4, maybe 6 more days until we're home!

Maks did sleep in the crib last night (which is actually a pack-n-play). He made it all the way until 4am before he started crying. I put him in the bed with us and he slept until we had to wake him up (again) at 6am. The Doctor arrived around 7am and did a quick general exam. Maks was such a trooper. Didn't cry at all. We got some medical updates. His head is in the 3rd % for circumference. His height and weight aren't even on the charts for kids his age. But he's proportional and the Doctor feels he'll catch up quickly. He didn't hear any wheezing in Maks's chest so he thinks the cold is all in the head still. The Doctor did notice that Maks is getting his 24 mo molars. So that could be another reason for the crabiness. He recommended giving him Motrin, which we did and it seemed to have help his overall demeanor today.

We had to stick around the apartment this morning. Jason and I had McDonalds last night and this morning. Can you tell that we are craving American food? Its a little different here than at home. They don't have pancakes they have crepes instead. And they don't have biscuits, only english muffins. Still, it was nice. I've eaten more McDonalds here in the last two days than I have at home for the past year. :) Katya came to our apartment to pick up the medical info and take it to the American Embassy to set our appointment for tomorrow. We have an appointment at 2pm and will hopefully get our Visa to travel then. Wednesday and Thursday are all for the Russian Consulate registration. We found out today that they will have to take Maks's passport and visa to do the registration. Thats why we can't travel until Friday. So we are waiting to hear back from our travel agency as to whether or not we can do this.

Maks was a bit crabby earlier and he fell asleep at 9am. We woke him up at 11:30am and left to go venture out a bit. We went to Hard Rock Cafe (which is right across the street). It was very empty and Maks did pretty well. Toward the end he got pretty antsy but it was about an hour of sitting. We got him some chicken and french fries. Only gave him little pieces. He was not a fan. He made the funniest little faces when he ate a french fry. I think it was the salt but he would pucker his face and spit it out. We walked down to the grocery store. I took some pictures of Maks and Jason outside of the store. And pictures of the crazy traffic outside of the grocery store. It was at an intersection and people were parked in the intersection and people were trying to get through. Chaos, I'm telling you.

Another funny story from today. Maks and Jason were sitting on the couch while Jason was putting on Maks's socks. Jason burped and Maks started clapping. Then a minute later Maks burped. Not the most polite story, but still pretty funny. :)

I got some great advice from my family, friends and the ladies on the Adoption Ark forum about Maks's tantrums and crabby nature in the past few days. Many of the families who have been through this before experienced some very similar things. One of the Moms said to ignore the tantrums and see what he does. We decided to try that this afternoon when he wouldn't take another nap and the tantrum then only lasted 2 minutes. Jason and I were talking about finding Neosporin in the middle of his chaos. He kept looking at both of us while he was crying like "hello, people? why are you not paying attention to this?" Then he brought me the camera case and smiled. I'm sure it won't always be that easy, but it was a nice change from yesterday. We of course were in the room with him and didn't leave him alone, but we didn't respond to the crying over a no. He's in a better mood so far this afternoon. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

We're having some trouble with our apartment (posted some pictures of it). The kitchen smells like gas, the electricity in the bathroom isn't working so no hair dryer or straightener. A girl can only go so long without that. The refrigerator has a water leak and isn't really cold and neither of the bedrooms have curtains. They only have sheers which let in all the light possible. Ugh.

We're doing dinner in tonight. More to come after our embassy appointment tomorrow.