Rookies

We certainly are rookies when it comes to parenting, but Ryan seems to be adjusting well to his new life. That is, until he needs to adjust to his other new life, back in Canada (which is hopefully in about 2 weeks time). Today we weren't able to take him out of the apartment due the lack of his passport, but tomorrow all three of us can break free once we have some paperwork in hand. We did take the little guy out in his stroller for a short walk in the park, carrying a copy of our court decree (Don't tell the immigration police. They LOVE spending time with us). As you can see, Ryan was totally bundled up, even in the nice weather. In KZ, children are always dressed in layer upon layer. Someone told us some kids wear snowsuits in the summer!

Ryan slept so well last night & had a great nap during the day. We're trying to figure out his diet because some of the foods the caregivers said he eats, he won't touch, namely cottage cheese. He surprised us by eating some dumplings at dinner. These little treats look just like tortellini and they're sold everywhere. We're so happy he enjoyed them.

Congratulations to our friends Jean & Marilyne on their successful day in court yesterday!

Also, we want to thank everyone who's taken time to post comments on our blog. It has helped us feel so close to home. As well, now that word is out about our journey, we want to thank everyone who's helping to get things organized for our return. A huge thank you to Auntie for everything!!!

Baby Makes Three

We are thrilled to announce we are officially Mama & Dada to Ryan Eli Dosimjan. We picked him up from the Baby House around 12:00 today (Mon. March 30). I'd love to post some more photos of our little dude, but man, being a new parent is a tough job!

Breakfast & a Movie

A few days ago we noticed Confessions of a Shopaholic was playing at the local movie theatre (these statues are just down the same street). We thought it would be a scream to go see a movie in Russian. Three out of the four of us have read the book (yes, Lyle read it and no Jean hasn't) so we figured we could keep up with the storyline without understanding the dialogue.

It turned out we almost didn't get to see this movie. Not because it was sold out or anything, but the manager couldn't open the door. I don't know if it was just jammed or what, but he was pushing & pulling and we tried to help from outside. Finally, he got it open & about 8 people came flooding out. They were stuck inside the theatre. Of course, we all thought the whole situation was a hilarious, particularily since this was before 11:00 am! It cost less than $5 a ticket, but for $12 you could sit in the VIP section which was really some black loveseats and tables at the back of the theatre. We didn't feel we were worthy of being labeled as VIPs so we sat with the rest of the folk. These folk being us & 5 pre-teens.

Ryan was quite fussy during the first part of our visit. Maybe because he was dressed in a faux fur coat & a pink toque when he came to see us. The first hour we pretty much carried him around. He would point to where he wanted to go & we'd take him. After a bite of a cookie, he became a different boy. He let us hold him up while he walked & then he crawled speedily around the room. He even climbed up on to a rolled up rug and crawled across it. He was fast & fearless. I guess he just needed a little sugar. We all know what that's like.

Funny story: Yesterday, Lyle & I walked past the BH on our morning walk & we saw Ryan's cottage from the street. So we stopped & noticed his window because of the Loony Tunes curtains. Well sure enough I saw a little face in the window. I was sure it was Ryan so we walked up a little closer. There was a real glare from the sun, but we could see a caregiver waving & then she pulled the curtains together. Later at our visit, she brought Ryan in to see us & asked our translator if we'd been waving at the window earlier. She then said all the babies started to cry. We felt badly & apologized but later on another lady who works there told us that Ryan did see us in the window & started talking up a storm. I'm not sure if we were getting in trouble or if the staff thought it was cute. Only 2 more days until we no longer have to just visit Ryan at the Baby House.

Our Secret Profession

This picture was taken at the "New Bazaar". These are the traditional Kazakh robes we've mentioned in previous blogs. No, we didn't buy any, but we did buy traditional Kazakh hats for both Ryan & Lyle. They will be happy to model them once we're home.

And now on to the title of our blog. Lyle & I are authors, didn't you know? That's what our translator Ainur has been telling curious Kyzylordians who ask her about these strange looking foreigners. To simplify things, she just says "Oh, they're writing a book." I don't know how she came up with that one, but I just about fell over laughing when I first heard this. We get LOTS of strange looks on a daily basis. Tourists just don't typically travel to Kazakhstan as a country, let alone the city of Kyzylorda.

