Short Visit Today

Woke up around 7:45am, got ready, ate my Russian Cheerios and we were off again. No translator today, just Alexei the driver and us. Its a Saturday so the Orphanage is primarily closed. We were allowed to come in to see the children, but did not stay as long. We had to ring the bell to get in this time and then were led back to the playroom and music rooms to wait. We had to wait about 15 minutes and then heard the kids coming. Vika came in leading the way with her baby-doll stroller that Sandra brought her. Maks came toddling in behind her. He was wearing the same blue jeans and a little blue t-shirt today. Same Winnie the Pooh shoes. Love those. :) The nurse said something to him that I didn't understand and then said another sentence containing the word Mama (the only word I understood) and he turned and started running to me with his hands outstretched. Melts my heart every single time. I have never loved anything more.

Yesterday when we saw him, his little face had developed a red rash/freckle like appearance. Apparently he has some sort of allergy to fruits with colorful skins like strawberries, raspberries, oranges, etc. The only thing we had given him other than cookies were those Peach Gerber Yogurt Melt things. They must have caused the skin reaction, so we donated them to Sandra and Vika today. His skin looked better today, still had some red spots but they were fading. I brought him some of my Russian Cheerios and he of course loved them! I haven't found anything yet that he won't eat. We brought a Powerade bottle today filled with water, one that has the top that pops up and you drink out of. He loved that and it worked MUCH better than the water bottle, he was actually able to keep the water in his mouth this time. I have some sippy cups but am keeping those until we pick him up.

Sandra had brought some little sunglasses for Vika and Maks loved them. He was so cute, putting them on, taking them off, putting them on Mommy, taking them off, putting them back on and then smiling for the camera. Such a ham. Every time the camera flash goes off, he looks at the camera, makes this rushed noise that sounds like "hi" and smiles a big smile. Keep in mind this is all AFTER the camera flashes. Jason got some video of it because its so goofy.

He had a diaper on today, they must have figured it would be difficult to get him changed if anything happened as they had a lot less staff there today. So no potty-problems. We were only allowed to stay an hour and a half today. We got back to the hotel around 1pm. Jason and I decided to try the "Snack Bar" Cafe for lunch. I ordered some sort of chicken and rice and Jason had beef and an egg. Strange order I know, but the menu was a little strange. These were some of the most "normal" choices. My rice was really odd. It was plain white, but had a very distinct flavor. Jason's beef came out like a small hamburger and had an egg sunny-side up and potatoes with mayo and cheese. It was interesting. After lunch we walked across the street to a little mall. The stores are very different than home. There were 15 stores or so that were all very small, maybe 50 sq ft each. Each store had one type of product, hats or shoes or candy or watches. They are wild about boots and shoes here. Lots of very cool boots. My little sister looked for a pair of black boots that she liked for months, I should have just bought her some here. :)

Tonight we're going to venture back to Travelers Coffee to try it out Novokuznetsk style. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm attaching a picture of the outside of our hotel.