The Powers Family Journey: Paka paka, Baby House!

(Maureen's Post)

We officially took custody of Michael today! This morning Sasha and Juliya picked us up at our hotel and we drove to the Baby House to pick up Michael. We arrived there around 8:15AM, which is when Michael is supposed to having a morning nap. However, he wasn't asleep when we went to pick him up - maybe he knew today was a big day! Michael was so vocal when he saw us, babbling and giving us lots of smiles. We quickly changed his clothes, profusely thanked the caregiver and nanny in his room today ("Spasiba Bolshoi"), and then were off to Karaganda Airport to catch our flight to Almaty. We said our good-byes to Juliya and Sasha then waited only a short while before it was time to board the plane.

FYI for future Karaganda families - I want to mention that in the Air Astana waiting area there is also a separate waiting area for families with small children. After going through security and turning right to get into the waiting area, there is a set of double doors on your right (across from the windows) which leads into this room. One of the security guards led us to this room, calling it the "Baby Room." It had play areas with a few toys, toddler beds for children to rest in, diaper changing tables, and a separate bathroom. It looked fairly new inside, so I'm not sure if this room was available when we traveled home with James on our first trip six weeks ago. If it did, it would have been nice to know about it since James could have spent some time in that room burning off some energy before boarding the plane.

Michael did very well on his first plane ride. We kept him occupied with Gerber puffed snacks and gave him formula we brought from home (Gerber's Good Start 2 Gentle Plus formula for older infants and toddlers if anyone was interested), as well as fed him his lunch. He was so laid back and took everything in stride, playing with a couple of toys we gave him as well as playing peek-a-boo with the lady in the seat behind us. He started falling asleep as we were landing, which was right at noon. That would make sense, since that's his usual mid-day nap time at the Baby House. The Chinns sat a few rows ahead of us, and we could see that their son, Aidyn, was also doing well on his first flight.

We were met by our driver in Almaty airport whose name also happens to be Sasha. From there we went to a photo place to get the boys' pictures taken for their visas. After that we went to the sisters' office to meet with Zhanara and get some of our paperwork taken care of for the next couple of days. We then went to our apartment, which is a studio apartment on the 18th floor of a building about 4 city blocks away from the sisters' office and the Ramstore. Sean has already made two walking trips to the Ramstore this afternoon for supplies (45 min to 1 hour walk round trip), so he's definitely getting his exercise in! While the apartment is small, it has everything we need for our stay over the next few days, namely a kitchen and, more importantly, air conditioning! It's been rather warm lately - a little humid and high temps in the upper 80s to low 90s (F) - so having the a/c will be very helpful.

So, Michael experienced lots of changes today! Tomorrow we're going to the SOS international clinic to have Michael's medical exam done, which is one of the things required by the U.S. Embassy before granting him a visa. Afterwards, we will probably go to the Lufthansa ticket office to purchase a lap ticket for Michael to come home on the flights with us, and perhaps do some sightseeing and/or shopping. Still no sign of the stroller at the sisters' office today, but we still have the baby carrier. We'll play the events tomorrow by ear and see how Michael's doing. With all the changes and even the new diet he has with us now, Michael seems to handling everything pretty well, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the remainder of the trip continues this way!

Enjoy today's pictures and we'll see you tomorrow!

Yurt on hotel grounds