If we were to write a book, I wonder what it would be about? Maybe how the name Kyzylorda should really be Spit-a-lorda (Lyle's contribution) You need to watch where you're walking very, very carefully. Even some women spit. This is a custom/habit that I'm happy to report neither one of us is interested in bringing home.

We entertained Ryan today with our usual routines. Lyle added a new performance of throwing a squeaky rooster in the air & then falling down when he'd catch it. Ryan laughed like crazy. I'm sure we'll spend many a night next week repeating this game. We're concerned about how Ry will react to us and basically his new life in general. We'll soon see how this goes. Just a few more sleeps...

The Countdown is on

This is a statue in the park where we run on weekdays. Lyle & Ryan aren't the only hams in our family, y'know.

Vera came to see us this morning to finalize our plans for March 30 ("Gotcha Day", as it's known in adoption circles). We'll probably pick Ryan up as late as 5:00 or 6:00 that day. We presented our gifts today to the BH director to disburse to all Ryan's caregivers, the doctor & the "supplies lady". In that collection was also the gift for the director herself. So, it sounds like all we need to do on Monday is show up with new clothes for Ryan to wear, hand those over to a caregiver and then scoop him up once he's dressed & ready to go. A farewell cake doesn't seem to be necessary and though many other adoptive parents in KZ have chosen to do so, it doesn't seem to be the norm in Kyzylorda.

We're really seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now. Giving the gifts seemed like a real indicator that we're getting close to wrapping things up. We're taking the next few days to determine Ryan's sleeping arrangements at the apartment & buying some necessary items. It sounds like we can't take him out in public until his passport is ready. Believe you me, Lyle & I have learned the hard way how important it is to carry your passport at all times. That's another story. Let's just say Marilyne, Jean & the 2 of us fit nicely in the backseat of an immigration police cruiser!!!

The Photo We've Been Promising

Sorry it's not a photo of Ryan (patience, patience). This is the special chocolate bar we've been trying to show you for over a month now. The humour still isn't lost on us.

We're enjoying our usual routine, running several mornings a week, exploring the city during the early afternoons and then heading over to the BH to play with Ryan. He was really into saying "Dada" today. I'm still not getting too much "Mama" but I do get a few more cuddles when Ryan's upset (sorry Lyle). Yesterday Ryan took another two steps on his own. You should have seen the proud look on his face (and ours too).

The mercury is supposed to hit 21C this week. Great news, if it wasn't for those awful mosquitos. We can't believe how long their bites last.

Nothing too exciting planned over the next couple of days. I'm sure we won't be making another trip to S'mall anytime soon, if at all. Once we have Ryan that would be a challenging trek. Speaking of...the end of our appeal period is on Monday, the 30th. Vera says that's the day we can pick him up, after taking the court decree over to the Baby House. That day cannot come soon enough! I know I said we were finally able to breathe after our court hearing was held, but I think I lied. Monday will be the day to exhale. Soon, soon, soon.

Happy New Year to You

We took these photos at the New Year's festivities near the local stadium. We almost didn't make it to the celebration, as several people told us it was happening in the town square, near the courthouse. As luck would have it, during our run this morning, we saw a huge festival happening, complete with entertainment, and it was nowhere near the town square.

After lunch we headed back to the stadium area, about a 30 minute walk away & saw hundreds of people heading towards us. Oh great, it looked liked we missed the whole darn thing. Well, kinda-sorta. The entertainment part was over (singers & dancers), but there were still displays, food & drink stations and a collection of Yurts (tents or huts). If only we'd stopped there during our run... Anyways, we made the best of it & took some nice pictures.

We had a pizza & movie night yesterday with our friends and even scored some popcorn at the Old Market. It was sadly, more of a carmel corn, but it went well with the movie just the same.

Ryan was lots of fun today and even uttered "Dada Da". He was of course, looking away from Lyle when he said it. We take what we can get.

