Gotcha Day!

Today is the Day.

Brad’s part:
So far we slept in and ate breakfast and worked out. Not much different than usual. It is now about 2:00 in the afternoon and we are in a little bit of a panic because we don’t know if he will like the food we have for him. We are getting ready and going to go to the store and buy some extra stuff to eat and drink for tonight and in the morning. We just don’t want to not have something. It is going to be a little difficult getting him home at 7 and trying to feed him and then get him settled for bed. I am making this short due to the fact I am sure I will have plenty to write about later.

DD’s part:
We met our translator in the lobby around 4:30 and while we were down there we met an American that lives here (he, his wife and 2 kids) and teaches English classes. He said he has been trying to get in touch with us for a few days b/c he likes to hang out with Americans when they come here. He likes to show them the town. We met him a little too late because we were leaving to go pick up our boy and it will be hard to tour the town with a child. He has an apartment that he rents out to people visiting so if anyone reading this blog comes to this region, we know how to get in touch with him.

Anyway, on to getting Alex…We were in rush hour traffic, so it took us longer than usual to get to the orphanage. We finally got there around about 6pm and the orphanage doctor and Alex were waiting on us in her office. She told us to change him into our clothes. We were a little scared b/c he always hated us touching his clothes when we checked the tags for sizes. He was a little whiney, but the doctor said some stuff to him in Russian and calmed him down. We finally got the 3 layers of clothes on him. (woo hoo) That was a big step for us!

Brad carried him out to the car and he was a little hesitant about getting in, but Alexander strapped him in a car seat and off we went. Alex’s eyes looked like a deer in headlights once we started going. There are a few ways to get to the orphanage and on the way home Alexander decided to take the one that has about 500 potholes. He tries to dodge some of the potholes, so he swerves a lot. This is not good for a child that has never been in a car before. About 45 minutes into the ride Alex starts puckering his lips, so we thought he was about to get sick. You mix Alexander swerving all over the road and the heat on 95 degrees with Alex in 3 layers of clothes, you get THROW UP. Yes our first throw up incident. Thank goodness Brad was sitting next to him and not me.:) I pulled out the baby wipes and Brad started cleaning it up. After another 20 minutes we finally got to our hotel.

Brad’s part again:
Well after only 40 min as a parent I was puked on. Oh the Joys of parenthood. Fortunately it was not too bad and like Dee Dee said, most of it was on me. We got him in the room and his dirty clothes off of him. He was pretty easy to change. While naked, we went ahead and did a diaper change. That was my first of many. I learned in the first 20 minutes he knew more Russian than I thought. He said a few things and then figured out we had no idea what he was saying and started pointing. We tried to feed him a little since he lost his dinner in the car. He loves my fiber wheat finn crisps. I cannot believe it since I almost break my teeth eating them. We tried to get him drinking out of sippy cups, that did not work and when it did, he did not like the juice we put in it. He doesn’t know how to suck yet. He does like goldfish crackers. He shoveled them in his mouth like he had just found crack. We played with toys for a while and he ran around trying to figure out where he was. He is very smart. He got the picture book out that we made him and went page by page and said Papa or DaaDa. Not sure about the later, since they normally say Papa but I will take what I can get and I am glad he could tell who I was in the photos. He also started saying Mama. Dee Dee was excited about that.

He started to get cranky and it was time for bed. Somehow that ended up being my job. As soon as he got above the crib the tears started pouring. How heartbreaking is that? We just took this beautiful child from his home and everything he knows and now he thinks we are leaving him again. I picked him back up and told him it was ok and kissed him on his forehead, he squeezed my neck as hard as he could. I think the poor child thought I was leaving him forever. I sat there and rubbed his head for a few minutes and then decided to give it about 5 in the other room and let him cry it out. Sure enough in about 4 he was done and went to sleep. I walked in and checked on him a moment ago. I must say what a reassuring feeling looking at your son lay sleeping, so sweet and innocent. I am now in the other room grabbing a bite to eat and about to go try and get some sleep before our big day tomorrow. I must say I am already jumpy. I heard a noise that must have been in the hall or in another room and jumped up to check on him. I hope my blood pressure is going to stay down. I am sure everyone is at work and I am sure you can all understand the late post. Thanks again for all of your support and prayers. We still need them.

We will post pictures of him as soon as we get back in town.