Saturday...a quiet day

Nothing terribly exciting today. We took a walk in the morning to the bazaar. You can get everything from cosmetics to chopped meat (hmmm, that's a yummy combo!!). Stopped at Dolce Vita for lunch on the way back - 2 personal pizzas and 2 sodas for 760 Tenge - less than $6.50 including tip!

Jim was the star of the show today. He was doing everything possible to get the little man to laugh - very successfully. He even invented a new game - book sleds. Open up a large cardboard picture book, put a small person on it, and drag it across the carpet. The caregivers were giggling at that one. Nicholas seems to have asisgned each of us our roles in his life. The Daddy one is the fun and entertainment; the Mommy one is where you go when you want to snuggle and fall asleep. Hmm - we'll take that.

Here you go:


OK Dad, what did you do with the yellow cup?







Hmmm - I know the Mommy one - but who's that kid?

Rules of the Road

We’ve mentioned this in passing, but things are very different here in terms of all things driving. First off, seat-belts are rarely, if ever, used. Ditto car seats for kids. Hold on or bounce. In addition, it’s spring, and the melt is exposing those areas of road surface which have been damaged by the repeated freeze/thaw cycle. This means that lanes, which aren’t marked to begin with, are frequently ignored in favor of clear road. And they don’t have pot-holes here, they have truck-holes. We passed one a few days ago which could easily have held a pick-up.

Parking is another form of sport. Living where we do at home, we’ve become accustomed to tight parallel parking, and making the best of what little space you find. Here, there are fewer cars, but also fewer rules about where and how they may be left. There’s a parking area in front of our building which variously holds cars which have been parked straight in, angled, parallel, some combination thereof and tipped up on the curb. We saw a very nice Audi yesterday with the right front tire up on the curb of a high sidewalk – for no apparent reason. Guess they aren’t too worried about the suspension – the roads will take care of that anyway!

The vehicles themselves range from older Russian Ladas (see the red one across the street in the picture) through Toyotas, VWs and on up to Mercedes. Our driver has a very nice Volvo.

Next up: Pedestrians – or The Point System. We’ve determined after a couple of weeks that full-grown adults have the highest point value, closely followed by the young, the elderly and the infirm. In short, pedestrians do NOT have any kind of right-of-way here, and it’s everyone for themselves while crossing a street.

As a result of this road chaos, the public transit system is quite robust. There are mass transit vehicles of every size, length, width, height and state of disrepair (all are privately owned, but subject to prices fixed by the government). The length of the bus’ route is directly proportional to the layers of dirt and mud caked on its exterior. Note: if you and a bus approach a pothole at the same time, the bus will always win…especially now that we’re in melt season. The rivers (oh – I mean streets) are flowing, but especially so at intersections. As a result, anyone waiting to cross stands well back of the curb to avoid a mud-bath.

OK – travelogue over for the day! We have very few pictures of Nicholas today, but for a good reason. He seems to have really accepted us – kind of like getting over a hump. He was more playful than before, and his attention span was longer when playing with us and with his toys. He would spend a few minutes per toy, rather than the 45 seconds each we’ve been seeing. And there was lots of time spent using Mommy and Daddy as live action bouncy seats and walkers.

Our first for the day – a truly stinky diaper. Now it’s been a while since I’ve had to change a diaper (about 22 years, if I recall correctly), and Jim has never done so – so we approached this with some trepidation. The stinky was the worst part – but all 3 of us survived. Of course, today’s meal must have been roughage based, as he graced us with another opportunity less than a half hour later. One of the care-givers offered, and we happily took the cowards’ way out!

We do hope we’re able to change our visiting time, if possible. We visit from 1-2:30, but there’s not all that much opportunity to play when he starts getting cranky by 1:50, and is out like a light by 2. Yes, it’s nice to hold a sleeping boy, and yes, it’s good that he trusts us enough to sleep in our arms, but it would be better if we could actually interact with him more. Grrrr. Oh – and whatever he ate before we arrived not only was roughage, but it also gave him about the worst breath I’ve ever smelled. Jim chickened out and stayed away but I had no choice with the little guy asleep on my shoulder, huffing in the direction of my nose! Ah well – I’m sure mashed peas and carrots will have the same effect when we get home!

All the kids were on edge today – lots of whining, crying and crawling over each other. Jim’s musical talents came in handy again, as did the xylophone that Diane & Thorsten gave us. He used the sheet music to play some kid tunes on the piano and on the xylophone and a mesmerized silence reigned for the duration of the music. Even the care-givers were appreciative. Thanks guys – music not only soothes the savage beast, but also the little beasties at Dolphin House.

