August & September 2010

Well, August was not quite as busy of a month as July. It started off with a road trip to Maryland. John went to high school in Cumberland and his good friend Billy (who now lives in Colorado) was in town visiting his parents. Billy's wife Kerri, his sister Tracey, her husband and 2 daughters were there also. It was a really great day visiting with everybody and we think they really enjoyed meeting Andrew & observing is quite large appetite :)



On August 14, we took Andrew for a follow-up visit to the eye doctor. The doctor felt that there was just a slight improvement from May in his left eye (as a result of our patching efforts). We were hoping he wouldn’t need to dilate Andrew’s eyes but he did, so that he was able to hopefully get a better look at the optic nerves. He was indeed able to get a better look and decided that the nerve in the left eye looks “different”. Since he is not sure if the nerve is just “different” looking or if it’s actually under-developed (meaning it never fully developed before birth), he would like Andrew to have an MRI done. We were hoping this would be able to be done under the same anesthesia as his circumcision but the facility where the circumcision was done doesn’t do sedated MRIs. So, he has an MRI scheduled for October 25 at Childrens Hospital.

Andrew & Laurie started “climbing cubs” which is their mommy & me gymnastics class on August 26. Andrew’s friends Julia, Ty & Reed are in the same class. He is having a good time in the class and becomes a little more comfortable every week.

In August we also had a couple of birthday parties for little girls who turned 2 - Julia and Maeve. And in September we had a birthday party for our neighbor Addie who turned 3 and a family baby shower for our neighbors Kevin & Karah. Andrew had lots of fun playing with all of his new friends.



September 1st brought Andrew's circumcision surgery - a day that we were anxious to be over. We had to be at Childrens North at 7:45am. Once checked in, we were taken back pretty quickly and they took his vitals. There were several people in and out of the room until finally the Anesthesiologist came in - he was the one that we had to get permission from for one of us to go back with Andrew until he was asleep. He just happened to be Russian (sort of ironic) and we had a nice chat with him about St. Petersburg and Moscow. He told us that we should take Andrew out to the play room and see how he does before we decide if anyone will go back with him. We played for a little bit and then a nurse came to get him - before we knew it, they were walking down the hall for surgery and we didn't even get to tell him good luck much less go back with him! We went out to the waiting room where we anxiously waited for the doctor to tell us how it went. She came out about 50 minutes later and said that he was resting in recovery & that everything went very well. Not long after that, a nurse came out and said that Andrew was awake. We were taken back to the recovery room and he was crying as he didn't completely sleep off the anesthesia. Laurie switched places with the nurse who was holding him and Andrew fell asleep on her for about 45 minutes. When he awoke he drank two sippy cups full of apple juice and was able to keep it down. They took out his IV, gave us discharge instructions and we were free to go home! We came home and ate lunch after which he took an hour & 1/2 nap. He then played outside and was perfectly fine the rest of the day! Overall, he did a great job with everything and really was only ever fussy at diaper change time for a few days - - the doctor was right, it really was like it never happened!



Laurie took Andrew to his 18 month well visit with the pediatrician (even though it was at 20 months of age - due to insurance issues from visiting the adoption doctor) on September 8. He weighed in at 25 pounds and measured 32 inches tall - - that means he has gained 5 pounds and grown 1 inch since May 6!! The doctor said she is very impressed with his progress. He got 2 more shots (one being his flu shot) so he is now all up-to-date on shots until he is 4 years old!

On September 11 we took Andrew to his first airshow. Laurie thought that he might be afraid of the Thunderbirds but he seemed fascinated by all of the planes - much to John's delight!



We had our first post adoption visit with our social worker, Rita on September 19. She came to our house and was very excited to meet Andrew. He showed her many of his "tricks" and she said she very much enjoyed playing with him. Her report was great and she gets to come back in April to visit us again :)

We’ve had many people ask us if Andrew is talking a lot. So, we decided to share a list of words he says on a regular basis. He has gotten very good at repeating words back to us but here is a list of commonly spoken words: uh oh (his first word), mama, daddy, ball, bye, dirty, hot, one, two, three, book, yes, bad, wow, turtle, truck, whoops, more, hi, no, love, wet, dry, messy, neat, dust, up, down, juice, milk, grapes, cheese, home, bath, snack and walk. He also says Ty & Reed (our friend's twin boys), Nini (Laurie's grandmother), Mike (his babysitter's husband), Bec (his babysitter's name is Becky), for Grandpa he says "Butt or Bupp" and for Grandma he says "Ma" - we are continuing to work with him on those last ones :)

In addition to these words, he also makes animal sounds for the following animals: cat, dog, cow, duck, lion, tiger and bird. He also knows that Sammy is a cat and Meows when you ask him what Sammy says :)

July 2010

Well, July was definitely a very busy but wonderfully fun month. The month began with a family turkey dinner at Nini's (Laurie's grandmother) house. Andrew ate lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and applesauce. Grandpa Morrow took great pleasure in feeding Andrew not one, but two pieces of Nini's coconut creme pie. The next fun event was the Regatta on the 4th of July. Laurie's parents and brother, Dave, came with us. Andrew got to see some speed boats and eat his first funnel cake.

The beginning of July was also when Laurie returned to work. She is now working two days a week and Andrew goes to a home daycare at the end of our street. He has been doing very well there and seems to enjoy it. Laurie is finding that two days a week is a nice balance as it gives her some adult interaction time out of the house and makes her appreciate her time at home with Andrew even more.

John was in a wedding on July 10 in Las Vegas so we packed up and the three of us went to Vegas for the weekend (from Thursday to Monday). Andrew did really well on the airplane (he's a pro now) and was a trooper the whole weekend. It was extremely hot while we were there (between 100-110) degrees but we still walked around the strip a little bit and spent some time outside. John's parents were there also for the wedding so it was nice to spend some time with them. The wedding was beautiful and we wish Doug & Leslie a lifetime of happiness.

The week we returned home from Vegas, Laurie took Andrew to a surgical consult for his circumcision. The doctor said that it's a simple procedure that will take 30 minutes with a recovery time that is generally 2 days. The surgery is schedule for September 1 and we are not looking forward to it but we know he will be ok.

