2nd Visit, Day 3

Jakob survives the car ride!

Yes, Jakob went for his first car ride (that he can remember) today! It was only about a 3 minute drive across the road and to a strip center and back to get his passport photo taken, but even just that little short trip was slightly nerve racking for him.

We went to the orphanage this morning and they had him dressed in snow boots that were about 4 sizes too big and a jacket that was swallowing him. He looked SO cute and was all smiles. When we picked him up to take him outside, he started to get a bit nervous. I am not sure that he blinked but maybe 4 times the whole time we were gone. I carried him out to the car and as we started to get in he started making a scared fussing noise and the driver tried to calm him down a bit speaking Russian to him. Once in the car, he was ok, but very quiet and just looked around. When we got to the strip center and Wayne got out first, he started fussing again as I think he thought we were staying in the car. Once out, he was fine. We let him walk inside which he seemed to like. He enjoyed looking at the stuff in the shop (and seemed to take an extra long stare at the lingerie section...which we found humorous). The passport photo taking took a bit longer as it was difficult to get him to look at the camera...at a guy he did not know. He sat on the driver's lap and then Wayne and I tried to stand directly behind the camera guy to get him to look at us. Once done, I think he would have enjoyed doing a little shopping, but it was time to get back into the car...which he fussed again before getting in. He does not seem too bad once in it, just not very happy to get in it.

Back at the orphanage, we spent some time trying clothes and shoes on him that we had brought over. Most everything is a bit big on him right now, but he will soon fill it all out once we fatten him up a bit. We cut the visit about 20 minutes short because he seemed to want to go back into his room (once he heard the food cart going down the hall). We had a chance to see his play room which seemed really nice...as well as some of the kids in his room. There were maybe 4-5 boys (all of some other ethnic decent) and 2 girls that looked Russian. When the care giver went to put his red boots on him, he said "Mama" as if to say...why are you doing this, that is what Mama (me) does (as I'm always putting his shoes on and tickling his feet). So the caregiver said, "Good-yeh Mama" and he turned and pointed to me. Then I asked him where Papa was and he pointed to Wayne. (What was funny is when we returned him to his room in the evening (after our 2nd visit)...a boy in his room yelled out "Mama, Papa" when we walked in).

Between visits, we went and retrieved my bag from the airport (which was not too fun, but hey, we got it) and then went to the grocery store to buy a cake for Jakob's birthday tomorrow. We are not really sure what sort it is, but I'm sure he will like it.

We then went back to the orphanage after dropping the cake back by the house. In the evening, we gave Jakob some grapes (which we don't think he has had before). He really enjoyed them. He put all of the skin in my hand on the first one. We also gave him half of a banana (which he recognized), a NutriGrain bar and some Cheerios. I'm sure his caregivers would not be happy if they knew, but hey...he is ours now! :) Anyway, once you see this kid, you'll see why we have no shame in feeding him any chance we get! We had a really good time with him in the afternoon playing with stickers (which seemed new to him), the piano, and chasing him.

Thanks to everyone who has posted comments...we really enjoy them!

We'll do another post tomorrow evening before we head to Houston on Thursday!

Until then...