Tidbits #2

The top photo is milk, Pringles-like potato chips and baby cookies. Our friends posted a similar photo on their blog last year and it made us laugh. The second photo is our living room. It's really pretty but the couch & chairs are as hard as rocks!

On to more tidbits: When Lyle & I were checking in at the Almaty airport, en route to Kyzylorda, we walked by a guy who looked like he was in charge of loading luggage. There was even a passenger ahead of us dealing with this guy. So we approached, gave him one of our suitcases which he promptly started wrapping in plastic & tape. Huh? Is this what they do with all baggage? It was after a minute or two we realized you don't HAVE to visit this guy. It's more if you brought golf clubs or something. Notice he didn't question why we needed a suitcase wrapped. He reached for our other bags & we were like "Nyet, nyet!" (no, no). The whole debacle cost us $7. No biggie, but we won't fall for that on our way home.

When we took Vera out for pizza after our court hearing, we ordered right away as we didn't feel like eating prior to court. Jean & Marilyne joined us about a half hour later. When the waitress brought their pizza, she didn't bring them plates. She expected them to eat off our used dishes. Vera gave her a piece of her mind! We didn't need to understand what she was saying, it was how she said it.

This morning, we went out for our run and when we closed our door to lock it, we noticed something hanging from the doorknob. It's a necklace with a couple of beads on it, kinda looks like a lucky charm. We think it could be from our neighbour. She's always saying good day or good evening to us when we see her outside with her dog, whom Lyle calls Slava. I think we'll show it to Ainur today to see if she knows what it is. I don't think I'll be putting it around my neck though. Lyle said he'll wear it.

We are looking forward to seeing Ryan today. We really missed him yesterday but hope he got to attend the performance that we were told was happening at the BH for the New Year. We're not sure if he was in the performance or just an audience member. We think he could have done a few tricks-maybe even a song or two.

Week #5. Can you believe it?

It was 5 weeks ago that we landed in KO and met Ryan. At times, it feels like we've been here for a dog's age, other times it's like we just got here. We've noticed that Ryan has made so much progress and we couldn't be happier. His newest interest is throwing a little plastic soccer ball to one of us and then we kick it back to him. He grabs it & starts all over again. Yesterday we "played soccer" for about half an hour.

We bought the cutest little Roots shirt back home for Ryan to wear on the flight to Wpg, because it says Roots Canada on it. Of course, it's too small in the neck & he was NOT happy when we tried to put it on. I'm thinking of cutting the sides on the neckhole (is this a word?) because it'll be so appropriate for him to wear it when we arrive.

My uncle Michael has been transfering his old 35mm snapshots to digital recently. He e-mailed us a photo today of me & my mom. I must have been 2 or 3 years old in the picture and I'm holding on to her the very same way Ryan holds on to us. Lyle & I couldn't believe our eyes! In fact, I even think Ryan looks a little like me when I was a kid. I know all parents say that, but he really resembles both Lyle & me. We all have the same dark eyes and long eyelashes.

This weekend is the Asian new year (March 22). It refers to the equal hours of day & night so it sounds like it has to do with the equinox. This is a major, major holiday, even more important than Women's Day. Luckily we still get to see Ryan on the 22nd but our playroom is being used for a concert on Friday, so we do have to miss one day. So, with a whole day ahead of us, we're planning to go for lunch & shopping (we sound like the ol' folks who go to the Bay on Saturdays & lunch in the Paddlewheel first).

So, that's it for now. We are still enjoying our time here, visiting with our friends, laughing & loving Ryan more than we can ever describe.

It's a S'Mall World

Today we made our biweekly trip to S'Mall. This time we noticed they have a huge, inflatable bouncy boat for kids to play on while their parents shop. I think Ryan's way too little for such fun. We'll see if we'll even make the trip back once we have him.

Ryan was lots of fun this morning. We only got to spend an hour and a half with him, instead of two full hours because the playroom was going to be in use most of the day. He tried numerous times to remove my fleece jacket. I'm not sure why he didn't care for it, it's one of my favourites. We can't believe how much babbling is going on. We love watching his mouth form the sounds. He has such a buttery-soft little voice (Lyle's description).

