Was It Just A Dream?

Don't pinch me if it was...

We haven't been home a week yet, and already our trip to Kaliningrad feels like it was ages ago. Our visits with Denis feel like scenes from a really good dream - the kind of dream you don't want to wake up from, the kind that begs you to stay in bed just a little while longer with your eyes closed tight. I'm glad we have the photos and videos to prove we were really there! That sweet laughter brings it all back...

To battle our Denis withdrawal, we're focusing on the next - and hopefully final - round of paper work. Police checks, tax returns, marriage certificates, and more! It's a bit of a pain, but I think I'm grateful for the distraction. (Thanks for all the help, Mar, Tom, Monica, and Tim. We owe you!)

Still no word on our court date. It will either be December 22 or January 19. FTIA's rep in Kaliningrad, Yuri, is hoping to get us the earlier date. But it all depends on whether he receives the necessary documents from Moscow in time. These documents typically take 4-6 weeks after the first visit, so we'll be lucky if he receives them in time for a December 22 court date. If the stars align, we'll need to arrive by December 17 for an 8-doctor medical exam (!) and 3 more required visits with Denis before court. We won't hear from Yuri before December 10-15, so, we'll need to be packed and ready to go on a moment's notice. Ahh, the excitement!

Until Next Time...

We’ll be counting the days, Denis! 

It’s been a wonderful week. An experience of a lifetime, to say the least. We truly couldn’t have asked for things to go any better. 

Our last visit was a tough one. Denis didn’t want to go back to his caregiver – he reached back for us as we tried to hand him to her – and we had to force ourselves to make a quick exit. We know he’s in good hands (we’ve been incredibly impressed with the orphanage and the care the kids receive there), and that makes leaving a bit easier…I guess. We’re looking at either six or ten weeks until we return. Fingers crossed for six.

Thanks for all the comments this week. We loved reading them, especially during the wee hours of jet lag!

Opa!

My new favorite word. “Opa!” We had our best visit yet today. Denis was very talkative, giggly, and full of energy. It was great to hear him chattering away and to watch him get up and move around the playroom. He would carefully mimic the things we did and then try a few tricks of his own. His interactions with us seem to have a little more umph! to them each day.

We captured some great moments on video today - as well as a smear of Cheerio that was stuck to Denis’s face all afternoon. If you’ve glanced below, you’ve seen that this post is video-heavy. Have we already become those parents – the ones who make you flip through all their photo albums and watch all their home videos?! I’ll pretend we haven’t. There’s some pretty cute footage here - I think you’ll enjoy it. And none of the clips is much more than a minute long.

Tomorrow is our last visit with Denis until Dec-Jan, whenever our court date is. It’s going to be hard leaving here without him. Will he notice when we don’t show up on Saturday or Sunday? Will he forget us by Monday? I wonder how many times he's had to watch people come and go in his short life. I wonder what goes on in the mind of a 19-month old...

Day Three with Denis

We had another good visit with Denis today. He started off a little teary, but after we changed him out of his wet diaper his mood seemed to improve. Makes sense! Highlights of the day were playing with Lego-like blocks, eating more (and more!) Cheerios, and watching the world go by out the window. We only took a few pictures today. There's a medley of video clips below - about 2 minutes long. We tried to catch him saying “Arf! Arf!” at a dog out the window and his “Opa!” when he does something he thinks is great – but we seemed to miss it every time. We did manage to catch a few more giggles on tape, and I just love the clip of him shoving a handful of Cheerios into his mouth (oops!).

It doesn’t take much for Denis to become over-stimulated, and we’re quickly learning the signs. He gets this glassy look in his eyes and makes this licking/swallowing motion (hard to describe) with his mouth. He seems to recognize this in himself, too, because he’ll stop playing and turn away from his toys. Holding him and looking out the window seemed to calm him down today. As we stood there, watching the cars and people pass by below us, I could literally feel him catching his breath. Every now and then, he would take a slow, deep breath and let all the air out with the sweetest little sigh I’ve ever heard. After a few minutes of down time, he was happy to start playing again. He even got a little silly today – throwing a Lego and making us chase it. He thought that was the funniest thing ever! It’s been great to watch him grow more playful with us everyday.

Denis Dmitriy Schatzky

We're proud to (unofficially**) present Denis Dmitriy Schatzky!

