Greetings from Moscow,
We have had a fairly uneventful day today, but we are one day closer to getting home which makes us very happy!
I think I did the blog mid-day yesterday, so I’ll give a quick update of yesterday evening. After Jakob’s afternoon nap, all of the families got together on the club level and the kids played. It is so nice having everyone together and seeing all of these kids so happy. I had some bubbles (thanks to a recommendation from my big sis) and the kids loved them. I’m not sure if they had seen them or not. We then all went down to our favorite (and only) German restaurant in the hotel for dinner.
After dinner, we bathed him and put him to bed. This was another 2 hour drama. This time we think it may have been due to Wayne leaving the room just as I was putting him down and then returning just as he was about to fall asleep. We are going to try a few different things tonight to see how things go. You can see he is so tired but just fights it…I guess like most kids do. The good news is, once he is asleep, he is down for the night!
Today, we started off the morning with breakfast of course. Jakob was a bit confused this morning as there was a lady sitting at the table we had been eating breakfast at the last 2 mornings. He just stopped and stared at her as if to say, “Hey lady, that is our table.” I assured him that breakfast would be just as good at a different table. Reluctantly, he agreed.
After breakfast, we played a bit while Wayne and the other men had to go to drop off paperwork. Lisa and I took the boys to a new part of the hotel that we had not been in (where they have a hairdresser). I asked how much it would be to get his haircut and they said $30. I think we’ll wait until we get home!
I then played with Jakob in the room, but it was clear he was getting a bit foul. I decided both of us could use some fresh air, so we got bundled up and I got him in the stroller (which he still loves)! As we got downstairs, the guys had returned, but Wayne was going to have to stay in the room to wait for a phone call to see if we needed some passport photos redone (which turned out we didn’t…whew). I took Jakob out to the park across from the hotel. It was so nice and refreshing to be in the cool, crisp air (as they just pump the heat inside). We walked around this huge pond they had and explored a bit. Jakob loved seeing the birds. I took him out of the stroller for a bit and he spent some time walking towards them while eating a NutriGrain bar for a snack. After about 30-45 min, we went back to the hotel. Jakob and Patrick played for a bit and then we all headed downstairs for lunch. Today Jakob had Vegetable Quiche and a little bit of my club sandwich. We don’t have a ton of healthy choices, but at least since he is a bit older, he can eat most of what we eat and he seems to like most of what we give him.
Right now I’m sitting in the dark typing this while he is napping. Wayne has just left to go to Arbat Street where a few of the guys needed to buy gifts for people back home and they are going to do a grocery store run as we are nearly out of nappies and wipes. We FINALLY found some milk that Jakob will drink. Sam, one of the other fathers, had been told to buy this one particular type of milk and their daughter does not really like it, but Jakob does. So, that was great! We had just been giving him watered down juices and/or water (if he would take it) just to get some liquids in him.
This evening will not be too eventful as we will just eat in. Tomorrow, we plan to all go to the park after breakfast in the morning (and maybe also a military museum at the back of it…Wayne is getting twitchy). In the afternoon (during all of their naps of course), we are meant to go to the U.S. Embassy to get their U.S. Entry Visas!
It is sad to think that everyone else gets to leave on Saturday and we will still be here waiting to get his Russian registry done (so we can get the U.S. Passport sooner when we return). We are planning to go out to the Relf family’s house sometime this weekend and may try to plan some other sort of outing. We have really created a neat bond with the other families here and I hope to continue keeping in contact with them. Each year, our agency throws a big party where all the families get together at the Pittsburgh Zoo. It is normally in June which won’t work for us this year, but hopefully next year we can go.
Anyway – here are some other funny things before I finish for today…
Mom – you asked about the doctor and his diagnosis of Jakob. He said the proportion of Jakob’s body is fine, but he is just skinny and a small person. He said the only thing we need to watch out for is the girls, as Jakob is so good looking that he is sure to break all of the girls’ hearts!
Jakob is definitely picking up on English. He knows his nose, eyes, and shoes for sure. When I was changing him the other day, I always pretend to eat his toes…and I said, “I’m going to eat your toes!” He gave me an odd look and pointed to his nose. It took me a second to realize he was getting confused between nose and toes. He was looking at me like, “Mom, my nose is here, not down there!”
He has also started saying “uh oh” when he drops stuff and he has “Patty Cake” down to a tee (although I’ve been informed that I’m not singing the full song, but hey, now everyone needs to just sing the condensed version or else he gets confused…ooops, screwing him up already).
Jakob has really learned a lot from the little telephone we bought him. When he picks it up, he holds it up to his ear and he now says, “Mama” as he is doing it as if he is talking to me. He also says “hello” and “bye.”
