Trying to pack for this trip in anticipation of the weather has been interesting. It was one thing to travel in the winter (like with James' adoption), when you could count on it being freezing cold and could rely on the same 5 outfits to rotate. However, in the five days we've been here we've experienced temps as high as the upper 80's (F) with no air conditioning and somewhat sweltering in the apartment to waking up to a temperature of 55 degrees (F) with an even cooler wind chill. We watched the weather for Karaganda online prior to our trip and saw how it can fluctuate in the summer and tried to pack accordingly. Overall, though, the weather here in Karaganda has been quite nice - cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons. We're able to open our windows to let a cool breeze into the apartment if it gets too warm. Sean's MacGuyver skills came in handy - yesterday he made some repairs to the screen in our kitchen window using the handy Leatherman and good old duct tape we brought from home (that stuff sure has come in handy).
Well, our sleeping routine has improved - or at least James' and Sean's routine has; mine - not so much. I think one of the problems is that I am a very light sleeper, and our bedroom window here only has sheer curtains in front of it. As soon as the sun starts rising (the sky starts to lighten up around 4AM) I am fully awake, regardless of what time I go to bed. So, today Sean went to the Ramstore (Pamctop) to pick up a few more things, including a flat bedsheet for us to hang up in front of the bedroom window using duct tape and safety pins (another MacGuyver moment). That should help block out some of the morning light so maybe tomorrow I can wake up at a more reasonable hour.
After visiting the Baby House for a couple of days now, I have to say that this experience is very different from our experience adopting James in Kokshetau. In Kokshetau we were pretty isolated from the other babies, as our visits with James were in a children's hospital. Whenever we arrived, the nurse had already put James in a crib in a visiting room, so we hardly ever saw any of the other babies. At the Baby House (there are two here in Karaganda), we definitely see more babies. In Michael's group alone (Group 4) there are currently 10 babies. We were told that there are even more babies in Group 5. The Baby House takes care of children up through the age of 3, so there are toddlers and young preschool-age children here, as well. On our first day visiting Michael when we took him outside we saw a group of children that looked about 2 1/2 to 3 years old at the playground with their caregivers. When we walked by them we overhead the caregiver ask them who they thought we were (maybe one of the children was asking), and the children all responded that we were a "Mama" and a "Papa." This just absolutely tore me up inside, and I just wanted to scoop all of them up and take them home. As children get older the liklihood of them getting adopted decreases, as more people tend to want to adopt babies. Not only that, not all children at the Baby House are even available for adoption, as these government-run homes are also part of a foster care system, if you will, where children are placed here in the hopes of eventually reuniting them fully with their families. As long as the children are being visited somewhat regularly by a family member within a certain period of time, they are not available for adoption.
From what we can tell from visiting Group 4, each group has a few nurses and caregivers assigned to each group. The nurses work 24 hour shifts at a time, and the caregivers work 12-hour shifts, two days at a time. At any given time, Group 4 has one nurse and one caregiver on duty. Those two women sure have their hands full with 10 babies! We try to help when we can, playing a little bit with some of the other babies or trying to soothe some of the crying ones when the nurse and caregiver are busy. Of course, our primary focus is to bond with Michael so we aren't always able to do that, and it breaks our hearts to hear a crying baby that needs soothing. What is comforting, however, is knowing that some of the babies will be getting new families soon. Group 4 has a set of twins, and yesterday the nurse told us that they will be going home with a Belgian couple soon. The twins are adorable and totally crack us up, as one of them (a girl) is extremely active and is the "hit and run" type once you put her in a walker.
Today's visits were good, as always! Michael was already awake in his crib when we went to get him this morning, and he was more than ready for breakfast. He did have a little bit of a runny nose, though, as did a few of the other babies in the group. We think that the nurse on duty today is his favorite, as he was smiling and responding to her, even when she would call to him from across the room. He was again a wiggly worm today, going after the same toys he did yesterday. He was supposed to have his picture taken for his passport this morning, too, but Michael did not want any part of it. Even the group nurse tried to get him to be still for the camera, as did our coordinator, Natasha, but Michael refused to cooperate. The photographer would try several times, then take a break and leave our room to take another child's picture, then come back to try again. Finally after about 30 attempts (seriously) the photographer was able to get one photo that was suitable for the passport. Obviously, Michael does not care too much for the paparazzi!
In between visits today we went to have lunch at Johnny Walker's Pub (English/Scottish Pub), mostly because they have menus with English translations and supposedly they had free wi-fi. However, there was no free wi-fi, or at least there isn't anymore. We still had a good lunch of fish and chips. The hostess there took a liking to James and gave him a large white chocolate candy bar when lunch was over. Even though she was talking to James in Russian she made it pretty clear that the candy bar was for him only and not for Papa and Mama to eat. James seems to be making friends everywhere we go!
And with that, I will close with today's pictures...
That's all folks! Paka paka and love to all!
