Another wonderful day...

We had our best day yet with Alexander today. He was happy and playful the whole time we were there and we had so much fun with him! He was more active and talkative today, which was fun to see! It was just the 3 of us in the room for the entire 2 ½ hours, so I think he felt very comfortable. He had a lot of fun looking through books and a photo album today, and we played with big blocks for quite a while. Again, he really enjoyed the goldfish crackers and he’s learned how to drink from a sippy cup! Nearing the end of our visit he was getting tired again, so we got some great snuggle time in. When he’s tired he will hold up his hands for me to pick him up and then he just snuggles right in! :O)

Peek-a-boo!

We finally caught one of those toothy smiles on camera!

Some good snuggle time with my little guy!

Papa knows how to make him laugh!

Yesterday afternoon we went to the market and did our shopping for Alexander. Today some of the girls walked to the toy store and I bought a few things for the kids. As you saw yesterday, Marina has broken in the potty chair for him, so I think we’re all set! Now, we just need HIM!

We are leaving the hotel at 8:00am to go to the orphanage tomorrow. I’m guessing our visit will be quite short. We will have probably 30-60 minutes to play with him and then we have to change his clothes and shoes before leaving. The anticipation of walking out of that orphanage with him in our arms is tremendous! It was a very special moment in our lives when we did it with Marina and it will be the same to now do it with Alexander! After we leave the orphanage we will go right to the passport office to get passport photos taken. At this point we are planning to pick up his passport on Wednesday and take the morning flight out of Krasnoyarsk on Thursday. We’ll let you know once we firm up those plans.

We are having more cold weather today. It’s been right around 32 degrees today, and snow on and off. It’s been snowing pretty hard at times, but not sticking on the ground. We are glad that we decided to bring snowpants for both of the kids. We may need them before we head out of here!

Tuesday is a huge holiday in Russia (Victory Day), so we are quite certain the business center will be closed. We are guessing that it may also be closed on Monday and possibly Saturday and/or Sunday. We’re looking forward to learning about more Russian culture as they celebrate this holiday. We expect the plaza outside of the hotel to be pretty busy with activities, vendors, etc.

Thanks so much for all of your comments. It brought tears to my eyes reading all of them yesterday! Although we are half a world away, reading your comments makes us feel a bit closer! Enjoy your weekend! I know we’ll enjoy ours!!! :O)