PPG (John's employer) hosted a night at the Pittsburgh zoo for PPG employees & friends/familes. We took Andrew along with Laurie's parents. He had a great time seeing all of the animals and even got to pet a lizard! Grandma and Grandpa Morrow had a great time too watching Andrew's reaction to everything.

The remainder of the month was spent visiting with friends. Andrew got to meet Ava, Carson, Danica, Brady, Cole, Nick & Ben (all children of Laurie's work friends) as well as Layla, Alyssa & Chad (children of Laurie's college friends). Laurie had a great time visiting with everybody and Andrew had a blast meeting his new friends.

June 2010

Ok, change of plans...we are going to do our best to update the blog every month with the highlights of what we did the previous month. Life is way too busy to update every week and does anyone really want to hear what we did every day? ;)

At the beginning of June, Andrew got to go bowling for the first time. We had the 5th annual Wil Morrow bowling event (a yearly event in memory of Laurie's brother who was killed in a car accident on April 28, 2005) on Saturday the 5th and Andrew had a great time. With the help of his daddy, he got to roll a ball down the lane and actually knocked down some of the pins. As usual, it was a great day with family and friends!

The next big event was Andrew's baptism. This brought many of John's family members to our house and it was wonderful to see them. John's parents and our niece Catherine arrived late Thursday the 10th. Jimmie (a wonderful friend of the O'Rourke family) arrived on Friday followed by John's sister Jen (with her husband Todd and their 2 kids Colin & Sarah) and his sister Chris (with her husband Russell and their 3 kids Grant, Brynn & Marin) on Saturday. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with everyone. Sunday, June 13 was the big day and he did a great job. We had him baptized at First English Lutheran Church which is where Laurie grew up and was also baptized. He behaved well in church and didn't cry when the water was put on his head. After church, everybody came back to our house for a party. Andrew got to spend the beautiful day with wonderful people including cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandmothers, friends and of course his loving parents :)



The month of June also included Andrew's first birthday party for our neighbor Cayne, a weiner roast at great-grandma Nini's house, meeting his new friend Brady and helping to co-host a summer picnic with our friends the Maschaks. He had so much fun playing with all of his new friends.



Laurie took Andrew to a follow-up appointment at Dr. Springer's office on the 22nd where we found out that Andrew now weighs 22.2 lbs (so he has gained 2.2 lbs since being with us)! The developmental specialist said that he is doing so much better than she expected him to be doing. He is learning things quickly and developing amazing problem solving skills (which she witnessed).

The month ended with a lot of illness though. Laurie had bronchitis, John had sinus and ear infections & Andrew had pink eye (over a 1 week period, we all had an antibiotic in some form). As if that wasn't enough, the stomach flu went through the neighborhood but only Laurie got it (thank goodness).

Overall it was a great month with a lot of special memories!

Home Update #2

Last Wednesday was a beautiful day outside. Laurie and Andrew ran some errands in the morning and then in the afternoon they went swimming with the neighbors. He did great in the pool and ended up being in there for almost 3 hours!

Thursday was another beautiful day so Laurie took Andrew swimming with her friend Sarah & her two daughters (Lydia & Julia). She thought a couple of hours swimming before nap time would make him sleep longer - no such luck..he only took a 50 minute nap! Sarah's girls took 3 hour naps! Sheesh!!! In the afternoon great grandma "Nini" came over to visit again. Andrew was in a great mood and showed Nini all of his dance moves - she loved it!

Friday morning Laurie took Andrew shopping and then they met her friend Tara & her son Cole for lunch. Andrew enjoyed meeting his new friend and they both had their moments of silliness during lunch :) Cole is getting ready to be a big brother as Tara is expecting twin boys next month!

Saturday was John's 32nd birthday. The day began with John and Laurie taking turns getting some things done around the house. After nap time, Laurie's parents came over to babysit so that we could go out for John's birthday. John chose to visit Taipei for dinner and then we went to Ross Park mall so that John could get fitted with a tux for a wedding he is in. Andrew ended up doing great with grandma and grandpa. They had a lot of fun playing and they said he was a good boy :)



Sunday we both took Andrew swimming again. The thought of tiring him out before nap time was there again but like Thursday, it didn't work - the child simply is NOT a good napper! When he woke up we drove to Butler for dinner at Laurie's parent's house. On the way, we stopped at Laurie's friend Kimmy's house and Andrew got to meet his friend Levi and see Leah again (she came to the airport with her mommy when we got home). At grandma & grandpa's house, Andrew got to play with his Uncle Dave, Aunt Maggie and their dog Harpua again. Grandpa took Andrew out to the porch swing and he seemed to enjoy it. He did not, however, like the grass. He made a horrible face anytime we made him walk on it and was only happy when grandma brought out a blanket for him to sit on and brownies to eat (they are very familiar with his favorite dessert). This was the day that he started saying "uh oh" - it is said about 1000 times every day now :)



On Monday we spent most of the day at home and John entertained Andrew while Laurie got some things done around the house. This day was a bit challenging because the weather did not cooperate with nap time (VERY loud thunderstorm) and because of the noise, Andrew took a zero minute nap! That meant he was quite crabby the rest of the day. We went over to Laurie's Aunt Deb & Uncle Tom's house and visited with Uncle Tom's family who were there for a picnic. Andrew enjoyed playing in Aunt Deb's tupperware cabinet and sharing a banana with their bird Jasper :)

Tuesday morning Laurie took Andrew for a walk with her friend Andrea & her boys Ty and Reed. After the walk we stopped at Andrea's house and the boys played for a little bit. Andrew almost fell asleep during lunch but as usual only took a short nap. After dinner, we all took a trip over to our friends' house (Sarah, Phill, Lydia & Julia). Andrew played in a sandbox for the first time and although he often tried to eat the sand, he didn't like the way it stuck on his hands. He also got to play in Lydia's Barbie Cadillac Escalade and she took him for a ride around the yard.



Today was mostly spent at home playing except for a trip to do some grocery shopping. Andrew was in a very silly mood and "talked" the entire time in the store. Everyone we passed smiled and quite a few made comments about how cute he is - we, of course, agree with them :)

First 2 weeks home...

