moscow - trip 2 - day 3

I slept much better last night than I did the first night of our first trip. We like our apartment on the Smolenskaya Embankment. It is much more comfortable.

Last night and this morning, R enjoyed watching bicycle track racing on the Satellite TV. The commentary was all in Russian, but that didn’t matter! Track racing is not shown on TV in the US, so this was an added treat for him!

This morning, we left the apartment a few minutes before 10:00am. We held hands and said a prayer in the elevator on the way down. The elevator is unbelievably small, and only holds 2 people. Not for the claustrophobic! Katia and Anton picked us up at 10:00am. After we had gone a few blocks, R realized that he had left his passport holder in the apartment. This was not good, because it contained all our money, and his passport. (You have to have your passport and migration card on you at all times in Russia.) He asked Anton to go back, and he retrieved it quickly. Then we got back on the road to Kolomna. Traffic was heavier than expected this morning. Usually traffic on Mondays is heavy, but not this heavy. This was more like Friday traffic, for some unknown reason. It took us an hour just to get to the M5.

After 2 hours, we arrived in Kolomna. The landscape was different this time. Last time we were here, everything was snow covered. Now that temperatures have been in the upper 40’s, most of the snow has melted. Even though it was above freezing, there were still some small snow patches, and ponds were still almost completely frozen over. I took some video of the town on the way to the orphanage to show Eli later. We were blessed with good weather today. The sun was out, and it was almost 50 degrees.

When we arrived, we went to the music room where we have visited with him each time. We waited a few minutes, and the caregiver brought him down in a stroller. She wheeled him in, and he looked right at us. I bent down and said “Look who it is. It’s our sweet baby!” and he smiled! So I think he remembered us! I picked him up out of the stroller, and he went right to me with no hesitation. It felt so good to hold him again! After Katia and the caregiver left the room, he cried just a tiny bit. I don’t think it was because they left, because he wasn’t even looking toward the door. I think it was because he was confused. We talked to him in a soft voice, and explained what was happening, and how we would be back in 2 weeks to take him with us, and shortly after that, he calmed down. We sat on the floor, with his Touch and Feel Farm book first. He watches and really concentrates. He follows the movement of our hands. After we read the book a few times, and he petted all the animals, he would try to pick up the book and throw it (sort of). He liked beating on it too, which was cute! Then we played with the soft book that Stephanie sent, which he liked. We played with that for a while. Since he liked that, I think he’ll really like the Whoozit!

He crawled a few times. If I held my arms out and encouraged him, he would crawl to me, and he seemed to like that, but he really didn’t want much time to just roam around. Just like before, he just wanted me to hold him while he sucked his thumb. Toward the end of our visit, R. held him. While he was sitting in R.’s lap sucking his thumb, R. talked to him about track racing and fixed gear bikes, and he listened very intently! From time to time, he would look up, look us directly in the face, and make eye contact, and I think that is a very good sign.

When R. was holding him, and he was sucking his thumb, I pretended to eat his little baby feet, and he laughed! He would stick his little foot back out for me to do it again. So adorable!

Just like before, he fell asleep while R was holding him. R passed him to me, and he never woke up. He was out, with the thumb in his mouth. So precious. We had a little over 2 hours with him, so that was a good visit.

He seemed to have grown, but not that much really. Just a little. His crawling seemed the same. He seemed a little more stable sitting up. He had a small bruise on his right temple, probably from toppling over. It was right in the spot where his head touches the floor when he loses balance. Still, I hated to see it.

There was another new development, and not a good one. At one point, he was sitting on the floor beside me, and he was starting to get tired. He put his thumb in his mouth and starting rocking back and forth. I picked him up immediately, and he snuggled in, with his head on my shoulder. I asked R if he saw it, and he noticed it immediately too. Only 2 more weeks, and then I can rock him as much as he wants!

We are counting the days until he can be with us forever!!!