At last
Oh thank you to all of you who posted comments! It is so great to hear from you! And they are all going into Aigerim's baby book (just as soon as I make one. By the time she is 21 perhaps) for being so kind. (Well handled, Suzanne, for the cat wrangling. And _everyone_ gets suckered by their 'let us outdoors pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease' routine. _everyone_)
Today at last we had a "normal" day - just a little family hanging out together. No medical reports, no choosing, no paperwork, no waiting no nothing. Our first "real" day together.
Our normal routine is, and will be, to visit from 10-12 and from 4-6. The time goes so quickly! The babies nap at noon and at 6 so the ends of our visits are very sleepy and quiet. This morning, we had some tummy time and Aigerim accidently figured out crawling for a few minutes, then went back to some frustrated rocking. But she is quite motivated to reach things - the baby photo book that Uncle Kevin and his family gave her is the best right now. So sometimes she forgets she is frustrated and sprawls out toward the goal line like the best NFL quarterback - if your fingers touch the goal, it's yours! Bling remains compelling. My jewelry, Mitch's watch, the camera all motivate the precious to fight her way forward.
We finally introduced ourselves to her main caregiver today, Galina - she is a dream with the children. She gets in their faces and calls them by name and lights up her eyes and face and grins - and so, at least Aigerim does in return. Galina showed us the baby's breakfasts - porridge and fruit compote and tea and then a bottle of kefir (yoghurt). Don't count on my translations being too exact - this is all done in our version of Russian, which, at best, is horrid.
Our driver, Vladimir, is working on our Russian. We have tried new phrases out on him on each of the visit and he encourages us by bellowing the phrase back at us. It is encouraging that he at least recognizes what we are trying to say!
For lunch, we had no English menu at "Rainbow" restaurant so I just answered "Spasiba" and "Pree-vee-yet" alternately whenever the waitress stopped talking. She finally led us to a table and Mitch recognized "shashlik" (not spelled that way, mind you) -- kebab. We had delicious kebabs, chicken, and shared a liter of Coca Cola. Coca Cola is easy to order.
Things are going very very well. Aigerim is happy, healthy, strong -- and likes us! In the afternoon, we packed her into the baby carrier and went for a walk outside the baby house. The weather was cooler today, nice, or so we thought : when we stopped to get a sun bonnet, like she wore yesterday when we went outside, Galina took the sun bonnet away from the under-nanny who was bringing it, put a second suit onto Aigerim and a thermal cap, tying it snug under her chin - making her laugh the whole way. The stories are right, the nannies keep the babies warm. It is their defense against colds that will run through the whole nursery.
The wind make Aigerim blink and turn her head but she didn't complain. She looks at everything, and every sound interests her. It is gratifying to see.
I see Grandma has moved faster than the internet - yes, Aigerim's first name is going to be Marie, just like Grandma! The names sound really nice together. We call her Aigerim, though sometimes it comes out aberdeen or eigenburg or something not quite right yet. Aigerim is not an easy name for us but it is her name and she recognizes it and we will go with that as long as she wants. I figure the kid's already got a tough last name, why bother to simplify her middle name? Her Grandmother's name is just as important to her heritage and I am tickled that Grandma said it was alright to name the baby after her.
The internet was pokey earlier tonight so I thought I wouldn't get to post - and so I didn't transfer the photos from my computer to Mitch's. Mitch's computer is hooked up to our 56k (true) digital internet connection. The apartment has internet and no hot water.
So tomorrow I will have to transfer/prepare photos to tell you about our "regular" days. It is so nice to not be waiting anymore, to be doing, to just being with Aigerim. She is a joy and she is a tough one and I am very very lucky.
Again, thanks a thousand times for your posts - or, as my limited Russian goes, Spasiba a thousand times. It is great to hear from you. AOL is not serving my mail tonight, same as last night, so I am not ignoring anyone, just not able to read.
More photos tomorrow, and an update on how to bathe with a bucket and kettle (but probably not many photos of that, I think :) )
Love ya all
Bobi
Today at last we had a "normal" day - just a little family hanging out together. No medical reports, no choosing, no paperwork, no waiting no nothing. Our first "real" day together.
Our normal routine is, and will be, to visit from 10-12 and from 4-6. The time goes so quickly! The babies nap at noon and at 6 so the ends of our visits are very sleepy and quiet. This morning, we had some tummy time and Aigerim accidently figured out crawling for a few minutes, then went back to some frustrated rocking. But she is quite motivated to reach things - the baby photo book that Uncle Kevin and his family gave her is the best right now. So sometimes she forgets she is frustrated and sprawls out toward the goal line like the best NFL quarterback - if your fingers touch the goal, it's yours! Bling remains compelling. My jewelry, Mitch's watch, the camera all motivate the precious to fight her way forward.
We finally introduced ourselves to her main caregiver today, Galina - she is a dream with the children. She gets in their faces and calls them by name and lights up her eyes and face and grins - and so, at least Aigerim does in return. Galina showed us the baby's breakfasts - porridge and fruit compote and tea and then a bottle of kefir (yoghurt). Don't count on my translations being too exact - this is all done in our version of Russian, which, at best, is horrid.
Our driver, Vladimir, is working on our Russian. We have tried new phrases out on him on each of the visit and he encourages us by bellowing the phrase back at us. It is encouraging that he at least recognizes what we are trying to say!
For lunch, we had no English menu at "Rainbow" restaurant so I just answered "Spasiba" and "Pree-vee-yet" alternately whenever the waitress stopped talking. She finally led us to a table and Mitch recognized "shashlik" (not spelled that way, mind you) -- kebab. We had delicious kebabs, chicken, and shared a liter of Coca Cola. Coca Cola is easy to order.
Things are going very very well. Aigerim is happy, healthy, strong -- and likes us! In the afternoon, we packed her into the baby carrier and went for a walk outside the baby house. The weather was cooler today, nice, or so we thought : when we stopped to get a sun bonnet, like she wore yesterday when we went outside, Galina took the sun bonnet away from the under-nanny who was bringing it, put a second suit onto Aigerim and a thermal cap, tying it snug under her chin - making her laugh the whole way. The stories are right, the nannies keep the babies warm. It is their defense against colds that will run through the whole nursery.
The wind make Aigerim blink and turn her head but she didn't complain. She looks at everything, and every sound interests her. It is gratifying to see.
I see Grandma has moved faster than the internet - yes, Aigerim's first name is going to be Marie, just like Grandma! The names sound really nice together. We call her Aigerim, though sometimes it comes out aberdeen or eigenburg or something not quite right yet. Aigerim is not an easy name for us but it is her name and she recognizes it and we will go with that as long as she wants. I figure the kid's already got a tough last name, why bother to simplify her middle name? Her Grandmother's name is just as important to her heritage and I am tickled that Grandma said it was alright to name the baby after her.
The internet was pokey earlier tonight so I thought I wouldn't get to post - and so I didn't transfer the photos from my computer to Mitch's. Mitch's computer is hooked up to our 56k (true) digital internet connection. The apartment has internet and no hot water.
So tomorrow I will have to transfer/prepare photos to tell you about our "regular" days. It is so nice to not be waiting anymore, to be doing, to just being with Aigerim. She is a joy and she is a tough one and I am very very lucky.
Again, thanks a thousand times for your posts - or, as my limited Russian goes, Spasiba a thousand times. It is great to hear from you. AOL is not serving my mail tonight, same as last night, so I am not ignoring anyone, just not able to read.
More photos tomorrow, and an update on how to bathe with a bucket and kettle (but probably not many photos of that, I think :) )
Love ya all
Bobi
posted by Bobi @ 8:31 AM
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