Crossing the 3 month threshold

It's officially been more than three months home for Maxim.  I suppose we can say now we're all settled in.  I'm definitely long overdue for an update to the blog, so here goes...

All is well.  Actually, all is better than well.  Today we had our first post-adoption placement visit from the social worker who wrote our international home study.  Four are required.  She asked questions like, "How's it going?" , "What's your biggest challenge?", "Does he have any problems sleeping?" , "Are you home with him all the time or is there someone else who cares for him?" , "What is his favorite food?"...  You get the picture.  They just want to see how he and we are adjusting.  A report will be written and then we will need to send it off to Tallahassee to acquire another apostille, then send the whole package off, including a few photos to... well, I'm not exactly sure who, yet.  I suppose maybe the Russian Embassy?  We'll find out soon enough.  It's not due yet, so we've got time.

As I answered the questions, I thought to myself, "Hey we really are doing great!"  I suppose even better than I had expected.  When you choose to travel this path to grow your family, you're really not sure what you're going to get and how everyone will react through it all.  It hasn't all been a bed of roses, but it sure feels pretty normal around here.  Our biggest challenge hasn't even been Maxim.  I answered that it's been watching our older son struggle with the adjustment.  Max is like the new toy that all of Evan's friends want to play with.  He's been getting all the attention whenever we're out with friends or they're over visiting.  That can be a challenge for the new big brother who's never had to share attention.  It's always difficult to watch someone you love struggle with something; sometimes you just can't make it easier for them because they need to figure it out themselves.  It's nothing that will hurt Evan, it's helping him grow some character and he will be better for the experience of being a big brother and having someone else important in his life to love.

Maxim's English is progressing.  His comprehension is amazing and he's recently begun to string multiple English words together making phrases.  His pronunciation is really cute and we're still trying to figure out if it comes as part of the accent package or if it's something to address with a speech therapist. We've scheduled a speech screening, but it won't be until January.  In the meantime, we'll just keep thinking that his pronunciation is so very cute.  He seems to have difficulties pronouncing the letter 'R' and the 'th' sound.  'R" comes out as an 'L' and the 'th' comes out as a 'v.'   He also keeps throwing vowel sounds onto the ends of names.  Evan sometimes becomes "Evano"  and sometimes he refers to himself as "Maximu."  

Maxim is keeping busy three hours a day in Florida's VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten) program at one of the local preschools.  His teacher is amazing and is so proud of his language progress.  She actually tried to comfort me when she gave me his first progress report.  They were testing to see if he recognized any alphabet letters or colors or shapes. For some reason on that given day, he didn't properly name any of them.  I told her that I didn't care what the piece of paper said.  I know he's learning and acquiring language every day.  He's already writing his name and knows all his colors and shapes at home.  It's all good.  I'll keep his first progress report to compare to the others and see how quickly it moves from here on.  

We just celebrated his 5th birthday with a Ben 10 themed party at a local bounce house business.  When it was time to sing and blow out candles on the cake, his face lit up like nothing I've ever seen.  Who knows if he had ever had a birthday party or a birthday cake for that matter.  It was very cool to do this for him. Now, every day since the party, he says to me, "Mommy, bounce?"  This kid loves to bounce.  We're planning on trying out one of the trampoline centers in Tampa soon.  I think they're called Air Heads.  Should be fun with the boys.

Life is good, as the t-shirt company says.  And I thank God every day that we have this added blessing under our roof to share our lives, our joys, and our love.  It's fun and we are blessed.

Back in the zone...

For the first time since the four of us have returned to the States on the 12th, I've finally managed to sleep in until 6:00 am.  AND the boys are all still sleeping and it's now nearly 8 am!  Woo Hoo!  

First morning at home (Max slept in his
travel clothes), discovering Evan's
collection of Bakugans.

In our four days back, we've spent the time getting ourselves settled back in at home.  Max has explored practically every nook and cranny of the house and I've learned that I need to do some "Max proofing" and put some things up high and out of reach.  We've discovered that Max LOVES the swimming pool.  Every day we've gone and in four days, he's practically swimming on his own.  He's fearless in the water.  He stays close to the stairs, until he's bored, and then will "monkey-on-the-wall-himself" around the entire pool if we let him.  There have been a few times where he tip toes himself in too deep and we've had to pull him back to safety.  Never once has he freaked out.  He loves to wear his goggles and looks around under water while holding his breath.  I've seen him experiment with letting his body float to the top.  Seems he's part Russian, part fish.  

Trying on the pirate face.

He and Evan are having a great time together with normal brotherly spats and some big fun in between.  We've experienced some meltdowns still, but they seem to last less each time and we're down to about one a day.  Max loves to run off and hide in the closet of his bedroom.  


