Baby It's Cold Outside

Since we’ve been in Kazakhstan the weather has been clear and in the low 30’s during the day, which is unseasonably warm. In fact Rada has been wishing for snow to cover the ice on the sidewalks so walking is easier (note however that the ice doesn’t stop Rada and all the other fashionable women from wearing boots with stiletto heels and doing just fine). But it appears that our good weather fortune has turned as we are now experiencing bitter cold and a wind storm so fierce that all the roads leading to and from Kokshetau were closed, several buildings have lost parts of their roofs, one of our double pane windows flew open in the middle of the night, birds are blown sideways as they try to fly, and the power* is out all over town. Welcome to a real near-Siberian winter.

Visits with the little man continue to be great although the time with him always goes much too quickly. Our only “problem” – and one that we’ve discovered the other couples share – is what we now call the Baby Wars. In other words, who gets to hold him, feed him, diaper him, change his clothes, carry him around the room, and so on. Bob and I really try to take turns but it is so hard to give him up once you get your hands on him! It’s one of the reasons we can’t wait until after court when we will hopefully be able to bring him back to the apartment … to have all that time with him will be heaven.

Rada, Inna, Vladimir and Oleg have shared many stories, customs and superstitions with us and I pass along a few for your consideration:

- Never pour your own vodka or you might become alcoholic

- Never whistle inside or your fortune will fly away

- Keep your money in your wallet arranged neatly by amount if you want to do well financially

- A woman who sits at the corner of the table will never marry

- Leaving an empty bottle on the table is bad luck – throw it out a window or under the table

So far Bob and I have found that we don’t really miss the material comforts of home; for example we have no idea what’s happening on “American Idol” and we don’t care, and we are fine living in an area no bigger than our family room and kitchen combined – although a real, hot shower would be very nice as would a bathroom that didn’t smell like a combination of sewage and cigar smoke! But we are definitely missing you all, and I’m missing Sadie, Beamer, Ava and Remy very much (Bob probably is as well although he wouldn’t want to admit it). We do get your emails and although I don’t always have time to respond we want you to know that we really appreciate your messages and always look forward to reading them and feeling closer to home.

Weather update ... the power came back on within about two hours, the winds have finally calmed down and now it's snowing!

One Week Done!

January 31st was National Vodka Day! Rada told us it is to celebrate the Kaz chemist who invented the drink in the 1800’s. Not too sure about the validity of this story, but we say what the heck - “Cheers”!

We have now completed one week of visits! Dr. Victoria, the director of the Children’s Hospital, came to talk with us about Owen’s medical file. Nothing unexpected and by now we are much calmer when hearing various Russian diagnosis, especially when we can see for ourselves that Owen is healthy and happy. Dr. Victoria shared his schedule with us and commented that he was always happy to be held, liked everyone, and was a “calm gentleman just like his dad”. She’s only known Bob for a little while but I guess she likes him! She also told us that the caretakers call Owen and his four nursery buddies “the hamsters” because there are so many of them and because of their big cheeks! We had noticed that one of the caretakers in particular seemed very fond of Owen; so we made sure to get a picture of her when she brought his bottle to us today.

As we mentioned before, Owen has his two front teeth; Dr. Victoria said they came in the week before we arrived. In Kaz, they believe that once babies have a tooth they should start on solid food, so she recommended we feed him the following:

1st – small grain cereal
2nd – boiled mashed potato and cabbage with butter and salt
3rd – egg yolk and milk mixed together
4th – boiled mashed potato and minced meat
5th – ground apple

I wrote this all down and nodded seriously, all the while thinking of the bright little packs of Gerber’s carrots, squash and green beans awaiting him at home.

Owen continues to charm us. One of his signature moves is the “bridge” demonstrated in one of the pictures (Dad K – we think you may have your wrestler!). Owen is getting more vocal each day, and his sweet little laugh is the best. But I think my favorite part of the visit is when he falls asleep in my arms before we leave; is there anything in the world more peaceful than a sleeping baby?

One thing I do a lot of is asking Bob “did Cearra do that?” I know that at times being here is bittersweet for Bob especially – he misses his “baby” girl so much. We think about her all the time and proudly show her pictures and brag a bit about her to everyone here. Rada and our driver Vladimir also saw a picture of our house today and commented that it was huge and beautiful. We told them that we were very blessed with everything we had in our lives, and Bob added that we would give up all our material possessions as long as Cearra and Owen were healthy and happy. So true.

It’s truly wonderful to be here with the biggest group ever to come through Kokshetau, and each and every person is great. We had Maureen and Sean over for dinner (chicken, onion and potato pie from the Viola market) one night, and on Saturday the group is heading over to Joan’s apartment for pizza and lentil soup. Our shish-k-bob night at the Rainbow Café was a big celebration, complete with lots of pictures, great food and many vodka toasts. We are also trying to find a way to watch the Super Bowl together at 6:00 am Monday morning. And as further proof that we are making ourselves at home, our favorite shop clerk from the Viola market was at the Rainbow Café and made sure to wave and say hello to us. I think Rada was a little mystified as to why we knew the locals and she didn’t! Yep, we are sure enjoying this adventure!