2nd visit with Calvin

This morning a taxi driver picked us up at 9:45am and we went to see Calvin. He was very excited to see us. He gave Papa a hug and me a kiss on the cheek/hug. He is a very sweet boy. When we came in the playroom, a woman told Calvin to tell us something – he recited a cute little poem, of sorts (we think). We wish we could have gotten it on video. He showed more of his personality today. He laughed a lot and was always on the go. We had to redirect him a couple of times when he did the opposite of what we asked him to do. He spit at us once, which we didn’t like, of course. I hope it won’t be a permanent habit. We did many activities such as play on the piano, roll a ball back and forth, and stack some blocks. We watched a little bit of Baby Einstein and some Signing Times. We brought a birthday cake for him – his birthday was two weeks ago – and thought he could enjoy it with his groupa. He was more comfortable with us holding him on our lap. It was a good visit.

Towards the end of our visit with Calvin, a Russian couple came in to meet with a sweet little girl. It is nice to see someone local wanting to adopt – I hear that it isn’t very common. The girl was very quiet and didn’t say much – complete opposite of Calvin! We brought in an outfit and coat that we brought for Calvin to wear home, in case he does get to come home this trip. He was very excited about it and was showing the clothing to some of the women in the playroom – they were taking down winter/New Year decorations. The 3T jeans fit in the waist, but he needs longer pants. I have some 4T jeans at home with adjustable waists, which should work just fine. It’s too bad I only brought 3T this trip. Oh well, a couple days of high waters won’t hurt him, right? The shirt and coat fit him really well. I am eager to see him in a shirt other than the purple turtleneck which he has worn the past 2 days…

Sveta told us to let her know what we think of the taxi driver. He was recommended to Sveta by the realtor of this apartment. One thing that I didn’t care for was that he announced on his radio that he was taking the Americans home…I’m already paranoid as it is to be staying in an apartment when we were told of how some people in Vyksa react to Americans being here. I pray daily to be protected and kept safe.

Today I cooked my first hot meal since we came to Russia one week ago: scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. It was nice to have something simple, but hot, and a meal where I knew exactly what was in it – unlike the wiener wraps we got from the grocery store last night.

Tyler has been reading THE HUNGER GAMES series. We borrowed the first book before we left and he finished it in a couple of days. Then we downloaded the other two books onto our iPad so he could continue reading. I think I will start reading the series today. Tyler said he is eager to talk with me about it. I also downloaded the TWILIGHT series so he could read that afterwards. Tyler only reads non-fiction, so this is all very new for him. I downloaded THE OBAMA’S to read.  I enjoy political books. I read one several years ago about the “real” Hillary Clinton. (I am a republican, just so you know).

Things are pretty low key here in Vyksa. I am hoping to gain some relaxation and renew myself before beginning this journey of 5 kids at home. Tyler found an ESPN tv station with college basketball. If he turns up the volume, he can barely hear the English announcers in addition to the very loud Russian ones.

We have a beautiful view outside our kitchen window. I love looking out into the trees and snow – it’s very picturesque. One thing I am lacking here in Vyksa is a blow dryer. Today I just washed it and dried it as much as possible with a towel. For someone with very thin, flat hair – a blow dryer makes a big difference. However, I suppose that I can survive without one until we go back to Nizhny Novgorod. It’s just weird letting my hair air dry…

I am missing the ability to Skype with Anna every morning. The internet connection isn’t good enough to do audio, but I think we’re going to try to type/chat with each other over Skype. I hope that will work. I miss my little kids back home. :*(