He's met lots of our friend's kids and seems to be falling right into the fray.  Last night we had a birthday pool party to attend.  In order to prepare him for what we were doing, I looked up the phrase "We're going to a birthday party" on google translate and played it for him (in Russian of course). His eyes lit up and he got a big smile on his face.  When we got there he took some time checking out all the kids and jumped right into the pool.  He had a great time playing squirt guns in the pool with the other kids.  It was funny to watch some of the other kids try to talk with him or see the looks on their faces when he started speaking with them in Russian.  I am so grateful that we had this party to attend last night.  It helped us keep the boys awake until 9-ish and I'm convinced that's why they're still snuggled up in bed.

Now that I'm beginning to feel human again due to some normal sleep, it's beginning to feel pretty normal with the extra little monkey here in the house.  We have yet to establish a bed time routine since the boys kept falling asleep wherever they were.  One night at 6:45 pm, Max fell asleep on the bathroom floor after throwing a tantrum about not wanting to brush his teeth.  Another afternoon at 4:30, he fell asleep on the couch watching a cartoon with Evan.  (Evan wasn't far behind, he too had to be carried into bed).  Two days ago, we took the boys to see Cars at the theatre, thinking that would keep them awake.  Poor little Max got blasted into a frigid state by the extreme air conditioning used by the movie theatre.  He crawled into my lap to warm up and fell asleep.  Luckily we were able to wake him for a side trip to Five Guys (we were hungry and I did NOT have the energy to cook)...  he stayed awake long enough to eat a few french fries and fell asleep again on the way home.


We're hearing a few more English words tumble out of Max each day, but it's slow going in that department.  We're watching shows like Sesame Street every day and I've been reading to him from our collection of board books that have been pulled out of the dusty crate.  So glad I decided to hang onto them.  I know that this immersion thing takes time, and we'll be entertained along the way by some things that will inevitably be spoken.  I can only hope the destination of being fully linguistic in English will be reached quickly.

Life is progressing back in the zone

Final Hours in Russia

Ok, I know I threatened on facebook that I was done posting until we got back to the States. Can I help it if the sun rises here at 5:00 am and this apartment has cheap, thin, shears for curtains on it's wall of eastern-facing windows?  I am wide awake and finished playing musical beds in this tiny apartment for the last time.  Jose and I always begin the evening together in the one bedroom and the boys get to share the pull out sofa.  I never know who I'm going to wake up with.  


This morning I woke up with little Max by my side and Jose had moved out to the couch.  I know that he cannot wait to get back to our own bed.  While I was in the bathroom, Evan snuck into my spot in the bed.  I guess I'm done sleeping.  So now it's nearly 6:00 am here in Moscow on Tuesday, and about 10:00 pm on Monday night in Florida.  We'll be home tonight, God willing.  I'm praying for smooth sailing all the way.  We've had enough adventure on this trip.  We've survived extra flights and an extra set of stamps in our passports, emotional roller coasters, language barriers, and legal systems.  I'm praying God is saying right now that we've had enough.  


It's time for us to transition Max to his new home and language.  It's not easy while we're still here. A friend put it well when she said "it's like they have one foot in their new country and the other is still in Russia."  Max won't be truly immersed in our language and ways until we're back on our own turf.  I'm praying it will help to make this lifelong journey with him easier.  There are moments that are so full of frustration that all we can do is pray for grace to get us through.  We've got ourselves one sweet, precocious, loving, strong-willed, smart, and VERY stubborn little boy.  


Today we look forward to 10 1/2 hours on a flight from Moscow to Washington, DC.  Once there, as long as our friends in immigration cooperate, Maxim will officially become a U.S. Citizen.  We need to present Maxim's birth and adoption certificates to get him out of Russia and a fat, brown, sealed envelope which we received yesterday at the U.S. Embassy, (which we'll be hand-carrying) to get him into the United States.  

Next week we'll busy ourselves registering him with the Russian consulate,  getting him a social security number, a U.S. passport, and hopefully into pre-school for this fall.  One super interesting, albeit scary, piece of information was confirmed to us yesterday by the nice woman at the embassy.  Even though Maxim will be a U.S. citizen, he will retain his Russian citizenship as long as he doesn't renounce it (which he can do once he's turned 18.)  Apparently it's a long and expensive legal process.  The kicker is this:  as long as Russia's policy of mandatory military service does not change, Maxim will be eligible to serve his 18 months in the Russian military from the time he turns 18 until he is 36 years old.  We were told that there have been cases of former adoptees returning to Russia as adults for a "culture tour" that have been forced to stay for 18 months and serve their "mother country."  It's Russian law and the U.S. Embassy says there isn't anything they can do to help if it happens.  Fascinating.  I suppose if Maxim wants to have immersion Russian language lessons when he's 18, he'll know where to go. 

