Hugs, kisses and a headache

Steve here. It snowed 2 inches today and the high was 25º F. The snow was very dry and the flakes were huge—the size of pennies. It was a quiet and beautiful day.

Today we went to the baby house at 10AM for the first of two visits. This morning both Yan and Sergei were bundled up nicely and wearing hats to protect them from the cold. While this seems to make sense it is about 100 degrees (slight exaggeration) in the baby house. We got off to an uneasy start as Sergei seemed very anxious and was not happy, especially when he was sitting on the floor. Yan came in next, and came over and gave us hugs (the first of many we got throughout the day). Sergei remained apprehensive for quite some time, and did not seem to warm up to Terri during this visit. Yan played with some of the toys. He loves dumping crayons out of the box and then putting them back in only to do it all over again. Repetitive functions, hmmm, sounds like he is ready for life in the working world. I spent the early part of the visit with Yan, and then switched off with Terri to see if any of my best one liners would work on Sergei. He was not really impressed but he did seem less displeased as I walked around with him, occasionally bouncing him around to the tune of Bonanza. He did seem to smile ever so slightly as I did what seemed like 50 reps of lifting baby skyward. Okay, I know I am out of shape a bit, and Sergei is a pretty healthy boy but I do think it was the near sauna conditions that just about killed me. By the end of the visit I was ready to go back out in the 25 degree weather. Terri had Yan’s loyalty with some strategically placed animal crackers. The boy already understands manipulation and was continually trying to score more crackers. We worked with Yan with some animal flashcards trying to use the Russian names followed by English names. Our visit seemed to go by quickly as it was soon time for the boys to have a meal and their naps.

Speaking of lunch, we had traditional Russian fare with our translator, Anya. Terri and I split a bowl of borscht (beet root soup) and we also each had a blini (like a crepe but can have sweet or savory fillings—we had the ham and cheese), and bottled water with gas (carbonated). The meal was very good and my misgivings about the borscht, undeserved. Sitting next to us was another American couple here to adopt. We briefly chatted over lunch about our trips to date. After lunch it was back to the apartment for a brief stay before our afternoon baby house visit.

At 2PM it was back to the baby house. This time we actually remembered to take the diapers that were requested of us. Sergei was still not at ease but Yan was making nice progress. I got Yan to giggle as I used him as the highway for a toy car. Terri gave Yan a few more animal crackers, which he ate at quite a leisurely pace. This is somewhat odd, as we have read so many stories of the baby house kids just scarfing down food. We played around like this for a little bit as Sergei was content to sit and watch. Terri keeps trying to make the little guy comfortable—obviously, it is going to take a little time. Yan wanted to look out the window so I obligingly lifted him into the window seat, only to practically give myself a concussion as I hit my head on a VERY sturdy inner window that was slightly open. I saw stars, birds chirping, and oddly enough, Cyrillic letters dancing around my head. Sadly, this was the same accident-waiting-to-happen that I warned Terri to avoid earlier in the day. So now I have a goose egg on my head as I write. Terri has had some near mishaps too. She keeps tripping over the freakishly tall door thresholds. It’s just what these guys needed—clumsy parents. I made Yan giggle with 50 more reps of toddler sky lifts—man, I gotta start working out. Terri held Sergei for quite some time and kept him calm, but he didn’t seem that interesting in participating right now. Tomorrow, Sergei will laugh, okay, maybe smile—we’ll take a smirk. Again the time flew by and it was time to go.

Before heading home we went to the store to buy some more engaging toys. We had traveled with just a few toys since we did not know what age children we would be presented. So tomorrow we are armed with some stuff we think the boys will like. On the drive home we passed an ornately decorated car with a bride and groom in the backseat. It had a very sophisticated blend of gaudy and cheesy decorations. My favorite was what appeared to be Barbie and Ken clones on a simulated wedding cake located on the hood of the car. We had seen them getting married this morning down by the river—outside, in the cold with snow flurries. I bet you the vows were very short.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow it is back to the baby house to see the boys.