Yuri picked us up just past 11:00 this morning, and told us he needed to know Our Little Guy’s name so that he could file our Petition to Adopt. “What? You need a name right now?” “No, not now. Later. When we get to the orphanage.” “So, like, in 20 minutes?” “Yes. Later. Da.”

Thankfully, we had to stop at the regional hospital on the way to the orphanage to pick up Our Little Guy’s health records. Phew – that would buy us a few more minutes! But alas, the woman we needed to meet wasn’t there, so Yuri decided it would be best to go to the orphanage and come back later for the records. Drat – that was going to cost us those few minutes! So, there we were, in the parking lot of the regional hospital…deciding on a name.

We learned yesterday at the MOE that his Russian name is Denis Dmitrievich. We both really liked the way that rolled off our tongues, and after letting it roll around our heads for a day, we decided Denis Dmitriy Schatzky felt right. We’ll pronounce Denis as Dennis; whereas in Russian Denis sounds like Denise. We’ve shortened Dmitrievich to Dmitriy since the patronymic system isn’t something we use. Not only do we like the way his name sounds, we like the fact that it’s a version of his birth name. It’s who he is, and it’s the one thing he’ll get to take with him when he leaves Kaliningrad. (Now, if his name had been Vladimir, I might be singing a different tune!)

**He’s not technically a Schatzky yet, nor is he our son yet, but we’re getting there.

Turn up the volume for today’s video! It’s a great one with all sorts of giggling – you’re going to love it! It was so good to see more smiles today and to hear that laughter. What a great laugh Denis has! Enjoy…

First Visit

Here are some photos – and a few video clips – of our first visit. Enjoy! (You may want to lower the volume of the videos – unless you want to listen to a bunch of rapid-fire Russian in the background).

Our first visit was a success! After a quick trip to the Ministry of Education where we received our referral, Yuri drove us to the orphanage. We weren’t allowed to enter the orphanage itself, but were taken to the director’s office in a neighboring building. There we met with Olga, the orphanage director. She read bits and pieces of information from a folder – information about Denis’s background, health, development, etc. Some of this information was new to us, and some of it we had already received in the referral letter. We were able to ask a few of our questions, via Yuri, and Olga patiently answered each of them. Amidst all the questioning-translating-answering-translating (and scribbling down notes so we wouldn’t forget a thing!), there suddenly appeared a young woman at the door holding the hand of a small boy – a boy dressed in a too-big blue winter coat with the sleeves rolled up and a warm-looking stocking cap.

Time stood still for the briefest of moments.

Then someone’s little lips started to quiver, as he looked nervously around the room – from Jon, to me, to Olga, to Yuri – and a look of panic was about to set in. With a nod from Olga, we took his hand, and got him out of his coat and hat. Jon put him on his lap, and I grabbed a toy from my backpack. The first picture I was able to take clearly shows how uncertain he was of the whole situation.

After a couple more minutes with Olga, the three of us went downstairs to another room so that we could spend some time together. He relaxed during this time as we played with more toys (the stacking cups and cars were his favorite) and introduced him to Cheerios. He loved the Cheerios! (Thanks, Kirsten!) I think we managed a couple of crooked little smiles, but they were hard to capture on film. He was wary of the camera, so we tried to limit the number of pictures we took.

He made a few babbling noises when he was really enjoying something – hiding the cars in the cups and throwing the ball back to Jon – but no real words as far as we could tell (but then again, our Russian is about as good as our Japanese…so who knows!). We loved watching him play – he was very methodical in the way he would organize the cups, hand us puzzle pieces, and open/close the flaps in a book.

After about an hour, he heard someone in the hallway – a voice he clearly recognized. He looked at both of us, got a pained look on his face, and tried to say something – “d-d-d-d-d-d”. He was so determined to go find this person (his caretaker?) that he put the toys down, grabbed my hand, stood up, and led me to the door. We went out, looked around, but we couldn’t see anyone. I know he felt quite desperate and sad at that moment, but I was happy – happy that he wanted to see someone so badly (perhaps he’s formed attachments?) and that he felt secure enough to take my hand and show me what he wanted. I’m new at this, but I think those are good signs!

