Mom slept like a log last night. I, on the other hand, slept for about 3 hours. I was up half the night catching up on the blog and staring at pictures of my little girl. We were picked up promptly at 8:30 and were taken to the baby house. When we got there, Anelya was still sound asleep. Her caretaker woke her up and gave her to me barely awake. She woke up happy and very cuddly, as you can see here.
Today was a day when my Russian really came in handy because I was able to have a private conversation with her caregiver and learn a little about her. First she said, "I want you to know that she is one of my favorites. I love her." It was so sweet and I could tell she really meant it. She watched and smiled as she witnessed how completely in love with this child my mother and I are. The caretakers' jobs must be so difficult. I don't know how you give your all to a baby and do everything to help them grow, only to know you will lose them. These are very special people and I will forever feel indebted to the women who have raised my child so far, and to the Baby House Director who oversees them and makes sure he has a wonderful staff.
The caretaker also told me that Anelya is a very calm and happy baby. She sleeps very well, rarely complains about anything, and loves to be held. I was caught off guard when she asked, "How old is mama?" "60," I replied. "No, how old is MAMA!" She was referring to me and it hadn't even occurred to me that she could be asking that. Just thinking about it makes me tear up.
We then went up to the bonding room, which we shared with our Massachusetts friends. Today I mostly held Anelya, as she was sleepy. I noticed yesterday that she has a bit of an upper respiratory infection, which is pretty much par for the course in an orphanage. She was VERY cuddly today. I changed her out of her clothes to cool her off a bit and then she got right back into the flip and roll turbo machine that she is! I measured her and found that she is 26 inches long and weighs 7 kilos. She is very healthy.
At 10a.m. I got to feed Anelya for the first time. I went downstairs with her to the baby room where we met up with her caregiver again. They had prepared a bowl of porridge with peach puree and a mug full of tea. Anelya is new to solids, and it is so cute to watch her suck the food off the spoon little by little. The caregiver told me that this is how she eats and it is very funny and unusual. The strangest part was helping her drink tea out of a coffee mug. She was quite good at it for being such a munchkin. She started to play with her food a little when it was almost gone and the caregiver decided that she was finished, so she walked away with the bowl. I swear Anelya watched every step she made as she left with her bowl. It kind of broke my heart, but MAN had she eaten a lot. She was FINE! My baby is a chow hound!
After lunch, we go to sit and play with the other babies in their daytime environment. I saw a couple of the babies who are about to go home any day now with some friends I have met through the adoption process. It was so neat to see these little guys and the fact that I knew right away who they were was really special . Then it was time to leave, so we took off for some shopping and lunch, which I will write about later. Now it's time for us to go back for our second visit of the day! Yay!
Today was a day when my Russian really came in handy because I was able to have a private conversation with her caregiver and learn a little about her. First she said, "I want you to know that she is one of my favorites. I love her." It was so sweet and I could tell she really meant it. She watched and smiled as she witnessed how completely in love with this child my mother and I are. The caretakers' jobs must be so difficult. I don't know how you give your all to a baby and do everything to help them grow, only to know you will lose them. These are very special people and I will forever feel indebted to the women who have raised my child so far, and to the Baby House Director who oversees them and makes sure he has a wonderful staff.
The caretaker also told me that Anelya is a very calm and happy baby. She sleeps very well, rarely complains about anything, and loves to be held. I was caught off guard when she asked, "How old is mama?" "60," I replied. "No, how old is MAMA!" She was referring to me and it hadn't even occurred to me that she could be asking that. Just thinking about it makes me tear up.
We then went up to the bonding room, which we shared with our Massachusetts friends. Today I mostly held Anelya, as she was sleepy. I noticed yesterday that she has a bit of an upper respiratory infection, which is pretty much par for the course in an orphanage. She was VERY cuddly today. I changed her out of her clothes to cool her off a bit and then she got right back into the flip and roll turbo machine that she is! I measured her and found that she is 26 inches long and weighs 7 kilos. She is very healthy.
At 10a.m. I got to feed Anelya for the first time. I went downstairs with her to the baby room where we met up with her caregiver again. They had prepared a bowl of porridge with peach puree and a mug full of tea. Anelya is new to solids, and it is so cute to watch her suck the food off the spoon little by little. The caregiver told me that this is how she eats and it is very funny and unusual. The strangest part was helping her drink tea out of a coffee mug. She was quite good at it for being such a munchkin. She started to play with her food a little when it was almost gone and the caregiver decided that she was finished, so she walked away with the bowl. I swear Anelya watched every step she made as she left with her bowl. It kind of broke my heart, but MAN had she eaten a lot. She was FINE! My baby is a chow hound!
After lunch, we go to sit and play with the other babies in their daytime environment. I saw a couple of the babies who are about to go home any day now with some friends I have met through the adoption process. It was so neat to see these little guys and the fact that I knew right away who they were was really special . Then it was time to leave, so we took off for some shopping and lunch, which I will write about later. Now it's time for us to go back for our second visit of the day! Yay!
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2 comments:
What sweet sweet pictures.I am glad day 2 has gone so well. I am LOVING your blog, your doing a great job keeping us informed and keeping all the information documented for Anelya.
Hope you get some sleep tonight.
Sandi
sweet sweet sweet - and you do look like you didn't get a lot of sleep in that first pic, anyway :)
I am SO happy Anelya had a great caregiver who loves her - it makes all the difference in the world.
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