Yesterday I mentioned that there was construction and sidewalk repairs being done on the road in front of the Baby House. Actually, there's a lot of repairs, planting, and beautifying going on around Karaganda. Apparently, President Nazarbayev is expected to visit Karaganda the first week of July, so preparations are being made around the city for his arrival. We're not yet sure if this will affect our being able to go to the Baby House to visit Michael - we'll have to keep you posted.
Our morning visit went well. When we visit Michael we first feed him, then change his diaper and his outfit. Lately, this has been a challenge since he likes to roll over while on the changing table to grab at other thngs on the table. Sean said that yesterday during the afternoon visit when he changed one of his messy diapers, Michael did a full sit-up while Sean was trying to rebutton his outfit - the kid is strong! He also has some kind of grip on anything he grabs. I remember Sean calling James "Mondo Destructo" back when we visited him in the children's hospital because he would crush whatever baby cookie that he had in his hand. I think Michael is well on his way to earning that title next. He crawled around and played pretty hard for the first hour, but he started getting sleepy going into the second hour of our morning visit and just wanted to be held. When we finally put him down for his 12PM - 2PM nap he was very fussy and started crying. This is the first time since we started visiting that he would cry when we put him into his crib to leave. Before, he would just watch us leave the room and not really react. While we didn't like that he was crying, it made us feel better because this may be an indication he was starting to bond to us a little bit.
We were able to meet with Michael's doctor here at the Baby House today. She was very nice and gave us his medical history that they had information about, but no information other than how he's been doing since he arrived at the Baby House at 17 days old. This is probably because they don't even have that information here - very different from when we were in Kokshetau with James. Even if we do eventually end up finding any additional information about Michael's birth family we wouldn't share it with anyone, anyway, as that is Michael's story to tell if/when he wants to when he's older - not ours. So (not trying to sound rude or anything), as we've requested before regarding our children's birth families' information, please don't ask us.
It was very obvious today that Michael is starting to connect with Sean since he would smile whenever Sean came over; this is probably from Sean's recent solo visits in the afternoons with him. I started feeling worse this afternoon (tickle in my throat and feeling fatigued/achy), so once again Sean went to have his solo visit in the afternoon. I hope it won't be long before I'm feeling better and can resume my solo bondng visits with Michael in the afternoons, too. This afternoon, Sean took Michael outside and then worked with him in the playroom on strengthening his leg muscles. The doctor had told us that when the Baby House massage therapist comes, she will show us some more exercises for Michael to do to strengthen his legs. Yes, I did say massage therapist!
Last but not least, we now have internet access in our apartment! Actually, our laptop now has internet access - period. Sean went to a store called K-Cell and purchased an wireless USB modem with a SIM card for the laptop for about 8000 KZT. So, really, we can now get internet access on our laptop anywhere. It took us a couple of days to get it activated correctly (it wouldn't accept the PIN at first) but it's working now. It's as slow as dial-up, but at least we can check email and do website updates from our apartment. Besides, we were used to dealing with dial-up back when we were in Kokshetau in 2007. It's nice to know that we're not just limited to going to places with wi-fi to get connected and especially nice since I've been sick the last couple of days and unable to do much besides visit Michael in the mornings and go out for lunch before returning to the apartment for the rest of the day.
So, we now close out with pictures from today...
That's it for today! Love to all!
