and he actually called to my translator by name this morning. Her name is Dana, so it is a nice easy name to say. I'm sorry to say he wanted her attention so he could stick his tongue out at her. I'll add appropriate ways to interact with adults to the list of things I need to teach him. It is funny that he was willing to call out to Dana, because he won't go to her at all. At one point, he was moving around a bit and Dana came closer to MLM and I (unfortunately to tell me it was time to go), as soon as Dana approached he darted back to me. I just love how he is making such a close connection to me.

I also love how neat and tidy MLM is. Everyday when he gets his juice out of the ziplock bag that I bring it in, he takes off the cap and carefully puts the cap back into the ziplock bag and puts the bag back into my knapsack. Do you think he'll maintain these wonderful skills when I bring him home??????

I had planned to go for a walk after my lunch today, but it was raining, so instead I staying in my apartment, watched tv and knitted. I do have a bit of a cold, and my voice sounds a bit froggy, so staying home was probably a good idea. Tomorrow is suppose to be dryer, but colder. Right now there is a good wind blowing outside. I know what time I need to be out to for the baby house tomorrow, my translator and I confirmed it about 4 times (Poor lady, she stood on a street corner waiting for us to pick her up for the 30 or so minutes).

Ciao

Can they recall the Weather Forecast

2010-11-29T05:23:00.001-05:00

Today has been a beautiful partly cloudy day and not that cold, but I just saw on-line that for the next three days the weather is going to get COLD.

Tomorrow is suppose to be icy with a low of -6, but Wednesday has a low of -18 and Thursday a low of -22, at least the high is suppose to be -13. All these temperatures are measured in Celcius, or teeth chattering.

I've had two really quiet days, knitting and reading in my apartment. I've also been down with a cold, but I must say that ColdFX does seem to help a lot and I don't think this cold is as bad as it could be.

I got up just after 6 a.m my time this morning as I wanted to call some people back home. I absolutely love Skype, everyone feels so close, I don't feel like I'm half-way around the world. Oh, and it was uber cute having little Alex saying 'Bye Michele, bye Michele" He actually talked to me on the phone and told me all about going to the pet store and all the animals he'd seen. Good thing Loretta was there to translate, because I missed most of that conversation.

Hopefully things are back to normal tomorrow and I get to go see MLM.

Have a nice day everyone,

Ciao

Totally Off Topic

2010-11-27T10:46:00.001-05:00

Okay, this post is just for Christine.

The last time I got my hair done it was November 11th and Chris and I were talking war movies. For the life of me I couldn't remember the title of my favourite tear jerker WWII movie. Well,

The Captive Heart (1946) starring Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson.

Here's what IMDB says is the plot of the movie:

After the evacuation at Dunkirk, June 1940, some thousands of British prisoners are sent to German P.O.W. camps. One such group includes "Capt. Geoffrey Mitchell," a concentration-camp escapee who assumed the identity of a dead British officer. To avoid exposure, "Mitchell" must correspond with the dead man's estranged wife Celia. But eventual exposure seems certain, and the men must find a way to get him out. If he reaches England, though, what will his reception be?

Thanks Saturday Night at the Movies and Elwy Yost.

As I said this post is totally off topic,

Ciao

A Roller Coaster of a Day

2010-11-26T12:50:00.001-05:00

During the night and in the early morning we got a ton of rain, you cannot imagine the lake sized puddles that have sprung up all over the place. I actually had to get up to investigate the sound of the rain as it was so different to what I'm use to. But J, I wasn't worried about the basement flooding LOL!

Today was our first day at the newly renovated baby house and it was suppose to be the day that MLM saw the international doctor.

The baby house was so nice and shiny and you could smell the fresh paint. I was there with L and A and M and their new son and MLM. We had a nice little visit. A and L's son needs to be on the move at all times, MLM still wants lots of cuddling and needs more time to get comfortable before he becomes so active. It was a short visit, but very sweet. Afterwards L and I returned the boys to their new home. Wow they have one of those neat climbers in the room and lots of neat wooden toys. Neither of the boys were too happy with the idea of L and I leaving them, MLM never likes saying goodbye, and I think L's son knew that today was a little different for them.

