A Day I Will Always Remember!

Today we made huge progress with the kids! In the morning Maya figured out the straw cup and Tristan still didn't "fall-down" for Ring-Around-the-Rosie, but he did smile while the rest of us did! :) I taught them the sign for "More" and we practiced saying it too. We colored some and then looked at an extra copy of the family photo book I had left with them on our last trip. They both loved that! Maya liked saying Emma's name over and over and Tristan kept turning to Isabelle's page and trying to say "Belle." It was really sweet!

We played with some other toys, and then ended up doing bubbles near Tristan's group. They could see us and they all lined up along their little fence with eyes full of longing. So I asked the caregivers if it was okay and we went and did bubbles with them. All their little eyes lit up with joy, and it ripped my heart out seeing how beautiful and wonderful all these little children are. I don't think I will ever forget that experience. One of the best parts of the experience was watching Tristan. He COMPLETELY transformed! He was so excited to share these bubbles with his little friends in his gruppa. He was completely happy and animated! No more closed, serious expressions!


After we blew through almost an entire bottle of bubbles I got out a bag of yogurt raisins and again asked permission. They said yes, so then I gave them to Tristan so that he could have the experience of sharing his treats with his friends. It was absolutely adorable! At first he kept shoving them in his mouth and then he got the idea and starting handing them out. I didn't want anyone choking on them, so we gave them out one at a time. After a bit he got impatient and started just putting them in their mouths instead of their hands. :) Jeff and I were very much impressed when we reached the end of the bag, and he took the last ones from my hand and gave them away, rather than eating them himself. Tristan smiled a bunch the rest of our time together. I think we have broken down an emotional barrier. It is wonderful!

When it was time to go in Maya did NOT want to. She cried and the caregiver pretty much shooed me out of the room. It was so hard to leave her there. We were allowed to come back at 4pm today, so that I could interview their caregivers with Vlad translating. So we had 4 1/2 hours to kill. We did not want to spend 2 1/2 of it traveling to and from our apartment, so we headed to a local McDonalds. They are everywhere here and very popular! It is definitely not just a kid place here. We found out why when we were there. The prices are about the same as in the US--not the normally inflated Moscow prices. We had lunch for about 10 bucks! It was nice too because it was air-conditioned!

After lunch we went exploring and found a huge park--like one of Michigan's metroparks. We walked through beautiful paths in a forest and found a little amusement park area. We kept going and found a lake--actually I think it is a river. Muscovites were everywhere, in the water and laying out on the sand or even in the weeds. Then we realized it was the same park that backed up to the orphanage, so we made our way in that direction. It was very hot and we probably walked more than 10 miles today.

At 4 on the dot we were at the orphanage and Tristan was still smiling at us! After playing for a bit with the kids, Vlad found us and I went with him to interview Maya's caregivers. I had a whole list of questions about her sleeping, eating, playing and potty habits and how she was used to having things done. I also got them to give me the disposable cameras we had given them. One of them was all used up and one was not used. I was just happy they took some!

After I was done, we tracked down a boy named Roma, who Tristan adored playing with--that is until they moved Roma to another group. It was fun to see them be excited about each other. Tristan also went on the swing without holding on to anyone, smiling the whole time! He cried when it was time to go and Jeff dropped him off to his gruppa, which was really hard to bear.

There was another couple at the orphanage that Vlad had brought who were adopting a 12 month old Uzbekistan girl who was so sweet. They gave us a ride back to our apartment, so we did not have to take the metro.

For dinner this evening we met up with the Staceys for dinner. It was pouring rain and we didn't have an umbrella, so we made a run for it and bought the first one we found from a little kiosk store.

One fun thing today, we saw a little boy wearing a shirt that we had brought with our donations. :)

Maya liked to help out Tristan occasionally. :)

This was the first time I've seen them hold hands! So sweet!

Happy Tristan! Happy Mommy!