Yes, we realize this post is long overdue and many have been wondering how our time at home as been going...here is a recap of our first two weeks at home with Andrew (we are going to try and write an update once a week).

Our last day in Russia consisted of traveling to the airport, waiting for our flight and then spending a long time in the air. We were on the plane from Moscow to Washington, DC for 12 hours and Andrew only slept for 2 1/2 hours! Overall he did really well though. There were moments of fussing and when it reached bed time (Russia time) he was clearly exhausted but there was too much going on for him to settle down and fall asleep. When we landed in DC, we had to go through immigrations and customs as well as security again. Our gate was on the other side of the airport and we only had 20 minutes until our next flight was taking off so we ran - only to find out that there a mechanical problem and the flight was delayed. We finally boarded (only 15 minutes late) and were on our way back to Pittsburgh. When we arrived in Pittsburgh airport and came down the escalators, we were greeted by about 27 of our family and friends. Since it was Laurie's brother Dave's birthday, he was given a birthday card with Baby O's name in it and the honor of announcing it to the crowd :) Andrew William's name in Russia was Andrey.

Andrew fell asleep at the airport (in Grandma Morrow's arms) and slept the whole way home. He pretty much remained sleeping while we got him into his pajamas and into his very own bed for the first time. The next day was Mother's Day (which was a very special first Mother's Day for Laurie) so when Andrew awoke at 4:30am, Daddy got up with him and let mommy sleep a little longer. The day was spent getting unpacked, doing laundry and letting Andrew explore his home and play with his new toys - it was like Christmas morning all day :)

Monday began with another early wake up but this time it was a little later - 5:30am. We quickly learned that baby jet lag is rough, especially when mommy and daddy are getting used to the time difference as well after 27 days in Russia. Sleep has actually turned out to be one of our only challenges. John returned to work on this day. Laurie & Andrew spent this day and the following day at home just hanging out. We worked with Andrew on Tuesday a little bit with walking from one to the other without holding onto anything (he had always needed at least a finger to hold onto) - he did great and got so excited each time!

On Wednesday Laurie took Andrew on his first trip to Butler so that they could spend the day with her brother Dave. Andrew got to meet his Aunt Maggie (she couldn't make it to the airport) and their dog Harpua. He and Harpua bonded because Harpua has a red ball he loves to chase and Andrew loves to throw things - it was a match made in heaven :) Andrew had his first trip to the mall on this day - he actually did great in the stroller. He began walking more and more on his own this day also.

Thursday was a long day because Andrew didn't sleep very well the night before and only took a 30 minute nap. Mommy was very happy for Daddy to get home from work so she could get out for a little bit (a trip to Target was needed anyways). This was the day he started drinking out of a sippy cup! Even though he won't hold it himself while drinking, it's much easier than what we were doing before. (oh, we found out that what he was drinking out of in the orphanage was a small tea cup!)

Friday we took Andrew to the pediatric ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked out. After a short exam where he had to follow things with his eyes and his pupils being dilated with drops (which he did NOT like and screamed the entire time the doctor tried to look in his eyes), it was determined that his left eye has weak muscles and tends to turn in. He is also slightly far sighted in that eye. So, we were given some patches to wear over his right eye for 2 hours a day and a prescription for glasses (to only wear at periodically at home to strengthen the left eye). The doctor told us to anticipate the patch wearing to not go well and to start out a couple of minutes a day building up to the 2 hours a day. Well, the second day he wore it for over an hour and is now up to 2 hours a day and it's only been a week and 1/2! We have noticed a difference already.

Saturday we were visited by Grandma and Grandpa Morrow for a couple of hours. They loved playing with their first grandchild and he loved playing with them. Sunday was a day of relaxing at home and we were visited by Laurie's Aunt Deb, Uncle Tom and cousin Tommy. Uncle Tom and Tommy were at the Penguin game when we arrived back in Pittsburgh so this was their first time meeting Andrew - Uncle Tom enjoyed playing Tonka trucks again after so many years :) Sunday night we had dinner with the neighbors and Andrew got to play with his new friends.

Laurie took Andrew to do some grocery shopping on Monday. Our family and friends were so wonderful with supplying us with groceries and prepared foods that we made it a week without having to do any food shopping! He did really well but since it was lunch time he kept grabbing whatever he could reach from the back of the cart and pulling it forward.

Tuesday was a bit of a traumatic day. We took Andrew for a medical exam with the physician we consulted during the adoption process (she was recommended by the adoption agency to review the video we received and we have been in touch with her several times since then). Dr. Springer has experience with adopted children and knows what special things to look for. Andrew was also evaluated by a developmental specialist who said he looks great. She told us the opposite of what the Moscow doctor told us - we need to feed him until he explodes. She said Andrew needs to learn how to tell us he's full and has had enough food. At this visit he was 20lbs 11oz and 31 1/4 inches long. He is in the 25th percentile for his height and the less than 3rd percentile for his weight - we need to encourage the eating even more apparently :) Dr. Springer said that according to the orphanage's records, he has gotten more vaccines than any other adopted child she has seen. He did have to get 3 shots and a TB test during this visit though and we got a script for blood work to be taken so that it could be verified that all of the vaccines were actually received (stool sample vials were also given to collect over 3 different days). After the doctor visit, we stopped by the adoption agency. We had to drop off some paperwork and they had called Laurie twice the week before asking if we could stop by so they could meet Andrew. Everyone was there (except the director) and they really enjoyed meeting him. He played with some toys, walked around and let them each hold him.

Wednesday was a day spent hanging out at home and trying to work on a schedule. Andrew is not a good napper so that is something that Laurie is trying to work on. While the car acts as a sedative and he almost always falls asleep at some point in his seat, it's not always the case with his crib. He is doing better at taking naps at the same time, but the length varies from 25 minutes to a little over an hour. He has been sleeping most nights for about 10 hours. There have been several nights where he has woken up in the middle of the night but falls right back to sleep - except for this night. He went to bed at 8:30pm and was up from 11:15pm to 3:00am and then woke up for the day at 7:00am!

