(Maureen's Post)
We had another nice visit with James today. When we arrived he was napping, but as soon as he heard us rummaging around in his room when we arrived he awoke and was all smiles when he saw us. First order of business was to change him into a better fitting outfit. He fit very well into the 6-month outfit we brought for him today which leads me to believe that he will have outgrown it by the time we leave for the U.S. I checked and he's got all ten of his toes! They're long like his fingers. I also went ahead and changed his wet diaper. One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that he also has a strawberry mark on the back of his head, at the nape of his neck (so Suzanne, I was wrong!) Like I said, he was all smiles when we first arrived. He was not nearly as animated as he was yesterday, though. I'm thinking that it's because when we visited yesterday it was in the morning from 10AM to 12PM, where today's visit was from 2PM - 4PM. So, he was a bit more laid back today. Inna told me that the doctor said he was given some cough medicine. He actually sounded a little better today and did not feel as warm as he did yesterday. However, about an hour into our visit he started getting a little cranky - apparently, his next feeding was due at 3PM and he knew it. A caregiver came in with a bottle around 3:30 PM and I fed him again today, trying to force eye contact, which did work somewhat. He was not making as much eye contact with me today, more so with Sean. It could be because he's still pretty intrigued by men, where the female role in his life right now is pretty well fulfilled by the caregivers. This is something our coordinator, Susan Cotten, passed on to me before we left. I'm glad she told me that so I was prepared, but I still didn't like it! I know it will take some time, though. His teething may also have something to do with his mood today. We gave him some teething beads to gnaw on, and they seemed to help a little. However, he's not at the point where he's holding on to things yet. We're not worried, though. The usual rule of thumb is that for every three to four months that a child has been in an institution to expect about a month in developmental delay. So we worked a little bit on his gross motor skills today, playing "So Big" and moving his legs like he's riding a bicycle. We also sat him up for a little bit; of course, he was unable to do so unassisted. We have some Baby Einstein music downloaded onto my iPod so we tried to play a little bit of that on some portable speakers, but he did not like that at all. He started shaking his head pretty violently left to right (probably a coping mechanism). Poor thing - probably sensory overload for him. James has never really heard music before, I'm sure, so we'll have to slowly transition that in. When I'm cradling him in my arms, he does look around the room and seems fixated on the dark salmon-colored curtains on the window. It's probably because other than the receiving blankets in his crib it's the only thing with color in the room. The walls in the hospital are stark white in color. James pretty much just wanted to be held all during the visit today, and we were happy to oblige of course! I held him most of the time, and he finally fell asleep in my arms at the end of our visit. He also finally started to make eye contact with me right before he began to fall asleep. However, when I put him down in his crib he would wake up and start crying. So I would scoop him up and rock him to sleep again. This happened about 4 times. I'm sure there are some out there who don't agree with picking him up every time he cries, but it is something we have to do to facilitate bonding; it's crucial that he understands that he can trust us to fulfill his needs. So, he apparently has quickly learned that he cries and Mama will pick him up! Poor baby also had his right hand over his right ear a few times today, so we're wondering if he's getting an ear infection. Anyway, Inna arrived at the end of the visit to let us know it was time to go. Of course, I put James down in his crib, and he awoke again. He didn't cry right away, as he was watching us through the slats in his crib putting away his blanket that we lay on the floor for him and putting our shoes and coats back on, all the while going over and giving him kisses every so often. When we walked out of the room he was silent from his crib for about a second, then he started wailing. It just tore us up to leave him, but we had no choice. We just keep telling ourselves it won't be long before we have him with us all the time.

After the visit in the afternoon, Oleg and Inna took us around to see some apartments, giving us the option to either move into an apartment or stay at the hotel. After some discussion, we decided to move into one of the apartments. It has a stove so we can cook our own meals, plus this one also has a washing machine - woohoo! Now, let's see if we can get it to work. We just felt it would be easier to be in an apartment with a baby once we take custody, plus it's within walking distance from the cottage and a couple of other apartments where other families are staying, not to mention also walking distance from a store. So we will be moving out of the hotel at 10:30AM tomorrow, then go visit James in the afternoon. There's a possibility that Saturday's visit may be moved up to 1 PM instead of 2 PM, so we will find that out in the morning when Inna and Oleg arrive to take us to the apartment.

After we returned to the hotel, we went next door to a smaller Pick-Up store to get some bottled water. We use it for drinking, brushing our teeth, etc. We're trying to be careful not to pick up any GI bugs/parasites while we're here. There is a very sweet girl there who likes to talk to Americans and practice her English. She's very helpful, but all we needed was water. The walk between this smaller Pick-Up store and the hotel is very short, but we had to be very careful, as the sidewalks were icy. Sean already had slipped on the ice outside the Skif Trade pick-up store yesterday, and we didn't want that to happen to either one of us. After that we met up with the Mechems and the Kurtz's at the hotel restaurant for dinner. I had the Chicken prepared Odessa style (chicken pounded flat then coated in scrambled egg and fried) and the pureed potatoes (mashed potatoes). It was pretty good. Sean had the Acapulco, which was a dish of beef chunks in a sauce that tasted like barbeque sauce and paprika along with a side of crinkle cut fried potatoes, also good. Then we all went to the Mechem's room for a nightcap of cherry juice and vodka for the ladies and Kazakh beer (piva) for the guys. It was a lot of fun to visit with the other couples. The Mechems will also be moving into an apartment, but not until Sunday.

So, that's today's post. Sorry for the delay - maybe once we get situated with our apartment and visiting schedule with James we'll be able to post sooner in the day. Can't make any promises, though, especially once we get custody of James!

Love to all!