Tippi Hedren, where are you?

OK - so I had just completed the last post (scroll down) and went into the kitchen for a glass of coke. Standing, looking out the window I heard a noise. At first I thought it was from the kitchen in the next unit, then remembered that we've never heard anyone there. Then I realized the sound was coming from INSIDE this kitchen - specifically inside the sink cabinet.

I waited for Jim to come in (standing frozen), and told him I thought there was something in the room. I had to specify that I thought it was a rodent (he was looking at me kind of funny - hmmm, she's going over the edge). So he looked first in the main cabinet holding pots and staples...nothing. Then he opened the sink cabinet. All I could see was something large and grey that hadn't been there this morning, and didn't look like the bottle of dish detergent. He slammed the door shut, as I yelped RAT. No, not a rat, a bird - a pidgeon. Or to be most accurate, a rat with wings.

What does one do with a bird in the kitchen where the windows are kept closed, in the middle of Kazakhstan? After barricading the cabinet and beginning to devise a disposal plan, the doorbell rang. Now we're really wondering where Alfred Hitchcock is hiding. Turns out it was our landlord, stopping by to deliver fresh sheets. He spoke enough English to understand the situation (assisted no doubt by the freaked out look on my face and my flapping my arms and pointing to the sink). He looked in, turned around and said ptitsa. We now know the Russian word for bird!

Anyway, it seems there's a larger than normal hole in the wall where the plumbing lines go, which leads to a hollow up to the service area under the roof. This hole has since been plugged, and will not be cleared while we're in residence!

Cocktails anyone???

A quiet day in Kostanai

We had a fairly slow day today and were rewarded with a mellow little boy (at least for most of the visit). At first, he just wanted to sit and look at us - I guess we're starting to grow on him, and he needs to figure us out.


Then Nicholas and Daddy played Trot Trot to Boston (not yet, but we can wish, right?). This was a definite favorite for the day, and Jim think's it's a good replacement for doing his leg exercises!





Nicholas then got really mellow. We've noticed that in his quieter moments, he's fascinated by the different textures on the quilt we play on. He particularly likes running his fingers over the seams. Well today he decided there was nothing to do but to examine the quilting and the backing. He pushed all toys off, and pulled until he'd almost completely turned the quilt over. Not sure who made this quilt, but we thank you!

The final shot of the day is all about the boy - and it's all for the grandmas and grandpas (babushkas and dyedushkas). See you soon!

Nicholas & Morgan sittin' in a tree...

Sorry for the late post today - it's been a busy one, as we started the day with a quick walk to the telecom office to get a new phone/internet card, visited little man, then had Michele and Robertson over for dinner. Whew - we'll sleep well tonight.

And Nicholas had a busy day as well - he got to see a battery of doctors as part of the finalization process - to confirm everything that's in his file for court. Poor little guy got poked and prodded all morning, but was still in a pretty good mood when we arrived at 1pm for our visit.




Hey Pretty Girl - do you come here often?









Not a lot of pix - just a few of Nicholas and Morgan (one of his girlfriends, and Michele & Robertson's little girl) playing in the ball pit. Hmmm...ammo for when things get ugly in about 15 years (or as a cute photo when they get married???) And if I did things right, you should see a link below our main picture to Finding Morgan Adams - that's Michele & Robertson's blog about their adventures here.





Hey - Let's make a break for it - I think I see a stroller built for two over there!






Anyway - that's the scoop for now...we're off to watch another episode of the first season of Lost (now we understand the appeal!).

14 Days down; How many to go?

We have now completed the 14 days of baby house visits required by law, and will submit paperwork to the court tomorrow to formally apply for the adoption. Woo Hoo!!! This morning we took a short trip to the “Fee Office.” This is where one goes to get a form which then allows you to pay other fees…to the court etc. Not sure why receipts alone aren’t sufficient, but I guess this is a tracking process.

And we’ve also hit the famous wall. Similar to the Boston Marathon, we’re in the midst of things, with the finish line not yet in sight, and the terrain all looking the same (maybe at Newton?). Now neither of us are runners, but we can clearly feel the approaching pain of Heartbreak Hill – except that’s about ¾ the way through things, and we aren’t at that point yet. This is the point where the novelty has worn off, the exotic nature of things isn’t cutting it and you just want your own home. We just found what we thought was an English Language channel, only to realized it’s that the dubbing is delayed by about 10 seconds. Ugh.

