2nd and 3rd Visit

On Friday we ate breakfast at the hotel and then our driver/translator picked us up and off to the baby home we went. Emily, naturally, is still very unsure of us and unfortunately we were in a busy room today which did not help. As soon as she would relax and enjoy playing with us someone would walk in the room and she would freeze, start crying and run to them. And they would pat her on the back and say something reassuring to her and then point to us and say something to her in Russian and then say "mama" and "papa" and then walk on through and she would just fall a part crying. I would go and pick her back up and comfort her again and just feel so bad for her. Poor thing. Then she would eventually sigh and begin playing with us again until the next person came in.

We are just so tickled with her. And she is such a little doll. She is tiny and walking all over the place. She is fast and very busy investigating every square inch of the room. She is very observant and hears every little noise and notices every person and thing. She seems drawn to music and playing games. She is also clearly very happy and social as every adult seems to know her and talk to her when they come in the room.

We returned her back to her gruppa today and got to see all her friends and caregivers. She was so happy to be returned and just lit up when her caregiver came to take her. The kids in her gruppa are very cute too. Half have families coming for them already. It's a nice room like a playroom with the bedroom attached. The caregivers are all very nice and it's clear the kids are very attached to them. All the kids froze when we walked into the room and just stared with these unsure expressions. Apparently hubby and I have this effect on all russian orphans and not just our daughter. We hope to get more time to visit with the gruppa and watch Emily interact with everyone.

During her lunch and nap our driver/translator took us to lunch at a very good mexican restaurant and then we went to see the church of spilled blood and went to an outoor market for souvenirs. I found a very pretty matryoshka doll and a small laquered jewelry box to give to Emily someday. In the afternoon we returned and played again with Emily. She settled in with us a little faster and let hubby hold her a lot. After our visit we went back to the hotel, called our kids, who are missing us terribly. We feel so bad that we are so far away and can not hold them and calm them. It's an awful feeling to feel so helpless. We ordered in room service with ice cream (we needed it after talking with the boys) and watched a movie on the laptop.

On Saturday we headed back to the babyhome to see our little girl. She had a much easier time with us today. We got to take her to a new room...like a large carpeted playroom used for gym classes. She was so cute. She likes to be held and will just cling to you like a little monkey. She is so light and when she smiles she scrunches up her eyes and opens her mouth in a large smile and you can see her teeth. She has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. She is also teething and tries to chew on everything. It is so funny...she will sink those teeth on backs of chairs, basket balls, ring toys, and she even tried her shoes! Gross I know, but so funny!

I discoverd she likes to be sung to and turned upside down. She loves the slide and the swing and playing peek a boo. She is fascinated with our tongues, mouths and nose. She likes to make noises and will stop whatever she is doing and try to mimic the noise. She learned the word for nose today in english. If I say...nose..she will touch her nose. It's very cute.

She is really taken with hubby too. She loves to play games with him, grab his nose and be carried around by him. She is also very girly. The very first day she had on this very cute little dress and she would just stop and sway back and forth to watch her dress move. She also stops to look in the mirror and just smiles when she sees herself. And she loves shoes. I dumped out my backpack looking for a certain toy and she saw the new pair of shoes I had brought for her to see if they were her size. She dropped whatever she had and picked up the shoes, one in each hand and I swear she smiled the biggest smile. She carried those shoes around a long time before I could take them from her and try them on. Then she would stare down at her feet. It was so funny! She also watches me when I take off her old shoes..a very worn but cute pair of red leather sandals with 3 colored leaves sewn on them. I'm always taking off her shoes because I don't think she gets a chance to see her feet very often and she watches me like a hawk if I pick up and move her shoes somewhere. The first time I took off her shoes she just smiled and scrunched up her toes and then she stood up and walked around. Then she stomped her feet and looked back at me with her cute scrunched up smile.

When we returned her for lunch we got to visit a little with the gruppa and watch her eat. She sat at a little table and held her bread and ate it. Her cargiver feed her mashed vegetable and meat soup. She also could hold her own cup and drank a sour fruit drink that is boiled on the stove.

After our morning visit we went to see the Yusupov Palace. It was very beautiful. My favorite room was their private theatre. It was amazing! I have never seen anything like it. And then we went back for an afternoon visit with Emily. This evening we got back to the hotel room, called the boys and went to dinner at this very cozy little russian restaurant. They have delicious food and candles on the table. It felt like date night. Then we went for a walk around the square and headed back to our hotel.

I'm beat! Goodnight all!