While we were playing with the boys, I asked A and L's translator if she knew when I would be seeing the International doctor. Suddenly it seemed that there had been some misinformation and my coordinator had been told that my child did not need to be seen by the doctor. I knew this wasn't true, but it was hard to explain through the interpreter. They kept asking if I'd filled in the paper. Hello, this is international adoption, I've filled in TONS of paperwork. But yes, I'd done everything I'd been asked to fill in for the sponsorship of my child. But it seemed that it wasn't going to happen today. I was upset as it meant I'd have to wait for the doctor to come back and who knows how long that will be.

I was upset when I got back to the apartment, but then decided it couldn't be helped. I decided to go for a walk to help put things into perspective. MLM is doing wonderfully with me, we are finally at the renovated baby house and I should get a really room for bonding instead of a hallway, the afternoon was shaping up to be nice and sunny, and I'm in Kazakhstan a place and experience I've been dreaming of for 3 years. I decided that this wasn't even a set back just a little bump in the road. And then I went into a shop that sells yarn and I bought something.

As the evening turned out to be really nice, L asked me if I wanted to go for a walk with them. Absolutely I responded and we walked to the Atrium, and then back along one of the side streets. L showed me a store with beautiful traditional Kazakh crafts, I'll need to go back and investigate later. As we walked back to my apartment my cell phone rang, it was my coordinator, she'd arranged for the International doctor to see MLM. We raced back to my apartment and I went back to the Baby house.

The doctor is a lovely lady who speaks English. She examined MLM and reviewed his records and spoke to MLM's doctor. She wrote up the report and will send it off. Like me she has no major concerns for MLM and said how happy he seems to be with me already. So thanks to my coordinator for saving the day and making it all come right.

As I said it was a roller coaster of a day. Hope yours has been just as exciting!

And getting to spend time with MLM twice in the same day is a wonderful thing.

Okay, it is bed time for me now. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Ciao

Moving Day at the Baby House

2010-11-25T08:45:00.001-05:00

Today was the LONG promised day that the children are moving back to Baby House 1. Until a few years ago there were 2 baby houses in Uralsk, and we called them Baby House 1 and Baby House 2. During the summer of 2009 Baby House 2 was closed as between the two houses there were just over 100 children. Each house was actually set up to serve the needs of nearly 200 children. Why so few children, because most had been adopted, isn't that the nicest thing to know!

Back in about March of this year, all the children were moved from Baby House 1 back to Baby House 2 so that Baby House 1 could be renovated. Back in October, when L and A arrived, they were told that any day they would be moving back to Baby House 1. Well it finally happened today.

We we arrived at the house it was very busy. There were men (something you don't see a lot at the baby house) all over the place. Boxes were being filled, cribs dismantled, complete organized chaos. I've never seen so many people in the house, I think everyone who works there was there today.

I was very luckily that I was able to visit with MLM for 20 minutes. We weren't able to go to our usual place in the hall as the hall was quickly being filled with things coming out of the offices. I learned tonight that I got to have my visit because my driver drove the doctors and all their records to the other baby house. I have to say that the driver I have is one of the nicest men. He and his wife had a baby about 4 weeks ago, he is one very proud papa. I haven't seen a photo as it is tradition not to take a picture until the baby is over 40 days old, but this morning he played a recording of her crying that is on his mobile phone.

It was so nice to spend time with MLM. I want to take some photos so I could show him when he is older what one of his early homes was like, but the staff said no. I understand they are very stressed today, so much to do and keep all the children safe at the same time. But as we sat in the cubby room I tried to take some photos of MLM, he decided that he rather be the one taking pictures, so we took some pictures of where we sat. Clandestine photos, hey the kid did it, what can I do???

I gave him his juice and 1/2 cookie, but we couldn't play as there was no room, and I didn't want to get to much in the way. I really feel for all those ladies today, I hope it went well. When he finished his snack I brought him back into his playroom, he does not like saying good bye. He clung to my neck and made such a sad sound. Staff actually have to take him from me as he is so insistent on staying with me. That is a good sign but leaving him when he is crying so hard is difficult. I'm am even more grateful that Kathryn has always loved her group home and enters it joyfully everytime we return, to have her be unhappy would break my heart.

