(Maureen's Post)
Today was a big day in Kazakhstan! Our big boy, James, turned 4 years old today! There's something rather special about James celebrating his birthday in his birth country. His day started with a birthday wake-up call from my parents back home. Then, when we went downstairs to meet our driver, Vadim, he and Natasha were both there to surprise James with a remote-controlled helicopter. We then went to the Baby House to visit Michael and then came back to our apartment afterwards to nap and prepare for his little birthday party. It was a fun party for James; the guests in attendance were the three of us, Natasha (our coordinator), Juliya (our interpreter), Terry and Francis Chinn, and Deb and Jeremy (the Canadian couple also adopting from Group 4). Unfortunately, the Kaplans were not able to make it because Jadyn was not feeling well. We ordered pizza from Mario's Pizza and got a very yummy cake from the Ramstore. James had a blast while his guests joined him in watching the movie Cars while having his pizza party, complete with his favorite soda here - orange Fanta, of course! What was even cooler was that one of his gifts was a Lightning McQueen car - perfect timing! After the movie was over and we had cake and cookies, we all went downstairs so James could fly his helicopter outside. James and Vadim had already taken it on a test flight at the Baby House earlier in the day. I think the helicopter was actually meant for older kids, but with some supervision James was able to get it off the ground. Jeremy also brought along a larger remote-controlled helicopter he also bought while he was here, so both helicopters were in flight. Needless to say, we made quite a spectacle of ourselves flying those things in front of the apartment building - so much for keeping a low profile while we're here, eh? Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention. Vadim gave James his first driving lesson. Seriously. Outside the Baby House today, Sean saw Vadim's car moving and looked around to make sure James wasn't in the way, only to look up and see James sitting on Vadim's lap with his hands on the steering wheel, as they slowly drove one lap around the Baby House. Of course, this is nowhere near the street, so it was pretty safe. You know, it's going to be quite a rude awakening for James when he goes back home and back to his regular routine and the land of car booster seats and no soda pop!
Our visits with Michael continue to be good, although we're starting to see some fussiness now. He is teething again and is SO not a happy camper right now. Of course of all things, we forgot to pack the Baby Orajel, so we'll need to pick some up while we're here. It also doesn't help that it's hot outside right now (high temps in the low 90's) and there's no air conditioning and no breeze, either. He has, however, hit another milestone! Michael has started "cruising," moving as he's standing and holding on to furniture - a precursor to walking. I wonder if he'll be walking by the time it's time for him to come home. Should definitely make for an interesting flight home with him come August!
As a side note, I am sick once again. This time it's a stomach bug with fever. This is why I'm a day behind in posting. I just hope that this doesn't spread on to Sean and James. I may have picked it up from the Baby House, as one of the caregivers in another room had it, one of the adoptive single moms had it, and some of the babies in that room had it, as well as Jadyn. With so many babies and caregivers in one place, it's not surprising that viruses spread like wildfire there. I ended up missing my visit with Michael today (July 15). I will say that I'm 2 for 2 now, as last time we were in Kazakhstan to adopt James I caught some sort of stomach thing, too. In hindsight, another handy thing to bring from home would have been some Jell-o. I'm sipping on Sprite, eating saltines, and eating some soup, all of which is finally staying down now (sorry again if that's TMI), but some cool Jell-o would be nice right about now. I am feeling better, though, and hope to resume my visits to the Baby House so I can see Michael.
Before we close out this post, we want to give a shout out to fellow Kokshetau, KZ "hamsters," Owen (whose birthday is also July 14), and Garrett (whose birthday is July 15). Plus, we can't leave out Tosh (whose birthday is also on July 14), adopted from Uralsk, KZ. Happy 4th Birthday to you all, too!
Thanks for stopping by! Paka paka and love to all!
