Greetings from Kazakhstan July 11, 2005

Greetings again from Ust-Kamenogorsk!

Thank you all for your wonderful emails. We love hearing from all of you! Of course we also love reading that you all think Ivan is as cute as we do (we know that we are slightly biased, being his parents and all).

Friday was a very good day with Ivan. We had two fabulous visits with some babbling, unsolicited smiles, giggles and obvious recognition. When we walked into his room Friday afternoon, he was sitting in one of the playpens playing quietly. As soon as we walked in he immediately pulled himself up to a standing position. We were both thrilled to get this recognition from Ivan. We went into the caregiver’s "lounge" where we have had all of our visits so far. The orphanage has a very large playroom for adoption visits just down the hall from Ivan’s room on the third floor and it is filled with lots of interactive toys. However, we have not been allowed to go in to that room with the other families since Ivan had a fever on Sunday. So, we have been cramming into this room with one other family (Austin, Mary and 15 month old Daniel) all week. Since Ivan is not too interested in walking the small room has not been much of a problem for us. Daniel however, is practically running at this time, so the small space is really frustrating for him. Towards the end of the visit, Ivan was leaning against Charlotte, and kept trying to climb up. Finally, she realized that he wanted to snuggle, so she scooped him up and he immediately put his head on her shoulder and began to relax.

Friday evening the group decided to stay in and have a low-key evening. We met on the patio of the hotel and had a couple of beers together before all retiring early for the evening. We came upstairs and started to watch a DVD when all of a sudden there was this load cracking noise outside. We opened our window and saw fireworks going off! There had been a very large wedding reception going on in the Irtysh’s ballroom and this was the final hooray for the bride and groom. What a neat way to wrap up our first full week in Kazakhstan!

Saturday we were finally allowed to go to the playroom with the other families! While we parents were thrilled about the move, Ivan was a little unsure of his new surroundings and stayed pretty quiet. We had tried introducing the sippy cup a few days earlier, but found that it was just not going to work at this time. (Of course we bought the kind that only flows one way!) Ivan is so used to drinking like the adults, he has little tolerance for having to "work" for his water. So, today we brought a sports bottle with us. He loved it! We loved it because now we can get him some water while we are there. The playroom has been hovering around 90 – 95 degrees with the windows open, so we want to make sure that he is getting plenty of fluids during his play time. During our morning visit our coordinator, Elena came by with a representative from the Ministry of Education. Alfia (our translator here in Ust) translated the instructions in regards to our court appearances. The goal is to answer as many of the prosecutor’s questions in our prepared statement as possible, so that he won’t need to ask them. As the representative was giving her instructions, the Mom’s were asked to bring the children back to their room for lunch. We walked in and everyone else had been fed, so it was just our three little ones that needed to eat. So, we all sat down and started feeding our boys.
When we returned for our afternoon visit, we were allowed in the playroom again. This time Joe went to get the little man from his room. As soon as Ivan saw Joe he started to reach for him, which just lit Joe up for the rest of the day. Ivan definitely likes to snuggle with Mom, but he is warming up to his Daddy. The kids in the orphanage rarely see men, much less men that are 6’3! Joe and Ivan played a lot (lots of sitting on Daddy’s stomach) but the heat was almost unbearable in the room this afternoon. The humidity is really soaring and making the heat feel all the more oppressive. This kind of heat takes the energy away from the kids and the parents, that is for sure.

