Week One and Still Having Fun
November 9, 2008
Today marks the end of our first week of bonding. Nina remains very much afraid of Dart and cries and buries her face into my shoulder for most of the time we are together. The bubbles have been a success so we will keep using them. I am going to try to find baloons today. Also we learned today that Nina really likes music. Our translator, Armand played some russian kiddy music on his cell phone (The Three Frogs I think) and Nina stopped crying and listened. She seemed very relaxed. So in addition to balloons we will try to find lots of CD's. We are going to bring a laptop with us tomorrow to play them.
Our days have settled into a nice routine. Every morning we Skype the boys and talk and blow kisses. Gramma and Grampa are doing a great job and we are so grateful to have them near us. I am not sure how this would have been possible without them. After our call, we go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The breakfast buffet offers nearly the same selections each day including; cooked to order eggs, meats, cheeses, fruit, breads and pastries, potatoes sausage, yogurt , tea, instant coffee and fresh jucies. Really pretty good fare. By the time we finish breakfast it is usually 9:30am and time to go to the Baby House.
Our driver and translator pick us up each morning and bring us to see Nina. The visit lasts 90 minutes and by11:30am it is time to leave. After our visit we either go to a little coffee shop/deli called Kophos (pronouced something like Kro-nos) or back to the hotel for a pot of tea and some reading in the hotel lobby bar, (thats were we are now).
In the afternoons we tend to walk and explore, shop and scout out our next restaurant for dinner that night. All and all it has been a pleasant stay. Not at all the hardship I thought it might be. I know we have 2 more weeks to go and it might not feel quite so nice then , but for now it is nice to be focused on Nina and to immerse ourselves without distraction in her birthplace. Years from now I want to be able to descibe to her, this place and this time in rich and colorful detail.
Our days have settled into a nice routine. Every morning we Skype the boys and talk and blow kisses. Gramma and Grampa are doing a great job and we are so grateful to have them near us. I am not sure how this would have been possible without them. After our call, we go down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The breakfast buffet offers nearly the same selections each day including; cooked to order eggs, meats, cheeses, fruit, breads and pastries, potatoes sausage, yogurt , tea, instant coffee and fresh jucies. Really pretty good fare. By the time we finish breakfast it is usually 9:30am and time to go to the Baby House.
Our driver and translator pick us up each morning and bring us to see Nina. The visit lasts 90 minutes and by11:30am it is time to leave. After our visit we either go to a little coffee shop/deli called Kophos (pronouced something like Kro-nos) or back to the hotel for a pot of tea and some reading in the hotel lobby bar, (thats were we are now).
In the afternoons we tend to walk and explore, shop and scout out our next restaurant for dinner that night. All and all it has been a pleasant stay. Not at all the hardship I thought it might be. I know we have 2 more weeks to go and it might not feel quite so nice then , but for now it is nice to be focused on Nina and to immerse ourselves without distraction in her birthplace. Years from now I want to be able to descibe to her, this place and this time in rich and colorful detail.
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