Sitting around, waiting for our day on court...

Our "little one" is sitting!  We’re excited- it’s a huge difference from 2 weeks ago.  He was a little bit of a “bobble head” when we first met and last week he started the tripod sit. His head stability has improved and now he’s sitting, not for too long but each day getting stronger and stronger.  Whenever we clap for him, he looks at us like "what's the big deal, of course I'm sitting". We are still so amazed at how much a little love and one-on-one attention can help develop a baby.  Sitting is just one of the many new discoveries for our little guy but I won’t bore you with the rest!

So it’s Friday (6/12) in Karaganda and while we are waiting to hear about our court date, we are making our plans for the weekend.  I guess it’s official, we are totally settled in and feel at home now because we have a weekend full of fun activities that go beyond our Baby House visits and watching DVD's.  So here is what a weekend in our “new hometown” consists of: Right now, Fri evening, we are having drinks at the Cosmonaut bar/lounge (4 star hotel near Baby House) while taking advantage of the fastest WiFi service in town. For dinner, we have dinner plans to join our travel partners (it’s there 5 year Anniversary- HAPPPY ANNIVERSARY Jessica &Chris!) at the Cosmonaut’s very nice restaurant.  I should add that they insist on us joining them, I swear we aren’t crashing!  Tomorrow, after our Baby House visits, I have made plans with my interpreter, Julia, to go shopping to find Kazakh children story book and CD’s.  We’ll later have dinner at the Giorgia, a Georgian restaurant, for a greek salad and amazing cheese bread that’s like a pizza with a yummy sauce(kinda like salsa) to dip it in.  The kebabs are great their, too.  On Sundays there is only one Baby House visit permitted so we plan on going to the “Green Market” just outside of town in the afternoon.  It is bazaar-like market for the locals to buy just about anything you need- a fun place to explore through and get a feel for what living in Karaganda is about.  We’ll end our weekend over at our travel partner’s apartment for dinner.  We have been having each other over for dinners throughout our weeks here since we both like to cook and it’s nice to have home cooked meals every once and a while!  

I know I will regret writing this but I can't resist: he is such an easy baby!  He wakes up laughing and smiling and that same happy personality lasts throughout the day.  The caretakers all say he has always been easy going and happy so... why should that change, RIGHT?!?!?!  I guess we'll see.  In the meantime, we will enjoy his happy disposition.  

We should find out next week what our court dates will be but may not find out until the scheduled court date. 

Of course, we’ll keep you posted.

Pakka (so long) for now,

Linda