Cold and Sunny with a Chance of Giggles

Playing with babydoll down slide with "Papa"

First a quick update on other activities.  Yesterday started at 11 AM with a drive to downtown St. Petersburg to get our visas registered.  On the drive our interpreter also happens to be a tour guide and gave us some history of the city and of the sights.  After our interpreter registered us we next arrived at the Foreign Minister of Education offices, walked up a long winding staircase (the railing was a bit loose but no one fell).  We waited for a bit in the hallway as we heard our in-country coordinator and the Minister talking.  Our interpreter gave us a quick rundown of the types of questions we might be asked such as "Why do we want to adopt? etc."  We then entered the room, which was a bit daunting, with the Minister sitting across from us.  It turned out the Minister did not ask us any questions, asked for our passports and boarding passes, wrote our names down in a notebook, and our coordinator handed us some papers to sign saying we accept the referral.  And that was that piece of cake.

And now for the fun visit of today...here's Mel... 
As usual, we wait inside a room to hear the pitter-patter of her little feet. Today, we waited in the montessori. It had every wooden toy imaginable! Us adults - Michael, our interpreter Kat, and I, thought they were cool and were even  playing with them.
Anyway, in walks our little girl - dressed in her sandals from yesterday, but in a pretty blue velvet dress. She didn't seem as shy today as yesterday, but when you toss a toddler in a room with a bunch of adults calling your name, there is bound to be some tension and confusion.... I imagine. ;)

We started slow, playing with blocks, matching cylinders, rolling the "O" ball we brought her... She thoroughly enjoyed the "O" ball and didn't stop that activity until we almost pried it out of her hands! We then showed her her Forever Family picture book, going over everyone's names. Then we pulled out the babydoll. She can't get enough of the babydoll either! The baby eats for 30 seconds, then pees for 30 seconds.... this process continues on for what seems like 10 minutes. All the while, she has the most intent look on her face.
We decide to change things up a little bit... baby is going to get a diaper rash! Let's talk baby for a ride on the slide! She seemed a tad bit apprehensive about this, but went along anyway. She enjoyed catching the baby at the bottom - then we had her climb the slide with baby, UH-OH! Little "D" got scared after her second ride down...  Let's give baby a bath!


A quick break in between for lunch, and the caregiver gave her an outfit and hair-do change (whoops, hope the baths didn't get her too wet)... and she was back ready to play for more. Our interpreter told us that one of the caregivers said Little "D" didn't want to leave.... Awwwww!

We read a bit after the 20th bath and "Papa" got her to give him some funny looks as he faux slept! We then pulled out a rainmaker and that's where we got to hear her giggle. Mama would shake Little "D"'s hand and she would light up and chuckle. So much, she got the hiccups! Up until this time, we mostly heard a mouse whispering in Russian. One time she yelled "mooska" for mouse when the adults were all talking (I think she wanted to get our attention *hehehe*).

The visits keep getting better and better... and that will make it harder to leave her on Thursday evening.

Amanda commented, asking how old Little "D" is. Well, she's not a baby, hence us not referring to her as a baby anymore. She will be 3 at the end of May. She has dark hair and the biggest beautifulest eyes! We have officially signed the papers accepting her as our referral.

Check out a pic of hubby and I below of us sightseeing yesterday.
We miss you guys,
Paka!

Michael and I sightseeing 3-28

Posted by Mel at 1:15 PM