Under the trees, under the basket

It seems that Danny's bottom is very popular. By far the most comments we have gotten! Thanks to each of you for sharing our trip. Cousin Kim, put your email address in the next comment so I can email you back! Some have asked when we expect to bring Danny home. We will go home on Friday, come back for court in about 1 month or so, then go back home to wait for Danny's paperwork to travel, then a third trip to bring him home. Puts us in October probably. Taldy is a 3 trip region now.
Today we played with the "Ymit gruppa" under the trees for a while. Then back to the toy room for a while. I think we get to go to the little mall area this afternoon with a children's play area and arcade, merry go round. We thought about the park but it is very hot today so maybe tomorrow. I'll try to add outing pics this evening. Yes we are lucky we get to leave the baby house and have 2 visits a day. I think it varies from region to region but sounds similar to other families that have adopted from Taldy. Jac

Chasing the Cat, Singing and Swinging

This afternoon we spied the neighborhood cat again. Danny is fascinated and a little scared. Probably good our cat at home isn't too fast. We followed it around on our walk then had a juice break. We sang some songs on the swings and Danny was so cute singing along, kind of lip-sync style. He even did some of the motions to the chicken dance and the hokey pokey, fast learner. We plan a DVD movie and dinner in tonight. Tomorrow is another chance to take Danny around town, maybe the park or mall. Hi to all at work, hope the back to school check ups aren't getting everyone too busy! Jacqueline

Dinner at Assorti, Dogs and Trucks

Last night Ed and I had a nice dinner out at a restaurant we can walk to called Assorti. We had salmon and steak, and cheesecake for dessert. I thought of my sister and niece when we ate the dessert as that is one of their favorites. Sure miss hearing the voices of everyone back home. They had a piano player and we had a relaxing evening. Usually we just eat in the apartment but we were celebrating being in Kaz for 2 weeks and one week to go until we see our Collin. It will be hard to leave one sweetie here but at least we know that is temporary.

There was a new boy in the Ymit group this morning. He was looking so sad and frightened. How hard it must be for these kids to leave their families at that age. We tried to give him some extra hugs and smiles. We played outside and the kids were very excited to see a big dog and a dump truck while we were outside. We saw the kids with special needs again too. I think Danny must have been with one of those teachers in the past as she talked with him a long time. Danny cried a lot when we had to leave today. They put on bibs before lunch and he kept pulling his off as he knows we have to leave at lunchtime, smart kiddo. Maybe he'll cheer up for the evening visit. We'll add more this evening. Jacqueline

American Pie and Steal the Ring

Our apartment is right across from the City Plus store and they frequently play loud music into the courtyard and parking lot. Our ritual is to get up early, make coffee, and call our son before he goes to sleep at night. Usually the music is in Russian and is kind of techno pop. This morning we drank coffee to American Pie in the background, kind of surreal to hear a song we understand! Since we are regulars now at City Plus and the staff is getting used to seeing us, maybe they played it for us! Some people seem eager to test their English on us, some laugh a little as we muddle through some basic Russian/Kazakh. Most just look at us with curiosity. The kids seem interested in meeting Americanski people.
We had another good day with Danny. We found a plastic toy ring and he likes teasing us when he swings by throwing it for us to look for or stealing it from our hands. We took a walk with the group and he pouted because he wanted to be carried and not walk. The caregivers want him to walk as he is a little chubby and could use the exercise.
We met one of Danny's previous caregivers today, so sweet. She said her family wanted to adopt Danny but they were "too old". We are thankful for the love he has received here.
One of the local families went home with their baby today after 4 mos of visits. We wished them well as they drove away. We see another local family often and met a new local mother today with a baby. Thanks to those who posted comments and support. It truly is a small world. Jacqueline and Ed

Kaz kid with sense of humor!

Danny was in such a good mood this afternoon. He laughed so hard when we were swinging he started to "holler" as Ed says. We just kept cracking him up. We did the usual walk in the red buggy and chased the neighborhood cat, collected rocks and put them in bottles. Ed thinks in the course of 9 days he has gone from being a cute kid we met to a part of our family. We can easily picture him back home with us. He is starting to understand some English words, as he nods or shakes no when we ask him if he wants to do some things. Tonight we plan to take a walk, have a quiet night in, maybe read a little. More pics now!

