Day Sixteen

Well, we'll take it as a good sign that our preliminary court appearance is scheduled for Monday March 26th, Carrie's birthday! In the meantime, we continue to explore our new worlds; both as parents and as foreigners in this exotic land. Yesterday, our visit at the baby house started with a surprise "invitation" to a birthday party for Julia's lead caretaker, Fieena (a surprise to us, not to Fieena!). We sat around the children's feeding table, sharing birthday cake, cookies and chocolates followed by a course of bread, cheese, sliced apples, oranges, cucumbers and "chi" or Russian tea with milk. When we first arrived, Carrie wished Fieena a happy birthday in Russian and Bruce presented her with a bouquet of yellow mums. We felt very "accepted" as we carried on meaningful conversations, miming and guessing our way through, sharing smiles, nods, hugs and lots of laughter! It was an incredible moment in time. Then this morning, we presented the women with pictures of themselves and they were exuberant! We think we'll reciprocate buy bringing in a cake for Carrie's birthday next week.

Today, the snow is melting (it's actually 32 degrees Fahrenheit!) and the sun is shining brightly. Julia was crying when we arrived at the Baby Home this morning but stopped abruptly when she saw us, probably sensing that food would soon follow! She has begun to make crawling movements toward specific toys beyond her reach. Her arms and legs are strong and she enjoys lifting herself with her arms and standing with our help. We are now on our way to meet Olyssa and visit a Notary before heading someplace new for lunch with "the group". After our usual BIG meal, we hope to hike out to the large outdoor market where we're told the spring merchandise is replacing the winter wares. This ought to be interesting~ endless booths of black and brown boots, fur coats and hats, sweaters and blankets replaced by... what you ask? We'll let you know! Love for now and big, imaginary hugs and kisses~ Carrie and Bruce