After our entry in Washington, DC, we'll board another plane for Tampa.  That flight will probably feel like a short commute across town after all the crazy-long flights we've had during the past month.  At some point, I plan to sit down and figure out how many miles it took to bring Maxim home, including our unexpected side-trip to Madrid.  I know in the depths of my soul that he's worth it.  It hurts my heart to think of all the kids still sitting in the orphanage.  Every child deserves a good family.

Dosvidanya, Russia.  We'll take good care of your native son.

Here are a few photos from our day yesterday:

Brothers

Outside the red square, across the street from the
Moskva River.

These two characters pose for photos
for donations.  I think they're part-time
actors... the boys loved them.

Moo Moo and a Circus

Max and his Moo Moo breakfast.

My, My.  For some reason the clever name of this Russian restaurant stuck with me.  In the Cyrillic alphabet, the 'y' in Russian produces the Latin alphabet's 'long u' sound.  Thus (Moo, Moo).  This restaurant has a big buffet stocked with lots of Russian foods, is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is decorated nicely in a rustic motif with lots of wood. Chairs throughout the restaurant and sporadically painted in the black and white "cow theme."  Each location has a GIANT cow sitting out front as a landmark and if the patrons are lucky, they end up with a cow-skin printed balloon.  (we missed out on the balloons, unfortunately)  Every meal comes with a yummy piece of candy, no matter if it's breakfast or not.  Pure sugar... yum.  This is where we began our day for a late morning breakfast.  We always end up ordering a little bit of a lot of things and sharing, just for curiosity's sake.  Max ordered a pierogi, Evan ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and mashed potatoes, Jose ordered a meat patty with a fried egg sitting upon it with a side of fried potatoes, and my order consisted of a meat patty with sauteed onions and mushrooms on top, all smothered in a delicious white creamy sauce which Jose thinks was mayo and cheese mixed together.  I don't know, but it was good.  Oh, and it came with a side of delicious rice which had lots of diced up carrots cooked with it.  Let's not forget about the "pancake" (more of a crepe) with chocolate and raisins folded up inside and two cappuccinos to get us parents moving.  I know it sounds like a strange breakfast.  Originally we went in because we read the word "omelet" on the menu posted outside the front door.  When we asked for omelettes, we were directed down the line to another part of the buffet, never really saw anything resembling omelettes nor anyone making them and finally decided to let ourselves be sidetracked by everything we saw.

Meat Patty with cream sauce and Rice on the Side

Evan & Max riding Moo Moo

Notice the Clemson Tiger Paw in the second row?

After breakfast, we continued down Old Arbat Street again, this time stopping in lots of the shops and checking out all the Matryoshka dolls.  Would you believe Jose found a Clemson-themed matryoshka?!  Who would have thunk it?  Crazy.  Those tourist shops will stop at no length to get the American Tourists to drop some $$.  


By the time we returned to the apartment, Maxim had fallen asleep in the stroller, so we just transferred him to the bed and he continued snoozing.  What we've learned in our 15 days with him regarding naps...  if we want him to lay down and take a nap, NYET, he's not having it.  If he's in a car or rolling along smoothly in a stroller, the movement will lull him to sleep.  He had been sleeping nearly an hour and 1/2 when we decided it was time to wake him or our afternoon plans would be shot.


We decided, since we're in Russia, we should go see one of those famous Russian circuses...  With the help of the internet, we located two here in Moscow.  The Old Moscow (Nikulin) Circus and the Balshoi Circus (Balshoi means big or grand).  We opted for the Balshoi as the website gave us the impression that it was more acrobats than animal acts and the Old Moscow Circus seemed to be more animal acts.  Also, the Balshoi Circus had a show at 5:00 pm and the Old Moscow Circus wasn't until 7:00.  We weren't sure if the boys would last through the 7:00 show.  They're still jet-lagged.


While Max was still sleeping, we searched the internet for a Moscow Metro map so we could figure out how to get ourselves there.  We utilized Google Translate to assist in hand-writing our circus ticket order in Russian Cyrillic letters on a little slip we would pass to the cashier at the ticket window.  Then we attempted to wake Max so we'd have time to give him and Evan a snack before our departure for our Subway and Circus Adventure.  Not fun.  Little man Max did NOT want to wake up.  Nor did he want pizza, yogurt, fruit, water, or juice.  Nor did he want to put his shoes on, or go Peeset (pee pee), or sit in the stroller, or go out the door, or down the hallway, or into the elevator, or out of the building, walking, or sitting, or his Mommy pushing him, or ANYTHING!  He just wanted to scream and cry.  We attempted to tell him we were going to the Circus in Russian, but he didn't want to hear anything.  Who knows if he even knew what the circus was before today.  He wasn't having any of it.  He screamed and cried for about five blocks of walking and didn't finally stop until we got into the Metro station and headed down the enormously long escalator to the trains.  When that boy starts his wailing, it's as if someone shuts his ears off.  End of story.  Maybe, you're thinking, we should have just turned back to the apartment since we weren't necessarily providing a "calm" situation at this point which all those adoption books recommend.  We opted to continue, our aim was to show Max that he's just going to have to trust us that we're not taking him anywhere bad.  


