Great Visit

by bill - 2007-10-09 ( family / adoption / holmes / travel ) [html version]

We had a great visit with our little girl this morning. There were no observers. That happens this afternoon. Vika mentioned we should think about showing more affection in front of the observers. It's more in line with how Russians treat their kids. We're fine with that. We like kids so much, we flew half way around the world to have one. We're just not used to getting all touchy-feely with a child we've just met. For one, we don't want to scare her. If we get too "aggressive," she'll start thinking of us as "those weird, grabby people who talk funny."

With that overt affection in mind today, however, I took a chance and picked her up and started flying her around the room like an airplane. You know, picked her up and tossed her like a paper airplane? But seriously, she absolutely loved it. That's the most I've seen her laugh yet. She also liked when I blew in her ear while she was trying to blow bubbles. She reacted like I was tickling her. She lets us both pick her up now. She's just very practical. If one is closer than the other and she wants up somewhere, she'll just use whichever one of us is handy.

Just don't get in her way when it's lunch time. The caretaker stuck her head in and announced lunch, and our girl just dropped everything and almost ran out of the room until the caretaker told her to stop and kiss Mama and Papa goodbye first.

Here's a screenshot of the entrance

UPDATE:

Recently discovered this map showing the entrance of the orphanage on yandex.ru