April 22 - Introducing….. Mr. Joseph Maxim Roman!

Today was finally our day to visit with Joseph – no interviews etc. Just holding, playing and cuddling. We arrived at the baby house around 9:30am, the director came into the room, Laura handed her a diaper and a cute outfit. A few minutes later the little man appeared all dolled up and was handed to Laura…his Mom! Although he did not cry, he did seem a bit tense with his little hands clenched and his feet curled, but that did not last too long. He loosened up and seemed to feel a bit more at ease with these strange new faces with big smiles. He has at least two bottom teeth coming in and so he was all over the teething ring/toy. He has a bit of a cold and was a bit drooley but still incredibly cute. We were able to stay with him for an hour and then we was off to eat. It seemed so short but we were then scheduled to come back in the afternoon.

When we came back in the afternoon we were going to head outside with him but then because of his cold we stay indoors in the music room. We brought with us our kiddie CD player and a children’s Ukranian music CD as we thought the sounds would be somewhat familiar to him. We had another good visit with him and he took again to the teething ring and the crunchy baby book we brought for him. Once again the visit seemed to come to an end too quickly for us but are already geared up for tomorrow. We hope his cold will get better so that we can play a bit more but holding, hugging and kissing him were fantastic activities for us.

This evening we went to Camelot right here in Uralsk. Camelot is a restaurant and just as you would think with such a name. We went with two other couples who are here adopting children although about 10 days ahead of us. The menu was in English with “clever” names such as Laura’s “Gentle Kiss” or my “Apple Lamb” – both were delicious for sure. This was our first venturing out of the hotel for food and we were given a bunch of hints and suggestions from the other couples. Tomorrow is Russian Orthodox Easter so we hope to see some of the festivities in town. We are also looking forward to the May 9^th Victory Day celebrations here as they are supposed to include a parade etc. More to follow as that time gets near. That is about it for today, a good day – visits with Joseph, good weather in Uralsk, CNN on the TV and a jar of peanut butter by our side.