Sunday's Post

It’s Sunday here and quiet in the hotel. From what we can tell, there may be 3 or 4 other guests here besides the three of us. I’m sure it is “low season” for travelers to be in Uralsk. The weather has been fairly warm though, in the upper 30’s, I’d guess. The snow is melting and has made slushy puddles everywhere.

For part of our morning visit today, I was able to feed Aidan. That was terrific. He didn’t seem too confused that I was feeding him, and he ate a whole big bowl of wheat cereal. And I mean a big cereal bowl full. He loves to eat and when I didn’t move the spoon fast enough, he made little breathy ‘huh huh’ sounds until he had another bite of cereal. To wash it down, he had a mug, maybe one quarter full, of what apple peach juice. He loved that and, although I spilled a little, he did really well drinking from a cup. Scott was able to watch him eat and also visit his crib while I was feeding him. The babies’ crib room is big, clean, and bright, with several wooden cribs lining the walls and each baby’s name on the crib. Aidan has a corner crib. Scott liked seeing where he has slept the past several months. Also, we gave the caregivers a leather bound notebook to jot down their well wishes to Aidan, as a keepsake. For the rest of our visit in the music room, Aidan was content to play with toys in our laps or on the blanket. He likes to sit on our laps and lean back like we are some sort of super deluxe Lazy Boys.

At lunchtime Ann and Scott and I went to the Atrium to a restaurant called the Dixie Pub. It looks a lot like a typical pub restaurant at home, with casual booths and wood furniture, and a bar in the middle with a flat screen tv playing MTV videos. Scott and I shared a burger and fries. The food was fine but we particularly liked the warm, cozy feel. It even had little Christmas trees on every table and some Santa decorations.

In the afternoon, Aidan was happy as usual to see us. He is so cute now when we come to get him, as soon as he sees us, he smiles and laughs and finds his way over to us. If he’s in the crib, he crawls to the edge. In a walker, he “walks” all the way to us in the doorway. It feels so good. The caregivers asked us how to pronounce Aidan and were practicing it with him, which was so nice. He again was satisfied to play with his teether and his smart key toy, the electronic key with a teether ring that plays different versions of “wheels on the bus.” Shaylen, who’s a little older, loves that toy. She dances to it every time Aidan turns it on. Kris said that she’s definitely going to have to buy one for Shaylen when they all get home.

Since we’d had a big lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel for the evening after our visit with Aidan. Scott made pasta and sauce and some toasted raisin bread, which, all in all, tasted pretty good. We were able to buy Coke Light at the grocery, so we had that to drink. For entertainment, we watched “Never Been Kissed,” a Drew Barrymore/Michael Vartan movie, at my request, and Scott was a good sport about it.

Tomorrow, the families will meet with Olga, the agency’s director here in Uralsk, to discuss what will happen in pre-court tomorrow and court on Wednesday. We can’t believe that, if all goes well, Aidan will officially be ours in three days!

See you tomorrow!