A Man on the Move

Today was a very busy day at Dolphin House. We were back in the main room, which was good, since Nicholas was interested in keeping an eye on us, but while doing his own thing. So we were able to help out the care-givers by keeping the other kids occupied.

Jim was enjoying getting his hair tugged by one little girl, until she head-butted him. Check out the care-giver's reaction!







Nicholas has become quite the speedy demon crawler. Just when you think you've got the shot set up, this happens:






There was also some time spent in the ball pool again. As his balance and grasping skills have gotten better, this has become a more favored place to play. Today, he started kicking, grinning and huffling as we got closer!







Then he realized that one of his girlfriends was there.
Hey Guys, she's MY friend!







We got one more family picture, then it was time to leave for the day. Making progress with the boy is such a good thing!

Sippy Cups are GRRREAT

Today was a bittersweet one. We had a great visit with Nicholas (more on that later), but it was preceeded by the departure of Robertson & Michele. We know that getting to know them and having their company while here has made this trip richer for us. Fortunately, they live not too far from one of Nicholas' sets of grandparents, so we plan to see them over the coming years. Nicholas and Morgan will be able to continue to be companions, sharing their heritage and their time in The Sun room at Dolphin House. To R&M - Best wishes on a safe journey home, and thanks! Oh, and Morgan says "ba ba ba ba ba ba sa sa"

Now to the title of today's post. In the past we've told you that the kids here drink from cups or shot glasses (milk or juice only!). So today was a first for Nicholas - a sippy cup. At first he was quite perplexed. Where's the goods? But being the brilliant child he is, he caught on very quickly. Check out this series of pictures, taken in order:



















Then we had some play-time with Daddy. For a change, he wasn't all sleepy at the end of our visit. In fact, he was still going strong when we left. He either slept well last night, or had a long morning nap. Either that, or the worst of his cold is over. He was less congested, so maybe that was it. Hopefully tomorrow will be more of the same, and since we've swapped out the batteries that sacked out on us mid-visit, we'll have more pictures for you all!

The Soundtrack of Our Trip

There seems to be a short list of songs in very heavy rotation here. The constant is a heavy disco beat and a candy-pop sound. What we’ve been hearing over and over (and over, and over) on MTV:

• Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
  
• Mika - Relax, Take it Easy, which sounds light and fluffy, but the lyrics are kind of dark
• Madonna - Caught Up
• Something that sounds like Ya, Ma Ya, Ma Ya, Ma Ya from a Russian boy-band
• A song that goes “Malinki, Malinki,” which translates to “little, little”…???
• Anything from the PussyCat Dolls (I think this is more about the visuals than the “talent.”)
• Beyonce & Shakira

Oh, for some National Public Radio!

By the way, spring has officially arrived in Kostanai. People are not wearing hats for about the first time since we arrived; the streets have all been swept; all winter detritus has been removed from the curbs, sidewalks and planting beds, and Easter cakes are being carried about. We read about the bad weather in New Hampshire and Maine…I think we’ve actually had better weather here! While it was very cold when we arrived, there has been no precipitation to speak of. This is a grain-producing region, but we’re not sure where their precipitation comes from!

Today's visit was good. We were in the sleeping room again - fewer distractions. Nicholas has certainly gotten his parents well trained. We now do the following on cue:

• get a pacifier
• pick him up
• help him not fall when he pulls himself upright
• look as if we understand when he says "ba ba ba ba ba sa sa"

The milestone for today was his actually sitting and 'listening' to his first full book. The winner was the book "Way out in the Desert" which came from Barbara. Many thanks for being part of that event!

Sorry for the lack of pix - we only got one good one of little man. On the way out, we captured the guard dogs (sabaki) hard at work, and then the sign at the gate of the Dolphin Baby House.

We met Mr. Cranky Pants Today

Yup - the honeymoon's over, and Mr. Cranky Pants made an appearance today. We believe he has a head cold with a bit of chest conjestion, so that could be part of it. Another part may be that he was in 3 layers of clothing (a cotton onesie, terrycloth overalls and velour track suit) in a room that felt about 75 degrees...maybe that's why the little man had prickly heat!

