June 16th

(This is the second time I'm starting this post. We lost electricity at the Internet cafe and I had not saved like I usually do. I was engrossed in my writing when it happened. Not quite all the comforts of home. This is not the first time we've lost a connection). Here we go again....

The alarm goes off at 7:45 and breakfast arrives at 8:00am. There is nothing on the schedule this morning and we're tired so we go back to bed. A luxury we are well aware will be gone soon. It is a lazy morning. Beth and Bob knock on the door and ask if we would like to go to the Internet cafe with them. We decline. We slowly get ourselves together and head out the door at 11:00am to go for a walk and get some sun. We stroll around for 1 1/2 hours. Pat has gotten the lay of the land and we go far and wide. I'm hopelessly lost most of the time. I have inherited my father's keen sense of direction. We make it safely back to the hotel. We sit for a few minutes before it is time to go to the baby home. We're going to take the bus one more day. Bob figures he'll be ready for the walk again tomorrow.

This is our first time taking the bus without Olessya or Dana. Everything goes smoothly and we get off at the correct stop. The children are inside today. Pat is on Molly duty. I am determined to see that Aidan eat today (at this point we are still unaware that they had eaten yesterday before we tried to feed them again). Aidan and Nicholas are together in a playpen. We pick them up and hold, kiss and talk to them while we wait for their lunch to arrive. Aidan is very alert today and smiles and talks to me. He is very interested in my necklace. Lunch is served. Today's menu features a rice cereal and warm peach juice. The cereal is hot and the caregiver gestures for me to blow on it. Aidan fusses at the first few bites. I give him some juice and get his interest by making funny noises. He becomes more cooperative and coos during his meal. He finishes all of his cereal and drinks 3 shot glasses of juice. I am pleased. Mission accomplished. I wash his face and attempt the word for towel in Russian. I don't get it quite right but I am understood. The caregiver repeats it correctly for me and says 10 (Aidan's bin number) in English while pointing to bin 9. Somehow it all works out. I change his diaper (this is a first) and dress him in a white terrycloth onsie. He looks so cute. Nicholas is dressed in the same outfit by Beth. The caregivers put a red and white striped baseball cap on each of their heads. They laugh and repeat a phrase in Russian which we guess means "twins, twins". Off to the marble room. We get there and there is no rug on the floor. The caregiver who opened the door for us (the room is locked when not occupied) gestures that we are not to put the children on the floor. They are to stay on the furniture only. Pat and Molly arrive several minutes later. She is gabbing away. Pat fed her and she ate well. Aidan is very active. He crawls around on the couch and stands while holding Pat's hand. Pat sits down on the couch with both kids in his lap. Molly is content to sit and play with toys, talk and look around. She doesn't miss a trick. Aidan climbs all over Pat and chats away. I have some really good video of this. Molly attempts to brain her brother with a plastic doughnut. We give her something softer to play with. Aidan's head is safe for now. Olessya joins us and has Aidan laughing as she tickles his belly. Towards the end of the visit we sit all 3 babies in a stuffed chair for a picture. Molly is in the middle with Aidan and Nicholas on either side. We wave our arms, snap our fingers and make funny sounds in an attempt to get them to smile. They look at us like we're lunatics. We get a few good ones and then rescue Aidan who has fallen behind his sister. Molly is throwing her 'bows. It's 2:30 again. We take the kids back to their rooms and put them in their cribs. Aidan's pacifier is not in his crib so I find his caregiver and gesture to her. I return to his crib with the goods and lay him down on his belly and pat his back. His little butt rises up and soon he is on his feet in his V formation. I pat his back and go. See you tomorrow loved one. We meet Pat out front. He put Molly in her crib and and gotten a look which translated to something like "where do you think you're going?". She loves her daddy. We take the bus back to the hotel.

Pat and I head to the Internet cafe for our afternoon routine. We received an email response from Dr. Goff. She did not have any concerns based on the details we sent. Molly is in the 75th percentile for weight and head measurements and the 25th percentile for height. Aidan is in the 5th percentile for all 3 categories. She describes him as petite but proportional. We'll take the kids to see Dr. Goff as soon as we get back. She will be on vacation for a week in July and gave us the email address of her colleague in case we need to get in touch while she is away. We respond and thank her for her speedy reply. We leave the Internet cafe after a few hours and head to the park for a beer. We find a few cold ones and drink them while sitting on a bench in the sun. The park is busy as usual. We walk back to the hotel to meet the others for dinner.

We eat at a place called the Knights Castle. The inside is elaborate. Wood paneling and wood ceilings. It looks like the inside of a castle. There is one table in the middle of the room that is huge. The chairs are highbacked and made of heavy wood. The end chairs resemble thrones. The table legs are huge lions heads. The waitresses are dressed like ladies in waiting in long velvet gowns. Dinner is delicious. We try another new beer tonight, Karl Balling. Bob is with us and eats a full meal. He is fully recovered. For dessert we have crepes filled with fried bananas and topped with whipped cream. As dessert is served the lights go out and there is a loud bang. Music starts to play and the waitstaff performs a dance. Dinner is over at 10:00pm and we head back to the hotel. Pat "watches" soccer and I write in my journal. Lights out at 11:30.