Thursday was a long day for everyone due to Andrew's sleep pattern the night before. Laurie's grandmother "Nini" came over for an hour to spend some time with Andrew. He had just woken up from his short nap and was a bit crabby during most of her visit. Laurie gave him some cheerios and that seemed to make him a little happier and he played with Nini .

Friday started out with Laurie taking Andrew back to Dr. Springer's office (which is in Squirrel Hill) to have his TB test checked. After a 2 minute visit, everything checked out fine and they were on their way back to Walmart to pick up a few things. They walked down to the neighbor's pool after nap time and he put his feet in. Hopefully he will enjoy the pool since (after coming home) he seems to love bath time! He gets in the water and loves splashing around and playing now - he especially LOVES getting his hair washed which was his most hated part in Russia.

Saturday we went to Laurie's parent's house for a picnic. It was Andrew's first trip to Grandma and Grandpa's and his first picnic. Everyone seemed to have a blast playing with him. He was in a great mood and was definitely the entertainment for the day. On Sunday Andrew spent some quality time with Daddy while Mommy went to the neighbor's house for a jewelry party. Laurie's cousin, Erin, then came over (with her mom Kim) to give Andrew his first haircut. We put him in the highchair out on the deck and he cried/screamed the entire time. The haircut was definitely needed and she did a great job! He is an even more handsome little boy (if that's possible)!



Monday was a traumatic day for both Andrew and Mommy. They went to the lab for some bloodwork. It ended up that he had 7 tubes of blood taken! Laurie had to hold him in a bear hug and one phlebotomist held his arm while another one took the blood. She got him on the first try and he did really well but screamed and cried the whole time. Laurie took him home after and gave him some brownies - his favorite dessert :) He recovered very quickly and didn't seem bothered by it the rest of the day.


Today Laurie took Andrew into work to meet her friends and co-workers. He had a fun time and it seemed like they enjoyed meeting him. For Laurie it was really nice to see everybody after over 6 weeks off :) Tonight after dinner, mommy and daddy took Andrew swimming for the first time in the neighbor's pool. He did really well and there weren't any tears!

Andrew William O'Rourke

Born: December 25, 2008

5 years ago....and now...

Anyone who was with us on this day 5 years ago at our wedding will remember what a joyous day it was…today we have experienced a different kind of joyous day - - our last full day in Russia before returning home (after being gone for 27 days)!!

Today began the same as the last couple of days….up early and taking the munchkin downstairs for breakfast. While we were eating, we saw Ann (the single woman with our agency who had court right before us) and her son Gionni. They ate their breakfast and then came over to talk. We shared our experiences since we saw each other the day of court. She went home for the waiting period (she has another son at home that she adopted from Moscow 5 years ago) and had trouble getting back – she was stuck in Amsterdam for a day because of the volcanic ash cloud. It turns out that her hotel room is across the hall from us so as we walked up from breakfast, we decided to go out and take a walk together.

We were nervous about trying another walk with the stroller based on our experience on Wednesday. Baby O and Gionni (who also doesn’t think much of the stroller) did great! No crying! Maybe because they had each other to look at and they each knew they weren’t the only one in a stroller helped. We showed Ann how to get to Red Square from our hotel but unfortunately there was even more of the area closed off for the weekend festivities. We decided to explore a little and walked to a different area of the city. After about an hour and ½, we returned to the hotel for nap time. Ann had her embassy visit this afternoon but mentioned maybe going for another walk later this evening and we said sure!

After nap time we spent the afternoon playing in our hotel room. The weather today was beautiful (sunny and about 75-80 degrees) so we decided to take a little walk on our way to our anniversary dinner. We found a restaurant named “Gusto” and it was great! The hostess led us upstairs where we were in our own little section. The menu was fantastic and there was even American music playing – everything from techno to JLo to Usher – we forgot for a couple hours that we were in Russia :) After our delicious dinner (that all 3 of us very much enjoyed), we walked back to the hotel to regroup and see if Ann was around. She and Gionni stopped by and asked if we wanted to go for another walk in about 30 minutes.

We are pretty much all packed and ready to go in the morning – we actually never really got unpacked since it’s only been a few days here. Victor is picking us up at 9:00 which is perfect timing for us to get showers and breakfast. The airport is about an hour & ½ from the hotel and our flight is at 12:30. We are praying that the 11 straight hours in the air will go well. We have lots of food to take with us so that won’t be a problem, just hoping that somebody sleeps a little :)

For everybody who won’t/can’t be at the airport to welcome us home tomorrow (we arrive at 6:05pm), we will post an entry when we get to our house with a picture and name!!!

Only 1 more night and we will be sleeping in our own beds!

We're Done!!!!

Well, our plans for last night didn’t really work out. We walked toward Red Square but due to the huge Victory Day celebration here on Saturday, it is closed to everyone. We could see things through the gates but were unable to walk through the Square. Another challenge was the stroller issue. We started out with him in the stroller crying and made it to the area around Red Square with some moments of silence mingled in with the crying. Then the screaming started. We already feel as if we are under scrutiny (it might just be paranoia but ever since the adoption freeze talk started, we feel as if everyone is really watching us with him) so we took him out of the stroller and carried him the rest of the walk. The concierge had recommended a café across from our hotel for dinner (we asked for a suggestion of a not expensive restaurant that would be “baby friendly”). Well, the café was neither inexpensive nor “baby friendly”. The menu was small and strange so we ended up feeding Baby O his dinner (jar of baby food in a china bowl the waiter brought), drinking cokes and John ordered a salad. Overall it was not a pleasant experience and we don’t know if the concierge thought it was funny or if he just wanted to be rid of us since he was on a phone call. We returned to the hotel and John walked to a nearby McDonalds to get us dinner (the first time we’ve had McDonalds in Russia this trip).

