091800OCT2007
Another great day here. We visited the orphanage this morning and fed Alexei after his nap and then went for a walk in the brisk air sweeping off the Asian steppes.
Bonnie is doing more each day with Alexei and now feeds him rather than Saule his caregiver. The trick seems to be once you start feeding, keep shoveling the chow until the plate is empty!! He then drinks a cup of juice (usually apricot) out of his shot glass. I find it amazing that at 6 months they are off bottles and are eating from a spoon. No sippy cups here! They are also potty trained by at around 9 months. This is something we will try at home. Fostering a generation of kids who are dependant on sippy cups and Pampers is obviously not necessary.
The medical interview went well yesterday and Alexei appears healthy. He has some minor issues that all children have (herniated belly button, mild anemia, etc), all things that any child in the U.S. could have. I also think that some things need to be listed so that the child is eligible for adoption by a foreign couple.
I forwarded the data/report from the Pediatrician Dr. ??????, a very stern looking Asian (Kazakh) woman of about 50yrs, to Dr. Friedman at CHOP last night and sent the necessary photos today after a frustrating day trying to find an Internet café that had reasonable service. Although Dr. ?????? only smiled once during the medical interview, she was obviously very knowledgeable and had all the information CHOP had asked us to secure including the APGAR score.
Logging on to Verizon remotely was possible but it wouldn’t allow me to upload pix. My work account at Sperry Van Ness was inaccessible also. Thank goodness for the U.S. Army’s AKO! Yes that’s right, it was only through my AKO account that I was able to complete the upload and send the pictures the doctor needed for the evaluation.
We’re staying in tonight. A technician is coming to the hotel to see if he can get us on line in our room. It’s 56k dial up but hopefully it will work and will relieve me of having to go the “café” route each day.
I have not been able to get through to the blog yet. I think I was cracking the code when I had to leave the I-café today. Hopefully I’ll have that de-bugged in the next day or so because I have all these journal entries piling up as well as photos and vid clips.
More excellent food here today. We visited a coffee house and had pizza. It’s a little different but good. Reminds me of the pizza I used to get in Sarajevo. The soups here are amazing. Generally the food is way better than that you’d find in the U.S. They don’t have fast food so everything is like real food! No processed shit!
My Russian continues to improve. Today I stopped 2 policemen and asked for directions in Russian and they actually understood me. Of course when they responded I got only about half of it but it was enough to get the job done.
On our way to lunch today we met a young woman (Isabelle) from Yorkshire UK who is studying abroad here. She introduced herself the other day while we were walking and is part of a language (Russian-English) exchange program. She’s a very nice young lady with whom we invited for lunch one day.
We have met several other couples from various parts of the U.S. who are all from different agencies and all I can say is that we are blessed we chose Adoptions From The Heart. Hands down they are head and shoulders above the rest in organization and understanding of the process so far. Obviously the courts can be sensitive here and our coordinator Olyeesa is the best. She has anticipated and met every requirement necessary so far. Hopefully through her knowledge and good work we will stay on track and complete our court obligations and be on our way without unnecessary delay. I can’t say as much for some of the other couples.
Yesterday we went to a mall (not like ours in scope or scale) and I saw a traditional Kazakh hat, which I am going to buy. The mall was a building that resembled a department store where each department was it’s own store. A lot of it was empty and a lot of the goods were knock offs from China. In the jewelry store I noticed a Star of David necklace. Apparently there are some Jews here somewhere and they are open and secure enough to be able to wear a necklace like that.
That’s all for now. Hopefully all this will make it on the blog soon.
Observation of the Day: There are these vehicles that ride around in the late afternoon making loudspeaker announcements. I guess it’s a hold over from the old USSR days. Of course I have no idea what they say but my imagination runs wild and I hear things like “Attention Comrades, the beloved heroes of the Motherland have trapped the fascist Hun in Stalingrad. Victory is at hand!)
