Saturday Visit

Today was Saturday, so our visit was in the morning. It was relatively cold and windy this morning, so we decided to not take Nik outside. Plus the coordinator does not join us on Saturdays and Zhana could care less what we do, so we were a little more at ease. We met a family from Boston visiting their daughter this morning. Since our visits are normally in the afternoons, we have not had the opportunity to talk to them before. They have finished their bonding and are to take custody of their little girl on Tuesday! So they filled us in on some of the process that has confused us – like how to get a bottle, what to do with dirty diapers, and how many clothes to bring each day. Their daughter is also in Nikolai’s room.

We played for a while on the blanket and then Chris went back to Nik’s room to get a bottle. We had left the bottle we bought yesterday, but the one they gave us was a different one. It does not matter, but we were so proud to have found the bottle, which required us recognizing the word for pharmacy and going to three different locations before we found one. The bottle the caregivers gave us does not require sucking, but instead the tea comes out if the bottle is just turned upside down. Nikolai was very excited and wanted it immediately. He, however, is not very good at drinking from the bottle and tea was spilled all over his front. We kept taking the bottle out of his mouth to ensure he was not drowning, but eventually he apparently got annoyed at this and held on to the nipple with one hand and the hand and nipple went into his mouth together. I do not know if all bottles in Kaz are this way – just pouring out the liquid – or if his is left over from before his surgery and therefore before he could suck. Despite the mess, Nik managed to drink most of the bottle and seemed much happier for it. We did change his clothes afterward and will bring a water-proof bib on Monday rather than the now-saturated cloth bib we had today.

Nikolai was nearly crawling today. He moves quickly, but only his right leg is bent to the point of using his knee, while he still uses his toes on his left leg. If he were ever to drop the stacking cups from his hands, it would simplify the process since both hands always have a stacking cup he supports himself on his elbows. His feet are so cute, always in motion, and seem big! While the onesies all seem a little big on him, none of the socks seem quite big enough.

After the visit, Zhana took us to the Bayterek. Although it is next to where we are staying, we were more comfortable going inside with our translator. I really like Zhana. I do not think she is a very good translator as she often neglects to translate anything and often gets words wrong, causing confusion. But she is really sweet and I think our personalities are really similar. We had fun taking silly pictures in the gardens outside of Bayterek, which include animal, human, and yurt topiaries as well as giant Kazakh rings. While we certainly could have figured out how to go up to the top of Bayterek ourselves, it was nice to have someone tell us about the various buildings.