Stirred, Not Shaken

Thanks for all the wonderful comments. They turn us to mush – almost as much as Milo does!

We still cannot access the internet in our apartment. The computer says we have established our dial-up connection, yet it’s just not working. Other families have gotten online from this apartment, and Frank is very computer savvy, so we suspect it’s a Windows Vista thing -- I told you it stinks! (Does anyone have any ideas? Adrian???)

So we still must go to the coffee shop to use their wi-fi. It’s a nice place – as nice as any Starbucks – and seems to be frequented by hip young adults. Because of our limited access and time I’m sorry I haven’t been able to reply to all your e-mails or keep up with other blogs. We will try to catch up soon, and also answer any of your questions in our blog. I hope we can get to the coffee shop every day from now on, but it might be ever other day. You would be surprised at how busy we are just with visiting the baby house twice a day. Our times are from 10-12 am and then 3-5 pm. We get 1 visit on Sundays from 10-12.

We are getting more comfortable with our surroundings. The edges have softened and we have a little routine. There are many nice places here to shop and eat. We have tried a couple, but we have mostly eaten in the apartment and bought a few groceries from the supermarket. The fruit juices and yogurt are fantastic (far better than the US), the bread and jelly are great. We will venture out to some restaurants a bit more now that we are settled. Until now eating and sight-seeing have been the last things on our minds, as just getting through the first 3 or 4 days is all-consuming. But we are ready to start trying more local fare and experiencing more culture.


Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes - We have a big change in travel plans. The adoption laws in Aqtobe have changed recently. The court process here is now just like many of the other regions. Frank and I will both be making 2 trips. For this trip now, we will only be here a total of 15-16 days. Then we will both go home for about a month, and leave Milo here. : ( When we return in about a month for our court date, we will both be here another 3 weeks. Then we will return to the states for good with our son. There are many good sides to this coin – the biggest being that I won’t have to be here alone for a month. But it will be so painful leaving our son behind.

For those who asked why we weren’t staying in the hotel as originally planned, we were strongly encouraged to stay in an apartment for several reasons. If you are coming to Aqtobe and you were planning on staying in a hotel and using your credit card, you need to contact your agency about it. Our apartment is not bad. I just wish we could do something about the constant smell in the toilet room. Luckily it is separate from the shower/sink and has a door. We will post photos of the apartment soon.

Milo is doing great and showing more personality every day. We have not decided on a middle name for him yet. We were hoping to use his Kazakh name, which we will share publicly once our adoption is final, but it just doesn’t work very well with his first and last names (although it is a nice name.)

His vision seems excellent in his good eye. He sees very small things and picks them up. His left eye is usually crossed and his right eye is usually straight, but depending on what he is looking at (how close it is) they can both cross, or the left eye can move out quite a bit and seem to take over. This is rare, but we have seen it. That poor little eye tries so hard to see. ;-)

He has been making lots of eye contact with us. He allows affection, and returns our hugs. In fact he loves hugs! He even loves kisses, and has kissed me back twice, although open-mouthed and slobbery. We cannot tell you how good his hugs feel. It melts us into puddles.

He especially enjoys books, stacking cups, water bottles (likes to peek at me through the plastic or shake them up). He also digs balloons and the ring stacker. He likes to be swung around, held upside down and chased. We go for a walk every visit and he likes being outside. He picks up rocks and gives them to us. He picks the dandelions and has everyone smell them.

He is a thumbsucker, so he has a pretty nice overbite which we actually find really cute. But we can’t wait to get our hands on that mullet haircut!

He eats a ton of food. We sometimes get to feed him or at least watch him feed himself. It’s so entertaining (and sad) to see these kids feed themselves. They sit at these tiny tables in their tiny chairs, with big bibs. Their plates and bowls are put right up to their chests, they are given a big spoon in one and a piece of bread in the other and then they just go at it! He loves to dip his bread in his soup before he takes bites. There is another family in the playroom from France. They are adopting a little blonde 2-year old boy, so he and Milan sit at their little table together and we all gather around them to help and ooh and ahhh at every little slurp. It’s quite the scene. They look like two little old men who are dinner companions. The caretakers prefer that we don’t feed him but instead let him feed himself, but we try to help a lot, as it can only be good in promoting attachment.

We have heard some good babbling the last couple of days, and we have seen him respond to commands in his native language. He has giggled and laughed a lot and seems to have a great sense of humor.

Ok, now what you’ve been waiting for…. Let the next photo montage begin. I hope you're not allergic to awesome!