We survived, and so did he. The nanny wasn't thrilled when we let him fall asleep before afternoon snack (warm milk with pieces of bread in it). However, as soon as he smelled it, he perked right up, chowed down and then went right back to sleep. Please note that he is a remarkably advanced 10 month old, who is drinking from a cup - drippy, but it kind of works. I think we'll be using sippy-cups at home.

So, the photos today are from over the past week or so. He was in no mood today, and the only good shots we got contained some of his pals, but not ones who have families, so it isn't permitted to post them.

We, however, have moods significantly improved from yesterday. Today was our pre-court, and we have a court date which should allow us to depart as scheduled. More details on that when things are complete.

Take care, and the newspaper crew need to check their e-mails.

Questions and Answers

Nothing fancy today - in fact, few pix. They're just randomly placed with the text - no connection.

A number of people have asked us questions on the blog, and we’d like to try and answer them. In no particular order, here we go:

Why would Nan’s hair smell like vinegar?

Well, the water here has some unusual scents and minerals, some of which tend to remain after the shower. This can make your skin and scalp sort of itchy, and can make your hair feel like straw. A very dilute mixture of white vinegar and bottled water, used as a final rinse, can help that tremendously, but you are left smelling a bit like a salad.

Why did we have on do-rags in the pix of us feeding Nicholas?

Short answer: because we were told to; longer answer: it’s probably to keep hair out of the food. The baby house cares for over 90 children. They have some very specific protocols to follow in order to help them stay as healthy as possible. We also have noticed that if a pacifier drops on the floor, it is immediately whisked off to the sterilization room – no kissing it up to God. However, if a chew-toy hits the floor, it just goes back to the hand it came from.

What is food shopping like?

This depends on which store we go to. Within easy walking distance are two western style supermarkets – much smaller than ours, but still well stocked. For those of you in the South End, one is about the size of Foodies; the other half that. Among the familiar brands we’ve seen are Coke, Sprite, Gillette, Nice & Easy, Dove, Nivea, Corona, Dannon, Heineken, Twix, KitKat, Pampers and Rubbermaid. American consumer products are well represented here! Beyond that, and as at home, many packages have labels which are unambiguous about their contents (canned veggies, rice and pasta fall into this category). However, it’s very helpful to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and the words for common food items – for example, chicken filets are in a package that has opaque wrapping and no picture of a chicken, but the word for filet is basically a straight phonetic match. It’s also important to know the words for milk as differentiated from kefir. The packages are similar (blue vs. green, but same shapes and markings) but kefir is a kind of fermented yogurt – not yummy to our taste buds!

One significant difference between these grocery stores and ours is that these seem determined to help accomplish full employment in Kostanai. There are always at least 2 staffers per aisle. Probably a security measure, but they also ensure that if you take an item off the shelf, all of those behind are immediately pulled forward – so no-one has to reach.

Aside from lactose-free milk, there’s very little we haven’t been able to find. However, since this isn’t a disposable society, some things are in scant supply: disposable razors are thin on the ground; diapers come in packages of no more than 25 – most people use cloth. We haven’t been into an apothecary (drugstore) yet, so can’t comment on supplies there. And it’s almost impossible to find good, fresh vegetables.

What about TV?

Soccer, Animal Planet, and a really lame and over-the-top version of candid camera. At least in Kostanai, there is no English-language television, with the exception of some of the promo pieces for Animal Planet. There are about 40 channels, but only about 10 stations broadcasting, so a run around the dial means repetition. Some other stunners we’ve seen have been Russian versions of Married with Children, a home design show that would make the folks at HGTV cringe. But the news this morning, on the Russian Today show, had a few pieces on preparations for Easter. Most we couldn’t follow, but the bit about painting the eggs was universal! Oh, and then there’s Fashion TV, and their Models Talk segment – kind of a misnomer considering the giggle factor. The word “like” should be banned.

When are we coming home?