OK – I’m getting out the cheese to go with that whine. On to the reason you (and we) came here.

More playing, more drooling, a little piano playing…a standard day in the Dolphin house. Nicholas got lost in a sea of primary colored balls in the pit…a little “Where’s Waldo?”

Then he decided to use one of the little rolling seats to pull himself upright – much pride at that (see above), before making a break for it…see the action shot! As has become customary, the visit ended with a mini-melt down followed by the pacifier and some quiet time.

Here is Nicholas completely ignoring Mommy and the kittie’s whiskers in favor of Daddy and the camera – a true 21^st century boy.

As for the piano – Jim said it was horribly out of tune, and it certainly hurt my ears, but all the kiddies seemed to enjoy it. If I can get things working, I’ll put up the video a bit later.

He Sleeps!

Today was a very quiet day with Nicholas. He was in full gear for a while, motoring around on the floor and in the ball pit. Then his little teeth started bothering him. It was drool city – too bad you can’t get the full effect in this picture.

Then it was time to walk him around a bit. People kept coming and going, providing distractions from the fascinating Daddy creature.

There came a point when nothing would help but the pacifier. Once the plug was in place, he just conked out. They say it’s a sign of trust for him to fall asleep in our arms. If so, we’ll take it.

Can we get an "Awwwww!"

After a late lunch, we went over to Michele & Robertson's for a tea, vodka and a chat. The four of us then went to the Sultan mall where we found some cute little kiddie clothes. We ended the day at Nautilus, a restaurant themed like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for some tasty beef don’t ask me what! Good company as always.

That’s all for now.

Schedules

For the moment, our lives are based entirely on the schedules of other people. When and for how long we will visit Nicholas; When we apply for and then go to court; When can we bring the little guy home. It can get a bit frustrating, but we keep reminding ourselves that this is a bit of time out of time, and the reward will be tremendous. So – on to specifics.

• We visit with Nicholas from 1-2:30 each afternoon. This allows each of the bonding families to have private time as we are all staggered throughout the day – or as private as possible when we visit in the middle of the play room, with the other kids and the caregivers right there.
• We may apply to get a court date when we have completed 2 weeks of documented visits to the baby house. For us, this will be complete after Tuesday’s visit, and the application will be submitted Wednesday, 3/28.
• It may take up to two weeks following our application to actually get a court date. During this time, a final search for Nicholas’ birth mother will take place, as there needs to be complete documentation of the situation before things can be finalized.
• We will also have pre-court during those 2 weeks, which has been described as a kind of dress-rehearsal. Not sure why, that’s just how it’s done in Kostanai. Then a few days later, we’ll have court and presumably be named Nicholas’ parents. This could bring us out to around April 11, assuming there are no holidays which would extend the time-frame. We will be able to visit Nicholas every day up through court.
• Following court, there is a mandatory 15 day waiting period (kind of like an appeals period) before the decision is actually final. This has nothing to do with adoption – it applies to all court proceedings in KZ. Basically, nothing further can happen until this period is over, which means that his new birth certificate can’t be issued, which has to be done before the passport is issued, which has to be done before the exit visa is issued, which for some reason can only be done on Thursdays – don’t ask why. All of that can take another 10 days or so beyond the 15 day wait, and must all be complete before we can take him to Almaty to the international medical clinic for review required for the US Embassy clearance to come to the states.

Because we will have been away from home for about 5 weeks by the time we get to court, Jim will have to return at that point in order to get back to work. Since much of the current American population will also be gone by then, and since Nan’s grasp of Russian is pathetic, she’ll also be coming home then. It’s not a fun thing to think about, but seems inescapable unless something significant changes. Under the current plan, Nan will then return to Almaty around the 2^nd week of May. Nicholas will be escorted there, and after the reunion, there will be a whirlwind 3 days of visits to western medical clinic, US Embassy and then back on a plane – home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Excitement for today? Well, there was the really smart move Nan made. The rechargeable battery charger really doesn’t work well when plugged into the wall with an adapter but without a converter…220 into a 120 appliance means a loud pop, and a nasty smell. Tomorrow afternoon’s goal will be to get a new charger!

Today’s visit brought a few new discoveries:

If there's any sign of illness in the baby house, everyone is subject to a medical review on entry. Yesterday we had our throats looked at. Today it was stepped up to being swabbed with something that looked like iodine, and you don't want to know how it tasted!