So finally, he realized that the train station was A LOT more interesting than his wailing.  The route to the Bolshoi Circus included two trains.  We're patting ourselves on the back for reading the signs correctly.  Surprisingly, even in Moscow, the subway signs only have words written in the Cyrillic alphabet.  While we do see more signs written in phonetic latin alphabet around town, the subway sign makers didn't get that assignment from the local tourism department.  Maybe before the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 World, someone could take on that assignment.  

Home of the Bolshoi Circus.

The subway was great, the trains ran very frequently and it works here just like in any other modernized country in the world.  (except for the signage)  We exited the subway at Университет (University) and saw the big circus building kitty-corner across the intersection.  We crossed safely with all the other pedestrians and bicycle riders and made our way to the entrance along the flower and fountain lined walk.  It was really pretty.  There were about a half-dozen carnival rides out front for the little kids, we by-passed those to get into the theater in time.  When we approached the door, we only saw ticket-takers and hadn't seen yet the box-office window which is normally easy to find in the States.  I asked the first employee I saw, in my best Russian of course, "билет?" (bilet? — which, by the way, is very similar to the Spanish word for ticket — billete)  I have no idea what she said, I just attempted to pay attention to the direction she was pointing.  We attempted another door sort of in that direction and asked the same question again...  we were homing in our our target.  It's not the most direct way to locate your destination, but it works in any language.  It's sort of like playing that kids game where the player is told that they're hotter or colder based on how close they are in proximity to the item they are trying to find.  It works.  

Finally we found the ticket window after wandering back up a portion of the flower-lined path, around a corner, down the stairs and into the box office.  We presented our well-written order to the nice lady behind the glass (I'm patting myself on the back, here) and received our tickets for exactly the price point we wanted to pay.  She crossed out the portion that listed our boys' ages, signifying that adult and children's tickets were the same price.  We understood perfectly, paid in rubles and got some great seats for the show.  Getting into our seats presented another challenge.  When we presented our tickets to the usher, it was already quite dark in the theatre as the show had just begun.  We hadn't paid attention to the row or seat numbers printed on the tickets yet (we assumed they would take us there), but the usher just pointed in the direction and assumed we would go.  (We couldn't see a thing and I wasn't ready to tumble down the staircase and into the center ring)  I told her "Ya ni panimayu" (I don't understand) and she gave me a frustrated look and took another look at our tickets.  She then pointed and told us in Russian that we should go back out the entry point to the next doors down and enter there.  (at least that's what we thought she said) So we went to the next entry point and the nice lady there proceeded to tell us that we should go back to our original entry point.  I told her as well, "ya ni panimayu."  Finally she walked us next back to the first usher-lady and told her sternly that we should be entering at the first gate.  First usher lady tries to seat us in the closest row to us, but even in the dark, I could tell that there were only three seats, not four.  I turned around and told her "tree"  (three) while pointing at the seats and then pointed at my family and said "chiteery." (four)  She then asked the lady who was sitting in, what we thought, our fourth seat to move over.  We sat down.  Until - 


One minute later, we were being asked to move since apparently we were sitting in someone else's seats.  I finally went to Usher Lady and said forcefully, "Goodyay, pajalustah?!" (Where, PLEASE?!) handing our tickets to her.  She then realized that someone else was sitting in our seats, one row back, (she finally asked them to move) and we finally got to sit down.  Keep in mind we were operating in a dark theater, that was very loud as the show had already begun.  Usher Lady had no flashlight.  Once we were in our seats, we LOVED the show... and so did the boys.  Max was smiling from ear to ear.  No more tears.

The show was exceptional, except that the theatre smelled old, musty and I swore it smelled like safari animals.  The only reason I have a memory of that smell is because Jose and I spent a week watching wild animals on a camera safari in South Africa on our honeymoon.  It's a smell you never forget.  We saw clowns, (not your standard painted ones like at American circuses), acrobats, magicians, dogs, monkeys, bears, dancers.  At the end, was an honest-to-goodness lion tamer, complete with seven or eight full-grown, full-maned, loudly roaring lions.  They did exactly what he gently but firmly asked them to do during this 30 minute segment of the show.  I couldn't help but think about Siegfried and Roy the entire time.  He ended the show by even sticking his head in one of the lion's mouths.  They were beautiful, scary, and awe inspiring.  I'm not an proponent of wild animals being used for our entertainment, but I have to admit, it was impressive.  I snuck in one photo of the lions before the camera police lady tried to yell at me.  

