Bringing Tommy Home

Sorry we missed a day of posting...... It was a very full weekend in that Naltalia the caregiver brought the children to visit us in the city this weekend! What a wonderful thing that has been - gave us a break from the 3 1/2 hour daily drive, plus gave the children an adventure in the city......their first time in their lives to come to the city. Naltalia is a such a sweet, loving person......her care and love for the children really shines through.

Our interpreter Svetta suggested we take Tommy to the Bazaar. It is basically where everyone buys their clothes......aisles and aisles and aisles of booths of clothes and clothes and clothes on display....and a few aisles of plumbing and electrical supplies. Not exactly what we were looking for, so she then took us to the Eurasia market which is a mini-mall of shops. Tommy immediately spotted the tiny toystore and came out with his prize -- a yellow pickup truck that beeps and flashes it headlights. Mama thought she might pick up a few souvenirs while at the mall, but that wasn't Tommy's idea of a good time in the city -- he kept coming up to her and saying, "Mama, let's go home, I want to go home now." Made his Papa proud! :) Zach, you and Tommy are going to get along just fine. :)

....So we went "home" to the apartment and soon the fun began as we all went off for a walk .........





Anna talking to Tommy on her new toy cell phone......and Tommy talking to Anna on his (look closely at the picture) "car phone" (it's his truck). Not sure what the conversation was about, but we know we heard them both mention chocolate. :)







Stopping for some ice cream.





We came to a huge, wonderful park. There was a man with a donkey giving rides (about 75 cents a ride)........





...and a lady with a peacock.......





Further down the path the children spied their first carnival. It was small and sweet. The children enjoyed unlimited time in the bouncer and the ball pit/maze - for 75 cents. The adults enjoyed watching their joy and excitement.





Then Tommy declared that he wanted to take his Mama on a train ride. :) This so thrilled my heart, for here he was in the presence of his caregiver and two interpreters who spoke his language....but he chose to treat me, his new mama, to a train ride through the park.
Sarah and the girls joined us. What lucky mamas. :)





We treated the children to their first American meal -- hamburgers and french fries. Although I'm not so sure the hamburgers were made out of beef......maybe the traditional Kaz meat - horsemeat? Tasted mighty suspicious to me. I think Tommy was a bit suspicious too. He did, however, enjoy his french fries. He seemed to like them best dipped in the ketchup and folded carefully around some coleslaw. :)


Another incredible day.





That night we gave Tommy his kitty Baxter and his official baby blankie. Everybody's got to have a baby blankie...better late than never :)





Building with legos....a wonderful way to communicate.



Tommy really enjoyed visiting in the apartment. He managed to figure out how to turn on the TV .....and find the soccer channel and cartoon channels by himself! He enjoyed the lightswitches.....on...off...on...off...on...off.... He said his first words (English, that is) - white, car, soap, yes, no, and wheels (of course!).
We are still working at communicating with each other. He will speak to us in Russian and when we say to him "yani pani my-you" (which is "I don't understand"), he will laugh and repeat what he said - only REALLY LOUD! So...... often when he talks to us we will smile and say "Da!" (which means "yes") - you know, what all of us do when we don't understand someone but want to pretend we do. :) Well- that kinda got us in trouble this morning. Tommy came up to the Mama with the tv remote and said something to her. Mama smiled and said, "Da, da!" Tommy then proceeded to the bathroom where he washed the remote in the sink! Apparently the remote was dusty and he had asked the Mama if he could wash it.......to which the Mama cluelessly said, "Da, da!" Ooops. ;)


The wonderful weekend ended with a dinner out with Naltalia the caregiver, our interpreters Svetta and Marina, and our drivers Fridya and "the other guy" (sorry, haven't figured out that name yet). Here we all our enjoying some incredible food........







From left to right: Other Driver, Geoff, Anna, Marina (standing), Nadia, Sarah, Jon, Tommy, Suzy, Naltalia, Svetta, and Fridya our driver.


It was so hard to see the children go back to the orphanage. We will visit them there again tomorrow and the next 8 days...but it was still hard to see them go.
We miss all our children so much.
Mikel & Mia & Zach - We love you and miss you intensely. We can't wait to come home with Tommy and be all together.......love, Daddy and a very teary Mommy.