Sunday, September 7, 2008

Crazy Limbs (Official Bonding Days 5 & 6)

Visits with Alia
Two more days with our little imp - Scott has started to call her the Gnome of the Steppes.

Yesterday, Alia was pretty fussy and upset. She drank a little less than half her bottle. I must apologize for what I am about to write but it seems to be a simple equation of intake and out-take. The out-take wasn't happening. The delicate balance is upset, therefore, Alia was NOT happy. This is completely fine - we can handle it, but it is frustrating to not be able to do anything about it.

It is amazing how quickly poop becomes interesting and vital to us again.

Today, we arrived and our interpreter said that a nurse tried to give her the bottle before and she drank very little of it. Maybe there was something new in the bottle because it was the weekend - they could have run out of the usual "formula" our interpreter explained. It still stresses me out. The intake/out-take stresses me out - it did with Luca and now it is with Alia. Our interpreter says not to worry. On an intellectual level I know that I shouldn't worry - but on some sort of primal, emotional level I panic. Women's brains must be hardwired to respond this way . . . or I could be neurotic :).

Despite the small lunch today, she was very content. The last 2 days she has continued to work towards crawling by laying on her belly and flailing her arms and legs about - swimming without water. She also does this side push-up thing. Luca crawled later - 10 months - I don't remember any of the preliminary stuff. It seemed like he went from sitting to crawling with nothing in between. It is amazing to watch her experiment with these new movements.

Alia looks at us so intently. She holds our gaze for such a long time - studying . . . trying to figure us out, I guess.

Otherwise, lots more walking & holding, holding & swaying. I am surprised there isn't a path worn through the linoleum from all the walking back & forth that goes on in that little room. Alia usually naps for 1/2 hour or more while one of us holds her. She was pretty talkative today . . . giggly mostly. She opens her mouth wide and wrinkles her nose and makes this adorable "guh" noise in the back of her throat. Scott read her all 4 books we have today. She turned some of the pages on her own, which was great to see.

She was pretty upset when we laid her in her crib today.

Life in Kokshetau
The other family has arrived! It is nice to have some company and help get them acclimated. It has only been a few days, but I feel like I have known them for a lot longer. I guess that's what happens when you share a house in a country where you don't know the language - there are no preliminary niceties or reluctance.

We even made dinner together last night - I made more roasted vegetables and they made some tasty cabbage & mushroom dumplings.

It has been cold here the last 5 (or so?) days. I am just so surprised by how much the weather fluctuates this time of year. It was 80 when we arrived, in the 50s last week and now it is headed into the high 60s. I appreciate getting a taste of autumn early. It is my favorite season.

We didn't have water yesterday morning - this was our second "outage". Our poor roommates - days of travel and no shower available their first day here. It was only out until around 9 a.m., so I think we got lucky. The hospital still didn't have it when we left at 12:30. I assumed that they had some sort of back-up system, but that isn't the case. I do have a theory about why we haven't had water a couple times this week. I know it is a common occurrence, however this may be related to turning on the central water heating system. Like the heat, hot water is centralized. It is turned off for the summer. Some houses and apartments have boilers which heat the water. Lots of others don't, so many people go without hot water all summer long.

I have spent an absurd amount of time trying to set-up my Outlook to send and receive mail from my school account. It is just not working - I am not able to send. ARGHHH!

Here are some photos of Kokshetau:

exterior of a typical apartment building - almost all of them have the shallow porches for drying laundry
Scott was taking a picture of the massive apartment building but, I like the buses. The buses have CURTAINS - I love that!
Look on the right - massive above ground heat pipes line the streets and paths of Kokshetau.

Back in Carbondale
My stepfather visited my mom and Luca this weekend. They had an outing to the park and he sent me some photos on his Blackberry.

How is it that he looks so big?! I think he has grown 4 inches. He looks like a BOY not a toddler anymore. Sniff . . .
Grandma & Luca - the dynamic duo.

All is well at home. I really, really missed Luca when I saw these photos this morning. He really seems to be doing so well. I signed him up for a Saturday morning art class with his friend Isabelle, which was a big hit. We continue to have our morning (us)/evening (him) chats. I really know now that it was best for him to stay home. We can focus on Alia and he may gain a little more independence. Susan Serra keeps telling me that that is what we as parents want - independent children. And, she is right, but it is difficult letting go.

We are "over the hump" so to speak . . . we have been here 10 days and will be here 10 more.

9 comments:

Susan said...