It is a miserable rainy day here today, so I spent the afternoon knitting and watching Real Zone on satellite. I'm such a sucker for tv. Oh, yesterday morning, I put the tv on as I was ready too early for my visit to the baby house and discovered Diva International was showing an episode of Foyle's War I'd never seen, I hope it repeats at a time I'm home.

Tomorrow the International Doctor is coming to see MLM. She will write the report for Immigration purposes. Because she is coming I will definitely get to see MLM, otherwise I would suspect they would say no visits as they get settled. I'm so lucky she was able to get here this week, next week there is a big meeting in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan and there will be limited seats available to fly around the country. The doctor is flying here from Almaty and will only be here for the day. It is a 3 and 1/2 hour flight each way, I know I pay for her to come, but it is so wonderful to have access to such wonderful people. L and A said I will really like her as they met her when they were in Almaty a number of years ago.

I'm going to try and post the photos that MLM took today in another post as the internet seems to be holding.

Have a wonderful Thursday, and to all my American family and friends - a most Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Ciao

Yesterday

2010-11-25T08:21:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I had just completed my post when I discovered that I had lost the internet quite a while before, and therefore nothing was saved. Hopefully I can remember.

When we arrvied at the baby house and to MLM's room yesterday we could hear music and singing. My translator said that they were practicing for the New Year celebration, and the song was a song about the New Year.

We peeked into the MLM playroom and all the children were sitting on chairs along wall of the room, while one of the nurses taught 4 of the children the dance that goes with the song. MLM was watching the dancing with a very anxious and scared look on his face. He is a nervous little guy. Then he saw me and he started across the room, as he got closer I bent down to him and he raced towards me a smile blossoming on his face. I know he was delighted to see me.

We played in the hallway behind this little desk that MLM and I have claimed as ours. As we played (it is important to MLM that I sit in a chair and that he sits on my lap - just like Kathryn there are rules and I must follow them, LOL), one of the managers of the baby house, a really lovely lady, stopped to say hello to MLM and I. In fact she did say 'hello, how are you?'. She turned to my translator and said that everyone is so happy that MLM has found his Mama because he laughs now and is full of joy. The manager then started to go into MLM room as my translator told me what she had said, I said to her 'thank you' in Russian. The manager stopped at the door of the area and said Nyet Splasiba - pointing at herself (no thank you), she pointed to me and said what translates to Thank you Mamma, thank you for MLM.' I was moved to tears, it was such a nice thing to say.

I also saw another lady who I'd met at the airport the morning I arrived here in Uralsk. She is also trying to adopt, but she has some concerns about her child. I feel so lucky that I don't have those concerns about MLM.

Later as we played, and keep in mind, I'm in a hallway with people coming and going and I'm trying to entertain a 2 year old where we cannot run, throw things or make much noise - a wee bit stressful, MLM discovered by watch. I have one of those carbinar watches that I usually have attached to my purse, but as I feel that I'm all over the place in the hall, I decided yesterday not to bring my purse and just attached the watch to a belt loop. MLM tried to pull the watch off my pants, luckily he was unsuccessful, but then he realized that he was near my tummy, and he did the cutest thing, he tickled my tummy. The look of pure joy on his face as he tickled me says how much he enjoys that interaction. Of course I reacted in a big way to the tickles and he did it once more and then he pulled up his shirt. Who needs a ton of toys when you can have someone tickle your tummy.

After my visit, I went for a long walk as it was a beautiful afternoon. I walked from my apartment to the Puskin Hotel and back to my apartment. I took my camera, but I didn't take a single photo. I was just taking it all in. I'll try to remember to actually take photos for myself on another day.

And that is more or less what I would have posted yesterday IF I'd been able to get the internet to stay connected.

Poor Internet Connections

2010-11-24T22:57:00.001-05:00

I've had a really hard time for the past 24 hours getting a good internet connection.

Yesterday was a great day for our visit. He is so anxious looking when he is in his room, but MLM blossoms into this wide happy grin the second he sees me.

I got an "optimistic" responsce from U of MInn this morning, the final piece I need to know about MLM health. In my heart I knew he was going to be fine, but it is so nice to have it confirmed.

I hope I can get a better internet connection later today and I'll post more.

Good night everyone at home,

MIchele