This morning we woke up and took the bottom-less pit downstairs for breakfast. We came back up to our room and played until nap time. Around 11:00 am (during Baby O’s nap) we started to hear a loud rumble that shook the hotel. Since our hotel is so close to the Kremlin/Red Square, we can see the military practicing all week for the 9th of May victory parade and celebration (our hotel even got a metal detector by the door this morning for heightened security). This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Soviets victory over the Nazis in WWII. As we looked out the hotel window, groups of military aircraft were flying by very low and in formation. After about 10 groups of aircraft (helicopter, fighter jets and bombers) the last group of fighter jets flew by with the colors of Russia streaming out of the back. Even with all the rumbles and shaking Baby O slept through all of this and did not wake up until our coordinator called the room to tell us, that because of these activities we would not be picked up at 12:45 but at 1:15.

Victor picked us up this afternoon and we were off to the Embassy. When we arrived, we went through security and up to the adoption interview window area. There were 2 other families that soon joined us in that area. One was a woman from Florida and her 9 year old daughter (her husband had already returned home) and the other was a couple from Minnesota and their 16 month old little boy. They have all also been in Russia for weeks and are just as anxious as us to get home. It was nice to talk to other people who are at the end of the journey and share this exciting step with them. The woman and her little girl are actually on the same flight as us to Washington DC on Saturday. The process today was very simple…we were called to the window and there was a lovely AMERICAN man who processed us. He commented on how Baby O is a Christmas baby and he said that his birthday is Christmas Eve. He encouraged us to please celebrate both things separately and anybody who combines a birthday and Christmas gift should be shunned :) We were told that there would be an interview but there were no questions asked (we did have to both raise our right hands and swear that all of the information we provided was true to the best of our knowledge). He reviewed some papers with us, explained to us about Baby O’s dual citizenship and went over our immigration process at the airport in DC. Then we had to review Baby O’s picture and information that would be on the visa and wait until the visa was created. We had more time to bond with the other families and share stories. Baby O played blocks with the other little boy (Graham - who we learned also wants nothing to do with sippy cups) and while Graham was walking on his own, Baby O was babbling and making a lot more noise. When they called our name we got back his passport with the American visa and a “top secret” sealed envelope to present to the immigration officials when we land in DC. That means….WE ARE DONE!!! All requirements have been met and the process is complete!!!

Once back at the car, Victor congratulated us and asked where we wanted to go. There is a sculpture in Moscow that Laurie was really hoping to see and when we asked Victor about it, he didn’t know anything about it or where it is located. John remembered reading that it is in a park near a convent so Victor drove us to such a location that he knew of – hoping it would be the right one. It was the correct location and we were able to walk through the park and see the sculpture. There are 2 such sculptures in the world – in Boston and Moscow. It is based on the beloved American children’s story “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey and this one was a gift to the children of the Soviet Union on behalf of the children of the United States given by Barbara Bush. Laurie saw the one in Boston last fall and was so pleased to see the other one today. Victor thanked us for showing him something in Moscow he didn’t know about.

We left the park and Victor suggested that he take us to the other side of Red Square so that we could take pictures of St. Basil’s cathedral. Baby O fell asleep in the car so Victor stayed with him while we walked over to Red Square. We were able to get much closer today (since we were on the other side) and it was cool to see the cathedral, the Kremlin and all of the decorations for their big celebration on Saturday. When we returned to the hotel there was a different concierge so we asked for her recommendations on where to eat dinner. She told us of a Russian restaurant very nearby and brought up their menu online. We decided to try it and she made us a reservation. When we arrived at the restaurant they sat us in a separate non-smoking section where only one table was occupied (by two men around our age who spoke English). Baby O was very loud the entire time and wanted to eat the entire time. At one point John commented that he wondered where the quiet & reserved baby was that we met in February because this is a whole different person!

Only 2 more nights and we will be sleeping in our own beds!

Moscow...

Well, we successfully made it to Moscow but yesterday was a long day! We woke up at our normal time and daddy spent the morning playing while mommy finished gathering and packing everything up. The weather was not very nice (chilly and rainy) so when Alec arrived around 1:00, he came up to our apartment to help carry all of our luggage to the car. Once the car was packed, we said goodbye to the apartment that served as our home for 23 days.

We picked up Natasha on the way to pick up his passport. John went into the office with Natasha while Laurie and Baby stayed in the car. There was a waiting line at the office and it ended up taking over 2 hours to get the passport. There was some confusion in the office and they couldn’t find any of his paperwork. Just as John & Natasha thought we might be in St. Petersburg another night, they found everything. We then said our goodbyes to Natasha and Alec took us to the airport. We arrived at the airport just over 2 hours before our flight. Alec helped us carry everything in to where we could check our bags. We were in a different terminal than when we flew home last visit (since this flight was domestic) and we were thankful for that as we didn’t really care for that part of the airport. Once our bags were checked, we walked around a little bit and fed our baby his dinner. Soon it was time to board the plane and we were ready to get to our destination. Overall he did great on the plane…as long as we kept feeding him – haha! He was a little fussy at the end and we wonder if his ears were bothering him or if it had something to do with his earlier than usual nap and the fact that it was very close to bed time.

After we got our luggage, we met Victor our new driver. He speaks English very well which we were relieved about. Victor was very prepared for us - he had a car seat (this is not a law in Russia so most people don’t have one) and CD’s with children’s music (in Russian though of course). Baby O was NOT pleased with being put in the seat but we think this was mostly because he was extremely tired. Our first views of Moscow were that it very much resembled home. There are, of course, the old and beautiful buildings here as well but overall it is much more modern and commercialized. We reached our hotel (it was approximately 30 minutes away from the airport we landed in – we will be leaving out of a different airport) about 10 minutes after he fell asleep but he woke up in the transport to our room. Victor told us he would be back to pick us up at 8:45 for our appointments in the morning. It ended up being a late bed time last night – considering we didn’t get checked into the hotel until almost 10pm and had to wait for them to bring a crib to our room.

