waiting...

okay, let's go.

car or ball pit?

ball pit -- for now.

just passing by -- and can you put that camera down now?

S - So just to let you know that we CAN break out of our routine (though apparently we are both really fond of familiarity) we thought we’d let you know that Darren and I both had veal with baby potatoes for our anniversary supper and then for dessert somehow we managed to order 3 desserts (really, not 3 full ones – 2 were profiteroles with chocolate sauce – one white, one dark, and the 3rd was a chocolate brandy tort). All delicious! (although I have to admit while we were waiting for our meal I was certainly staring longingly at the next table’s pizzas – they make REALLY GOOD pizza!)

D - This morning we went out at our usual time, hoping to spend the whole two hours (or as close as possible) with Ivanna. When we arrived at the orphanage around 10am, Ivanna was dressed for outdoors and standing by a few nurses, along with two other children. One of the nurses told us that Ivanna was going to the hospital. We tried not to freak out too much, and just spent the next few minutes holding Ivanna and looking out the window with her. Soon the nurse came over to take Ivanna and then walked out the door. We weren’t too sure what to do. We went upstairs to see Tatianna. We went into her office and Shona said, “Ivanna. Hospital?” Tatianna’s face dropped a bit. She seemed quite surprised and tried to call someone and then hurried downstairs to find out what was going on. In just a few minutes, she came back up and motioned us into her office so that the woman in there could translate for her. Apparently, Ivanna was going for a routine appointment with the doctor. There was no cause for concern. She suggested we wait, as she expected Ivanna would be back in an hour or so. Tatianna is very warm and gentle, and you can just tell that she loves the kids and is really interested in them getting good homes. I’m hoping we can get a picture of her at some point. We really like her. We went back downstairs and sat on the couch in the foyer and listened to music on my mp3 player. We waited. And waited. And waited. (Sho – We also spent some time trying to read one of the Russian kid books we have – not so successfully, and I also discovered Ivanna’s bear is as flexible as the Circus performers and he likes to dance – Darren thinks I’ve lost it). Finally, around 11:55am Ivanna got back. The receptionist asked if we could spend some time with her right away, but the nurse seemed to insist that she eat lunch and took her straight upstairs. Tatianna came by and said that we could play with Ivanna for a ‘short’ while after her lunch, because she would need to nap with her group. Around 12:15 one of Ivanna’s usual caregivers brought her down to us and we went up to the playroom.
Very quickly, Ivanna was over looking at the toys. Shona and I sat down around her and she started pulling things out. She seemed quite comfortable and more energetic today (fewer distractions?). She also seemed quite interested in playing with us today. She would hand one toy to Shona and then one toy to me. Also, at one point she picked up a little car that she and I had played with before and brought it over to me. It was nice to see her remember previous playtimes. Nothing held her interest for very long. She’d pull a toy out and do one or two things with it, then put it away and move on to something else – usually either taking Shona’s or my finger and leading us off to whatever she wanted to do next. It was fun, and we are now expecting that she may be able to tire us out when she gets comfortable at home! (Sho here – I just have to add that at one point in our time with her, she and I were walking down the hallway – Ivanna leading the way of course – and she looked up at me and gave me the cutest smile. It seemed slightly impish, but very genuine. I’m not sure if she was pleased with me, please with us being together or just pleased that she had me doing exactly what she wanted – but it was a pretty precious smile. I think it was her first unprompted smile with us – no spinning or fast car driving involved.) Eventually, another caregiver came up to take Ivanna for her sleep. Before we left, Shona went up to her group area and gave them the cookies she baked.
We then headed back to the train platform, both feeling really glad that we stayed and got to play with Ivanna. We’ve come to the conclusion that any time with her is worth a wait. And the time today was particularly enjoyable as it seemed that Ivanna was definitely feeling more comfortable with and attached to us. Upon arriving at the train platform, we saw that the next train was to arrive in about 40 minutes. Grrr. Unfortunately, we actually waited for about an hour and a quarter in the cold wind. Not so much fun. But now, we are feeling much better, having filled our tummies with shawarma, picked up a few groceries, and made it back to the warmth of our apartment.
S – Now it’s after 7 and we have relaxed a bit, I did some ironing (I’ve done more ironing here in the last 2 weeks than I think the last year – the joy of line drying clothes), we made supper (leftover sauce and chicken with fried salami added, with fresh bread – YUM!). We’ve watched the news and read another chapter in ‘Prince Caspian’. We’re now heading out for some coffee, dessert and to post this/check the blog and email (aka – get our daily fix).