Still don’t know. We’re waiting for the judge, who has had our file for a week, to set a court date. “Maybe” is a word one hears a lot…and it isn’t really helpful to the control-freaks of the world who have been away from all that’s familiar for a long time.

If we’ve missed anything, let us know, and we’ll do a part two.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Elizabeth!

I can't quite talk yet, but Mommy & Daddy helped me say Happy Birthday to my cousin Elizabeth. I can't wait to meet her, and the rest of my family.
As usual, we had a good visit with Nicholas today. He was very mellow when we arrived, but he enjoyed play time with Daddy, including reading his favorite book (thanks much to Michelle & Kosar for that winner!).













We only had about 45 minutes of play time before he started to really slow down. All he wanted was to be held and walked around - hmmm, what a hardship. We took this opportunity to bring out the carrier, and he was just fine with it - first with Jim, then with Nan. It's so much easier on the back to carry him that way, and it leaves your hands free - good for when we get home and need to make a quick trip to the store down the block. It's also great for some quiet one-on-one bonding time. He can feel our warmth and heartbeat, and gets to know what we smell like (he now thinks Mommy's hair smells like salads, thanks to the vinegar rinse!).

He let us know when he was done with the carrier, and today it was Daddy's turn to be the sleeping spot. These two pix were taken about 35 seconds apart. Gotta love both of them!










As usual, the visit ended with the little man in bed. Today, he was so out he didn't even twitch when he hit the mattress - so we had to give him a book - maybe it'll sink in while he's sleeping. We can't wait for the day that he sleeps in his own crib, and we're there when he wakes up.

The Politics of Transportation

We’ve mentioned the parking situation here, but didn’t go into anything about how the police, the populace, and their vehicles interact. There seems to be a very well manned police department in Kostanai (not that we want to find out up close and personal). As I write this, 9 am on a Tuesday morning, there is a police car parked outside our building. The two cops (always pairs that we can see) are standing beside their car watching passing traffic. Every so often, they wave large white billy sticks at a particular car, and the driver immediately pulls over, always using their turn signal (Boston drivers take note). I’m not sure what the infraction is, but it’s unlikely to be speeding as we haven’t noticed that at all. In any event, the driver exits the car, and presents the cop with some paperwork. Whether this is a driver’s license, vehicle registration or what, we don’t know. We also can’t tell if any tickets are issued, and then the driver is on his way.

On other occasions, traffic on our street is completely closed, to allow the unimpeded movement of what appear to be VIPs. When this happens, all parked cars must be moved, and all vehicular traffic is stopped for blocks. Everyone is very cooperative, and the delays to normal traffic appear to be minimal.

We went for a walk this morning – over to the main plaza, up by the University, and back through the park. It’s definitely coming up spring…the flower beds are losing their snow cover, and one can see where they are usually full of plants. We couldn’t determine what kind, but it looked as if something with fairly woody stalks had been cut back in the fall. Unfortunately, we won’t be here to see what actually blooms – or if we are, we’ll be in no shape to tell you about it!

Our visit with the little man today was great. We were in the sleeping room by ourselves, rather than in the play room with the other kids and caregivers. This was a first, but without the distractions, it was a really fun visit. Jim got Nicholas laughing out loud, and we have it on video – will show you later when we have more band width to upload. Anyway, Nicholas and Jim were face to face on the floor when Nicholas sneezed. Jim followed with one of his own, and Nicholas lost it. Of course, being the well trained rats (um, parents?) that we are, Jim obliged again and again…anything to get the little man to laugh!

He started to get a little antsy (our toys are apparently old news), so Nan grabbed the first thing at hand – one of Morgan’s toys – an inflated roller/drum thingie with bells inside. Wow – we’ll have to see if we can find one of these at home.

As usual, things ended with Nicholas in his crib - #6, (the one behind Jim in the other picture).

When we got home, Nan went to get a nail color change – for a grand total of $1.25. Meanwhile, Jim captured the afternoon action on our street, left, then right.

