Not so Sumo

Hi all-

And now it is Tuesday. Today was another good day. We went to the baby house this morning and got there a little bit early so all was quiet when we walked in. It was sort of nice. They gave us this soupy rice porridge for breakfast and I had a really horrible time trying to feed him with not just a regular spoon but a giant tablespoon sized spoon of what was basically soup to our wiggly 10 month old. I seriously think that only about half of it actually stayed in his mouth and the other half just sort of dribbled out. And then he guzzled down his fruit tea like he was a close to death’s door (which he’s not at all). I sure wish I could use a regular bottle to feed him because half of his tea also (and it’s maybe 4 ounces that he gets 3 times a day) ends up down the front of him instead of in his belly. The bottles that they use are tall skinny glass ones with a nipple that is a piece of rubber that fits over the top and has a hole in it the size of the Grand Canyon. I can’t lean him back even the tiniest bit or he chokes because it comes out so fast. Oh well, just a couple of months and I can do whatever I want because he will be OURS!

We have also started bringing disposable diapers for him so he doesn’t have to sit on the teeny tiny potty after he eats (they leave them on it a looong time and we want to play instead). Turns out Mr Sumo is not quite as fat as we had thought. A whole lot of the bulk was the “Russian-style diaper” he was wearing that consists of a piece of cloth that is folded many times so it is nice and thick that goes front to back over his nether regions and then another piece of cloth that is folded many times the long way and is tied around his middle to hold it (and the pants that are at least several sizes too big) around him. But now he is free of all that- and has pants that fit- and he’s a whole new man. And I think he is enjoying being free of the potty and playpen that they, out of necessity, use with the babies. Pre us, he would get up, get fed, sit on the potty for a good 30 minutes or so, go into either the walker or be free in the playpen with several other kids, play for about an hour or so, and then go back for nap. With us, we get him up, change him into clean clothes from the store of cheap outfits we brought, put a fresh diaper on him, wipe the buggers off, feed him and give him his tea, and then he is free to play for a good 90 minutes or so until it’s time for us to change him again and put him down for nap. He is already starting to put a knee forward to prepare to crawl. It’s a whole lot more motivation to crawl across the room for a toy than to just reach out and scoot maybe a feet to reach a toy in the playpen. And I have been trying to have him work on sitting up too. He’s driving me bonkers in the high chair. I can get maybe two bites into him and he starts falling over. Not so easy to feed soup to him when he and his mouth are sideways. I’m considering just doing it Kaz style and holding him in my lap instead but I really don’t want to have to wash clothes when it ends up dripping on me. Maybe I could borrow one of their aprons.

The baby house is a surprisingly quiet place. There’s not really a whole lot of motivation for them to talk when no one talks back that much. The nannies are wonderful and the doctors too but there is truly only so much time that they have to give to each child. There are usually two of them in there and they have 10 kids to get up, get fed, get pottied and cleaned, wash the dishes, and then finally they have a few minutes to either sit down (can you blame them?) or play before they have to start putting them down for nap. They are really sweet with them and do their best to make sure all of them are happy and healthy but with babies there is always someone who needs something. Oh, and they are all getting breathing treatments right now and some are also getting some light therapy to kill the germs in their nose- Little Man among them. That is the first time I have heard him actually cry. But I didn’t blame him because I really wouldn’t want a giant green, glowing cone stuck up my nose either. Yes, our man is really really quiet so far. He is making a little bit of noise but not much. The caretakers said he actually used to cry a lot and be sort of fussy in general but since he met us, he’s been a happy baby. So good to hear that we’ve had an impact already. I can’t wait to see him blossom over the time that we are here. I can already feel how hard it’s going to be when we have to leave for a few weeks to wait out the paperwork. But I’ll worry about that another day. For now, I just want to enjoy him.

This afternoon, we actually got to take the kids outside. And thank goodness for that because Rinat needed to get out of there for a while. He is not exactly being Mr Perfect like he was on our last trip. Might have something to do with the fact that he won’t eat anything. Or that he’s not getting a nap/Quiet Time every day. We might have to change that if it keeps up. But the weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was nice to have a change of scenery. We went out with our friends from Canada who are having their court on Wednesday and I am so excited for them. She kept me up on the baby house goings on while we were at home and I plan to do the same for her. She is adopting the cutest sweetest little girl and I know she’s going to miss that cute face while she’s home but I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long for her to head back and take her home for good. And I am so glad that they are here because Rinat has had a wonderful time playing with her 5 year old daughter who is also from Kaz. We went over there for lunch on Sunday (they have a cook!) and it was so nice to have friends to hang out with. I mean, I love my boys and all but it’s nice to have someone else to talk to. And we also met up with them for dinner at the pizza place with a play area for kids one night and that was great. We also have another couple from the US who we ran into in the Frankfurt airport on their way here who have a super sweet son from Kaz and are hoping to meet another child to bring into their family while they are here. We’re crossing our fingers for them. And there is a woman from France in the same room as us adopting a cute cute little girl. And elsewhere in the baby house, a couple from Spain, a couple from New Foundland, and I think I saw one more. We run into them mostly when we are taking off or putting on shoes at the front door.

And as for Rinat, as I said he is not behaving all that great this time around but I really can’t blame him. We’ve turned his life upside down not once but twice now and he just seems out of sorts. Even Oxana commented that he wasn’t being himself. But I am hoping that as we get into the groove of things he will settle in a little bit better and we can figure out how to get some food into him. But even with his behavior, he has some truly sweet things come out of his mouth. Some of the choice things from today are “Mommy, I love Kazakhstan. Can we live here?” out of nowhere; as we were looking at photos of Sumo, he saw one where Little Man was smiling and Rin laughed to himself and said “He has the cutest little moon eyes” and he was right- they were shaped like little crescents; and he has told me multiple times that he loves the boy who will be his little brother and tells me all of the things he’s going to teach him and show him. Among those things is how to be a paleontologist. Random, but sweet. So although he makes me furious at times, he also can melt my heart in a second.

And just like with Rinat, they ask that we don’t put any photos of our (cross your fingers) son on the internet until he’s officially ours. And I definitely don’t want to be presumptuous and cause trouble. So all I will be posting for now are unidentifiable photos. But I’ll make up for it once I can!  I mean, look at that little nugget of love down below.  Isn't he just so cute all snuggled up?  I wish I could show you his cute face!

So from Peter, Maren, Rinat, and Mr Moon Eyes, we hope you all have a wonderful day and can get our for some fresh air too. Love to all, -m