Tuesday, February 13, 2007

2:40pm - we just returned from meeting our son at the baby home #20 in eastern Moscow City. As it was around lunchtime and his naptime we only got to see him for 20 minutes. He cried as they brought him up the stairs to where we we waiting, as he is unfamiliar with men, Josh handed him to me to comfort him. I walked with him and rocked him a bit then we sat down on our blanket and tried to engage him. We opened a container of Cheerios and he dove in, using both hands and loving them, it seemed he couldn't get enough of them. We think it was because he was hungry. But it was still fun to watch. At least we know its something he'll eat. He didn't seem too interested in the stuffed Eyore we had and was more interested in the snap lock beads and he tried to figure out how they worked but didn't have the strength to put them together on his own. Unfortunately it was at this time the caregiver came and took him for lunch so we didn't get the opportunity to play with him anymore.

Before we went to the baby home we went to the Ministry of Education (MOE) to officially get our referral. Although we had already seen the picture and some information officially this was just a child randomly chosen for us today (yea right). Our appointment was for 10am but we had to wait for the Official to arrive. It was snowing lightly and cold, we waited outside for a bit then inside and finally we went upstairs. We sat down in the hallway in chairs and waited for our name to be called. We were there with 2 other families from our agency. We went into the office and sat down at a table with our translator, the adoption agency consultant in Russia, the Official's secretary and the Official sat at his desk at the head of the table. The Official looked at each of our passport pictures and looked at us. We were given the referral and Josh checked the child's DOB and his eyes to make sure it was the same child as we had been given with the referral in the states. The document also had the child's full name and the mother's full name and country of origin. We were not asked any questions and in and out in 5 minutes.

The MOE building was unremarkable considering how intimidating we thought it would be. The guy behind the desk did not ask us any questions. It was weird. I imagined it to be a grand building instead it was just a four story glass non-descriptive building. I sure am glad that we don't have to drive around here, I would get lost!! All the signs are in Russian and we don't read Russian, I can identify a few letters but that's about it.

Daddy and Sam

Mommy and Sam

For All of Our Pictures From Day #1, Click Here