Day 6!

Our visit with Patrick this morning was amazing! We had such a good time! He was upset when we first got there and when we put on his snowsuit and shoes but as soon as we headed outside he perked up. It was another beautiful day – sunny and warm enough for us in light long-sleeves, but we still bundled Patrick up :) He was in the swing for about 10-15 minutes and really seemed to like it today. Then we headed over to the “shed” (for lack of a better word) and he again fell asleep for 20-25 minutes. He woke as we headed inside and was a little upset when we took his snowsuit off but as soon as I started playing with this truck, he was hooked. He played for 30-35 minutes happily! (Our translator told us that they build these “sheds” to protect the children when they play outside from the intense summer sun/heat.) He even got off my lap and sat in front of me. He let Daddy tickle him and took toys from Daddy too! When our time was up, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go back to the caregiver. Yay! It was so awesome to see the progress. Oh, he also ate a couple banana puffs and a cookie (from baby house) that I gave him. We are praising the Lord!

We started our visit with Calvin by visiting with his baby house doctor. She is so nice! We had a long list of questions that our translator asked her. She answered all that she could – some of the questions about birth mom and dad, social history etc. she could not answer. We found out he weighs only 7 kilos 800 grams (about 16-17lbs.) and that he has bronchitis every couple of months and has had pneumonia. He also struggles with anemia. The doctor said he only gets about half of what he eats actually in his stomach and she said he will certainly gain weight after surgery. We told her that we love him and think he is wonderful. She said she was so happy that we want him and that they were so worried about him. She also said that he looks for us in the mornings when we can’t visit – talk about breaking our hearts! We took him outside for the rest of the visit and he spent most of his time with Daddy. He is really into throwing things and so threw his bottle in the sand – we weren’t too happy about that. He was still a little cranky today; I really think he is just comfortable with us and lets us know how he is feeling whenever he wants. :)

We asked to be dropped off at the Atrium (kind of like a mall) after visiting Calvin and were able to purchase a phone card. I was so happy to talk to my mom for a little bit this evening. It’s expensive so we likely will not do that very much – I’m sure it’s cheaper to call from the states to here. We also bought a few things at the store – diapers, bread, cheese, chocolate :), water, rice cakes (kind of – more like bird seed), juice (for boys and us), and soup mix. We had the soup tonight and it was very good – beef broth with noodles, seasoning, and vegetables (it’s just a small packet, enough for both of us). We really like the bread here and it’s very cheap. The cheese (we’ve bought gouda and swiss) is good and I was happy to see it so readily available. The chocolate is really good – we haven’t eaten much of it but have enjoyed it! We are learning a little bit of Russian and a little Kazakh – we aren’t always sure which is which although I know they are quite different. We try very hard to communicate well and have managed to shop on our own several times. We point and hold up fingers for the number we want of an item. The clerks just type the price on a calculator so we can understand and pay. We walked back to our hotel which is about 1 mile. It’s been a gorgeous day here and we were happy for the exercise!

Last night was not such a good night for sleep. I’ve only had 2 good nights since we arrived. So this morning I woke up not feeling very well again…please pray we will sleep soundly and well at the appropriate hours. :) We are learning to continually cast our cares on the Lord and to let go of control (especially me). When we think about where we started just 6 days ago, we cannot believe how far and how fast the boys have come! Thanks for praying, reading, and rejoicing with us.

**In response to a few comments: We haven't heard anything about the space launch - the big news here is the presidents coming to town at the beginning of October (4 of them, I believe).
Here are some stats on the boys:
Calvin: 17 months tomorrow, tiny, crawls, stands & walks along furniture, cleft palate & lip.
Patrick: 13 months, big guy, walks, lots of hair.
Neither of them say very much - mostly babble but understand kaz & russian (not sure which is predominant) . We speak to them in English and a little in kaz & russian (very badly).