We finally went to the local museum, just down the street from our apartment. It has a great collection of artificats pertaining to the region's history. There was a display about the Aral Sea, which over the last 30-40 years has completely dried up. There was a section about the town of Baykonur where all kinds of rocket launches take place and of course an area devoted to local athletes, including Ilya, the gold medalist in weightlifting from the 2008 Olympics.

We had lunch at the cafeteria inside Kazakhstan Tire (Ak Nhet). The locals call that going for "fast food" because they serve pizza & hamburgers. It's not quite what we'd consider McDonald's because it was fresh, homemade food. Very reasonable too.

By the way, that mosquito bite reliever we bought has been a lifesaver. Not sure what exactly it is, but it works. Maybe we'll bring some back for mosquito season at home.

I Say Mosquito, You Say "Kah-Mah-Ree-Niy"

Who would've believed it-mosquito bites in March?! Lyle and I and even Little Ryan are covered from head to toe (not quite, but it sure feels like it). The little suckers bite you in the weirdest places, like your palm or the sole of your foot. Lyle & I are both from the Mosquito Capital of Canada and we've never been bitten on our palms before. We bought some sort of cream today so hopefully that will help. Also, the weather really cooled off today so that should give us some relief.

We had lunch at Mike & Leisa's house today and played a game for most of the afternoon until we went to see Ryan. It was nice to be busy all day! Tomorrow will also be a full day since our visit with Ryan has been shifted to 10:30 am and then we'll go to the local musuem with Ainur. We're hoping to go back to the S'Mall store in the late afternoon.

Yesterday (Sunday) we got special permission to pick Ryan up from his "cottage" when we arrived to play, as Ainur was away for the afternoon and she is always the one to get him. He was so excited to see us there. He was wearing his PJs and his hair was standing up on end. We tried to peek into his room, but didn't get to see too much. Lyle thinks he saw where Ryan's crib was located. The room was so sweet. There was a beautiful Mother Goose mural on one wall and Sylvester & Tweety curtains on the window. There were probably 10 cribs in the room. One of the caregivers got him dressed & handed him to us. When I brought him back at 5:00, another caregiver pointed to his face & then pointed to mine while speaking in Kazakh. She either meant that we look alike or that we both looked sad. I just kept saying "Spasiba" (thank you). I don't know if that made any sense to her.

Ryan has been babbling a lot. Yesterday he said Mama & today he said Mem. I don't know if he means to say it, but I'm lovin' it. He also says "Dooh" & we can communicate for several minutes, each one of us saying "Dooh" and pointing to something.

Since we had a lasagna lunch today at Leisa's, we'll surf the Net for bit before having a small dinner.

Paka, paka.

Summer in the City

Well, maybe not quite summer, but yesterday was steamin' hot. It was maybe 15 degrees C but with the hot sun it felt a whole lot warmer than that. We easily could have left our jackets at the apartment.

We went for a run in the morning at the little park near our place & there were tons of people (women mostly, wearing skinny jeans & high-heeled boots) partaking in a spring cleanup. They were sweeping & raking, so we just had to run around them. There's also a school that backs on to the park & the students were giving an outdoor concert/assembly. There was a music man there, so we were hoping they'd start doing a Kazakh dance.

We walked through town in the afternoon & went into the Reebok store. It's quite upperscale, it even smells pretty. The clothes are exactly our style, but we dropped them after looking at the prices. Actually there were some cute running shirts that didn't seem to cost more than at home. Our translator, Ainur, says the locals tend to buy their clothing at the bazaar where the prices are very good. It makes you wonder why a store like Reebok even operates here.

Ryan was NOT dressed for the weather. He came to the playroom wearing his usual touque & green fleece jacket with the hood up. Granted, Ainur does have to bring him across a playground to see us, but maybe it's a 15 second walk. They sure dress kids warmly here.

