April 4th

4th of April
We woke up this morning at 0400, and finally got on the internet to update our webpage and answer some emails as we just purchased our Nursat card. We feel like we’re living in antiquity as we have to use a dial up internet service. The best bang for your buck with the Nursat card is from 0200-0800. We then hung out and waited to go and visit Vitalik at the Orphanage. He was excited when we got to his room and of course had to get the plane and some bouncy balls with which to play. Vitalik is going to be a great soccer player as his kicking ability is amazing. He also possesses incredible fortitude and resilience when it comes to figuring out objects, toys, etc. He also doesn’t seem frazzled when he doesn’t figure it out the first time. Both Ian and Vitalik loved that I brought paper and crayons as they both love crafts. He also loves to look at his book about our home, Ian’s friends, and mostly our “sabaka” Hanski-Panski, a.k.a. Baby Dog. He started to smile much more and we even heard him laugh. He feels the most comfortable with Tim. We brought an apple and goldfish and you would have thought we brought the fanciest pastry know to man. We taught him, “please”, “more”, “drink”, and “thank-you” today with sign-language and he even said please, more, water and papa in broken English it was too cute. Ian does really well and then becomes a bit overwhelmed. I think it’s a bit hard to share mommy and daddy, but mostly, he wants Vitaly to feel as comfortable with him as he does Vitaly. He also is still off on his time as he is ready for bed by 1500 but we still have to have visitation from 1600-1800, so by the end of the visit, he’s not at his best. I’m hoping this will change in the next couple of days. We took Vitalik in a car to buy him a few outfits and shoes for when he comes to stay with us at the apartment. He is terrified of cars, after putting on a ton of clothes, tights, corduroys, shirt, sweater, winter coat and boots, and hat, he started crying to no avail. Children only come out of the Orphanage to see the doctor, and since he had just been to the Dr and had bloodwork done, getting in with us was no fun. He was ok once we were in and going and enjoyed going to the store, as for us, it was no fun as it was once again 100 degrees in the store. Although it appeared to be one store, it was really multiple stores that have individual check-outs. Clothes and shoes are a real rip-off compared to home. We went back to the Orphanage and the boys played with their toys and we were able to take one photo with Vitalik where he actually smiled. Tomorrow we meet with the Dr. and Thursday we’ll meet with our lawyer to finalize things and we’ll have his official name.