At this point, it was about lunchtime, so we had to say goodbye for the day. Yuri took him back to the main building, and we were soon heading back to our hotel. We’re already counting the hours until our visit tomorrow…

Today's the Day

It’s a little after 4:00AM, and I’m wide-awake, antsy with anticipation for today’s events. Yuri is picking us up at 9:40 this morning. We have a 10:30 appointment at the Ministry of Education, where we will officially receive our referral. The MOE will tell us which orphanage Denis is in (although Yuri already told us that he’s here in the city and not out of town) and grant us permission to go visit him. And then…we will go visit him.

We Made It!

Hello from Moscow! We've made it this far! It's 4:45AM and we're about to catch a shuttle back to the airport for our flight to Kaliningrad. Everything has gone extremely well - all our trains, planes, and automobiles have been on time. Getting through the passport control last night was an event - definitely a cultural experience! More on that later...more on everything later.

Later...

Here are a couple shots from our flight. We were in a state of ‘perpetual dusk’ as we flew to Moscow, heading west over six time zones. We seemed to be looking down on Siberia for most of the flight. The vastness and starkness were truly impressive – a sea of snow-covered steppes and snake-like rivers that stretched on and on and on... Every now and then we would spot a lonely light shining in the middle of nowhere and wonder what on earth was down there, so cut off from everything else. From the warm interior of the plane, it was easy to wish that we could touch down for just a moment to experience the cold night below. Then a quick shiver would bring me back to my senses, as I thought of all those men I’d deployed to Irkutsk and Yakutsk in my many games of RISK!

Our flight to Kaliningrad went smoothly. We landed at 8:30AM – right on time – in a cold November rain. Yuri, FTIA’s rep, met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel. He got us settled, showed us the central areas of town, and said he’d be back to pick us up in the morning. We both liked Yuri instantly. He seems to have a great personality, he’s a nice slow driver, and he said our baby was cute!

Walking around town brought back a flood of memories for both Jon and me. The sights and sounds and smells are so familiar to us. The dark clothing, the fried garlic bread, the beautiful architecture... It feels good to be back in the Baltics.

Round Two

Anyone up for another game? I hope so because I've recently discovered I have an addiction. I'm addicted to the blog world! I love reading your responses. Getting a new comment is almost as good as receiving a real letter in the mail. Almost. So go on, give me the fix I need! 

Questions for this round are:

1. What name (first & middle) will we decide on for our little guy? 

2. Who'll be the bigger crier on our first trip - Jon or Celia?!

3. When will our day in court be?

4. Will our 10-day waiting period be waived?

Points to consider: 

(1) It's a boy, in case you've missed that bit of news! His Russian name is Denis. We plan to keep Denis as either his first or middle name. Other names we've been tossing around - some more seriously than others - are: Finnegan, Benjamin, Oliver, Nikolai, Nicholas, William, Simon, Owen. And then there's the name we've been calling him all along - Boris.  Will it stick? At this point, your guess is as good as ours. It could be any one of those names or something completely different - something that just feels right after meeting him. Or it could be the great name you predict! We really haven't decided yet. Good thing it's a long flight! 

(2) I'm a sap. Jon, not so much. However, he does have his moments, and this could certainly be one of them. 

(3) Kaliningrad is known for assigning court dates that are six weeks after the first trip. However, the holidays could interfere with our day in court. Six weeks after our first trip will be the week of our Christmas; the following week is New Years; and the week after that is Christmas in Russia (Jan 7). Will they squeeze us in before the holidays? Or make us wait until mid-January? Of course, we'll be hoping and pushing for the week of our Christmas...and I'm sure you can imagine just how much sway we'll have with a Russian judge!

(4) In Russia, there's generally a 10-day waiting period after a court ruling. Some judges in certain regions waive this waiting period when it comes to adoptions. However, the trend in Kaliningrad at the moment is not to waive this waiting period. What does this mean for us? After our court date, we might have to wait 10 business days until we can apply for our child's US visa and travel back to Japan with him, making our second trip almost three weeks long.   

Yes, there will be another door prize. Yes, it will most likely be a little trinket from a market in Russia! Oooh...maybe a piece of amber with a bug trapped inside it. Who will be so lucky? 

Kaliningrad Bound

We're packed and ready to go! Amazingly enough, we've managed to fit everything we need - including toys, books, and snacks for the little guy  - into just our carry-on luggage. No checked bags for us!

