Tonsuit, Little Sumo!

Hi All!
It was another lovely day in The ‘Ganda. It started with a smile from our little man as we walked in to get him out of bed in the morning- first time that’s happened. And he was all smiles all day long. He was so sweet. He was quick to laugh at everything we did and had no complaints at all- not that he ever does. He spent a whole lot of the time staring at another translator who spent time in the room hanging out with Oxana. I like that he studied her. I think it’s good. It means the little cogs are turning in his brain. He has just changed so much so far. He is a far cry from the little guy who we started spending time with two weeks ago. Rather than an observer of life, he is a participant. He realizes that he can affect the world around him and it is so good to see. And he has gone from sitting for 2 seconds to sitting for pretty much the whole time it takes to feed him a meal. Amazing. There is still no full-on crawling (fine by me) but he pulled himself up to standing yesterday which I do NOT want him doing quite yet. I am so not ready for that.

For lunch, we joined our friends from Georgia one last time as they are headed out of town for a bit. The boys played together and enjoyed a last hurrah at the Jungle Park together. Rin has said commented several times since that now he’s not going to have anyone to play with. Anyone headed to Karaganda who is bringing a kid with them, please let us know because we’d love to have some friends again!

And then Rin and Peter went back to the apartment for QT while I went to spend some more time with our Sumo. He was again really smiley and talkative. Oxana played some music on her IPhone to show another translator how Mr Baby will dance on cue and I was sitting next to them burping our little man after he downed his chai. They were saying “Tonsuit! Tonsuit!” (Dance! Dance!) and he looked Mr Baby, at the lovely ladies and how they were paying so much attention and loving on her, and he started to sway back and forth himself. He’s no dummy. He loves the ladies and will dance for their attention if need be. I told Mr Baby’s mom that she has been giving him dancing lessons on the sly during naptime since their cribs are right next to each other. It was so cute.

And then it was home for some more of the same old- wash dishes, do laundry, make dinner, clean it up, give Rin bath, play, bed. Life is the same no matter where you go. But I will never again complain that the dishwasher at home doesn’t dry the dishes all the way because the dishwasher here is, of course, my two little hands. And I will not complain about the washer and dryer because it’s a whole lot better than laundry line strung across the bedroom ceiling. Sometimes I forget how easy we have it in The States.

Go do some laundry and throw an extra fabric softener sheet in the dryer in our honor! Much love, -m