2.18.2005
Day 4
Another early start today as we head to Ecik to spend time with the children. Today Emil did the driving and with the help of a radar detector, we arrived at the babyhouse at 8:00 am sharp. In a few minutes, in came Justin, looking just as miserable as ever with no sign of recognition on his part. Thus we began the parent dance, looking for a reaction of any kind from our little boy. We gave him some peach yogurt, which he liked very much, as well as a sippy cup full of juice. He’s still very congested (his breathing sounds like a purring cat) so we try to keep him upright with walks across the room. It’s hard to get him to walk, and he’s always collapsing his little legs and resisting the effort. Today, when we pried the sippy cup from his grip to move on to a walk, we witnessed his first temper tantrum. Full on screaming, throwing the cup and pounding his fists. It was good to see him show the emotion, and we let him carry on for a couple of minutes before we scooped him up and dried his eyes. We spent the next hour or so feeding him cookies, more juice, and his mid-morning snack of warm milk and cookies.
We were anticipating feeding Paige her morning bottle and kasha, but they told us she woke up early this morning and couldn’t wait to eat, so her caretakers fed her. At 10:30 am they brought Justin back to his play group and in came Paige. She must have had a bath because she was finally out of that little red outfit and smelled so good and looked even better in a soft yellow outfit. Unfortunately, we’re getting to visit with her at her morning naptime, so after only about ½ hour she ends up falling asleep on us!
At noon we had round two with Justin to feed him his lunch . . . a bowl of soup and a dish of noodles, meat and peas. He’s a very good eater, and while Chris fed him she would kiss his hand . . . then a tiny miracle . . . he reached out and touched her face, her nose, her eyes. Both our eyes filled with tears at this first sign of connection! We cleaned him up and he enjoyed a little more peach yogurt for dessert. Fortunately, we had some more time so we walked him back to the blanket to play for a bit before he was taken away for his nap. He likes to stack these plastic rings on a red post. Just for kicks we took a ring and placed it on his head and when it slipped off, we’d exclaim “uh oh!” After a couple of times of doing this, all of sudden our withdrawn little soul started to laugh!! We did it again and again and again, and each time he’d laugh a little harder. Then he even took one to place it on his own head . . . it gives us hope.
We stayed at the babyhouse a while longer and were introduced to the Minister of Education, a nice woman who will be in court on adoption day. She asked us a few questions, looked through our photo album and commented on how lucky we were to live near the ocean. We drove her back to her office on our way home.
When we arrived back in Almaty, Emil took us to a restaurant called Mama Mia for a late lunch/early dinner. The food was very good, and afterwards he took us back to our apartment where we both collapsed and fell asleep after an emotionally draining day. Until tomorrow . . .
We were anticipating feeding Paige her morning bottle and kasha, but they told us she woke up early this morning and couldn’t wait to eat, so her caretakers fed her. At 10:30 am they brought Justin back to his play group and in came Paige. She must have had a bath because she was finally out of that little red outfit and smelled so good and looked even better in a soft yellow outfit. Unfortunately, we’re getting to visit with her at her morning naptime, so after only about ½ hour she ends up falling asleep on us!
At noon we had round two with Justin to feed him his lunch . . . a bowl of soup and a dish of noodles, meat and peas. He’s a very good eater, and while Chris fed him she would kiss his hand . . . then a tiny miracle . . . he reached out and touched her face, her nose, her eyes. Both our eyes filled with tears at this first sign of connection! We cleaned him up and he enjoyed a little more peach yogurt for dessert. Fortunately, we had some more time so we walked him back to the blanket to play for a bit before he was taken away for his nap. He likes to stack these plastic rings on a red post. Just for kicks we took a ring and placed it on his head and when it slipped off, we’d exclaim “uh oh!” After a couple of times of doing this, all of sudden our withdrawn little soul started to laugh!! We did it again and again and again, and each time he’d laugh a little harder. Then he even took one to place it on his own head . . . it gives us hope.
We stayed at the babyhouse a while longer and were introduced to the Minister of Education, a nice woman who will be in court on adoption day. She asked us a few questions, looked through our photo album and commented on how lucky we were to live near the ocean. We drove her back to her office on our way home.
When we arrived back in Almaty, Emil took us to a restaurant called Mama Mia for a late lunch/early dinner. The food was very good, and afterwards he took us back to our apartment where we both collapsed and fell asleep after an emotionally draining day. Until tomorrow . . .
# posted by kaztree @ 11:48 AM 
