Tuesday, June 21, 2005

June 21st

Molly is 8 months old today. It is also the last day of the 14 day required bonding period. Olesya talked to the judge on Monday and asked her when would be the best day for her to bring our paperwork. The judge said Thursday. Olesya will meet with her at 9:00am that morning ans we should have our court dates. The alarm goes off at 7:00am. We get up early to do laundry. We do it together this time and it only takes an hour and a half. We're going to try and do a few things at a time instead of waiting for one big load. We'll see how that goes. I don't think that we'll complain about doing laundry when we get home! Beth and I have appointments for manicures this morning. She is at 9:00am and I am at 10:00am. We will be flying solo. No Olesya this time. Pat and Bob head to the gym at 8:30am. The nail appointments go off without a hitch. I select what I think is a lovely shade of pink. It looks more like strawberry frosting when its on my nails. The total cost including tip is about $8. I leave the salon and find Pat waiting outside for me. It is only 11:00am so we go for a walk. It's a scorcher today. It is supposed to get up into the 90s. We're meeting Olesya at noon for lunch. Brian, Mary Ellen and Sabina will be there too. Their flight is at 4:00pm. Lunch is good. Pat and I split an order of steamed dumplings. Sabina is shy at first but warms a bit during the meal. She is 2 1/2 and this is a big adjustment for her. She eats from her parent's plate even though she ate lunch at the baby home. Brian and Mary Ellen hope her appetite will always be this good. Lunch is over at 1:00pm. We hug Brian and Mary Ellen and wish them well. We will see them again. We're late for our visit at the baby home so we take the bus.

The kids are inside today. I go for Molly. She is laying down in the group playpen surrounded by other children. A boy we refer to as the sumo wrestler topples over on Molly and she wails. Mommy to the rescue. She is wearing a cute pink and blue onsie. We head to the marble room. Pat, Beth, Bob and the boys arrive. They were given 3 square flannel blankets. These are to be placed on the rug. Everyone is very active today. We discover that Aidan can now sit on his own. This is something he could not do when we arrived. His body control has improved. There are fewer face plants. Molly stands willingly. She hasn't gotten the crawling bit down yet but she appears to like to dance. If you sing la-la, la-la-la she shimmies on queue whether laying on her belly or sitting. We have this on video. Nicholas we find has a passion for peek-a-boo. This makes him laugh and laugh. It's another good day of visiting. At 2:30 we take the kids back to their rooms. Both of them go right down for naps. We walk back to the hotel.

We go to the Internet cafe. All of the computers are taken and there are several people waiting. Beth an Bob are each on a computer. They say that they will be done soon but we opt to go to the other Internet cafe which is just a block away. We each get a computer there. Pat has trouble with his so we share mine and check email. It's slow going and the room is hot. We decide to head back to the other Internet place (the Kazpost-in addition to internet access you can also but stamps and mail letters there). It's Pat's day to update the Blog and I'm tired so I go back to the hotel instead. I take a nap while Pat blogs. He arrives back at the hotel at 6:00pm. Dinner is at 7:00pm.

Dana arrives at the hotel shortly before 7:00pm and we walk to the restaurant. Although we were just there on Sunday we've asked to go to the pizza place. We get there and find that there are no tables available. Dana suggests that we try another restaurant. Apparently you don't wait for a table here. We decide on the Russian pub. Pat orders beef stroganoff and I choose stuffed cabbage. It is fabulous (if you like stuffed cabbage). It's after 700pm so Dana does not eat. She's about 5'6" and maybe 110 lbs soaking wet but does not eat after 7 because she's "watching her form". We learn today that others are watching too. Four young men spoke to her on the bus and a gentleman at the table next to ours buys her a refill on her banana and peach shake. We tease her about her suitors. She blushes. We introduce Dana to a new English word-chick flick. She likes it and writes it down in her notebook. The night is pleasant and we decide to go for a walk after our meal. We head in the direction of Dana's home and suggest that we walk her half way. She says the walk to her house is about 40 minutes (she has a somewhat leisurely pace). The route is fairly direct but after a left and right turn Dana decides we've gone far enough. Our 21 year old mother hen is concerned that we won't be able to find our way back. She gives us each a hug good night and says goodbye. We find our way back to the hotel without incident. It's about 9:45pm when we get back. Pat watches soccer on TV and I read.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

HI GUYS:
A PARTICULARLY AMUSING RENDITION OF CHANGING MOLLY. GET USED TO IT.
SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE GOOD AS ARE B,B and N.
WE ARE FINE AND ENJOYING A PRETTY DAY BEFORE THE PROMIXED 90'S OF THE WEEKEND.
LOVE AS ALWAYS,
MOM (and DAD)

Anonymous said...

Well, "happy birthday" to Molly.
Sounds like Molly will have fun with Casey when she's older. They can dance the day away:)

Love,
Megan