She Speaks!: Official Bonding Days 3 & 4

Visits with Alia
Yesterday, Alia revealed a bit of her personality. As expected it was adorable. She was having a little tummy time when she started to babble out of nowhere. She has made two types of noises so far - giggles and whines. This was different. She was telling us a very serious story complete with furrowed brow.

Up to this point, I have felt a little like a glorified babysitter who brings her own supplies (diapers & clothes) to the job. I know I can love this child. I knew it from the first day, but I haven't really had an inkling about who she is. Yesterday, after a week, I felt the beginnings of emotional attachment. I realize that attachment and bonding is a long process, but it is reassuring to feel a bond starting to form. And, this was sparked by Alia "speaking" to us.

It really was a banner day - the babble as well as grabbing a ball and rocking on her tummy like she wants to crawl. She seems pretty fascinated by the ball - maybe because of the contrasting colors. And, again while on her tummy, she seemed to try to propel herself forward. She does a great job pushing up with her hands, however her legs seem like jelly.

Today it is cooler and overcast - a soup day . . . a tea day. The visit matched - mellow and calm. Alia is quicker to smile everyday we see her. She had already had her bottle, so she was in a fine mood when we arrived. We tried to interest her in toys for a while - not really having any of that though. Scott and I took turns walking her back & forth and swaying in our little room. She did this maneuver in which she grabbed Scott's nose and sucked her thumb at the same time - that's talent :). I discovered that Alia really likes it when I touch her cheek lightly with my nose. She made some different sounds . . . squeals of delight. These sounds . . . oh these sounds - somehow they connect straight to my heart. After a long bout of the hiccups, she fell asleep for a long, long time - lots of heavy breathing, baby snores (everything babies do is cute!), and heavy sighs.

I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about leaving her for 3 weeks or so. That won't happen for a few weeks, but it seems cruel.

We spoke with the doctor at the Baby Hospital yesterday. She went over Alia's birth and health history with us. She really is very healthy. The doctor reported some bronchitis as well as some typical post-Soviet diagnoses. We did run most everything by our international adoption doctor (Dr. Davies - we love him!) and all is well. We had decided when we got here that it didn't really matter what the doctors said. We knew we wanted to adopt Alia regardless. However, it is good to know if there is anything we need to begin researching or planning for.

Random Adoption Stuff
We changed our flight to leave from Astana instead of Almaty. That way, we will have a car ride and 3 flights rather than a car ride and 4 flights (and a night in Almaty). Somehow this makes me so very happy. Our trip here was smooth, but it was still a lot! I am pleased to not get on and off one more airplane.

I wish I would have brought some undershirt type onesies. Not sure what I was thinking - we have about 1000 of those at home. I have some 2 piece outfits which really need an undershirt underneath to keep her completely covered. One morning a group of nurses came in to check on Alia while we were still there and her stomach was exposed. One of them pulled down her shirt and said something to me - I stood there smiling & shrugging my shoulders like a non-Russian speaking idiot.

Life in Kokshetau
Our mornings are pretty full - we talk to Luca, check emails, blogs. Today I chatted with Susan Serra, who should be celebrating Leeza's birthday about now. We are picked up around 10 for our visit, then we return to the cottage around 12:30. Sometimes we run errands after our visit, but others we come back here and eat lunch. I usually blog and Scott reads. He has been going for long walks in the later afternoon. I may go today - somehow I am always doing something.

I make dinner - last night it was pasta with jarred pasta sauce. I didn't love the sauce and I wish I could tell you why. It was more like eating thinned out tomato paste. I tried to doctor it up with sauteed onions, garlic & chiles, but it didn't seem to help. I am thinking fried eggs and potatoes tonight. I could try a tortilla espanola! As I wrote to my friend this morning - Kazakhstan is doing a lot to minimize my girthsome backside (dictionary.com does not recognize girthsome as an official word, but I really like it!).

Bordello style

I could write a lot about our "wackydoodle" house. The more I look, the crazier it is. There are 4 doors upstairs - one opens out, the others open in. The bathrooms have mazes of pipes running the perimeters. Things are built around the pipes - like our shower that we walk up a hefty step to get to. The tile work is interesting . . . some screws at some intersections, none at others. Some faucets have hot water on the right, others don't. And, the light fixtures - most of you know about the fanciful light fixtures - a different one in each room. I have dubbed ours the Art Nouveau room. The fixture in the living room is the Bordello one. All the light switches are outside of the room which makes perfect sense to us . . . the light is on BEFORE you enter the room.

According to Luba, we will be joined by another American family today. There was much gesticulating and pointing in the Russian-English dictionary to figure that out.

We will have company!

And, Kim, you didn't have to suffer through any RNC news this morning! Happy Friday!