We're in the Army Now!

Yes, it's true and I was there to see it. Anelya did the army crawl for the first time today! She has a new routine of making sure I have put out ALL of her toys from the magic bag. Lately, I have been "forgetting" one and she knows right away. Well, today, she dragged herself to the bag to find it! It was amazing to watch. My girl is so strong!

We had two great visits in her group today, as I am still not able to take her to the bonding room. I am used to it now and enjoy being with the caregivers, as I have gotten to know them very well. Anelya has stopped sassing me during meals and now eats and drinks everything I give her. She does a couple of back bends every now and then, but that's just to make sure I am paying attention. Then she sits back down and smiles at me like, "Don't you think you can let your guard down for one minute, Mama!"

Baba stayed home today because she has a cold, but is now feeling better. Tomorrow is our last Hedgehog Day. Thursday is court. Friday we leave. Saturday we'll be home. Hard to believe it's almost over. My heat is already heavy knowing I will only have three more visits with her until I leave. How am I going to do this?

We didn't do much today, because it's cold and rainy now. After the first visit I went with Tammy & Bob to the Gamma store and bought some wonderful books of fairy tales written in Russian. Kazakh, and English. I also bought a video about Semey in English. After the second visit, we went back to the Fuji store so I could print pictures of the caregivers with Anelya. They like to have pictures of themselves with the babies when they leave. One caregiver, Farida, told me she has been working at the baby house for 19 years and remembers every single child. These people continue to amaze me. How fortunate I am to have a baby who has been so well taken care of during her first few months of life. While orphanage living is far from ideal, I cannot imagine a better orphanage situation than the one she is in now. Thank goodness.

Tonight I am going to get the gifts together for everyone. We have organized them, so now all I need to do is put them in the gift bags we brought and add the cards. Funny how 3 weeks went by so SLOWLY, but so FAST, all at once. In any case, I will always remember my time in Semey as a great time.