At the end of the show, about 7:00 pm, the boys were tired, happy and hungry.  And the carnival rides in front of the circus theater were closed for the night.  Boys were sad, we were secretly glad.  We got back to the apartment having avoided the usual arguments about wanting "just one more ride, please!"  

The sight up from the middle of the
escalator ride.

The view back down from the
middle of the escalator.

Another successful day.  

Saturday Walkabout

I can't understand why neither of the boys want to take a nap in the afternoon considering jet lag and our walking tour today, both Jose and I would practically trade our first born for one.  Maybe we'd trade both the first born and the recent acquisition.  At least for just 
a few hours.  Naaaa, they're too cute and I suppose sleep is overrated.


We started off our morning with a walk down New Arbat Street in the direction of the Kremlin again.  Planned on having a nice breakfast similar to yesterday's scrumptious beginning.  Evan got sucked in by corporate American marketing once again.  "It's been soooooo long since I've had a donut, please, please, let me choose our breakfast place today.  It's my turn, you got to choose yesterday!"  We crumbled like stale muffins under the pressure and inside the exclusive Moscow Dunkin' Donuts we went.  This is probably the most-rockin' DD we've ever been in... cool furniture, jammin' music.  Evan and Max ended up dancing while Jose and I enjoyed our not-so-DD-coffees.  And then they sat quietly coloring in their Transformer sticker/coloring books together.  

The coffee menu listed several different types in both Cyrillic Russian and English, including cappuccinos, American Coffee and Original Coffee.  We initially asked for the original coffee, but the young man at the cash register recommended that the American Coffee was better.  I'm guessing, in hindsight, that the Original was what we were after since the American Coffee didn't taste anything like the creamy sweet good-morning-in-a-cup one normally gets at DD in the States.  At least our breakfast was semi-relaxed and the guy behind the corner seemed to enjoy the opportunity to practice his English.

We needed to be back to our apartment by 11:00 am since Philip was coming by to meet us for a walking tour of the area.   We started out on New Arbat Street in the opposite direction that we'd been walking on our own, swung around the corner on Garden Circle and onto Old Arbat Street.  What a treat!  It's a beautiful old European walking street, closed off to motorized traffic, full of fabulous tourist traps, two Starbucks, one Hard Rock Cafe, one McDonalds, one Wendy's and lots of sidewalk artists.  I shared with Philip the story I knew about Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy's, that he was an advocate for adoption in the U.S. and that he, himself, had been adopted.  Philip was very interested to hear this and mentioned that the Wendy's had been open for only a very short time.  We continued on our path toward the Red Square and Kremlin and St. Basils.  I asked Philip, "If we behave, will you take a family photo of us in front of St. Basil's?"  He smiled and nodded.  He shared lots of interesting information about the sights, but mostly, he was a non-stop font of questions for Jose and I.  Philip is curious (and super knowledgeable) about the world and world history, in general.  

One of his most pressing questions was whether we thought that the Democrats and Republicans would work out their differences regarding the fast-approaching deadline for the increase of the debt ceiling (to save the world from certain financial ruin).  We discussed the fact the American politicians love to basque in the glory of being a world super power, but when it comes to thinking outside of the U.S. borders, they don't seem to be very far-sighted.  It seems that most only think of what's best for their voting constituents in their own respective states.  We also discussed a few more political issues and he was very curious about the demographics that make up the typical parties.  He must ask most of his clients which party they usually vote with, as he brought up that between 80-90% of couples who adopt in Russia tell him they vote Republican.  Things that make you go hmmm...

The top of St. Basils Cathedral... I had
to cut off the event set on the ground.

We continued walking, and walking, and walking.  Didn't stop very much at all.  Just walked and walked and walked.  Philip made some very astute observations about Maxim and also commented about what he had read in his file, especially some things that were unique and different.  When we got close to the Kremlin, he told us that the word "Kremlin" comes from old Russian and means "fortress."  It was built originally to protect from attacking tribes.  We got oh so close to St. Basil's for our long-awaited family photo.  Alas, the Red Square and area surrounding St. Basil's was closed off to everyone, except for the event crew loading in for a huge concert connected with the Dakar Racing Series -  Sochi to Moscow Rally.  We didn't find out exactly when it was happening, but I'm not holding my breath that the stage and all the things being assembled in the spot that we had hoped to have our photo taken will be removed prior to our departure.  I'm so sad.  We may have to find someone with Photo Shop talents that can help us create the family photo we were dreaming of taking.  Or I'll have to come up with Plan B for our family Christmas card this year.  