Luca does look like a big boy...and he is in KINDERGARDEN MOM...he doesn't look like a toddler cuz he's a BIG BOY NOW! :)
He is very handsome, and wow, do you look like your mom! She is very purty--like mother like daughter, like son! :) Oh, and Scott, you're a hottie too. :)

It is good for him to have fun without Mom (and Dad) and miss you and be glad to see you. He would be OH SO BORED in Kokshetau (sorry, i know i didn't spell that right).

Alia sounds soooooooooo wonderfully adorable and her hands are super cute too! :)
I'm glad you like your roomies...that is nice! Our bathtub is full of water, one side of the sink, plus buckets, pans, and the big 5 litre water bottles.
Eugene told me water goes off tonight at 11 pm and is turned back on Tuesday at 11. Tatiana told me it goes off Tuesday at 11 pm and comes back Friday. So, I guess WE WILL FIND OUT TONIGHT! It's a MYSTERY!
Camping begins SOON...or NOT.

I'm grateful for the boiler, since we have not had hot water for the past 3 weeks.

I hope that Alia gets the intake right. It's so hard to see them uncomfortable...I understand where you are coming from! Poor lil sweetie pie, but she still likes her books and her mom and dad. :)

wow, half way done...that is cool.
I have 2 countdowns going....1 week until Joe comes back, and 10 days until court. :)

Happy Sunday and have fun with your roomies! I am sure they were so glad to meet ya'll and have someone who "knows the ropes".
Do they like Baltica number 5 too? :)

marsrob said...

I swore I wouldn't be one of those "poop obsessed" parents like all the others. And then, on the FIRST sign of a poop, I wrote about it and emailed EVERYONE! I was so happy! So - I'd say we're just hard wired. HOw else to explain this? It is so nice that you are already so invested in alia's wellbeing. Poop and emotional comfort and all!
All the photos (curtains in buses) remind me so much of Semey!
Thinking of you all!
Glad you are staying in touch with Luca. He is darling and in the end, he's getting a little sis! VERY exciting stuff!

Susan said...

ps. My outlook won't send either.....I can get emails, but no sending...that's why i send from the gmail account...

Not sure why that is....Kaz maybe?

only 10 more minutes until the water is shut off!
how ecxiting is this!

Jennifer said...

It seems like you just arrived! Wow!

Luca is definitely the very picture of a boy instead of a toddler. A very handsome one.

I'm glad the roomies are are working out. It is so wonderful to have people to spend time with. There was a couple we spent time with that had we been in the states, we would have parted ways (we were all just THAT different), but in Kaz, we all managed along fairly well.

I'm happy that your decision to leave Luca was the right one. I will probably come to you for details when it's my turn to make that decision. The why's and where's and how-fors.

I know what you mean about stressing over the poop. I'm still stressing. With all the moves and such (I'm letting the new school feed her now instead of packing her breafast, lunch, and snacks), her fruit intake is MUCH less. Well you can imagine the problems that is causing. :-(

Alia sounds so wonderfully engaged. Does she have any favorite books yet? How many Sandra Boynton's did you take? Gigi has discovered your favorite and now LOVES Hippos. Every thing is "Hippo!" (Don't point your finger at me kid, when you say that.) :-)

Oh yeah, and I HATED Outlook when I was over there. I nearly threw my laptop out the window several times. I'm empathizing with you. I hope you get it to work!

Tricia said...

We also had trouble sending e-mails from Outlook in Kaz. It was so frustrating. Luca looks like he is doing well and is happy with his grandma. I am sure talking to you daily on skype is really helping him feel connected to you and keeping him happy, too. That is great that you are reading to Alia. I have been bad with that with Rustam because he is so active and doesn't sit still long enough. That is great that you have some company now.

Susan said...

I would like Alia and her mom to know that I don't like the every other day posting bit.

I like to hear about her every moment, personally.

Can't wait until tomorrow!

Laura's Blog said...

I have to say that your mom looks very young! I showed the picture to a guy I work with and he thought she was in her 30's.

babsinatl said...

Time away from you is good for Luca and for you. I, childless person who has no authority to speak on this subject whatsoever, believe that. It helps you both prepare for the great big, wide open future. I'm glad you are not in agony over it...just a good, healthy love sick ;) And as for being stressed out over the intake and output - I'd be beside myself with worry every minute after I put little Alia back in that crib. You have zero control over what happens to her, but you already love her. There's nothing neurotic about that. What's fabulous is how you can even make baby poop so dang interesting...

Kim said...

Ok I did it - I actually finished World Without End. It annoyed me so much. He could have wrapped up the story about 200 pages before it ended. :) So long and drawn out. I sat there and kept sighing and David was like "why are you reading it, put it away or wait for it to come out on DVD." LOL!

Your mom and Luca look like they are having a great time.