We left for the Babyhouse a little after 9:30am. We brought a few new things for Roman to play with. I was so pleased to see we would be the only family there. You see, the last couple of times, there was a family with a baby and they would already have all the infant type toys laid out near a mat. It was hard to get Roman to focus on us with so much stimulation of all those toys. So, I think today went well on Day 3 of bonding.
On Sunday, we bought a couple of inflatable balls, a plastic playground Mickey ball, and a coloring book. Roman loved the Mickey ball so we started rolling it around between the 3 of us...it ended up in the air a few times. I brought out the coloring books and crayons as I was hoping to work on colors. On Saturday, Maigul helped me to teach him red, green, yellow, blue in English. He's really bright, I think he's got yellow down. Well, instead of practising colors, Roman wanted us to draw fish and sharks so we just did some pictues, he didn't even really color in the coloring book much.
He got tired of playing in the play room, so we went outside to one of the vacant playgrounds. It was a sad looking playground with lots of weeds and barely anything to play on, but it was perfect for perfecting his soccer kick and boy can this kid kick! He fell down a couple of times and brushed off his hands, I always approached him to comfort him. One time he fell and skinned his elbow, I immediately ran over to him. I heard this little cry and I scooped him up and kissed his elbow. He motioned for me to do it again so I kissed his elbow several times. I wish I could have held him longer, but he is so active! He is so tiny too. It's strange to look in his face, this face of a 3-4 year old but the body the size of a 2-3 year old. We are also not so used to a child so light.
Then Roman wanted to swing so he took us to another playground. As we walked over there, we walked by his group playing on one of the playgrounds. The kids kept calling him over "Roma!" "Roma!" and he proudly told them he was with his Mama and Papa. There were a couple more playgrounds that had some Little Tikes swings,slides and playhouses. He played on various equipments then we ended up in the little house (dom or domika in Russian). He invited me in and I went to the sink and pretended to turn on the water. He then did the sweetest thing, he took my hands and pretended to wash them and my face, too. Then I pretended to wash his hands. I eventually brought out a little bottle of bubbles and his eyes got big. Friday, the other family had bubbles in the play room but it ended up being a mess and they gave them to us with the battery operated bubble blower. Roman kept referring to the bubble blower as a pistol (as translated to us) so I will not be bringing the bubble blower again! Anyway, he tries to do the bubbles all by himself but I insisted on holding the bottle, then he did very well with the bubble wand.
After some time, we went back into the play room to play a little more till it was time for us to leave. It was nice to go outside and have him run around, but it was so hot after a while, I was glad to go back inside. There is a toy there that we started teaching him colors, so we played with that a bit. I'm not pushing as I know he will absorb the English when he gets home and it's hard work to learn so many new things.
On the way back to the hotel, we dropped off some laundry to be done. As far as I can tell, there are no coin operated laundry, just drop it off to be washed and dried at the cleaners. You pay by weight. Our laundry was 4 kilos and 5000 Tenge which is about $34. We can pick it up in 3 days.
So then we come back to the hotel and check emails and get online. I also did some hand washing of clothes which I may do more of instead of dropping it off, we shall see. We got pretty dirty on the playgrounds at the Babyhouse! Then we decided to explore a little since we have been spending too much time cooped up in the room. We walked around looking for some stores near the American Bar where Tatyana took us to lunch on Saturday. We eventually found them but everything looked rather expensive. We are hoping to make it to the Green Market this week where I've heard there are bargains to be found.
We ended up at a pizza place which is near the hotel, actually located on the opposite corner. Another family mentioned it was good. We ordered water, grilled vegetables and pizza (margherita). It was nice and not too expensive.
Pictures from our exploration:
8 comments:
I love how Roman wanted you to kiss him over and over, and the sweetness of washing each other. These will be your special moments. How proud he must be to have a Mama and Papa and be able to tell everyone! Have a wonderful day Katherine!!
This is so sweet!! The vision I have of him wanting you to kiss his elbow, helping each other wash and him happy to hang out with mom and dad (rather then his buddies) gives me goosebumps and fills my eyes with joyous tears. These are the kind of moments you will always treasure, and there will be lots more to come with your little guy!! xoxo Julie
First of all, I love the name Roman. We kept our son's given name as his middle name, and then never stopped calling him that name, since at 18-months-old, he was used to that name. So, now I wish I would have kept it as his first name! :-)
Also, when we adopted Max (Makseem), we had some great days in the bonding room, and some not-so-great days. Oftentimes, it was jam packed, and not always with happy people or happy children. I know this sounds so trite, but honestly, just focus on getting through the bonding visits, and don't put too much pressure on yourself to try to help Roman understand you or vice versa. The "real" bonding will start to occur when you truly have custody of him. We couldn't get Max to interact with us much at all during bonding -- he was scared, distracted, bored, etc. (Frankly, we were all of those things at times, too!). The day we brought him home to our hotel was the day that we really became a family. You have enough going on over there -- don't put undue pressure on yourselves. Just try to support each other and get through it, and do what you can to help Roman know you and trust you. The magic will REALLY start to happen once you are together on your own turf.
The fact that he wanted you to comfort him and then he comforted you and helped you, too -- awesome! Cherish those little baby steps. Cut yourselves a break if there aren't a million of them during each bonding visit. :-)
We are really cheering you on, and sending our support!
It sounds like you all are getting along so well. I am sure Roman is so proud to have his mama and papa to play with him and to get lots of love a good old fashion attention.
I am glad you are exploring and checking out the sites. Have fun!
Have a great visiting day tomorrow.
What beautiful pictures and what a precious day it sounds like you had with your son. He is truly blessed to have his Mama and Papa now. We are thinking of you daily and lifting you up in prayer. Love, The Hollands
What a great post. And great pictures. Don't worry too much about Roman's size - our son was wearing 18mo clothes (at 3 years) when we brought him home and a year & a half later he is in 5T's. The green bazaar & Tsum are good shopping places - barter away. Don't take pictures (or be sensitive if you do) at the green bazaar - a police officer might confiscate yoru camera.
Aaron & Julie-thanks for the comments. Do you have a blog or email to share? If you want to email me, just click on the right side of my blog under 'contact me'. Great to hear how much your son has grown. I just checked today and they had him in 18 month shorts and 4t top (which was obviously too big)!
so thrilled to have caught up on your story... I just reread all the posts so far... praying that things will continue to go well... Roman sounds so precious..
can't wait to read more..
praying for you, Roman, and your girls..
Post a Comment