We entertained the little one with all kinds of silly games. Lyle would hide a ball underneath the edge of the area rug & then press Ryan's foot over top. The little ball would then shoot out & roll across the wood floor. Ryan was screaming with laughter! He also likes when Lyle holds him & I do ballerina twirls in front of them. The things you do for your kids...

Jean & Marilyne came over for our Manitoba Social last night. They were intrigued to find out the meaning of a social. Jean almost Googled it during the week, but Marilyne stopped him. It was hard to come up with the silent auction baskets, but we did a good job on the traditional "social" foods. We all went out for ice-cream later: 3 scoops for 60 cents. Lyle wants you know they were 3 SMALL scoops. I want you to know that too, I don't normally eat 3 scoops of ice-cream (even when I worked at DQ, I'll have you know).

Our Ryan

So today we asked Ryan if he'd like to come live with us in Canada. He responded with a resounding "Da" ("Yes" in Russian-a good sign). He was super-active today, cruising around & babbling up a storm. I think he really missed us yesterday. We had him try on some of his new clothes, like pants, a top & his huge snowsuit. Actually, the snowsuit seemed like it was stretching over his tummy, but all we have to do is stuff him in it before they allow us to leave the Baby House on March 30.

He really likes looking at a photo collage on the playroom wall. He points & babbles until we take him there. It's so funny because we'll look at a photo and say "That's a lady. I have no idea who she is" or "There's the Kazakh Prime Minister holding a baby" (highly doubtful but a good story).

This is how much Ryan loves to eat: he tries to put on his own bib, but since he can't fasten the Velcro, he just tucks it under his chin & holds it there. He thinks as soon as he's wearing his bib, he'll get a cookie. Well, that's usually true. Today we forgot his cookies at the apartment & we felt so badly as he was waiting so patiently. Thankfully Jean gave us some Cheerios & Ryan gobbled them right up.

We heard him say "Mama" today however he was looking out the window and he really stretched the word out like "maaaaaa maaaaa". I'm still pleased. Lyle gets to hear "Da" all the time now.

Apres court

Our first photo to post. This is Lyle & Darcy after the verdict. The courthouse is in the background. Please click on the image & you'll see those 2 little figures are really us.

The Verdict Is In

That's right, Lyle & I have been legally approved to be Ryan Eli's mama & dada!!! Words cannot begin to descibe the moment we heard the verdict. You don't have to speak Russian to know when someone is speaking words that will change your lives forever.

Since the hearing was scheduled for 4:00, we didn't feel like leaving the apartment except for a small trip to pick up fruit from next door. Vera picked us up at 3:40 and we waited for about 40 minutes before our hearing started. It seemed apparent the judge was questioning Vera about something and Lyle & I thought "Oh %$#@. What's wrong???" Apparently the documents on her desk were not the originals. Vera grabbed her cell phone & called the lawyer. He said they are sitting in the court building. Vera explained this to the judge who left to go hunt them down. She returned with what she needed & then we began.

It was a very small courtroom. The only people there besides the judge, Vera & the two of us were the prosecutor, one of the doctors from the Baby House, a rep from the city's education department, the court reporter & a student. It wasn't intimidating in any way. In fact, everyone kind of giggled when we weren't sure if we should sit or stand & kind of did a combination of both. In fact, I'd say some of them looked pretty bored throughout. The prosecutor spent a lot of time twirling his pen around.


Lyle spoke on our behalf. He was fantastic! He responded to the questions through Vera who did all the translating. He didn't have to make a speech or have anything prepared. I only had to answer one question directly. After almost 30 minutes, we were adjourned & had to file out of the courtroom. Less than 5 minutes later we were all called back in, some Russian words were spoken & we were legally approved to adopt Ryan. The judge was so nice that we asked if she'd pose for a picture with us. She agreed & we're so happy to have this keepsake.

Afterwards, we took Vera out for pizza & asked Jean & Marilyne to come down & meet us. As much fun as we've been having here, this was our first moment to 100% relax & breathe. We can't wait to tell Ryan the good news tomorrow. He'll probably say "Ba or Da" but it will come from the bottom of his heart.