Saturday evening we arranged for our driver to meet us at 7:30 and take us to an Italian restaurant that we had been told about earlier in the week. Alexi (the driver) arrived just as planned and off we went. The restaurant was right next to the Irtysh river and the breeze blowing off of the water was just heavenly. We decided to eat on the covered patio so that we could take in the breeze and the gorgeous view. This evening was by far the best that we have had here in Ust. It was fantastic from top to bottom. We all let our hair down and enjoyed great food, wine and company. Joe had a fabulous cream of mushroom soup and a chicken breast stuffed with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes and fries on the side. He ordered mushroom risotto, but was told "Nyet, Nyet", so he revised and ordered fries instead. The funny thing was that John ordered the exact same thing after Joe, and was allowed to get the risotto. Who knows why. It’s just one of those things that gets lost in translation. Charlotte did not order the soup, but was awfully sorry when she tasted Joe’s…it was so yummy. She ordered veal with crispy mashed potatoes on the side. We split a piece of ice cream cake for dessert. We arrived back at the hotel thanks to Alexi about 10:30. Everyone was out like a light by 11.

Sunday dawned with early morning thunderstorms. By the time we were all up and out the temperature was a lovely 70 - 75 degrees and somewhat drier than the previous two days. It was wonderful! Everyone was in good spirits as we boarded the van to head to the orphanage for the first visit of the second week. We were in the playroom once again. Ivan was obviously still very sleepy when we arrived, as he was most content to just rest on Mommy’s shoulder. He did a little standing, assisted waking and some sorting but that was about it.

When we returned this afternoon Joe went to Ivan’s room to get him and Ivan went right to him once again. We sat on the floor as usual and played for about thirty minutes. It was obvious that he was feeling much more lively than this morning. Little did we know what Ivan had up his sleeve for us today. We started to do some assisted walking around the room, which was fun. Then we sat down for a break. Ivan was willing to stand when we encouraged him to and after a few minutes he was standing without us holding on to his hands or leaning on anything. Then he did it. He took a few steps without holding onto anything at all! We were amazed, as were the rest of the parents in the room. Then Charlotte went and sat a few feet away and called Ivan over to her. He toddled right over and the last few steps he would practically run into her waiting arms. He was SO proud of himself, which was the best part. He performed his little trick for us several more times, and each time he was obviously proud of himself and his new feat. So, now we have a walker. We will really have our hands full in Almaty while we are there. Even though this adds a new element, it is one that we are thrilled to be a part of. At the usual time one of his caregivers came into the playroom and whisked him away for snack time. We hardly had a chance to say goodbye for the day. However, sometimes that is probably best…less stress on him and us.

Once we returned to the hotel we went across the street to a baby shop that Lorraine and Alan discovered yesterday. We bought a new sippy cup that flows both ways and a couple of other small items for Ivan. No toys though. They did not have anything that looked like his speed at the moment. Then we decided to go on a walk in the park that is located right near us here at the hotel. The roses are just past their peak but still beautiful. Lots of flowers and shrubs are in bloom and the park was a wash of color. The temperature has remained relatively low today, so it was a great day to get out and see a little bit of the city.

Tonight will be our last at the Irtysh in downtown Ust. Tomorrow morning we move to the new hotel which is a little further outside of town. We have inquired about moving back here, but the rooms with A/C are all booked until after we leave on the 20th. So, we will likely spend the rest of our time at the other hotel. We have looked at other options here in Ust, but nothing else has worked for a group our size. So, we will all just try to make the best of it in our new digs. We are not sure how or when we will be able to access the Internet moving forward, but we certainly will try!

As we have said before, we greatly appreciate all of the prayers that are coming our way. God really does hear them and He has answered so many of ours throughout this process. Not always the way we thought that we wanted Him to, but in a much better way than we ever could have imagined. Please keep them coming! We are scheduled to have our court hearing on Monday July 18. Please add this date to your prayer list. We hope that everything will go smoothly and as planned, but you never know until that gavel goes down and the judge approves our petition. We would also like to request that you pray for the 15 day appeal period to be waived. We have a hearing about that on Tuesday July 19, if all goes well on the 18th. Usually, the appeal period is waived for our agency, but the judge can rule however he/she wants. It is not a given. So, please pray for a smooth court hearing, fast approval and for the 15 day appeal to be waived, so that we can get our little man home as soon as possible.
Off to dinner we go…more as soon as we can figure out where/when we can send from.

Lots of love to you all!
Charlotte and Joe