Still on Russian Time - A Catch-up Blog

It's about 3 am, and I can't go back to sleep. Guess I'm still on Moscow time after all! Thank you to everyone for all you posts, Chris & I were so sorry to cause any concern about our abrupt stop in our posting while in Moscow. As you heard from Babushka Sue, our highly touted free phone & internet crapped out on our 2nd day, never to return. (We were SO ticked!) We had to make several calls for adoption stuff, and also a call each to the Babushkas, on our cell phones... not looking forward to that bill...

OK, how to catch you up? I'll try to work backwards, sort of. We finally got in and to bed late late Tues - 3 am. (Wed, actually, I guess). We landed about 20 min early in ATL from Moscow. Jacob was an angel on the 11 hr flight - maybe 1 or 2 min total of crying the entire time. He took his nap at his regular time, but after that, just really short stretches. He loved playing with the things in the seat pocket in front of him. He walked around the aisles in the plane. And, he was quite the charmer, playing peek-a-boo with many nearby passengers. We also put the headphones on him to listen to music, and he bobbed his head from side to side! So cute. We were told that our 2 hr connection time to our DTW flight would be cutting in very close. But when we got to customs & immigration, we breezed through - maybe 20 min total? We were relieved UNTIL we found out our flight was delayed - a total of 3 hrs!!!

No issues with any of the paperwork in Moscow. The US Embassy interview was smooth, quick & easy. Not much waiting, either. (We're told on Fridays, especially, the room is packed with a several hr wait). Other than that, Chris & Jack had to make a quick trip Friday morning to the Russian consulate to register the boys. It takes 2 business days to complete & get his passport back, so that's why we had to stay through the weekend and Monday.

The entire time in Moscow, Chris felt crappy to varying degrees. He was a real trooper, though, still helping out with Jacob. Jacob changed day by day - he became more comfortable with us, exploring the apartment room by room, playing peek a boo by leaving the room & coming back in. He also became more vocal - still nothing coherent - to us, at least - but definite syllables and quite possibly some Russian words. His tantrums that Babushka Sue mentioned got fewer in frequency and length as we stopped freaking out and figured out a way to handle. He did really well outside - we went out several times with Carrie, Jack, and Ivan - on a trip to McDonalds, a long and cold walk to Red Square to get the obligatory Russian adoption pics in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, and another night out to dinner at TGI Fridays. We discovered that when we played music, Jacob would sway side to side (and if you stood in front of him and held his hands, he would sway and "dance" with you!), and also does this funny "jazz hands" thing, where he puts both hands up, fingers out, and twists/shakes them. VERY cute... Eating hasn't been a problem - just keeping him happy & full. Every time we start to wipe his hands and/or take off his bib, he threw some pretty big fits. We don't want to feed him too much/too little, either - don't know if this is an effect of the orphanage? He doesn't look malnourished - he has quite the little Buddha belly!

Now back to the present (sort of.) Yesterday, after Jacob & I slept in, we helped him explore his new house. He really likes all of his toys. He hasn't even really gotten into all of them yet. He likes being rocked in his glider, and to much relief, was ok to be put down in his crib. (I left out the detail that in Moscow, after the first night, he screamed whenever we'd try to put him down in his crib - nap or bedtime, even after laying in the bed with him to fall asleep first. So, of course Chris & I couldn't stand him being upset and/or scared, so he slept in the bed with us.) We're both anxious to see how Jacob likes Max & Rusty when they come back home - Jacob is a lot more mobile than we had anticipated. By the end of yesterday, he was already pretty comfortable exploring most of the house. He loved playing peek a boo by running around the island in the kitchen. He also loves mirrors, so it's great that he has mirrored closet doors in his room.

Will keep everyone posted as we get settled in. Jacob has a big weekend coming up - both Babushkas & Dyehdushkas (grandpas) are coming up for a weekend visit from STL, as well as tyoh tyah Laura and dyah dyah Matt (aunt & uncle) from Chicago. I'm sure that absolutely no spoiling will take place.... (yeah right).

Love, C&C&J