Day 4 with the boys...

We are settling into a routine with the orphanage visits...twice daily for two hours each. At the orphanage at 10:00 am, we first saw Sergey for a brief time. He was having his morning snack of fruit, crackers, and fruit compote when we snatched him away for a diaper and fun. Soon after, we had to give him back so that we could join in Lonya's music class for 3 and 4 year olds. Oh my gosh, that was the cutest little performance that we've seen in a long time. Singing to the piano accompanied dances and theatrical performances. Can you imagine little people of that age tapping their feet, singing along well, and actually doing synchronized hand/feet moves? Wow! Unfortunately after it was over, we left Lonya to meet with the two attending doctors for the boys and Lonya burst into tears.

Both doctors gave the boys a clean rating. We had many questions answered and again appreciate a great deal how much the entire staff, including these two doctors, seem to really love the children. Both boys were born in Karaganda so that's another thing that they have in common.

For lunch we walked down town to a nice restaurant. The Kazakh food is very good and we were not left hungry nor wanting more. We walked around a bit after lunch. The weather is cold but not too bad, and so far, no snow.

The afternoon/evening visit was spent outside with Lonya playing on the equipment and kicking a ball. He has much growing to do and is quite tender-hearted so spills sometimes lead to tears. But he'll get there soon. Candace needs to learn to keep up with a 3 year old. He's definitely on wheels.

We brought the two boys together for the rest of our visit. They're pretty much strangers at this point, having seen each other only one time before. Neither wanted to share time with Mama which led to a book bonking to the head from Sergey to Lonya. But that was quickly corrected and then all was fine. Lonya did give Sergey a kiss to the forehead even under duress.

Sergey definitely is getting rid of the bronchitis and his fevers are lessening. The REAL boy is emerging. He's had two temper tantrums so far but Sue would only give him a 6 on a scale of 10 on the performance. She's convinced that with practice, he'll soon improve that rating to have more volume and duration. He's full of spunk!

Lonya is starting to be more audible, imitating words that he hears. He also recognizes his Uncle Jeff , Uncle Jerry, Aunt Pam, and Babuschka Ruth. He is a little behind but we'll be working on that.

Please keep checking the site. We love to hear from you all. We've tried to email but it hasn't gone through. We'll try again tomorrow morn.