Look at Him Hula-Hoop!

We knew that the older children were putting on a kids' program, so we made sure to get to the orphanage bright and early. It was disappointing to see that Alosha was sitting in his stroller instead of participating in some way. He could have done the hand motions at the very least. The kids that were doing the singing were from his group-- but he was left on the side lines again. What a thing to have in common---Alosha and Dennis excluded from most activities while in the orphanage. But not for long!

It was precious to see how the two boys instantly recognized each other, and watched the program together.

I have to admit, it was really cute watching the kids dance around in their clean underwear. Even Leesa, a girl with Down Syndrome participated---- and did a great job I might add!

Here is a picture of all the other children minus the ones with special needs. They were all so well behaved!

As soon as the show was over, we hurried into the play room----- it was that hot and sticky already. We brought diapers that actually fit Alosha, so there was no worry of him soaking through his clothing. The first time we met him he had a diaper on that was way too small and once or twice they had brought him to us wrapped in cloth-- and he soaked through it. I have had the privilege of changing his diaper a few times, and I mean that with all sincerity because normally the caretakers do not approve of you undressing your child or changing their diaper until you are ready to take them from the orphanage. You can say that I got a sneak peak! I was surprised to see that he was circumcised--- but as I thought about his untreated incontinence, it makes sense to me.

Alosha is now talking up a storm, and he freely calls us his Mama y Papa. Did I once say that he was soft-spoken? Well, scratch that, he can be very loud, he tends to play a little rough, and he is ALL boy. In simple language-- he will fit right in as a Reed boy!

I already see an improvement in his mobility. Without any coaxing from us, he is standing on his own......

and not just on his legs!

He loves playing with Julia---- and he is so energetic that John and I don't know that we could have kept up with him and Dennis (just kidding, but you get the drift).

Julia thinks she's figured out this contraption---- she falls back and rocks!

Dennis follows Alosha around and likes to imitate him. Thankfully, this is not annoying to Alosha.... yet.

Isn't his smile awesome!

John entertained us with his hula-hoop skills!

Needless to say, our second visit today tired us out and we were thankful to be back to unwind at our apartment. Tonight I cooked pancakes, homemade apricot jam, scrambled eggs, and fried ham. It was sooo good!

P.S. We miss and love you Adam, Rachel, Caleb, Annalyn, Sveta, Anna, William, Andrew, and Jonny! Hope you are behaving! Thinking of you------ and can't wait for you to meet your new brother!

The SDA Appointment and Train Ride

Our coordinator picked us up around 10:00 o’clock this morning for our SDA appointment. Before our actual appointment, we went out for coffee where we met up with our other coordinator. It was nice to be around familiar faces, and both of them were very happy to see Dennis after one year.

Right before 11:00, we headed over to the SDA building where we waited in the all too familiar stairwell for our name to be called.

While we waited, we saw at least three different other facilitators going over paperwork with the SDA that needed to be corrected by other adoptive families. Ugh, that was our paperwork only a few short weeks ago.

THE APPOINTMENT

We were finally called in shortly after 11:00. Two very nice women enjoyed seeing Dennis and looking at all the pictures we brought. They were incredibly nice and friendly, making the whole appointment very simple and laid back. One of the women told us about Alexsey--- most of which we already knew. However, they did share with us that he had a younger sister that was previously adopted by an Israeli couple, which was new information. They also had the most adorable baby picture of him---- which we can have after court as long as we give them one to replace it. John and I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask so we are going to look into getting contact info for the Israeli couple so that we can see about exchanging photos.

The best news is that we are getting the referral today and our coordinator is buying our train tickets for the overnight ride to Donetsk! We should arrive in region around 7:00 in the morning which means that we will finally get to see Alexsey tomorrow!

Before heading tonight, we met up with our friend Inna for lunch!

We went to an Espresso house where we had breakfast for lunch.

Around 4:30 p.m. we said goodbye to our Kiev apartment and went and picked up our referral. Off to the train station!

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We got to the train station in plenty of time. Since I know that the bathrooms on the train are the worst toilets I have ever smelled, I decided to use the bathroom in the train station. Nothing like paying to squat over a hole-- but definitely better than the train toilet.

We stocked up on meat, potato, and jam filled pirogi----- each one costing around less than fifty cents!

Julia cut the bottom of her foot on a plug when we were still in our apartment. All the running around made it worse and we insisted that she rest for the 12 hour train ride to Kramatorsk.

One of my favorite pictures-- that's for sure! Dennis has been the best 2 year old traveler we have ever seen!

We ate dinner so that Dennis could go to sleep, and then stayed up late playing Racko!

Early in the morning, we waited with anticipation for the train to roll into Kramatorsk.

At 6:30 this morning we arrived in Kramatorsk!

If you would like to read more about our trip, go visit Julia's blog for her perspective. I am sure, she would love some comments!

Stay tuned-------- we met Alexsey!