Walk to the Playground

Just adding a lunch time update today as we got the camera back. The Ymit group took a walk today to a playground for the neighboring apartments. The kids got so excited when we got close they started to run! We assisted with the top of the slide and pushing the swings. We played with toys and danced to a video when we got back until lunch time. Many of the kids feel comfortable with us now and climb on our laps when we sit down. Sometimes Danny gets jealous but he is usually willing to share us for a few minutes. I'll post some pics from yesterday at the park and today. More this evening, Jacqueline

Field Trips and Lollipops

This morning we went to the City Park on a field trip with the Ymit Group. We all rode on a bus together. The kids had a blast, jumping on the inflatables and riding a little train. We took some great pics, unfortunately, I left my camera at the Baby House tonight and will have to post those pics tomorrow. I'll post some older pics from our first couple of days that I have saved today.

This afternoon we stayed at the Baby House. We took a walk and played on the swings a lot. Danny enjoyed a lollipop while swinging, what a big smile. A happy, sticky mess. It started to rain so we went indoors for a toy session with the group. He was not happy when we left both times today. We hate to hear him cry but I guess that means he likes to be with us.

We had a good talk with Collin today. It seems he is transitioning better today. We thank Jennifer and Aunt Patti for caring for our sweet boy. Wish we could give him ching ching (kisses) right now. Thanks to all who have sent comments and emails. Jacqueline

Escalators and Ice Cream

We had another fun day today. In the morning we stayed at the Baby House and took a walk with the group. The kids get so excited to see big trucks, cats and dogs, and it even rained a little on us. We had to hustle back to beat the downpour. How we take the little things in life for granted.
For our afternoon visit we were able to take Danny to the City Plus store. It is kind of like a mini-mall with a several stores, an arcade, food and an outdoor inflatable to play on. We rode the little battery operated cars again and took a walk by the Karatal River, then to the playground and had some ice cream. Danny was fascinated by the escalators, riding up and down 6 times. How strange to be 3 1/2 and have your first ice cream.
We found out we won't have hot water in Taldy Korgan for the remainder of our trip, as they are working on the system. We boiled water to heat a tub this morning so getting ready may take a little longer now. It will make us appreciate the comforts of home when we get back.
I'm starting to think in Russian a little. I even told Ed thank you in Russian when we were alone. Now for pics! Jacqueline

Scared of horses, brave about water slides!

We had a very fun day today. We tried to go ride ponies this morning but it turns out Danny was very afraid of the horses. He covered his eyes with those pudgy hands and wouldn't even look at them so we have no photos I'm afraid. We did enjoy the scenery there with the mountains in the background, so pretty.

On the other hand, he just loved the Aqua Park. We started at the kiddie pool and worked our way up to the water slides. He just kept pointing at the bigger ones and nodding his head so away we went. Our little daredevil. Good thing we have another one of those at home. The water was a little deep at the end so we went under and he just came up laughing. Then we went to the City Plus shopping center with inflatables for the kids to bounce on and little cars, battery operated he could drive. He liked the car the best. I may be surrounded by car lovers one day. I'll add pics. We had a new driver today, Ainur, Karim's brother, took over as Karim had other obligations. We chatted about politics, interesting to see the Kaz side of things. Hope everyone home is OK! Hugs to our family and friends. Jacqueline

Sunday Outings

Today we get to take Danny out of the Baby House. We have been cleared to go to a park called the Hippodrome this morning to ride ponies and maybe the Aqua park with pool and water slides this afternoon if the weather is ok. Looks sunny and beautiful outside to me! We have not seen a drop of rain since we were in Almaty. Glad to be here in the summer even if it is hot. Posting a few requested pics of some of the other kids at the Baby House. And of course of our cutie pie. Had a great chat with Jennifer and Collin on the instant messenger and phone today. We are thinking of our family in Indiana as they are having their annual "Wheeler Bash" party this weekend. Hope it is fun! We teased that the only way we would miss it is if we are in Kaz, and here we are! More after the visits, Jacqueline

Sunny Saturday

It is hard to remember that it is the weekend. Our routine is pretty much the same daily. We get up by alarm to make coffee and call Collin before he heads out for the day. We also chatted online with Jennifer and Collin this morning. That was a little more successful as he was being very silly and just making bird noises on the phone. I think that bird noises mean he is happy, instead of saying Mommy come home now! over and over. I can hardly type that without crying!

On a happy note, Danny seems to be understanding the routine too and is not trying to stay away from his group so much. He didn't cry too much when it was time to go back for lunch today. We took a walk with all of the kids and then played on the playground. We met 2 families adopting infants in the courtyard today, both from Kazakhstan, one from Almaty. Very cute babies. It is nice to see new families being made.

Ed played guitar with a man from Kazakhstan last night. I think he had a great time. He likes to make friends wherever we go. I have enjoyed a little down time to read. I think that I have read more this week than in the past 2 years! More pics from the last 2 days to follow. Jacqueline