After getting ready this morning, we ate breakfast in our hotel (it’s included in our room fee which is a nice convenience). Victor was right on time and we went to Baby O’s medical exam – the car seat went over a little bit better today than last night. We met Anna (one of our Moscow coordinators) at the medical clinic and she prepared our paperwork (stuff that she had, that we brought from home and from St. Petersburg) for the Embassy while we went in with the doctor. The doctor’s name was Boris and he was very friendly…we liked him right away because he commented on how handsome Baby O is :) Boris told us that his lungs sound clear and that Baby O is teething which is most likely what is causing his runny nose and cough which was good to hear. Everything checked out great and we were told that he currently weighs 20 pounds. He said that orphanage children will eat 25 hours a day and that it’s important to not feed them until they explode, but just do several smaller feedings throughout the day. We were happy to hear that we’ve been handling that correctly :) Boris was able to recognize something in 15 minutes that we’ve realized over the past few days – that even though Baby O loves his daddy, he is a mama’s boy. He said that it’s important that the child feels loved and gets attention, but it’s also important to realize that he knows how to manipulate with his big crocodile tears and “mama has to take care of her back”.

We left the medical clinic and headed to the US Embassy. John went into the Embassy with Anna (so that he could pay for Baby’s visa) and then returned to the car while Anna presented our paperwork to the Embassy officials. We will return there tomorrow for an appointment at 2:00 to have an “exit interview” and get his visa along with other important documents that need presented to the American officials when we land in Washington DC. After our short time at the Embassy today, Victor took us to a grocery store to get water, milk and some “snacky” stuff for Baby O and then we returned to the hotel for lunch and nap time. We plan on taking a walk this afternoon to Red Square (a short distance from our hotel) and finding a yummy place for dinner.

Only 3 more nights and we will be sleeping in our own beds!

The zoo...

Well, the 10 minute nap yesterday paid off with sleeping time last night - - 11+ hours! We couldn't believe it when we woke up at 7:30 and he was still sleeping! This morning we actually had somewhere to be so it was a little more busy with keeping him fed and getting ready.

Alec picked us up and we were off to the zoo. We arrived just after it opened so there were not many people there but with today being part of their 3 day holiday weekend, it quickly filled up. He was not happy with being in the stroller, in he screamed his head off in it, so we ended up carrying him the entire time. He really wasn't happy unless we were sitting on a bench feeding him Gerber puffs. The trip only lasted a couple of hours because we figured he wanted lunch and a nap. We can't say that it was fun, but we did get to see the zoo and take some pictures. When we returned "home", he ate some pasta and then took a 2+ hour nap!

After he woke up, there was lots of playing and (of course) lots of eating. We decided to take a walk around St. Petersburg for the last time and again, he wanted nothing to do with the stroller so we had to carry him - we really didn't like the nasty looks from the Russian people with his crying. When we returned he ate dinner and then played the evening away. Bed time was a little later tonight - probably due to the long (and later) nap today.

Alec is picking us up tomorrow at 1:00 so that we can get all of our luggage loaded into his car and make it to the passport office by 2:00. Natasha will meet us there with all of our paperwork and help us pick up his passport. Then it's off to the airport! We leave for Moscow around 7:00pm and the flight is only a little over an hour long. It was such a tease packing our bags tonight because we will still be living out of them for another 4 days.

Weekend #3 Update...

Saturday was a rainy yucky day....so, that meant we were trapped in the apartment all day. The morning was spent eating and playing (as usual) and then came nap time. Fortunately, when you are staying in an apartment on a busy, main street (Nevsky Prospect) you have the perfect view of the May Day parade that passed by. Unfortunately, when that parade starts exactly the same time somebody was going down for a nap. So....nap time was delayed an hour while we sat in the window sill watching the very interesting parade. We would like to thank the people of St. Petersburg for their strange and very loud display of patriotism :)

The remainder of Saturday was pretty uneventful. The bottomless pit wanted to eat all the time. When we managed to distract him from the table area, the rest of our day was spent playing. He was delirious by bed time so he was asleep in 2 minutes.

Sunday we woke up to a bright and sunny morning and an adorable smiling baby. He continues to sleep 10 hours every night - which is wonderful! Sometime around late morning we decided to go for a walk - fresh air was needed after being trapped inside all day Saturday. We walked over to the Cathedral of Spilled Blood and the Souvenir Fair again. He was not very impressed with the shopping and let everybody know about it :) So, we decided to walk back to the apartment for his nap. He fell asleep in the stroller about 10 minutes from "home" and woke up in the transport up the stairs - - that ended up being nap time today (a total of 10-15 minutes)....

We fed him lunch and decided to go out for another walk (thinking maybe he would fall asleep in the stroller again - nope...). It started to sprinkle a little bit so we turned around and headed for the apartment. The rest of the day was spent eating and playing - see a pattern :) Bath time was no better than the last time...hopefully when we get home next weekend he will get comfortable and be able to calm down and relax in the tub.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day outside so we decided to visit the St. Petersburg zoo. It will be our last outing here before we head to Moscow on Tuesday night. We are looking forward to a change of scenery although not looking forward to being confined to a hotel room - it's been nice having space in the apartment.

Hanging around the apartment...

After another 10 hours of sleep, he awoke again with a big smile on his face. He ate his breakfast which such enthusiasm one would think he hadn't eaten in a week - he sees his bowl of food coming and his eyes get really big and his arms start flapping! Meanwhile, remember all of that food listed yesterday...he has a healthy appetite that's for sure! Most of the morning was spent eating and playing. We aren't exactly sure how long his nap lasted today because we didn't know he was awake until we heard him crying - an hour and 1/2 at the most.

The cleaning people didn't show up yesterday when expected and decided to knock on the door during his nap today - we told them they had to come back later. When he got up we gave him some lunch and then decided to go for a walk while the place was cleaned. We walked to the end of our side street where there is a pretty fountain surrounded by benches. After a combination of sitting on the benches and walking around the fountain a few times it started to rain. We returned to the apartment as it was just being finished. The rest of the day consisted of - you guessed it - eating and playing!! Bath time tonight was a bit more traumatic. He cried the entire time and again had a death grip on Laurie while pleading with his eyes to please get him out. We were warned by our agency that bath time might be a little rough and while it hasn't been as bad as we imagined, it's not exactly fun. Once he was done and ready for bed - it was like nothing ever happened...he was happy as can be!

Bed time was about the same as last night - which is good! We don't want to jinx things, but can he go 3 nights in a row with 10+ straight hours of sleep?

First trip to the store...