Our boy loves getting kisses on his neck – it’s the first time we’ve gotten a giggle out of him…Triumph!!! Some other general play time in and out of the ball pit and showing off for the girls, then it was time for snack.

It was Daddy’s turn to display his small person feeding skills in front of the care-givers. And isn’t he ever styling??

What's on TV?

We’re having a bit of a lazy day today, and watching TV. The show on this morning was a collection of commercials from all over the world. We had forgotten that American stars frequently make commercials for other markets…cash is a good thing! So far we’ve seen translations of familiar spots from a few years ago, and others that were obviously done for local markets by people we don’t normally see in commercials in the states: Sean Connery, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt and a host of others.

Other thoughts on TV shows here:

• Animal Planet works in almost any language, and so far we’ve seen Meerkat Manor in English (Bill Nighy narrating) and Russian (you can still understand “Mozart,” “Shakespeare” and “Flower”)
• Many voice-overs ignore the fact that there are multiple speakers – same V/O person regardless of character or gender

Check out Mr. Rally Cap! This is how we were greeted today on arrival at the baby house. The boy’s already getting into the swing of things!

We did a little more cruising and speed crawling today. Nicholas was the only one on the loose, and he seemed intent on showing all the girls what he could do. Some of them were watching carefully; others were ignoring him in favor of rattles and squeaky toys. Oh well, he’d better get used to fickle women at an early age!

After another round of playing “examining Daddy’s face and glasses” it was on to the new game of “getting into Mommy’s bag.” Sorry kid, no car keys for you.

Then we had the new and humiliating experience of trying to feed a child who REALLY wanted his snack, in front of the caregivers who were trying hard to hide their grins at my ineptitude. Not only are you taking on a new challenge, it comes with a new costume. I think I should get points for the fact that I’ve never had to feed a child bread in warm milk with a tablespoon. Yes, I said tablespoon – it was like feeding a rabbit with a wheelbarrow!

The final shot of the day is the peaceful child with the binkie – about to fall asleep.

Our plans for the rest of the day are to follow suit! Nap, followed by "A Beautiful Mind."

Someone asked size info. Nicholas is currently about 17lbs, and 26" tall, but keep in mind that he won't be home in Boston for almost 2 months and will then probably start growing rapidly.

So what do we do the rest of the time?

Family Picture!

Several people have asked what we do with the time we aren’t with Nicholas. What – we have lives other than those 1 ½ hours? Well, we’re trying to learn a bit about Kostanai and its people while staying in touch with the outside world. Jim and Robertson spent about 2 hours wandering this afternoon, while Michele, Zhanat and Nan were having their nails done.

We have yet to find an English-language newspaper or TV station, so the internet is our source of news. Thank goodness for phone cards! The favorite TV station is Fashion TV – 24 hours a day of runway shows and cute young things…well, at least one of us appreciates it! For the past few days there has also been ice skating, synchronized swimming and diving competitions on – you really don’t need to understand what they’re saying to follow along.

Re food: We’ve been eating quite well, if with fewer vegetables than normal. It’s tough to find fresh veggies here – guess it’s a combination of the climate (cold & dry) and the distance from actual farms. We generally stop at the grocery every other day. There are actual western-style grocery stores, in addition to collections of small markets, and we’ve found familiar brands, such as Nivea, Dove, Lipton and Dannon. We haven’t seen any lactose free milk, but have been astounded by the fat content in the milk. Zhanat, our coordinator, says that 10% milk-fat is her favorite, but she’ll drink the 6% in a pinch!

We usually get up between 6 and 8 (Jim at 6, Nan at 8!). First thing is to check our e-mail, and your responses to the blog. It really is great to hear from everyone. This is when we have our breakfast. Jim brought a pound of coffee and a French press, and just yesterday we discovered that the market next door has ground coffee (from France?) rather than the more commonly available freeze-dried that the locals prefer. Starbucks, where are you??? Then we sometimes go for a walk to explore, or do some laundry. We’re lucky to have a new washing machine, very similar to the one we have at home – front loader with a variety of cycles. However, and this is a biggie, we think that the only water coming in is hot, and the capacity is fairly limited – yesterday’s load managed 2 pairs of jeans and 3 t-shirts, and that was pushing it! There is no dryer, so we’ve strung up a line between two doors. Things dry fairly quickly here, but are a bit crunchy when done!