Today at lunch, Wayne asked Jakob if the food was good and Wayne was putting his thumb up at the same time. Then Jakob copied and put his thumb up like, “Yep, Thumbs Up….It’s good!” I’ve almost got him doing a high five…still working on that one. He is also starting to pick up counting to five and especially likes to hold his fingers up like I do.
Jakob has also learned to store food in those cheeks of his. We have now started to get in the habit of making him open his mouth open fully before we give him anymore food to make sure he is not hiding anything before we give him more. He also is hesitant to spit things out if he does not like it as I think he is afraid he won’t get anymore food at all.
Today, Jakob walked up to Dave and said what sounded like the word “dumb.” I told Jakob, “Jakob, don’t call Dave dumb to his face.” Then I looked at Dave and said, “See, I told you my kid was a genius!”
I hope everyone is doing well and I’ll try to post more tomorrow!
Courtney, Wayne and Jakob
We have had a fairly uneventful day today, but we are one day closer to getting home which makes us very happy!
I think I did the blog mid-day yesterday, so I’ll give a quick update of yesterday evening. After Jakob’s afternoon nap, all of the families got together on the club level and the kids played. It is so nice having everyone together and seeing all of these kids so happy. I had some bubbles (thanks to a recommendation from my big sis) and the kids loved them. I’m not sure if they had seen them or not. We then all went down to our favorite (and only) German restaurant in the hotel for dinner.
After dinner, we bathed him and put him to bed. This was another 2 hour drama. This time we think it may have been due to Wayne leaving the room just as I was putting him down and then returning just as he was about to fall asleep. We are going to try a few different things tonight to see how things go. You can see he is so tired but just fights it…I guess like most kids do. The good news is, once he is asleep, he is down for the night!
Today, we started off the morning with breakfast of course. Jakob was a bit confused this morning as there was a lady sitting at the table we had been eating breakfast at the last 2 mornings. He just stopped and stared at her as if to say, “Hey lady, that is our table.” I assured him that breakfast would be just as good at a different table. Reluctantly, he agreed.
After breakfast, we played a bit while Wayne and the other men had to go to drop off paperwork. Lisa and I took the boys to a new part of the hotel that we had not been in (where they have a hairdresser). I asked how much it would be to get his haircut and they said $30. I think we’ll wait until we get home!
I then played with Jakob in the room, but it was clear he was getting a bit foul. I decided both of us could use some fresh air, so we got bundled up and I got him in the stroller (which he still loves)! As we got downstairs, the guys had returned, but Wayne was going to have to stay in the room to wait for a phone call to see if we needed some passport photos redone (which turned out we didn’t…whew). I took Jakob out to the park across from the hotel. It was so nice and refreshing to be in the cool, crisp air (as they just pump the heat inside). We walked around this huge pond they had and explored a bit. Jakob loved seeing the birds. I took him out of the stroller for a bit and he spent some time walking towards them while eating a NutriGrain bar for a snack. After about 30-45 min, we went back to the hotel. Jakob and Patrick played for a bit and then we all headed downstairs for lunch. Today Jakob had Vegetable Quiche and a little bit of my club sandwich. We don’t have a ton of healthy choices, but at least since he is a bit older, he can eat most of what we eat and he seems to like most of what we give him.
Right now I’m sitting in the dark typing this while he is napping. Wayne has just left to go to Arbat Street where a few of the guys needed to buy gifts for people back home and they are going to do a grocery store run as we are nearly out of nappies and wipes. We FINALLY found some milk that Jakob will drink. Sam, one of the other fathers, had been told to buy this one particular type of milk and their daughter does not really like it, but Jakob does. So, that was great! We had just been giving him watered down juices and/or water (if he would take it) just to get some liquids in him.
This evening will not be too eventful as we will just eat in. Tomorrow, we plan to all go to the park after breakfast in the morning (and maybe also a military museum at the back of it…Wayne is getting twitchy). In the afternoon (during all of their naps of course), we are meant to go to the U.S. Embassy to get their U.S. Entry Visas!
It is sad to think that everyone else gets to leave on Saturday and we will still be here waiting to get his Russian registry done (so we can get the U.S. Passport sooner when we return). We are planning to go out to the Relf family’s house sometime this weekend and may try to plan some other sort of outing. We have really created a neat bond with the other families here and I hope to continue keeping in contact with them. Each year, our agency throws a big party where all the families get together at the Pittsburgh Zoo. It is normally in June which won’t work for us this year, but hopefully next year we can go.
Anyway – here are some other funny things before I finish for today…
Mom – you asked about the doctor and his diagnosis of Jakob. He said the proportion of Jakob’s body is fine, but he is just skinny and a small person. He said the only thing we need to watch out for is the girls, as Jakob is so good looking that he is sure to break all of the girls’ hearts!