On Monday, March 30 the appeal period will end & we can take the court decree to the Baby House & take Ryan home to our apartment. It'll be a couple of weeks from then for all our paperwork to be complete before we can head back to Canada. Once we have Ry-Ry in our custody we can post some photos of this gorgeous dude. Get ready girls, he's a heartbreaker!

So many markets, so much time

It seems everyone we speak to (English speakers) asks us if the market we go to is the "Old" market or the "New" market. This was a mystery we needed to solve, so we walked with Jean & Marilyne to what we hoped was the new market. Well, we made it and it was worth the trip. The indoor part is much bigger and the outdoor bazaar is much cleaner & wider than what we've seen before. Honestly, you can buy anything at the bazaar. Taxi parts, toilets, area rugs, traditional Kazakh clothing. We were laughing that Lyle should buy a Kazakh robe & wear it to work. He already has the traditional hat and so does Ryan.

Ryan had taken a break from crawling & pulling himself up for a couple of days but was back at it yesterday. We just had to pretend we were going to start chasing him & then he'd take off. We were really impressed when he pulled himself up at a child-sized folding chair (which we anchored down so it wouldn't topple over). He was pointing a lot yesterday, especially to the TV and windows, saying "Da". He has such a cute little voice.

We went for dinner last night with our usual group. There was no one else in the restaurant and the BB-Q chicken had to be brought over from the restaurant next door (?). Since we were waiting a little, the staff gave us a tour of the building. The upstairs is used for wedding banquets and decorated in a traditional style. They let us pose with the bride & groom manequins and put on their fancy headwear. The chicken was really good, but really expensive. We prefer $6 rice pilaf and $2 borsch.

So, court is set for tomorrow at 4:00 (Thursday). We should be having a rehearsal with our
co-ordinator later today. I'm not sure if we'll get to see Ryan tomorrow since our visit runs 3-5. Maybe we can get some time with him earlier in the day. I guess we could go to the Baby House right at 3, but we'll be wearing our dress clothes. Maybe we'll go pick up some Kazakh robes to wear over top.

Tidbits

Some funny stories have happened to us along the way that we either forget to include in our blog or took a backseat to Ryan stories. I thought I'd send some your way.

First off, our visit with Ryan yesterday was, of course, heaven. Turns out he's not as terrified of balloons as we first thought. Either Lyle or Ainur would bat one towards him & since I was holding him, I'd use his head to bat it back, gently. Sounds mean of me, but he liked it & you really had to be there.

Some days he babbles more than others. Yesterday we're sure he said "OK" and he also shook his head a few times. Both were coincidences, I'm sure.

Now for the funny tidbits: When we first moved into the apartment we had warm water that over the next couple of days turned into cold, cold water. So showering was quite the elaborate production involving the handheld showerhead, a kettle and lots of running to the kitchen & back (we don't want to disclose too many details). We asked Vera if the lack of hot water was normal. She laughed & flipped a switch in our bathroom that turns on the hot water tank. The funny part was we did notice the switch on Day 1. There's no way we would have turned it on ourselves because we thought we might be cutting power off to the whole city.

Our internet access wasn't available for the first 3 weeks. It's dial-up and Vera gave us at least 4 different phone numbers to try. None of them worked. Turns out the problem was with our landline. She finally asked us to try calling our cell phone from the apartment phone. When that didn't work, she was able to get the problem fixed. Guess which dial-up number ended up working? That's right, the first one.

The first time Lyle & I went to the market cafe it was about 10:00. There were a few other customers sitting around. Their drink of choice? Shots of straight vodka, right from the bottle. Lyle's going to start doing this back home. He'll take out a flask in Tim's. Do you think the staff would be OK with this? Maybe if he orders a Bagel B.E.L.T they'll turn a blind eye.

More to come...

Waking a Sleeping Baby

What's that expression? Never wake a sleeping baby? Never heard of it! When we went to the Baby House yesterday, our translator went to get Ryan. She reappeared a few minutes later saying that he was sleeping and did we want him to still come down or would we prefer to come back an hour later? Yup, we requested he be woken up. Well, not quite but we asked she bring him over & we'd at least just hold him while he slept.

