Day 10 of Bonding

Only a handful of days left until we can go to court to file our petition to adopt. The last two days have included many milestones that we celebrate. First, yesterday M clearly recognized us when we arrived and was eager for us to pick him up. Today, his caregiver tells us that before we arrived, he was constantly watching the door and cried when his roommates’ parents arrived before we did. Usually we are the first to arrive, so he was disappointed when the people who arrived weren’t his people. We would love to know what goes through his little head. Does he understand that we are his “forever people” or are we still just his personal play date? Now it is easy to see smiles and laughs from him, he isn’t quite as serious as the first few days. He also seems to have a bit of a sense of humour. We have been working on giving and taking things, and yes, we say “ta-ta” even though we really didn’t think we would, but give us a break, we’re working with two languages here, we needed something easy! Anyway, yesterday Rod stuck out his hand to see if M would hand him his toy, but apparently he wasn’t quite done with it or it was one of his favourites, so M looked around, picked up something else and handed that to Rod instead!

When we arrived today we met our favourite caregiver in the hallway where she gave us a huge hug and grabbed us by the hand, practically dragging us to M’s room. She was so excited to see us because she said M was missing us. When we dropped M off today we were lucky to have a translator with us, so we got the chance to visit with M’s caregivers. Today’s caregiver said she was so relieved to see that M was going to a good home with good parents. We told her that we were thankful that he had wonderful people like her who loved and cared so much for him until we could find him and that we hoped we could be the parents he deserves. We think he has stolen her heart as much as he as captured ours. Possibly we weren’t paying quite enough attention to M at this point, because when the adults were busy visiting and getting to know a little bit about each other, he picked up his clothes and threw them on the floor, of course with a big smile on his face. It was just his way of telling us to get on with it, put his stuff in his locker and pay attention to him! How could we forget? There is officially a new king in the German household, but he rules with a dazzling smile and adorable eyes.

Yesterday we went to Arzan, which is a Kazakh store similar to Costco, but without the membership. It’s a good thing too, because we were able to finally find some meat that appealed to us. The meat in the grocery stores has been a bit of a challenge for us. First, it often looks to be more fat than meat, and the frozen meat looks like it is freezer burned. Second, to get meat that is fresh, you have to ask for it, which obviously causes a bit of a challenge.

Today we went for yet another trip to the notary and a coffeehouse meeting with our coordinator to prepare our speeches for court before we went to the Baby House. Both of us will need to speak to the judge about our wishes and it was reassuring to have someone walk us through what we need to talk about and what questions might be asked of us. Today was a busy day for our driver, so we were treated to some of his finest slalom driving. We don’t have to wait for the summer exhibition to get our thrill rides in for the year, every day and especially today gives us the opportunity to defy gravity and ride white knuckled through the streets. If we accomplish anything here, Tammy should finally be cured of her tendency to get motion sickness. Rod hopes she will also be cured of her backseat driving habits! (Keep dreaming, buddy!) Hook, if you need some lessons on driving fast, we could probably give you a reference! Rod bets this guy would even give Phil a run for his money on those cross-field adventures, but his Toyota might need a lift-kit.