As for the weather, when Zhanat told us this was spring, we initially laughed, but we now understand. It’s very cold in the morning (around 15-20F), but once the sun comes up, it starts to warm pretty rapidly. Yesterday afternoon and today it felt like about 40. While that’s wonderful, the impact is melt. The sidewalks become tracks of slush leaving everyone jockeying for the dry or high ground. There seem to be very few storm drains, so the roads are rivers, and pedestrians must stay well back of the curb or risk a mud bath. And have we mentioned the drivers? The concept of lanes is a fairly loosely observed, especially when it becomes necessary to avoid the car-absorbing potholes…and no-one uses seat belts.

After the visit with Nicholas, it’s into the center of town to explore. We went to a new neighborhood yesterday – similar to ours, but with some different restaurants. We’re still looking for the bazaar we’ve been told about…with lots of fresh food, and less expensive consumer goods (we need a serrated knife, and a new fry-pan would be nice as ours takes longer to clean than it did to cook whatever we made!).

Evenings are either at home, or out to eat. So far, most dinners out have not cost more than about $8 to $10 per person, including a beer! Last night we were treated to a home cooked meal by Michele and Robinson. It was a very enjoyable evening of food, wine and conversation for which we thank them. Later on, we frequently watch one of the DVD’s we brought, then head to bed by 11ish. And then groundhog day begins again.

Today's visit was extra special. We brought cakes and joined the caregivers for a little afternoon tea and conversation. Lots of fun, and we got to hear Nicholas actually laugh for the first time, when he was playing with his favorite, a very nice young woman named (we think) Nadia - will verify that.



There was quite a bit of cruising around the ball pit today, and lots of active crawling and drooling. One interesting facet of Kazakhstani cultural ideosynchracies (sp?) - children are not supposed to be cold in any way shape or form. Since Nicholas is teething, I asked if I could bring in one of those teething rings that are kept in the fridge, so they are soothing. The answer - Yes, but it must not go in the fridge...it would be too cold and might make him sick. Hmmm, well, we aren't home yet. Then we had a lesson in blowing raspberries (gotta be ready when the Yankees come to town!).

We'll leave you today with a photo of the sign for the Dolphin Baby House - a most excellent place for Nicholas to have gotten his start.

A New Year and a New Name

Some additional info on Nauryz – thanks to Florence:

Nauryz is the traditional spring festival celebrating the new year held throughout the Central Asian communities of the former Soviet Union. The roots of Nauryz are in pagan festivals celebrated to enhance the fertility of animals and the soil in planting and mating periods. In literature, it was first mentioned by Tole-Bi in 1720.
Nauryz is one of the most important national holidays among the Central Asian people. The holiday is usually celebrated at the spring equinox, when day and night are of equal duration, representing the time of the year when the difficult winter ends and spring renewal begins.
Nauryz celebrations are big events where games are played, traditional ceremonies are performed, heritage costumes are worn, and festive foods are served. People visit with friends and relatives to deliver expressions of well being and to wish good luck for the upcoming year. Tradition says that the more one celebrates Nauryz, the more successful the New Year will be.
In the Kazakh language, Nauryz is also known as Ulys Kuni (the first day of the new year) and Ulystyn uly kuni (the great day of the people). A particularly symbolic tradition is the “dance” of the light and dark spirits, winter and summer. Other traditional activities include horse races, fortune telling, camel racing, wrestling, racing barefoot, poetry readings and the giving of small gifts and flowers to the elderly.

According to Zhanat, Nauryz is also the name of a mythical Kazakh prince who fought the 3 bad women – the Snow Queen, the North Wind, and the Darkness. They struggled for 3 days, and he finally prevailed, and won the hand of the Spring Princess. Sounds a bit like the Persephone story, no? Guess some things are universal.

Lots of Nauryz celebrations here in town – will have some pix tomorrow of those, as we are headed out the door shortly to check things out. We're then off to Michele & Robinson's for New Year's Dinner.

As for SPW, he’s now NJW – Nicholas James Wolfe.

He seems to agree that this will work, as it fits him, keeps some of his heritage intact, and will still fit in Boston. Some stats for you: As of March 1, he weighed in at a whopping 17lbs, and was 26” tall. The outfit he had on yesterday (and again today) is from Baby Gap, and was their 6-12 month size. We bought a snow suit and another little track suit yesterday – lots of guessing on sizes, but I think we hit it right.