When he appeared, he was WIDE awake. It looked like he had a cup of coffee, to say the least. I tried holding him on the couch for awhile but his eyes just darted around the room. I then walked with him & he zeroed in on his snack.

We thought "why not?" and fed him some yogurt. Lyle & I thought that would be it, he probably wasn't too hungry if he'd been sleeping. Yeah right! Ryan then noticed half a banana in a Ziplock baggie. He grabbed it faster than you could say Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan. OK, we said & sliced it up for him. We also got the idea to put some on his spoon & then place the spoon in his hand. No surprise, he was a pro at getting that spoon into his mouth. After each bite, he'd throw the spoon down on the floor like he does with all his toys. So, we'd do it again. I think he was pleased with his efforts.

He does the cutest thing when we hold him. He puts his arm around our shoulder. Not quite, since his arm is short but he sure tries. He also hugs pretty well and I'm sure he kissed me twice the other day. We're really trying to get him to say Mama & Dada. We brought a small photo album called "who loves Baby" full of photos of us & our family. He really likes thumbing through it, stopping on a picture of Lyle & me. When he does we shout "Mama, Dada" (not really shouting, I guess). I think it's working.

Clean as a Whistle

Ryan was just sparkling clean when we visited him yesterday. They really do take good care of the babies at the orphanage, but sometime we've noticed Ryan's hair to be a little, shall we say, un-shampooed. Yesterday he was so clean, he sparkled. We couldn't stop stroking his hair & telling him how handsome he looked. He's such a good little eater & we're so happy about that. We've fed him hard-boiled eggs, jars of baby food, baby yogurt, baby cookies, you name it. His fave is the cookie. In fact, when he squaks a little, we hand over a piece that promptly goes into his mouth. I know that's probably NOT what you should do when your baby fusses, but we can't help it.

Our new American friends, Mike & Leisa met Jean, Marilyne & us for dinner. They suggested the local Chinese restaurant and it was just like home-except for the little, little grey mouse in the house. I took his photo, using the red eye reduction feature.

Mike & Leisa have all sorts of great info about Kyzylorda. We now know that most people here speak Kazakh & most of the signage is also in that language. I guess the 3 words of Russian that we know was all for nothing. It was pretty impossible to find a Kazakh-English phrase book back home. Believe me, I tried. We had settled on a Russian phrase book and CD. The book has come in handy because a lot of people here know some Russian. We sometimes open the book & point to a phrase when we're in a store. That way we don't even have to attempt to butcher the language. Lyle laughs when we're buying something & we ask the clerk "Skolka" (how much). He thinks it's funny because they respond & we don't know what they're saying anyways. We grab a pad of Post-Its and a pen. I guess we don't even need to bother asking "Skolka".

We see that people are always handwashing their cars around here. Now we know why. Leisa says that the cops can fine you if you have "more than 3 days worth of dirt" on your vehicle. How do they keep track of that? Could you say you were on a really dusty gravel road, but only for one day?

Today is Women's Day and guess what my husband bought me...the chocolate bar for Men. His rationale is that the word "Men" is in Women's Day. I just think he needed an excuse to buy the darn thing. It weighs a ton. I think it's supposed to be a Man-Sized chocolate bar, kinda like King-Sized back home. Thank goodness our interpreter takes the holiday seriously. She bought me a jewelery box made in a traditional Kazakh style.

Our Day in Court

It's been set. Our court date is scheduled for Thursday, March 12 at 4:00. Yahoo!
Our co-ordinator promised us a dress rehearsal the day before to prepare us for what's ahead. We're not really nervous yet, but I'm sure closer to Thursday it'll hit us. After court, the 15 day appeal period starts and it's only after that can we claim Ryan as ours.

Last night we had a really fun time at Jean & Marilyne's for dinner. It's so great to be in Kyzylorda at the same time as such nice people. When we left their place, it was pouring rain. Of course, we didn't pack an umbrella when we left home. Thankfully, Jean & Marilyne lent us theirs. This was the first time it rained since we've been here & it left mud & lake-sized puddles all over town. We did NOT do any exploring around KO today. Maybe if we brought a boat...