Well bath time last night was an interesting experience....he was not entirely thrilled with the process but we got through it. He stood most of the time with a death grip on Laurie while John washed him off until it was time for his hair. At that point he sat down holding onto John crying his eyes out while Laurie washed his hair. Probably the funniest part was when his feet first touched the water and he peed :) He smelled so wonderful when it was over that it was definitely worth the struggle!

Bed time went a little bit better and he slept last night just over 10 hours straight! He woke up this morning and we could hear him in the crib kind of talking to himself. When he heard one of us move, he sat up and got a huge smile on his face. We played and ate most of the morning away. He took his nap a little earlier today but we thought that might be good because if he slept for 2 hours again, he would wake up around the time we would need to leave for the cleaning people. Well, he woke up after only an hour...but with a smile on his face :)

We got ready and left the apartment for the grocery store (there were a few things we forgot to get on Monday). He did really well on the walk over (in his stroller) and also in the store. The only fussy moment was in the check-out line but even that was minimal. He sang to himself on the walk back which was adorable. We felt like we were getting nasty looks from the Russian people though because he wasn't in a snow suit - haha! We've realized (in the past week) while observing other people with their little children, it's not just the orphanage who dresses the kids in snow suits. It's as if there is a rule that all children under the age of 2 must wear a snow suit outside until it's 65 degrees out.

After our trip to the store, he was a little fussy. It seemed like he was tired but didn't want to lie down. So, we tried food and that did the trick :) He is a great eater for us...this is what he ate today: bowl of oatmeal, a banana, piece of cheese, container of yogurt, scrambled eggs (2 eggs), piece of bread with butter, grapes, cottage cheese, bowl of pasta and pudding. Plus he loves to drink (still not drinking out of a sippy cup on his own though - we hold the cup to his mouth without the lid on): a couple glasses of water, a couple glasses of apple juice and a couple glasses of milk!

For most of the evening we've watched him crawl around the entire apartment after he circled the dining room table (holding onto the edges) and played with every single toy. We were hoping he would run out of steam and bed time would go smoothly and...it did!! Easiest bed time so far! :)

Emotions...

After such a great day yesterday, today is filled with so many emotions....

We awoke (after over 9 hours of continuous sleep for Baby O) this morning after sleeping as a family in the same room. The joy was overwhelming as was the feelings of what day it is. It was 5 years ago today, that Laurie's brother Will died. It's a hard thing to deal with being so far away from family and traditions of this day, but there is a really good 16 month old distraction here from some of the pain.

Our first day together has been mostly spent getting used to habits and schedules. After breakfast, there were several hours of indoor playing. He still hasn't quite gotten the grasp of walking on his own, so there has be A LOT of crawling and walking holding onto a finger :) He has been very happy all day - lots of smiles and laughter again. It was approaching lunch time and he led Laurie over to the dining room table - he was ready to eat! He has been eating really well for us and we are happy to "put some meat on his bones" - he's a skinny little peanut!

Nap time again was a bit of a struggle. He is having so much fun playing that he doesn't want to give in and fall asleep. It didn't take as long as bedtime did last night, but there were some tears today. We are sure it's hard because of the new surroundings too. After his almost 2 hour nap, we decided to take a walk since the sun was out a little today. It didn't last too long because it was windy and he seemed more interested in playing with his mittens than observing his surroundings but he laughed almost the whole time.

We just finished his dinner and we are going to attempt the first bath before bed time. They warned us that this might not be a favorite time in the beginning, so we are prepared for some crying. We are hoping that he sleeps as well tonight as he did last night :)

We have our son!!!

After a VERY long day....we are finally all together in the apartment!!!

The day began with a call from Natasha around 8am...we were up and getting ready for our 9:00 pick-up and she said her reason for calling was to let us know that our pick-up would now be at 10:00 - she said she was trying to get ahold of us all evening yesterday but she had the wrong # written down and decided to call our apartment place this morning to get the correct one. So, when we finally headed out around 10 we were greeted at our gate by Galina. We led her to where we meet Alec and she let us know that we had to pick up Natasha at the court. Apparently there was a typo mistake on something with our paperwork so Natasha had to have the judge correct it. When we arrived at the court, we found out that the judge was not there yet so we must wait...and wait we did - for an hour and 1/2 in Alec's car! When Natasha finally came out, we went to the birth certificate office. We were in that office for over an hour but finally walked out with an adoption certificate and a birth certificate (with his new name)!

At this point of the day, Natasha had some other places to go so Galina stayed with us. Our next destination was the orphanage but first we had to stop at a supermarket to purchase 2 cakes (it is a tradition for a family adopting a child to bring cakes to the orphanage for them to celebrate a child getting a new life). Once we arrived at the orphanage, we were told that we were early and that we had to meet with Tatiana (the director/doctor) but she is in court and will not return until at least 3:00 or 3:30 (it was 1:45). So, we walked with Galina to a nearby shopping mall where we had lunch. It took just the right amount of time and when we returned they brought him to us (in the clothes we brought for him) and then a couple of minutes later Tatiana came in. She answered a couple of remaining questions we had and then led us to the door. We walked outside with him at exactly 4:00pm :)

The car ride to our next stop was quite a fascination for him. He spent most of his time just looking around and taking it all in. When we arrived at the passport office, we had to wait a little for Natasha to arrive. She took John and Galina with her into the office (we were not both required to be there in order to apply for his passport) while Laurie stayed in the car with Alec and Baby O. We thought he might fall asleep in the car, but nope he just wanted to play the whole time - he was a very happy boy today :) An hour later, the passport group returned to the car and we were on our way to the apartment (his passport will be ready on Tuesday for pick-up).

When we entered the apartment he very quickly wanted to explore...he spent a little time taking everything in and playing with his toys and then it was dinner time. He did a great job with dinner and we were shocked to learn that he knows sign language for "more" (which we wouldn't know if it weren't for our friends Ty and Reed) so we knew when he was still hungry. We were a little concerned because he wouldn't drink from a sippy cup (they told us that he has been drinking out of a cup since Oct but they never specified what kind of cup and we just assumed). We tried a regular cup and it took both of us, but he chugged the entire cup of water. Bed time proved to really be our only challenge today (other than all of the waiting). He was over-tired and just didn't want to give in. It took a little over an hour but not really any tears before he finally gave in :)

All in all, it was a fantastic day. He was full of smiles and laughter (right away through bed time) and so were we!