Play time today was lots of fun. He’s starting to pull himself upright on the side of the little ball pit. This worked beautifully until he turned and we didn’t move fast enough…bonk of the head, and a few tears but nothing significant.

As you can see, his disposition improved with checking out Mommy.

Then it became sleepy time, and time for us to go.

A good visit today

We got to spend some quality floor time with the little man today. Turns out he's in a group where he's the only boy. Most of the little girls are in the process of being adopted, so he's got big prom-date plans for NYC, Philly and Miami in about 17 years!



Not all that much to talk about, so we'll just give you the pix (since that's what you're really here for anyway!):

Daddy - Are you sleepy too?

Happy New Year

Today was a busy one at the baby house, but it didn’t include a visit with SPW. We met with the doctors to review all of his medical history, and then were invited to watch the Nauryz celebration show put on by the staff. Nauryz (sp?) is the New Years celebration, which seems also to be a bit of spring thrown in. No pictures today as we captured people who have not given permission to show their antics.

The first act was a very cute number with some of the children. First, a little girl of about 3 came out with one of her teachers. They were beautiful Kazakh princesses showing off their dance skills, their long hair and allure. They were followed onto the stage (music room floor) by another teacher and little boy, both of whom were decked out complete with drawn on moustaches and beards. They showed off for the two women, and led them off into the sunset. This was followed by a group of 4 little ones singing a traditional song.

Then came the real fun. This event is one of the chances the teachers and staff have to relax and really be entertaining and silly. The members of each group put on a little skit, song or poetry recital (generally composed for the event). We didn’t understand a word, but some things are universal.

The women who are working on renovating two suites did a few send-ups of Russian MTV – complete with over the top dance moves, a la Shakira and Prince. The nurses read a poem about their wishes for everyone for the New Year, including not getting a list of illnesses, and no more kilos. The piece de resistance was the group led by the music teacher (the only man we’ve seen on the premises). He was the drunken sultan coming home to his disappointed harem, each of whom attempted to entice him back to her. Gotta say, this crew has a sense of humor!

A request for all of you: We neglected to bring with us a book of nursery rhymes, and are having trouble not singing the wrong words. If anyone has time, could you find us some links and e-mail them to wolfepacboston at yahoo.com? Thanks!

Touch base tomorrow, when we’ll have more updates. And thanks for your e-mails and blog comments. We look forward to reading them – contact with home is precious.

We are pleased to introduce SPW

This is Mr. Yarislav Nicolaievitch, soon to be ________ _________ Wolfe (we’ll get to that later).

He is 9 ½ months old, and so far seems fairly pleased to be joining the Wolfepac. We formally notified the doctor who manages the baby house of our decision this morning, and so the process can move forward. We will spend an hour and a half each day (1:00-2:30) visiting and helping him learn what it’s like to have parents, and having him teach us what it’s like to have a son.

I’ll put in a disclaimer here – we’re new parents, so we’re going to gush – just get over it. He very much likes to crawl, is just sitting up on his own (Pilates definitely works), and likes to stand and bounce if he’s supported – standing on belts and waistbands was a fave today. He’s very curious, and happy to explore his world and these new big people who seem to want to do nothing but play. These pictures were taken over the course of the past few days – couldn’t put anything up until we had finalized our decisions.

We were also taken on a tour of the baby house today. All I can say is Wow! This is an amazing operation. There are about 90 children, separated into groups of about 8-12, based on age and development. Each group lives in a large 3-4 room suite with its own entry area with little lockers for each child. This is where we drop off our coats and change from street shoes into slippers. Then it’s into the large play room. Each one is outfitted based on the kids who live there. Some have big playpens, suspended bouncy seats and small ball-pools (like at McD’s). Others have child size furniture, doll houses etc. The sleeping rooms have either cribs or toddler beds, and each suite has a bathing room and toilet room. No pix of this right now, as we can’t post any with children other than our own.

In addition to these suites, there are music rooms, a gym/play room, a small swimming pool, and a kiddie sauna! Finally there are the support areas – physical therapy, speech therapy, full nursing staff, infirmary, laundry facilities and two kitchens – one just for milk/formula, and the other for solid food. We were treated to some of the bread made on the premises – haven’t had any that good in a while. The staff numbers something over 120.

OK – on to the name thing. We had both boy and girl names all picked out when we got here, but Slava (as he’s known here) doesn’t seem to fit what we had. So, we’re back to square one. We have some ideas, but would be happy to entertain all reasonable suggestions – just send them along.