It's the weekend already. I'm not sure what we'll be up to, but we really like the market that's practically next door to our apartment. We'll spend some time there and if the weather is nice, probably go on some more hour-long walks before visiting the Baby House.

Sunday is Women's Day in Kaz. It's a BIG deal. It seems to be a combination of Valentine's Day & Mothers Day, at least that's what the greeting cards & posters lead us to believe. Even though it's a holiday, we still get to visit Ryan. Maybe he'll buy me candy or flowers (hint to Lyle).

Blogging from the comfort of a wooden trunk

Yippee! We now have Internet access from our apartment. We don't have one regular table in the whole place, so we've propped the laptop on a stand of some kind & I'm sitting on a trunk. It's really quite the setup.

Still trying to post some photos of Kyzylorda & the apartment but using dial-up, this becomes a very slow & annoying process.

We went to a store yesterday that reminded us of Target. It's kind of out of the way, but it's so worth it. It's called S'Mall and it could be in any North American city. We had so much fun there, buying different kinds of food and drinks. Since Lyle was there, that means candies & cookies too. We had to take a taxi there, but we decided that the two couples could easily go every two weeks for a big shop.

Ryan took two steps yesterday. I held him up & sent him walking towards Lyle. His legs know what to do but you can tell they're not used to holding him up. He's so good at cruising now. For some reason he loves the plastic stacking rings in the playroom. I think they look rather "worn", but he gets a real kick out of them. He's so playful and he's demonstrated he's got a really good arm. Lyle thinks this is the sign of his athletic ability.

Tonight we're going to Jean & Marilyne's for dinner. We will have them over next week. The menu will be "Manitoba Social" (don't give them any hints though).

Cirque de Soleil arrives in Kyzylorda

Not quite Cirque, but we did get to the traveling Russian circus last night. It was a fun way to spend an evening but it wasn't quite like the Cirque show we saw in Vegas. There was a monkey Elvis though.  We might add too there was a clown who showed his bare bottom. Definitely not your typical Shrine Circus from what we can remember

Ryan has been cruising lately and we're so proud when holds himself up at the couch with just his tummy. He also loves when we wear his bib & he rips it off. We do this over & over. He's also still crawling holding a toy in one hand. We think he likes the challenge.

No news about our court date yet, but it's too early still. Our co-ordinator does know the judge handling our case. I'm not sure they've ever really met, but she knows the name at least.

Just back from a run & we're off to the apartment now. By the way, the running trail becomes "Lovers Lane" in the evenings. Couples are making out all over the place. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Right!

Paka.

ps Congrats to our Wpg friends & their new bundle of joy. I'm sure the boys will have loads of fun.

Running on the River Trail-Just like at The Forks

Well, we decided to finally lace up our running shoes and hit the river trail we noticed last week. We purposely went on a Sunday morning knowing that most people would be at their church or mosque, minimizing our chances of being hit by a local driver. It was a pretty good trail, but made entirely of interlocking brick which is probably not the most ideal surface for running (especially when there are large gaps where the interlocking brick is missing). It's sure better than nothing & we'll try to get out more regularily. 

Ryan is still enjoying racing Lyle around the playroom. He's even given Lyle an advantage. You see, Ryan likes to crawl holding his cell phone in one hand. Lyle has two good hands in the race, so Ryan is being easy on him. Ryan also very much enjoys when I hold him & Lyle approaches us doing a crazy walk. The two of us laugh & laugh and make Lyle do it over and over again. Ryan has the greatest laugh! When he starts getting a little fussy, this is what we do to distract him. He soon forgets why he was grumpy in the first place. 

We've been viewing the photos we first took when we met him and this boy has changed already. Our first family photo that we'll post later on is hilarious. Lyle & I look like we haven't slept in years and Ryan looks like he can't wait to escape our grasp.

We went out for dinner last night as that seems to be our routine on Sundays. We really like that rice dish (pilau). I'm sure if we try to make it back home, it will turn out looking like a stir-fry. 

Off to the market!