Jakob is definitely picking up on English. He knows his nose, eyes, and shoes for sure. When I was changing him the other day, I always pretend to eat his toes…and I said, “I’m going to eat your toes!” He gave me an odd look and pointed to his nose. It took me a second to realize he was getting confused between nose and toes. He was looking at me like, “Mom, my nose is here, not down there!”
He has also started saying “uh oh” when he drops stuff and he has “Patty Cake” down to a tee (although I’ve been informed that I’m not singing the full song, but hey, now everyone needs to just sing the condensed version or else he gets confused…ooops, screwing him up already).
Jakob has really learned a lot from the little telephone we bought him. When he picks it up, he holds it up to his ear and he now says, “Mama” as he is doing it as if he is talking to me. He also says “hello” and “bye.”
Today at lunch, Wayne asked Jakob if the food was good and Wayne was putting his thumb up at the same time. Then Jakob copied and put his thumb up like, “Yep, Thumbs Up….It’s good!” I’ve almost got him doing a high five…still working on that one. He is also starting to pick up counting to five and especially likes to hold his fingers up like I do.
Jakob has also learned to store food in those cheeks of his. We have now started to get in the habit of making him open his mouth open fully before we give him anymore food to make sure he is not hiding anything before we give him more. He also is hesitant to spit things out if he does not like it as I think he is afraid he won’t get anymore food at all.
Today, Jakob walked up to Dave and said what sounded like the word “dumb.” I told Jakob, “Jakob, don’t call Dave dumb to his face.” Then I looked at Dave and said, “See, I told you my kid was a genius!”
I hope everyone is doing well and I’ll try to post more tomorrow!
Courtney, Wayne and Jakob
P.S. Sarah - thank you for the Nike outfit...it is one of the only ones that truly fits him right now!
5 comments:
Courtney, Wayne, & Jakob,
I just saw your posting, but have to run into a conference call. I'm glad things are going well - will write more later.
Love, Mom/Pam/Nana Pam
Courtney, Wayne, & Jakob,
I'm back from my conference call. The video is great because that is the first time I've heard Jakob talking - how cute! It sounds like every day you are seeing more of his personality. Parenting isn't easy, but doing it in a hotel for 10 days is even more trying, but you and Wayne are doing such a great job with him. I know you will be so happy to be at home with him and settled, but in the meantime, we are all enjoying the daily postings, pictures, and videos. I actually purchased an outfit for Jakob yesterday for summer. It is a shirt and short overalls with an airplane on the front. I decided the overalls would be good since they can't fall off of him if they are a little big. Again, I can't wait to meet him, and like you, feel like I've known him for a long time just through the pictures and videos. Thank you for being so diligent in your writing.
Love you,
Mom/Pam/Nana Pam
Dearest Courtney, Wayne and Jakob,
Wishing the three of us could be in Russia right now with the three of you. Even if you're getting a little stir-crazy, it still sounds as if your activities are way more fun than anything we're up to this week.(Wait until that Fourth Grade homework and Standardized Testing kicks in!) Big sis, Chris, is glad the bubbles worked their same magic on your little one(s). Actually, we've found you're never too old for bubbles!
Perhaps it's because we're living in an expensive city like
Los Angeles but $30 doesn't sound too terribly pricey for a haircut. Especially at a time when a gazillion photos are being taken for the memory book. Sometimes you just need to get that first good haircut from a professional and then mom can maintain it from there.(And Courtney's always had a way with scissors!) But do let the record show that we consider Jakob adorable no matter what's going on with his hair. It's much more tragic that you're being forced to pay crazy prices for mediocre meals. Given your precious son's winning smile, you should equip him with a collection cup in hopes of charming some rubles out of the locals! We're praying for your success in getting the two- hour bedtime business sorted out. Wonder what the lights out ritual was at the orphanage?
Kids do thrive on routine, a great example being Jakob's reaction to the woman having breakfast at HIS table, so hopefully you'll get a groove going soon. It is truly amazing how smoothly this transition has gone so far! The bonding between the three of you is such a blessing.
Congratulations!
All Our Love,
The Haydon-Wilsons
Courtney,Wayne & Jakob,
Its great to be able to follow your progress, through your photos and videos, Jan has been checking the world map to see how far you are from South Australia.
Love from us both to the three of you
Auntie Jan & Uncle Paul xxx
Courtney, Wayne & Jakob,
Thank you, thank you for the postings and pictures. We are also falling in love with little Jakob and can't wait to meet him -- I can't believe that now he is here you are living in Canada!!
Your mom and Christi are so right about the routine -- when you get him home and he has his own bed in his own room, you will be able to get a routine going with him. You will learn much patience living in a hotel with a 2 year old for 10 days. There is so much love between the 3 of you -- as Jeffery would say "a year from now you won't even remember the hard times"!!
We say prayers for you every day and thank the Lord that you finally have your son. He is precious.
Love and kisses from
Aunt Penny and Uncle Jeffery
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