Of course it probably is talking about some plumbing issue or something! *LOL*
Another great day here. We visited the orphanage this morning and fed Alexei after his nap and then went for a walk in the brisk air sweeping off the Asian steppes.
Bonnie is doing more each day with Alexei and now feeds him rather than Saule his caregiver. The trick seems to be once you start feeding, keep shoveling the chow until the plate is empty!! He then drinks a cup of juice (usually apricot) out of his shot glass. I find it amazing that at 6 months they are off bottles and are eating from a spoon. No sippy cups here! They are also potty trained by at around 9 months. This is something we will try at home. Fostering a generation of kids who are dependant on sippy cups and Pampers is obviously not necessary.
The medical interview went well yesterday and Alexei appears healthy. He has some minor issues that all children have (herniated belly button, mild anemia, etc), all things that any child in the U.S. could have. I also think that some things need to be listed so that the child is eligible for adoption by a foreign couple.
I forwarded the data/report from the Pediatrician Dr. ??????, a very stern looking Asian (Kazakh) woman of about 50yrs, to Dr. Friedman at CHOP last night and sent the necessary photos today after a frustrating day trying to find an Internet café that had reasonable service. Although Dr. ?????? only smiled once during the medical interview, she was obviously very knowledgeable and had all the information CHOP had asked us to secure including the APGAR score.
Logging on to Verizon remotely was possible but it wouldn’t allow me to upload pix. My work account at Sperry Van Ness was inaccessible also. Thank goodness for the U.S. Army’s AKO! Yes that’s right, it was only through my AKO account that I was able to complete the upload and send the pictures the doctor needed for the evaluation.
We’re staying in tonight. A technician is coming to the hotel to see if he can get us on line in our room. It’s 56k dial up but hopefully it will work and will relieve me of having to go the “café” route each day.
I have not been able to get through to the blog yet. I think I was cracking the code when I had to leave the I-café today. Hopefully I’ll have that de-bugged in the next day or so because I have all these journal entries piling up as well as photos and vid clips.
More excellent food here today. We visited a coffee house and had pizza. It’s a little different but good. Reminds me of the pizza I used to get in Sarajevo. The soups here are amazing. Generally the food is way better than that you’d find in the U.S. They don’t have fast food so everything is like real food! No processed shit!
My Russian continues to improve. Today I stopped 2 policemen and asked for directions in Russian and they actually understood me. Of course when they responded I got only about half of it but it was enough to get the job done.
On our way to lunch today we met a young woman (Isabelle) from Yorkshire UK who is studying abroad here. She introduced herself the other day while we were walking and is part of a language (Russian-English) exchange program. She’s a very nice young lady with whom we invited for lunch one day.
We have met several other couples from various parts of the U.S. who are all from different agencies and all I can say is that we are blessed we chose Adoptions From The Heart. Hands down they are head and shoulders above the rest in organization and understanding of the process so far. Obviously the courts can be sensitive here and our coordinator Olyeesa is the best. She has anticipated and met every requirement necessary so far. Hopefully through her knowledge and good work we will stay on track and complete our court obligations and be on our way without unnecessary delay. I can’t say as much for some of the other couples.
Yesterday we went to a mall (not like ours in scope or scale) and I saw a traditional Kazakh hat, which I am going to buy. The mall was a building that resembled a department store where each department was it’s own store. A lot of it was empty and a lot of the goods were knock offs from China. In the jewelry store I noticed a Star of David necklace. Apparently there are some Jews here somewhere and they are open and secure enough to be able to wear a necklace like that.
That’s all for now. Hopefully all this will make it on the blog soon.
Observation of the Day: There are these vehicles that ride around in the late afternoon making loudspeaker announcements. I guess it’s a hold over from the old USSR days. Of course I have no idea what they say but my imagination runs wild and I hear things like “Attention Comrades, the beloved heroes of the Motherland have trapped the fascist Hun in Stalingrad. Victory is at hand!)
Of course it probably is talking about some plumbing issue or something! *LOL*
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