We see this road sign everywhere in Moscow and have to laugh. At first I thought they indicated a park nearby with children at play. While that is the case with some of these signs, most of them actually seem to be strategically placed in dangerous intersections that have a crosswalk only and not an underground tunnel for pedestrians to safely cross. Trust me, crossing the street without the aid of those tunnels is a very, very scary undertaking! The running joke in our litle CSS Moscow Group is that the sign should read "RUN DON'T WALK!!"
Today was a rainy, cold, dreary day. We had planned on visiting Ilya anyway and I am so thankful we did. Little Man had a blast and so did we. Since it was pouring outside we were led to yet another area of the orphanage that we had never seen. They allowed us to play with Ilya in a real PLAYROOM and not a hallway which was wonderful. There was all kinds of baby gym equipment, a super cute ball pit, inflatable balls of all colors and sizes, building blocks, a baby trampoline thing, all kinds of stuff to keep the 3 of us entertained. The best part was that Ilya was allowed to sit on the floor in this room and crawl around wherever he wanted. That means we were finally able to get on the floor with him, and be on his level. I loved this and so did he! He's a little laugh monster anyway but today he was nonstop. Oh, it was a great, great day.
The family I wrote about yesterday was there again today, and they were placed in the same room as us for a little while. Ilya went through many of the same responses to their presence as he did yesterday. Anytime they would get near him, he would snuggle closer to us and latch on with all his might. We just continued to hold him close, try to reassure him and redirect his attention to whatever game we had been playing. He was still very clingy with both of us. When his caregiver came to take him for his nap, she came back & told us that poor little Ilya was VERY sad to leave us today. It broke my heart, but I'm comforted knowing that in 5 days he will be here with us forever. I'm also worried because Ilya and this particular caregiver (who Norm & I LOVE) are very close and I know they will both be very sad to leave each other. She is very special to us now, and I hope she trusts that we will give Ilya everything he needs.
Enough of that - - it's bringing tears to my eyes to think about.
Despite the weather, Pasha was in a great mood today as well and had a lot of one liners that had me & Norm in stitches. Some poking fun at Americans (and rightly deserved!) but most poking fun at Russians. Traffic on the Moscow beltway and surrounding roads was insane today and it took us forever to get back to our apartment. Fortunately our ride wasn't that bad thanks to Pasha's sense of humor. Susan, he was wearing the BDU jacket you gave him and he was SO PROUD of this prized treasure! He made sure to show us the patches, his name, everything! He went on and on about that jacket for a good portion of our drive. To see his face lit up like that was wonderful. I think that was perhaps the best present he has ever been given.
The apartment we're in now is located on New Arbat Street, right beside the TGI Friday's. I know this won't mean much to the readers who haven't been to Moscow, but it may bring back memories for the families who traveled before us. This morning I snapped a few quick photos to document our view. Too bad the sun wasn't out, but what we wake up to each morning is spectacular. We're on the 19th floor. I'll try again to get sunnier photos, but for now will share these.
HIGH RISE NEXT DOOR TO OURS:
CITY VIEW FROM KITCHEN:
NEW ARBAT STREET:
OUR GROCERY STORE (open 24 hrs):
SIDEWALKS ARE MEANT TO BE PARKED ON!
6 comments:
Kar you made me cry about the jacket. We've never seen Pasha in it and after we gave it to him we never knew if it fit or not. Masha said he liked it and wore it all the time, but I didn't know if she was just being kind but to hear from you that he was proud of it makes me feel good. Tell him I can get him pants to match if he wants them. ;-) I'm sure Masha would really be happy about that. Please tell Pasha we said hello and remind him that we need his address for the adoption announcement.
BTW, how was Mama's Pasta? I'm sure you are in the building we stayed at for trip one and three. It is building 22 on Novy Arbat and has a Chinese restaurant on the ground floor which by the way is very good. Look across the street at the pink store with the Simpson's cop and that is the chicken place and doughnut place. You have to have one before you leave!
There is a children's store underneath the grocery store if you didn't notice already. Just look for the stuffed yellow dog/cartoon character and the stairs that lead down. We got Artem this stuffed hippo that has the Russian alphabet on its stomach and when you press a letter it says it in Russian and then says the word in a sentence. It also sings Russian songs and tells Russian stories. They have different animals but we picked the hippo b/c that's what he had in the baby home.
At the Mothercare store that is next to the grocery store they have an ice cream stand that has great ice cream if you get a craving. Also, between the doughnut store and the grocery store there is a green plus on a blue circle and that is a drugstore if you guys need anything. They sell baby meds as well if you need anything for Ilya once you get him back to your place.
I may be telling you stuff that you already know but maybe some of it might help you. Also, the bookstore just on the other side of TGIFridays has some excellent coffee table books on Russia with the most beautiful illustrations and its in English. It covers the whole country of Russia and tells all about the land, history, culture, etc. It is gorgeous and we thought it would be nice for Artem to have something later in life that he can look through and see Russia.
Okay, I'm done now, but I am just so happy for you guys and love that you get to see Ilya so much.
The apartment in that first photo is where Dede & I stayed for the duration of our extended 2nd trip - 22 days all totaled, I believe.
Have you found the shortcut passthrough next to the Pharmacy that gets to back to Old Arbat a little quicker? Those stairs were kinda dark & icy when we were there, but shouldn't be a problem at all now.
That's very close to where we were last month! (I think we were one building over).
And yes, we totally loved the apartment too. One of our best choices that we made. (A little scary to venture into the unknown, but it worked out great).
We're looking forward to seeing photos of Ilya!
Those photos really bring back memories! We would look out the window and stare at that view down New Arbat on all the nights we couldn't sleep on that 1st trip.
Glad you had such a great day with your Ilya.
Sounds like you had an amazing day with Ilya! I am so happy for you all that only a few more days till you will finally be together!
Looks like your "crib" is in a great location! So, glad your trip is going well. Sounds like Moscow is much better than Siberia for the long wait!
Post a Comment