Friday afternoon....

Another email update to Aunt Leslie:

Well, we did not make it to Baskin Robbins today. It is on the agenda for tomorrow.

Today, Irina did not pick us up until 12:30, so it was tricky to keep Henry happy until we got to the restaurant, since he usually eats lunch at noon. But I gave him snacks in the car and then fed him immediately when we got there. They had a high-chair, so he did pretty good. I made him stay awake in the car, because if he falls asleep, he will only sleep for a few minutes, and then will not take a nap in the afternoon.

So, when we got home, I took him out of his snowsuit and straight into the crib. He was not too happy with that, but then I gave him his picture book and within 5 minutes, he was sleeping. (I forgot to take his shoes off!)

Irina said that on Tuesday, we will go to court with the other family that is here, and then all of us will go to the office of vital statistics to finalize everything. Then they will bring us back to the hotel while the other couple go to the baby home to get their children.

On Wednesday, we will go to the doctor and to visit the consulate. Then Anya will FLY to Moscow (a 7 hour flight, so I can't imagine what it would be like in a car). I am not exactly sure when she will go or return, I just know that we are good to come home on Saturday.

So we are on the countdown now. One week to go, with lots of things to do to keep us busy.

It was only 38 here today. I think this was the chilliest day we've had so far. But it is supposed to warm up. We haven't had snow yet, so that's a good thing. And we can still go outside and walk, although Henry wasn't too happy about that this morning.

Thanks for taking care of those things in Henry's and my rooms. It will be nice for all of that to be fresh when we get home. I am still struggling with how to handle the flight and whether to treat Henry (food and naps) like it is the time here in Vlad, or the time at home, or when to switch between the two. I guess we will take it one hour at a time and figure it out together.

I thought some more about what we might need. I think I brought all the snacky food I had for Henry with me. He really loved the vegetable crackers (same brand as the fruit and veggie puffs). If you could pick some more stuff like that up, I would really appreciate it. I think we will be able to switch him to more table food once we are home. He loves bread and crackers. And he's eaten a few french fries, too. He eats so much I don't know where he puts it all (although I do know where it eventually goes!).

It will be nice to watch american television again. I think that may be one of the hardest things is that you cannot even turn on the tv for some distraction. The two english stations have been out of service for the last 3 days. One of them is BBC and it hasn't worked for over a week. So we were stuck with one station for several days, and now none. It doesn't help to turn it on if they are speaking Korean or Russian.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to go to the aquarium and Baskin Robbins after lunch. So it should be interesting to see how Henry reacts to the fish. Anya says there is a crocodile there. He loves watching the birds, so hopefully he will find the fish just as exciting.