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

We continued our walk, and like last weekend in Vladivostok, we encountered at least half-a-dozen brides and grooms parading around the area having photos and videos taken dancing in the park or posing near other historic landmarks.  They also brought bouquets of flowers to lay at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which also hosts an eternal flame.  The area around this landmark is cordoned off to everyone except for bridal couples, who are allowed inside the area to leave their flowers.  What a very nice tradition. 


Philip felt certain that somehow we would be able to get into the square, so we kept attempting to enter from all the different sides.  One attempt took us through the GUM department store shopping mall, out the revolving side door and out to another fenced-off area which prevented our entry.  We re-entered the GUM and I, especially, thoroughly enjoyed the window shopping provided by shops the likes of Armani, Gucci, Cartier, etc.  Unfortunately, I left my platinum card back in the States along with my Russian phrase book.  We did have a nice casual pizza lunch upstairs in one of the restaurants, though. 

With the Coca Cola Bubble Chick.  Thanks for the
thirst buster!

The walk back provided another occasion to witness American corporate marketing around the world...  we encountered two gals, dressed from head to toe in Coca-Cola themed outfits, armed with bubble-guns (guns, not gums), passing out little cans of Coke.  We were quite thirsty at this point, so we thanked them kindly and asked for a photo for our story. 


About four o'clock (after five hours of walking the town) we finally returned to our apartment.  Feet aching, the boys' patience at an end, and our heads ready for a nap.  The boys had other plans for us, though... hide and seek.  Maybe we'll try the zoo or a circus tomorrow.  

Dostoevsky, Crepes and Sushi

Friday morning we finally got out of the apartment around 9:00 am, rode the rickety elevator down 22 floors and walked out to New Arbat Street.  It's one of the main thoroughfares that runs directly to the Red Square.  We walked up the street to take the stairs down into the tunnel which goes under the street (so one can avoid getting hit by the six or eight lanes of traffic) and came out the other side.  

Standing across the street from the
apartment building we're staying in this
week.

Our goal was to find a place for breakfast.  Score one us!  We ate at a place called Кофе Хачс (phonetically pronounced Coffee House, I think)  We had a great experience, partly because the waitress spoke some English and because the menu had pictures so all we had to do was point to what we want and tell her how many.  We enjoyed cappuccinos, cottage cheese pancakes, blinis (crepes) stuffed with cream cheese and chives, and croissants.  Yum.  

Proud Papa and his boys.

There was a young Russian couple sitting at a table not far from us, observing us and obviously discussing us.  It's quite entertaining to watch the looks on faces when people nearby first hear us "foreigners" speaking and then they hear Max rattle off everything he wants to say in Russian jibber-jabber mouth with a "Mama" or "Papa" thrown in our direction for good measure.  Then they notice us replying with a few Russian phrases and their equivalents in English.  We notice them noticing us and smile politely.  We usually get a smile back and a look of either genuine concern, disbelief, compassion, or amazement.   I have to believe that it gets to be a semi-common sight since thousands of foreigners adopt orphans here every year.  I sometimes think to myself, "What would I think if I ran into a foreign family in the U.S. that had one child with them who obviously didn't speak their language? Would I think they kidnapped that child?"  Hmmm.  Things to consider.  


Another funny thing happened this morning after breakfast.  We were walking toward the Kremlin and a police officer stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of us.  Maxim said something, the police officer turned around and gave us a look but kept walking.  Then Jose repeated to me what Maxim had just said aloud:  "Ya ni lublu militzia." (or something to that effect) which essentially translates to "I don't like police officers.  We're wondering if he's had some sort of contact in his past with police officers which prompted this response.  More things that make us go "hmmmmm."

Dostoevsky holding down the fort in front
of a HUGE library.

We walked as far as the Kremlin, but the area where we ended up was full of tourist groups waiting to enter the square with their tour guides.  Since it was getting toward lunch time and it had already been a rather long walk, we decided to turn around and head back toward the apartment.  The Kremlin and Red Square would wait for the weekend.  We did run into this huge statue of Dostoevsky, though.  The boys loved chasing the pigeons away.


Maxim had another first today...  his first sushi lunch.  We also had some edamame, and ordered some pork dumplings and it all went rather well.  It was a challenge trying to keep him from eating the wasabi paste.  It's so very frustrating to not be able to explain why something is a "no, no."  On the way back, we found a fabulous, huge book store.  They had a little activity table in the kids section.  The store had great postcards and gifts and provided a great place to kill an hour and everyone behaved rather well.  