This evening we’re off to a nice dinner with Michele & Robertson, who have good reason to celebrate. Go over to their blog http://findingmorganadams.blogspot.com/

ET, Phone Home

No post yesterday – we were just kind of fried. Three weeks in, with two to go can start to wear on your nerves. Even Boston would be boring to a tourist after a while, and probably more so if you can’t read the menus, newspapers and road signs and don’t understand anyone. OK, so the description by others of this trip as being like the movie Groundhog Day is accurate. You begin to lose track of days of the week, and every day blurs into the previous and the next. Even the television falls into the groundhog syndrome. There are 50 operable channels, but only about 10 unique stations – the others are all duplicates. The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet are good, since we can usually follow along even without understanding the voice-over, and their commercials are in english. Oh for an English-language channel!

In the morning, we went to sign on to the internet as we always do with our tea & coffee. We were a bit surprised, however, to find that our brand-new 5,000 Tenge card was inoperable, despite having plenty of credit left on it as of the previous evening. We first thought it was an April Fool’s joke by the telecom folks. No, the card still wasn’t working a bit later. However, a card that had run out days before was now up and running again. We aren’t sure what’s up, but as long as we have access, we’ll take it!

Yesterday’s visit with Nicholas went well. We brought in an inflatable beach ball which he just loved. It was big enough for him to roll on, but also small enough for him to play with. We left it just slightly under-inflated (don’t worry – I said just slightly). This allowed him to squeeze it enough to get a grip (working on fine motor skills here) and swing it around. Happy chortles ensued.

He also showed us that he will really be a perfect fit in the extended Wolfe-Dugan clan. The boy loves nothing more than to flake out with a book. We’ll give him a little latitude right now for reading it upside down – the bottom was just a bit more yummy!

We spent some time getting him used to the baby carrier. He really wasn’t too sure about that, but mommy wants him to accept it so that trekking him about in airports and airplanes will (maybe) be a bit easier in May. A little bit every day…maybe he’ll be ok with it by the time we leave, and won’t torture Aunt Florence too much J

After the baby house, we headed over to the Philharmonic Hall to see the finals of a regional children’s talent contest, and to meet the other Americans in town. Unfortunately, when we arrived, it was sold out, and we couldn’t even get standing room seats. So off to the bazaar – a different one this time. We were looking for some slightly lighter weight jackets – it really is spring here, and down is too heavy sometimes. The search will continue, however. Jim didn’t find anything, and the leather jacket Nan really liked wasn’t available in her size. Oh well. And Maureen – no fabric seen that wasn’t of the decorating or dress variety – very shiny and flowers the size of an extended hand! The funny part of the bazaar visit was the fact that Zhanat kept telling us to zip up our jackets so we wouldn’t get cold. I think it was to keep us from looking too out of place- as if we would blend better with zipped up jackets!

Observation of the day today: Kostanai is a remarkably tidy city. Despite the fact that we haven’t seen any trash containers aside from those behind our apartment (which are emptied every 2-3 days), there is NO trash on the streets or sidewalks. This could be in part due to the fact that there aren’t Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks shops everywhere, providing ready trash. It could also be that people here have a great deal pride in their city, and want to ensure it looks its best. Something for most American cities and residents to think about.

The one thing we’re not loving today, however, is the fact that while we seem to have a more than adequate supply of hot water, there is no, repeat no, cold water. We all know that cold showers aren’t that easy to deal with. They can, however, be tolerated. It’s just not possible to take a shower in scalding hot water. Grrrrrrr. Hope it comes back so that we can have clean dishes at dinner-time. At least we have enough bottled water to wash our faces and brush our teeth!

Nicholas didn’t seem to mind our stale-ness when we visited today. He was in a good mood, and actually waved to us when we came into the room. It’s the little things.

We spent some time playing with Miss Morgan today – not cooperating, more like observing and tolerating each other. They both had fun with the balls from the ball pit, then Nicholas decided to make a break for it, straight for the camera.

Can’t wait to meet my family!

After one last round of Daddy-climbing, it was time to eat, and time for Mommy & Daddy to leave the boy in the Sun room (that’s the translation we were given, but if anyone can confirm that, we’d appreciate it – the key word is the one that starts with C).

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!