We arrived at the Baby Home a little after 9:30am. We had to wait about 5 minutes, and then they brought Sam to us. He did his usual 2 minutes of crying, until we gave him a biter biscuit, which he quickly crunched away from, and calmed down.
He was very quiet today, neither smiling or verbalizing.
After about 20 minutes with us, Max came and told us that they needed to take the kids out to get their passport pictures. We put on the additional layers (another pair of pants and shirt, along with a snow suit, hats, and boots). He did not like to be all wrapped up, and we couldn't blame him. While it wasn't 50 degrees out, it was at least in the upper 30's to low 40's and he probably didn't need all the layers. Daddy went in the car with Sam, and 2 other children, with another woman from the agency, and a driver, while Mommy waited at the Baby Home. The kids were all very quiet in the car, but none of them seemed to happy to have the layers on or be put on a chair all alone and have the pictures taken. Eventually they all gave an acceptable pose, and were all layered back up and brought back to the Baby Home.
We played with a car today, and simply pushed it back and forth between Sam and Mommy. Eventually he figured out how the car worked and was pushing it too. It seemed that his favorite activity (after eating) was playing with one of the pop-up books. He like the pictures of the animals, particularly the Giraffe. He also was very curious about how the books works. It seems that this is the case with everything he plays with. He doesn't really start to play with something, until he has figured out how it works. (I think we have another engineer here.) We tried to get him to speak today. He did quietly say "Ba" as he pointed to a book Daddy was holding. We kept at it, by saying "Book, very good" and then playing with the book for a little bit.
He also had some Apple Juice (cut with some water) in a sippy cup (w/o the valve). He has finally figured out that he has to lean his head back while drinking, but he also continues to lick the cup on the sides, like he can drink the Juice that way. If nothing else, it makes us laugh.
We have taken to calling him Sam, exclusively now. While the caregivers still refer to him by his Russian name, he does respond when we call him too. Daddy played Pick-A-Boo with him again today, and he did seem a little perplexed by it, but still smiled and pushed Daddy's hands away from his eyes, so he could see us.
We left the Baby Home around 11:30am. It seems that everyone decided to go out in their cars this afternoon on the M5 (a small highway - similar to Rt. 1 through Philly or Princeton), as there was plenty of traffic. As you get closer the the center of Moscow, the apartment building have storefronts on the 1st level.
On the M5, we pass both a Renault Factory and a Ford Factory. It seems that many of the cars driven here, are also built here in Russia. There is also a Mercedes and VW dealerships on the M5 that we drive by daily.
An interesting thing (at least for us Americans), is that the homes and building in Moscow, don't have individual hot water heaters. There is a Hot Water Plant with its very large Cooling Towers (looks like Nuclear Power plant towers, but we were told "NO!" when we asked). They then pipe hot and cold water separately to every home and building.
We have been very lucky with the weather here. While it was a little cooler today, then it has been, the sky has been blue with plenty of sunshine everyday we have been here (on this trip). There is a lot of haze, but that is mostly pollution. It could be worse; we could be getting snow.
Capitalism has definitely taken root in Moscow. McDonald's is plentiful in downtown Moscow, along with Sparros, and we even saw a Hard Rock Cafe. The other thing that has popped up all over town is the Coffee Shops. We haven't seen a Starbucks yet, but Coffee Shops / Internet Cafes, are all over the place.
We drive by Red Square every day, both to and from the Baby Home. We haven't taken the official tour yet (we hope to next week, once we really get used to the environs). Most of the buildings in the city are concrete high rises. There are some shorter buildings tucked in behind the high rises too. It seems that most of the buildings aren't even painted, but the ones that are painted are done in bright pastels (yellow, light blue, light turquoise, pink). Considering the lack of color, these buildings definitely pop out. We have also noticed many theatres and music halls throughout the city, as well as museums. It seems they use every square inch of real-estate in the city. In fact we saw a car repair shop, tucked in under a overpass to a highway.
He was very quiet today, neither smiling or verbalizing.
After about 20 minutes with us, Max came and told us that they needed to take the kids out to get their passport pictures. We put on the additional layers (another pair of pants and shirt, along with a snow suit, hats, and boots). He did not like to be all wrapped up, and we couldn't blame him. While it wasn't 50 degrees out, it was at least in the upper 30's to low 40's and he probably didn't need all the layers. Daddy went in the car with Sam, and 2 other children, with another woman from the agency, and a driver, while Mommy waited at the Baby Home. The kids were all very quiet in the car, but none of them seemed to happy to have the layers on or be put on a chair all alone and have the pictures taken. Eventually they all gave an acceptable pose, and were all layered back up and brought back to the Baby Home.
We played with a car today, and simply pushed it back and forth between Sam and Mommy. Eventually he figured out how the car worked and was pushing it too. It seemed that his favorite activity (after eating) was playing with one of the pop-up books. He like the pictures of the animals, particularly the Giraffe. He also was very curious about how the books works. It seems that this is the case with everything he plays with. He doesn't really start to play with something, until he has figured out how it works. (I think we have another engineer here.) We tried to get him to speak today. He did quietly say "Ba" as he pointed to a book Daddy was holding. We kept at it, by saying "Book, very good" and then playing with the book for a little bit.
He also had some Apple Juice (cut with some water) in a sippy cup (w/o the valve). He has finally figured out that he has to lean his head back while drinking, but he also continues to lick the cup on the sides, like he can drink the Juice that way. If nothing else, it makes us laugh.
We have taken to calling him Sam, exclusively now. While the caregivers still refer to him by his Russian name, he does respond when we call him too. Daddy played Pick-A-Boo with him again today, and he did seem a little perplexed by it, but still smiled and pushed Daddy's hands away from his eyes, so he could see us.
We left the Baby Home around 11:30am. It seems that everyone decided to go out in their cars this afternoon on the M5 (a small highway - similar to Rt. 1 through Philly or Princeton), as there was plenty of traffic. As you get closer the the center of Moscow, the apartment building have storefronts on the 1st level.
On the M5, we pass both a Renault Factory and a Ford Factory. It seems that many of the cars driven here, are also built here in Russia. There is also a Mercedes and VW dealerships on the M5 that we drive by daily.
An interesting thing (at least for us Americans), is that the homes and building in Moscow, don't have individual hot water heaters. There is a Hot Water Plant with its very large Cooling Towers (looks like Nuclear Power plant towers, but we were told "NO!" when we asked). They then pipe hot and cold water separately to every home and building.
We have been very lucky with the weather here. While it was a little cooler today, then it has been, the sky has been blue with plenty of sunshine everyday we have been here (on this trip). There is a lot of haze, but that is mostly pollution. It could be worse; we could be getting snow.
Capitalism has definitely taken root in Moscow. McDonald's is plentiful in downtown Moscow, along with Sparros, and we even saw a Hard Rock Cafe. The other thing that has popped up all over town is the Coffee Shops. We haven't seen a Starbucks yet, but Coffee Shops / Internet Cafes, are all over the place.
We drive by Red Square every day, both to and from the Baby Home. We haven't taken the official tour yet (we hope to next week, once we really get used to the environs). Most of the buildings in the city are concrete high rises. There are some shorter buildings tucked in behind the high rises too. It seems that most of the buildings aren't even painted, but the ones that are painted are done in bright pastels (yellow, light blue, light turquoise, pink). Considering the lack of color, these buildings definitely pop out. We have also noticed many theatres and music halls throughout the city, as well as museums. It seems they use every square inch of real-estate in the city. In fact we saw a car repair shop, tucked in under a overpass to a highway.
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