Amazing

She is amazing. Walking by herself for short distances. Giggling and babbling and oh, so busy. She is much more on target for her age than we might be able to expect, given her institutionalization. She is a very happy baby, and it did not take long for her to test out the "if I drop it, will they pick it up?" hypothesis. Of course we will pick it up. She will start to cry and express displesure if we do not and that is a good sign. It means she has a positive relationship with her caregivers and has learned she can affect the world around her. This is a very good sign for attachment reasons. A baby who does not get upset and does not cry or ask for attention is a baby who has given up on being able to get her needs met or have any effect on her environment.

She was a little wary of C at first, but warmed right up. He is likely one of the only men if not the only man she has ever seen or been held by.

We are just amazed that she is cruising around like she is. She is very good tempered and very active. More active than the other babies we have seen there, including the one her age that was picked up today by her new mama. N seems to be very interactive with us, which is a very good sign. She definitely perks up when she hears familiar voices and I expect we will be in for some gieving and difficult times when we take her away from all that she has ever known. We get the distinct impression that she is a favorite of the caregivers due to her easy-going personality, although maybe they lead all PAP's to believe that, LOL!

A woman and her sister rode to the orphanage with us to pick up their child for the last time. So exciting to see a family being formed right before our eyes.

We only saw her once today, and apparently that is okay with the court. Zhanna (pronounced like Johnna with a slurred J that is almost a Z) picked us up at 5:15 am and took us to the airport. We arrived in region at around 10:30 am. Igor the driver picked us up and brought us to our hotel (long drive), where we checked in, ran downstairs and ate sandwiches at the bar very quickly, and then Nastya and Oksana met us in the lobby at 13:30. Oksana took paperwork and money from us and Nastya (the translator) took us to the baby home with the sisters from Boston. Oksana came by the baby home to get them and after our visit was over, Nastya took us by a store to buy snacks and then to the hotel, where she picked up a third family on their third trip to take them to the airport.

I don't know how long our visit was. I completely lost track of time with N. Maybe an hour, hour and a half? She is an absolute delight and we are thrilled to pieces. She is also going to be a handful, especially if I do trip 3 to pick her up alone. Oy. She does still love to be held and loves me to hold her, but she is very active and inquisitive and busy. A very busy girl.

We were only allowed one visit today after all and will see her tomorrow after court. We fly back to Moscow tomorrow night and the US Thursday a.m. I can come back to get N 10 days after court.

While we were waitng for them to bring her in, the other mom was showing me video she had JUST taken of the children's playroom, the kitchen where they eat, the potty area, and her daughter getting a bath. I looked up and there N was, standing in the doorway with a proud grin on her face, holding her caregiver's finger. She walked in and came right to me when I rushed over to pick her up.

Perhaps on the third visit, when I am officially her mother and ready to take her home, I will be allowed to film other areas of the baby home as well, to show N when she is older.

I want so badly to post full photos and video of N here today, but I don't want to risk anything with court tomorrow. I will leave you with some other photos taken after our visit. I'd upload tasting video, but You Tube is not being very agreable to me today. I've been trying to upload video for hours.

Bacon flavored Lays for the Rockstars. They only had a big bag, so we didn't buy any. Got a small bag of meat-flavored instead.

caviar flavored

crab flavored

C hated his Cheetos and I had already eaten the regular Lays, so before I knew it, he had broken into the souvenir bag....and declared the smell to be more thhan he could take.