First Time Outside - Ever!

For lunch we ate a yummy mini pizza that I bought at the Kulinaria Aristocrat (Semey families will know it as the bakery). We had slept through most of our break. I am not sure what is going on, but we are exhausted all of a sudden.

We got to the second baby house visit on time and there was a new caretaker who was already feeding Anelya, so that is fine. While we were waiting for her, a biological mother was visiting her child. She was a young girl of about 20 years, whose 10 month old baby girl has Downs Syndrome. It was beautiful and heart-wrenching to watch, as this young mother visited her child at an orphanage and showered her in kisses. She also smelled her again and again. It made me cry. It's very difficult to raise a child with special needs in this country, especially at a young age. There is a stigma that goes along with handicaps and the infrastructure is such that it would be very hard to raise her. It broke my heart to see how much this mother loved her child and that they, for some reason, cannot be together.

Anelya came out all bundled up and they asked me to please feel free to take her for a walk. I was so excited, as this is the first time Anelya has every been outside, except when they brought her from the hospital to the baby house. I also had my baby carrier with me, so it was just perfect. Anelya absolutely knows that I am her mama now and she looks to me to get things or fix things that she cannot.

It was another gorgeous day for a walk, so we walked three laps around the baby house. There were trees and flowers everywhere and, while ungroomed, it was quite beautiful. There were also workers working on the playgrounds, which was nice to see.

Here's a favorite picture!

After our walk, we went up to the bonding room, where we found out, much to our delight, that the large family had been moved to the gym for their visits. They are such a nice family, just VERY loud and active, so it was just wonderful to have an afternoon visit where the other babies didn't check out.

Anelya continued her kangaroo imitation and did some snuggling with the mama. Baba was being very helpful playing toy store with Sarah, our friends Tammy and Bob's daughter, but she also got some baby massage and snuggle time with Anelya.

Three generations of Caesars in Kazakhstan

Who woulda thunk it?

When I left Anelya today, she really protested and let out a loud scream. I am so happy that she is taking to me, but sad that she is sad when I have to go.

After our visit, we went to the swanky supermarket and bought some wine, caviar flavored chips (have to try them!), muesli, yogurt, cookies, gummy bears, coffee, etc. Super healthy. Mom is clearly having a sweet tooth. We are convinced that we will come home fat and zitty, but at least we'll be happy! HAHA!

We are home again tonight, trying to catch up on some sleep. For dinner we will warm up some more of those chicken in egg roll wraps from the bakery that we raved about. We just had a nice cup of coffee and a cookie and are relaxing upstairs at the hotel. Soon we will take some pictures and show you where we are staying. We love it here and the high speed internet is worth losing a few days water! I'm sure you would all agree!

We have a Scrabble date with Mary Lou and then we will probably go to sleep early. Thank you for all of your comments and e-mails. We just love them and it is the first thing I look at in the morning, even before I get out of bed!

Here's to having finished bonding day #6 of 15! Almost halfway there! Cheers!