Once we got back to the apartment, we thought, "surely these boys have to be so exhausted from not sleeping last night and they'll want to take a nap."  So, so wrong.  All the boys wanted to do was play and wrestle around.  An hour later, we gave up on that idea and decided to head downstairs to the Soviet-era playground that sits behind the building.  We are so grateful and we don't even care that it had some major safety concerns.  This playground would have been torn out 25 years ago if it were located in the U.S.  Broken, rusty, metal stairs, missing bars where kids can fall through, chipping (probably lead-based) paint, a super-steep slide (the kind that heats up so much in the sun that you can scorch your behind).  We were just happy to have a place for the boys to blow off some steam.


Before heading in for the evening, we stopped for ice creams and picked up some bottled water and some meat-stuffed rolls for a light dinner.  After baths and pajamas, both boys fell asleep without any battle.  Thank you God.  Ready for a new day.


At one point, yesterday, I asked Evan if he wants us to change his name to Kevin (since that's what Max calls him most of the time). He said, "No, I don't think so.  How about Jinga?"  I about rolled out of my chair laughing.  He's such a funny kid.  Who knows where this stuff comes from.  I can't wait to be able to understand Maxim... I'm sure he's equally as hilarious as Evan/Kevin/Jinga.  

The view from our window at 3:30 am,
the first time Evan woke up today.  At
least he went back to bed.

Moscow arrival

It's just after 5:00 am in Moscow right now.  Evan was essentially asleep since we were picked up by our driver at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport yesterday at 4:30 pm.  We were barely able to wake him for the walk up to the apartment that we're renting here.  Of course, this means that little bugger Evan has been awake since 1:00 am which means I've been awake off and on since then as well.  Jose just woke up but luckily Max is still sleeping.  This time change stuff is tough on a body's clock.  And no I'm not a bad mommy for letting my son play his DS silently for three hours in the middle of the night while I tried to sleep some more...  just saying.


Max, on the other hand, slept a tiny bit during the ride here to the apartment, but then wasn't having any of our getting-ready-for-bed routine.  Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm (3 and 4 am Vladivostok time), he had one of his famous meltdowns as we tried to get him to sleep.  That boy wailed loudly enough for the folks in the Kremlin to hear about 8 blocks away.  Jose and I looked at each other sadly as we could only let him cry himself to sleep.  When Max is in one of those states, if you even lay a finger on him, he cries harder and louder.  It was so sad to listen to him wimpering like a little puppy.  We just sat patiently next to him until he drifted off to sleep out of shear exhaustion.  Wishing for better nights ahead.


This morning, we will venture out to find a cafe for breakfast.  It will be interesting trying to order, since we are now completely on our own when it comes to language.  Silly me forgot something very important when I was packing for this trip... my English-Russian dictionary and travel guide.  Oh well.  We may have to speak in charades... should be entertaining for the folks in the cafe.  One of the other moms I met in Vlad (who is now home in Alabama with their cute little Riley) shared a story of when she flapped her folded arms, clucked out loud and squatted like a chicken laying an egg just to communicate to a storekeeper what she wanted to buy.  At least they all were laughing, including her.  I'm not sure if I'll be doing that... maybe I can convince Evan to do it for us. : )


Later, our Moscow coordinator, Philip, will be heading to the U.S. Embassy on our behalf with our fat folder full of documents needed to begin the process to acquire an entry visa for Maxim.  As I understand it, on Monday, we'll need to return to the embassy with him for an appointment where we'll be asked questions about the adoption.  If all goes as planned, we'll receive his visa on Monday.  As of now, we depart for the U.S. on Wednesday.  Jose is checking with our travel agency to see if we can leave a day earlier.  If there isn't too much cost involved in changing our plans, we'll try to do that.  


During our weekend, we're planning on trying to see one of the famous Moscow circuses and possibly visiting the zoo.  That will hopefully tire out the kiddos and get them to bed (and keep them in bed) on a more normal schedule.  Today, though, I definitely foresee a nap in Evan's schedule, whether he likes it or not.  He may be the one screaming for the folks at the Kremlin today.


By the way, did I say "hip hip hooray for our internet connection!" ?  It's a good one and it's  included with our apartment.  I should be able to post photos much more easily from here.  

Max, Ivan & Evan before our departure for the airport.

Just a glimpse of road conditions...

Evan & Max waiting for Maxim's first flight ever.

Our friends Bob & Connie from Illinois
 and their new son, Maxim...
headed to Moscow on the same flight with us.

Boarding Aeroflot Flight 720 Vlad-Moscow

Aeroflot was just as modern, well-equipped, and
comfortable as any flight we've ever taken in the U.S.
(contrary to many reports we've received)

The view from our 22nd floor apartment
in Moscow.

