For some reason, adjusting to the time change here seems to be harder this time around. I went to bed last night around 9PM, only to wake up at midnight and not be able to get back to sleep. James had a rough night last night, too, waking up several times. It doesn't help that the sun rises so early and sets so late, not to mention that the summer solstice is upon us, the longest day of the year (you can see sunrise and sunset times on the Karaganda weather icon on our home page). So, today was a bit tough for the three of us, as you can imagine, but I'm starting to see a glimmer of light! By this evening we were completely unpacked, had gone to the grocery store to stock up on some food for the apartment, and had done a couple of loads of laundry. Mind you, the washing machine in our apartment is very small, so it took a couple of loads to wash about 3-4 days of laundry. Anyway, we're starting to feel more settled in. Now that we have our Baby House visits set we're getting into a regular routine. Not only that, but for the first time since leaving home James has finally gone to sleep at a time close to his regular bedtime. So, at least one of us is back to a regular sleeping routine! James went to bed about 8:30PM tonight, allowing us to sit and veg out in front of the TV. The scenario right now is very reminscent of our time in Kokshetau 3 1/2 years ago after we got custody of James, with James asleep in the apartment bedroom, and Sean and I watching "24" in the living room (season 6 this time) while I update the website about the new baby.
I did bring a few paperback books with me this time around. I started one on the airplane and finished reading it in Almaty. So, I left it behind at the apartment in Almaty for someone else to read, and picked up a John Grisham novel I hadn't read yet that was already at the Almaty apartment, probably left behind from a previous family - a book swap, if you will. I know it would have made more sense to maybe get a Kindle or something similar rather than bringing a handful of paperbacks on the trip, but I'm also a realist and know that even though I really enjoy reading, this is probably the only time I'll get to read this many books in a short period of time and once we get home with Michael and settle in to life at home with two young boys it may be a while before I get to read this much again.
A bit of hopeful news on the technology front is that there may be one more option for us in being able to obtain internet access with our laptop at the apartment. So we will be looking into this option within the next few days. In the meantime, we will have to resort to getting internet access whereever we can find it to check email and upload website updates every 2-3 days. We were finally able to connect to the internet and upload the last couple of days' updates using the free high speed wi-fi at the Cosmonaut Hotel restaurant where we had lunch today. It's just down the street from the Baby House. James made friends with the waitress there, and she gave him an orange. The restaurant has pretty good food with reasonable prices. Even James ate most of his lunch there, and that's saying a lot for him!
We were asked today if we wanted to go ahead and officially proceed with the adoption of Michael, and of course we said "da" (yes). Today will mark our second official bonding day with him. Kazakhstan currently requires a 14-day bonding period with the child before allowing the potential adoptive parents to apply for a court hearing. However, that may soon change to 30 days with the upcoming ratification and implementation of the Hague Convention treaty in Kazakhstan.
We had good visits with Michael today. Yesterday, he was a little bit more chilled out - maybe because it was the first time we were all together. Today, he was very much a wiggly worm when I held him and was all over the place on the floor, especially when I had the solo afternoon visit with him. He was very focused on crawling either to a particular toy or destination in the room. He didn't like it if I turned him to face a different direction and would quickly turn himself back around. He's a very determined, but still very sweet little boy. He reminds me a lot of James as a baby. He was also more verbal during my afternoon visit with him today, babbling "mamama" and "bababa." We also didn't have any major spit-up issues, so I guess we properly burped him after he ate! Oh, and after further consideration we've determined that Michael's eye color is somewhere between dark grey and hazel, or as Sean likes to call it - "greyzel."
There is a Belgian family who left Group 4 yesterday, ready to go home with their new son. The couple actually sat behind Sean and James on the flight between Frankfurt and Almaty and are on their second trip after completing bonding and court about a month ago. They are now ready to take their new son home to meet his big brother, who is four years old - very similar age difference between James and Michael. We are very happy to see another baby going home. So, now there's two families visiting babies in Group 4 - us and a Canadian couple with another agency who arrived yesterday afternoon. We haven't really gotten to see too much of our other travel partners with our agency since arriving here, only in passing at the Baby House, but I think it's because we are all in different baby groups (Groups 3, 4, and 5), some with different visiting times. I also think the "settling in" process is taking just a little bit longer for us families who brought our older children with us. Hopefully by the end of this week we'll be able to see more of each other outside of the Baby House. That will be good, especially for James and Jadyn (the Kaplans' 4 1/2 yr-old son). They've already met at the Baby House playground, but it will be nice to also take them to some other kid-friendly environments around here so they can get some of their energy out together.
And now, just a few pics from today's morning visit...
Looking forward to tomorrow's visits! Love to all!
