Counting down

Last week we felt that these past few days would never arrive – now we are planning our departure to leave Uralsk for Almaty the morning of Friday, May 4th. Provided everything goes according to plan in Almaty, we are 3 days ahead of schedule. It has been raining for the past day and a half and only this afternoon did the sun finally come out and the pastel blue Kazakhstan sky was seen behind the fir and weeping spruce trees outside our living room window. By the way, speaking of trees, after receiving the voluminous viewer mail (received 2 - thanks for playing Mark D & Linda) for the “ID the tree” game we have a winner. Mark Dougherty, Purchasing Mgr for Chapel Valley Landscape Co. (MD Region) has correctly identified the tree to be a poplar. Mark specifically notes it to be a “Lombardy” Poplar. The jury is still out on the exact cultivar but since you’re the expert Mark, we’re throwin’ you a bone (sorry Linda but Mark is a plant junkie). This afternoon I walked to the market while Joshua napped and Amy listened to Joshua nap. The weather has turned out to be gorgeous and mild and the 10 minute walk to the store for our final grocery shopping was a pleasant stroll to see the center square of the city and the bustle of the locals milling about and racing along the streets in their cars.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, last night was a rough one. Joshua couldn’t seem to get comfortable enough to stay down for the count and Amy was up, rocking him during the early hours of the morning. He wasn’t shy about airing out his lungs, and we learned this boy can cry! He has a cold and congestion with a slight fever contributing to his discomfort. This is being treated and we hope he is able to sleep through the night tonight. We also believe he’s still having a hard time adjusting to life out of the baby house, particularly not sleeping with 8 other children. He works hard to comfort himself during the night – sucking his fingers, rolling around the crib, and “burrowing” into his blankey (from Oma).

During the day we all spent a wonderful time together and you would not know it to play with him that Joshua is feeling poorly. He continues to eat well so at least his appetite and “cycle” are in working order. Ol’ga the interpreter stopped by today with her 8-year-old daughter Irena and dropped off some congestion meds for Joshua. It was raining and found out once they arrived they had walked the whole way from their apartment which is close to a mile. This is the normal way and to her it did not matter. They get around via bus, their car or walking – whatever it takes. Joshua did not care for the nose drops but we were able to administer with no lingering effects of resentment. He is feeling a little better already and we hope that by tomorrow the congestion will clear.

After nearly a month of carbs, chicken and rice, spaghetti or egg salad, Amy and I had a craving: pizza. We ate frozen Russian pizza tonight – it wasn’t exactly what we had craved but it did taste good. I said to Amy tonight the first thing I’m making when we get home is fresh salsa and guacamole (with some good chips!). Calories be damned.

We also received back from Olga a journal in which we had asked the caregivers to share their thoughts and wishes for Joshua in his new life. It was a collective project written by one, but from all 8 caregivers, in Russian. Olga was kind enough to translate into English for us and typed it out. It is filled with loving and caring sentiments, to both of us and to Joshua. We will treasure it always, and read it to Joshua for the first time today. He has made a lasting mark on the hearts of these sweet women, and we will tell him all about them, and read it to him often.

Joshua is down for now and hopefully for the night. Amy is planning our packing list and trying to make sure we will have the necessary stuff for the 3.5 hour flight to Almaty. We are modifying his schedule a bit, and will try a bottle on the plane to help his ears, along with his regularly scheduled cereal. This should be a good test run and we hope Joshua finds the trip on the airplane as fascinating as he found the trip in the car.

We will have a busy day in Almaty on Friday, where Joshua has to get some routine tests at the US Embassy medical center, and we will meet the agency head, and get to our apartment (we don’t know the exact order yet – but expect we’ll hear more tomorrow).