The view of the morning sky around 5:00 am today.

Last Morning at the VMI

It hardly seems possible that we're finally ready to hit the skies again.  We're sitting outside on the restaurant deck having our last breakfast together.  Our drive picks us up at 11:30 for our 2:15pm flight.  Next stop, Moscow!  We've got six nights ahead of us in an apartment that we're renting about five blocks from the Red Square.  I'll post more on our travel and Moscow adventure next time.

Since our train ride adventure, we've been busy passing the days by playing, partying and completing paperwork.


One of the blessings of being at the Vlad Motor Inn is that we get to enjoy the company of several other American families traveling the same adoption path.  We knew we'd all be missing out on the 4th of July festivities in the US, so we decided to have our own little get-together upstairs in the White Rabbit recreation room.  The gals at the front desk were kind enough to send out the information to all the US families and we were able to put together an impromptu potluck complete with entertainment for the kiddos.  


There were six families gathered for our event.  All of us are enduring the 10-day required wait, and all but one of us families had our new children with us.  Five of us have already have custody of our new children and our new friends Pete and Casey from Alabama are still waiting for the director of their new son's orphanage to let little AJ come live with them.  We all did our best to locate or whip up some yummy things to share.  We enjoyed  deviled eggs, fried sausages, cheeses, chips, sodas, olives, pickles, hot dogs in italian sauce, a smoked fish dip (I was finally able to use that fish), and baked beans.  By looking at pictures on the canned goods in the store, I was able to purchase what I thought were Heinz pork and beans in a tomato sauce.  It's funny how many brands are international... at least the brands are, all the foods have been adjusted to the tastes of each country.  Coca Cola here tastes like Diet Coke to me.  I haven't tried the Diet Coke, so I can't tell you how that tastes.  You may have seen the photos with the Lays potato chips on a facebook post...  the chips are the same, but the flavors are different.  (Bacon, Pickle, Shrimp, for example.)  To make the pork and beans, all I could come up with was the canned beans and I added some ketchup  (Heinz), some sugar cubes, and some cut up ham and let it cook for a while.  When I tasted them, they were really good... but they had a pretty spicy kick to them.  I'm not sure what type of pepper is in the Heinz recipe here, but I think it would be popular if they introduced it in the U.S.   We were all pleased that we were able to come up with quite a variety of foods.  


After we ate, we had arranged for a local clown to come entertain the kids.  This hotel seems to host a LOT of kids events and we've seen various clowns and balloon professionals here frequently.  On the 3rd of July, I noticed a clown in the lobby, so I asked the nice gal at the front desk if she could ask him if he were available for our 4th of July get together, if he could come and make red, white and blue balloon animals for the kids and how much he would charge for an hour.  It was only 1200 rubles.


He was terrific for the kids because he spoke Russian, of course, and so did all of our kids except for Evan. He also spoke some English so he was perfect.  We were so happy to see how much fun the kids were having... I would doubt that any of the kids had ever had a clown entertain them before.  Evan made a comment to me that he wasn't using red, white and blue balloons...  I said, "It's ok, nobody noticed except for us and I don't think any of the kids mind at all."  Evan didn't seem to mind either... he was so excited all evening.  Max had so much excitement that he fell asleep on the couch that night instead of giving us his normal bedtime battle.  We were grateful.

The last few days, we've spent running the paper chase.  Jose accompanied Ivan, our coordinator, to the Passport office, the orphanage, the notary, the bank, and who knows where else.  I just know it was lots of hours of running around.  I stayed with the boys both mornings.  On Tuesday I received a phone call explaining that Maxim's records were missing a current TB test and unfortunately, we'd have to take him to a clinic to get this fun test done.  It's no big deal if you're an adult, but when you're a kid and someone wants to inject a bubble of some liquid under your skin to see if you develop a skin reaction, it's just not a good time.  Jose and Ivan met us at the clinic and luckily Jose was there to hold Maxim.  He was a screamer and a kicker and it didn't help that the nurse administering the injection was a stereotypical, stern, non-smiling Russian woman.  She even filled the syringe facing Max so he could see exactly what she had planned for him.  The screaming started before she even got near him. No warm and fuzzies from her.  Somehow we got through it and we felt so badly that we headed directly to a toy store.


The next day, poor little Max had to go to another doctor's office to get a basic check up and report that we have to take the the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  It's a requirement for his visa.  Luckily this doctor had a terrific manner for dealing with kids.  She calmed him and played with him and he made it through like a trooper.  It helped that she had no needles.


Well that's it for now.  I've got to go finish packing the last few things.  I'll try to post some photos when we get to Moscow.


Wish us luck on the flight.