Our trip officially begins tomorrow. We fly to Tokyo tomorrow evening and will overnight there. Our flight from Tokyo leaves around mid-day on Saturday and puts us into Moscow around 5:30PM local time. Another overnight. We fly to Kaliningrad early Sunday morning, and FTIA's rep Yuri will pick us up from the airport. After that, we have no idea what the order of events is. I don't imagine we'll go to the orphanage until Monday morning. Perhaps we'll get to explore a bit of K'grad on Sunday afternoon. 

We hope to get online every night - or as often as possible - to post pictures/news of the day's events. We've been given the go ahead to post photos of Our Little Guy once we're in the region. So, check back often.

It's hard to believe we're finally at this stage in the process. We're going to Russia! We're adopting that little boy! That sweet little boy whose smile is going to melt my heart. That sweet little boy who's waited a long time for a Mama and Papa. 

Obama Wins!

Finally, a president to be proud of! Like most Americans, I was glued to the news all day today as the results came in from the voting polls. I cheered each time a state turned blue and another electoral vote went his way. This is the first time I've ever felt passionate about an election, and I couldn't be happier with this history-making Obama win! What an inspiration he is! It's amazing what he's already done for the morale of the country - and he hasn't even made it to the Oval Office yet. He certainly has his work cut out for him with our economy, health care system, and world relations in the shape they're in...and I look forward to watching him lead us to better days.

Here's a re-cap of the results as they came in:

All graphics from CNN.com

A Horse With No Name

Look at the beauty we inherited this week! A colleague of ours generously passed on this rocking horse that her kids have outgrown. Isn't he lovely? He's the best looking rocking horse I think I've ever seen! As I was running my hands along his svelte frame, my eyes were drawn to a small sticker near the bottom. A sticker that someone had almost succeeded in removing. I'm glad it was one of those stubborn stickers that threatens to leave a sticky papery mess and eventually forces its assailant to give up the fight. Otherwise, we'd have never known...

This horse hails from Latvia! (Is anyone else picking up on a Baltic theme in our family...?)

Anyway, I've named him Seabiscuit. Yep, I did. I realize that's not a very Baltic or Trojan sounding name, but that was my dad's nickname for me when I was a young girl. Seabiscuit was a famous racehorse back in the 30's when my dad was a young boy. It wasn't until the book Seabiscuit came out that I learned of the inspiration behind my nickname. (I always thought my dad was calling me C-Biscuit, as in Celia-Biscuit...??). My dad gave me a copy of the book that year for Christmas, and to this day, it's my all-time favorite Christmas present. It makes me teary every time I read it. My dad's note, that is. Not the book. Although, that made me teary, too, if I remember correctly. 

Have I come full circle here? Or am I still off on a tangent or two? I can't seem to remember where I was going with this... Maybe I should close by pointing out how ironic it is that it took me no time at all to come up with a name for our new rocking horse from Latvia - a rather meaningful name at that - while we keep referring to our little guy in Kaliningrad as Our Little Guy. (I won't, however, point out how strange it is that I'm naming inanimate objects!) It'll come, our inspiration for a name. It might not take the form of a famous race horse, but it will come.

Fall Break

It's been a gorgeous week. The leaves are changing, the air's been crisp, and we've been on fall break. We spent most of the week fighting colds and making travel arrangements, but we did manage a few outings into this lovely fall weather. Of note were our trips to Sorakuen Garden and Himeji Castle, pictured in the photos above.

This is my favorite time of year, by far. Stockpots and soup mugs take center stage in the kitchen. Vino tinto flows freely and frequently. Sweaters and blankets tumble from the closet. Favorite outfits - ensembles of well-worn corduroys, fuzzy fleeces, and knitted scarves - are donned daily. And the feathery weight of a down comforter tucks us in at night. Tell me, is there a better season than fall?  

And the Winner Is...

...Danielle! She had the best overall predictions in three out of four categories. I know you've all been dying to hear who won! ;)

Danielle's picks were:

• Referral Date  -  October 21    
• Sex of Referral  -  Boy
• Age of Referral  -  11 months
• Travel Date  -  November 11

Actual results are:

• Referral Date  -  October 24
• Sex of Referral  -  Boy
• Age of Referral  -  18 months
• Travel Date  -  November 9

Congrats, Danielle! Your door prize will be coming from a market in Russia - watch the mail!