Weekend #2 Update...

Saturday was a fairly laid back day. The sun was out for most of the day but the temperature was not very warm and there was a lot of wind. We decided in the afternoon to take a walk. John read about a beautiful view from a certain angle at The Hermitage so we walked over to check it out. From there we walked over to our favorite Souvenir Fair and John managed to find and purchase the only Pittsburgh Penguins nesting doll they had. The walk only lasted a couple of hours but it was nice to get out of the aparment.

Alec picked us up today at 10:30 for the journey to Peterhof. We found ourselves in a different part of St. Petersburg and it was refreshing to see some new sights. Once we got to the edge of the city, we reached a region that Alec said is "for sleeping" and it seemed to be one high rise apartment building after another. We commented to each other that after being in Russia a total of 18 days (between trips 1 & 2) we had yet to see a house and wondered where they are. Probably 10 more minutes into our trip, we saw our first house. There were actually a lot of houses from this point to Peterhof and it was nice to see something "normal" and "like home" instead of being surrounded by the beautiful, huge, old buildings that are in the city :)

Peterhof is an imperial estate that was founded in 1710 by Peter the Great. It is a combination of several palaces, a number of wonderfully landscaped parks and an array of magnificent statues and fountains, all contributing to it being known as "The Russian Versailles". The Grand Cascade flows beautifully from beneath the Grand Palace towards the Gulf of Finland (the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea) and is one of the largest fountain ensembles in the world. We were hoping that they would have all of the fountains running on the day we visited Peterhof - we couldn't get a definite answer as to when they started though...some said April, some said May 1 and most said May 9. So, we decided to go today since we thought it might be hard to go there next weekend with the baby and we will be home on May 9 :) Well, the fountains weren't on. There were a few that they apparently were testing, so they were running when we got there but were later turned off. Despite the fountains not being on, it was still a breathtaking site to behold. We took a VERY windy stroll to the banks of the Gulf of Finland, walked around the palace (decided not to tour the inside), and walked over most of the grounds. All in all, we were there for a few hours and it was a great way to spend the day - there was not a cloud in the sky and when the wind wasn't blowing, it was delightful to walk in the sun.

What we saw...
What it looks like in the summer...

On the way back to our apartment, Alec asked if we wanted to stop for lunch. We told him yes and treated him to lunch at a delightful restaurant that is directly across the street from a St. Petersburg residence of President Medvedev (where Alec told us President George W Bush once visited).

Tomorrow will be our last day before we pick him up at the orphanage. We plan to make another trip to the grocery store and just relax a little more in anticipation of the big day on Tuesday!

Our last visit...

There was no blog entry yesterday because due to the weather, we watched movies all day and only left our apartment for an hour to take a walk (between rain showers). Today, the apartment cleaning crew showed up at lunch time so we decided to step out and try some popular Russian fast food. The restaurant is called Teremok and they make what is called a Blini - which is a Russian pancake sandwhich. The menu consists of several choices to have in your blini (caviar, pork and sauerkraut, bananas and chocolate...just to name a few) as well as soups and salads. We both ordered ham and cheese - it was like eating a ham and cheese sandwhich but instead of bread, it was on a very thin pancake (similar to a crepe)...strange but not bad :)



Due to the weather today, we were able to have our very last orphanage visit indoors (which we were very pleased about). He seemed to be in a good mood and we were able to interact and play more than if we were outside. He was being silly and it seemed like he was doing things on purpose to get a laughing reaction out of us and that was really cute. From the room we were in, we could smell dinner being prepared and toward the end of the visit he kept crawling to the door because he knew it was almost time to eat - typical male, always concerned about meal time :)

We made plans with Alec to visit Peterhof on Sunday. We are hoping for a nice day and that the fountains will be on (but they might not be started until May). We also spoke to Natasha today got the details for Tuesday - the day we get to pick up our little guy!

Outside Again....

Today we had our visit in the afternoon and again it was outside. It was pretty much the same as the last few visits have been (walking around, playing on the playground equipment and with the toys we brought). The weather was a little chilly but tolerable except for when the wind would blow - which unfortunately was quite often during the last portion of the visit. Even all bundled up in a snow suit he could feel the wind and as much as we tried to block it, we weren't that successful most of the time. The toys we got out for him to play with went into his mouth a lot so we are thinking that his teeth are bothering him some. His cold is still there and seems about the same as it did on Monday.

We are looking forward to our last orphanage visit on Friday...it will only be 4 days after that when he will be with us :)

A Day of Sightseeing....

Today we had a slow morning until the apartment cleaning crew showed up and wanted us out while they did their thing :) We decided that was when we should journey out to do some sightseeing. The first thing we did was get a couple of hot dogs from a street vendor - the things you don't really eat at home, for some reason sound appealing when you are 5,000 miles away :) We then walked over to St. Isaac's Cathedral which was the largest church in Russia when it was built (in the early 1800s) and remains the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in St. Petersburg. Once there, we decided to climb the 250 steps (spiral staircase) up to the cathedral's colonnade. It was amazing to have such a magnificent view of St. Petersburg.

From St. Isaac's we walked across the street to the hotel Astoria. John wanted to walk inside the hotel because, legend has it that Hitler sent out invitations to a celebratory party in the hotel’s Winter Garden in anticipation of his capture of St. Petersburg (the party of course never happened). We took our time walking through "our" part of the city until we reached the Cathedral of Christ's Resurrection. This is the cathedral we were able to quickly see on our first visit to St. Petersburg. We are now within walking distance to it and can see it almost daily. Today we decided to take a look inside of the cathedral. It is very difficult to describe the inside of that beautiful structure. There is 80,700 sq feet of mosiac - almost the entire inside (floor excluded) is covered in beautiful mosiac pictures. To say that it is breathtaking is an understatement.
Tomorrow we have another visit, but not until the afternoon (4:00). The weather is supposed to be pleasant so we are guessing it will be outside again :)