Gotcha Day!

I will never forget February 25, 2010. The best of our lives so far. :) We woke up early, it was like Christmas morning, so excited to get moving and get to the orphanage. Alexei picked us up at 10am and we arrived at the orphanage at 11am. They brought Maks and Vika into Dr. Ludmilla's office. There was an inspector there that day so Dr. Ludmilla was running late. Sandra 1 & 2, Alyssa the translator, Jason and I and Vika & Maks all waited in her office for about 45 minutes. I was able to change Maks (see pictures) into his new clothes and then we worked at keeping him entertained in a small room with minimal toys for an hour. Once Dr. Ludmilla came in we had to do some paperwork and then we were set to leave! Vika was not thrilled to be in that office either for that long, but when it was time to go both she and Maks handled it very well!

We all were in one car for the ride back to Kemerovo. They got us a very big van with 4 rows of seats. At first Maks was a little scared. He just sat on my lap, stuck his thumb in his mouth and silently cried a few tears. It was heartbreaking. I just don't think he knew what was going on. At least with Vika she is almost 4 and they were able to explain what was happening. I guess I don't know which is better. Maybe neither as its very hard for all kids who are adopted, I'm sure. About 10 minutes later Maks fell asleep leaning against my chest with his little thumb stuck in his mouth. He stayed like that for the next 2 hours. An absolutely lovely way for his Mommy to spend his first 2 hours. :) When he woke up we had about 45 minutes left of the trip. He was a very happy little guy playing with Daddy and eating Russian Cheerios from his snack cup.

When we arrived at Hotel Azot in Kemerovo we went into our new room. This time it was much bigger with a living room, big refrigerator, bedroom and bathroom. He pretty much spent last night running around exploring the room and playing with his toys. Jason ran out to get dinner as it was -20F out. Maks ate one of his gerber dinners. This kid will eat anything. He ate every bit and then had a cookie. He is also the most thirsty child I have ever met! He drinks a ton of juice and water!!!

A few things that didn't go as well, bath time and cleaning out his nose (he has a cold). At bathtime we had to use the shower as there are no bath tubs in the whole place. I filled the bottom up with about 2 inches of warm water and then took the sprayer off to use as a hand-held one. He freaked out! FREAKED OUT! At that point he was probably sure some sort of terrorist had come to take him away. Needless to say Mama ended up getting in the shower with him and it only lasted about 2 minutes. But he was clean. We would just completely avoid one tonight if he didn't have the biggest poop I have ever seen this morning. It took 8 wipes, both Jason and I, and a few serious gags to get through it. Not to mention the onesie had to be cleaned b/c it was full of poop too. He's in a competition with is cousin Rylan for the best pooper in town.

By the way, right now Jason is feeding Maks yogurt and Maks is wiping his own face with a napkin between each bite. Its the cutest thing ever. :) He's also mesmerized the girls at the coffee place. They all keep staring at him and giggling.

I put him down at 9pm (his normal bedtime at the orphanage, think we're going to move that one up a bit). After a 2 minute tantrum he fell asleep. And didn't wake up until 8am! :) WAHOO! Not sure if this is another bait and switch ploy, but I'll take it! Sorry Les.

Today was a little bit tougher. Jason had to go with Anna and Sandra to do some paperwork for 1/2 the day. Its too cold to take him out much so I stayed back with him. I think he's starting to realize he's not going back. Its tough to understand and swallow. Tantrums have been numerous today. But really, overall, he's a great little boy. He took a 2 hour nap today and ate all of his macaroni and cheese.

I'm going to post some pictures of our Gotcha Day on this posting. And then I'll do a seperate just-picture one with some of the highlights of our visits from the past week. I don't think I'll post again until Sunday. We have to walk to Travelers Coffee to get online and its a 4-5 block walk in subzero weather. And he hates hats. And boots. And scarves. And mittens. :) We leave for Moscow on Sunday morning early on Siberian Airlines. We start more American paperwork on Monday and then will hopefully have yet another miracle and get out early on Friday!

Thank you for all of the prayers. Yesterday I woke up feeling 50% better than the day before. It was a WONDERFUL day. Miss everyone. Hope to see you all soon. Wait til you meet this little man!