Passing Time

We're still here and still doing well. We've had a few visits with Dmitry since court, and we'll have a few more before the ten days are up. There's a lot of downtime and quite a bit of lazing around going on here at Yuri's apartment - which feels good! It's dark until almost 9:00AM, so the mornings tend to get off to a slow start. We're keeping busy with puzzles, books, games, and probably too much 'screen time'. We get out and about each day, but the weather has been quite cold and wet the last few days, keeping us in more than we'd like.

Denis has been re-thinking the whole brother thing, and has decided he's content just having a new toy from Russia. Too late, kid!

Anyway, here's Denis keeping busy by...

finishing the journal he started with Granny

doing a 60-piece puzzle all by himself

checking out the competition

(Yep, he's still there!)

tolerating playing with his new brother

We Passed Court!

After two sessions in court today, the judge declared that we are Dmitry's new parents. Yay! Tomorrow begins the obligatory ten-day waiting period, after which we will be able to take Dmitry from the orphanage. More later - we're off to celebrate!

Brothers

The two brothers met the other day. As you can see from Denis's face above, when the big moment actually arrived, he wasn't so sure he wanted to go to the 'Brother Store' (his words from a while back - not mine!). Understandably, he was shy and nervous and wasn't sure how to react to this new person - the very person he's been talking about for months. But once the moment passed, and the spotlight was off of him, he did just fine and was soon calling out, "Dima!" this and "Dima!" that. As for his part, Dmitry did very well with all the new people there to see him - Denis, Granny, and Tom. He kept busy by racing about, searching my bag for Cheerios, and having a good time with everyone. In fact, he didn't want to go back to his caregivers at the end of the visit. As we were saying our goodbyes, he tried to run past one of the women and come with us. A bittersweet moment, to be sure, and an afternoon I'll never forget.

Thanks, Tom, for taking such great photos!

Music Man

We had two visits yesterday, and they both went really well. It appears we have another music lover on our hands. Some of you may remember the lady who played the piano when we visited Denis a few years ago. She's still at the orphanage, and Dmitry loves it when she comes into the room. He reacts with la-la-la and accompanying hand motions and big smiles! So Jon got out his iPhone to play some music, and Little D started dancing immediately.

Hello Again

It was so good to see our little guy yesterday afternoon. He was a bit wary of Jon at the beginning - if that's what you call it when someone backs away from you and grunts at you! But he warmed up in no time. He was very curious, interactive, and even got the giggles toward the end of our visit. Here he is:

A Long Day in Moscow

We spent a very long day in Moscow on Tuesday, which consisted mostly of waiting. Waiting in heavy, slow-moving traffic; waiting at a three-hour medical exam (where there was only a minor amount of fuss over the missing X-rays); waiting in more heavy, slow-moving traffic; and then waiting at the airport for seven hours for our delayed flight to take off. We arrived in Kaliningrad during the wee hours of the morning and finally made it to bed at about 3:00AM (9:00AM Japan time). Denis did incredibly well...except when we were boarding the plane. Poor guy had had enough by then and completely lost it. But he's recovered nicely! Jon's parents also arrived later than scheduled on Tuesday, as all flights in to K'grad were delayed due to the heavy fog.

After a bit of sleep and a lovely breakfast at the Midriff, we all felt a bit better. Who wouldn't feel better after a plate of delicious apple cinnamon crepes and a cappuccino?

Later in the afternoon, Denis hung out with Granny and Tom while Jon and I went to visit Little D. That post coming soon.

Made it to Moscow

Considering the rushed start we had to the morning (with not a moment to spare before both of our flights), we ended up having a smooth trip to Moscow yesterday. We arrived last night just before dinner, and then fell into our beds. We're all feeling quite well this morning after 9 hours of sleep and a nice, big breakfast. The boys are swimming in the hotel pool, and I'm trying to get my act together here on the blog... I may have to restrict access to invited readers only again until we pass court, even though I don't particularly like that set-up. I'll let you know soon.

We're being picked up at 11:00 today for our 8-doctor medical exam. Our rep here asked us yesterday if we had everything, including our chest X-rays. "You mean the results of our chest X-rays? Yes, we have those." "No, I mean the actual X-rays." So, we have a feeling that Detour Number One - going somewhere for another round of chest X-rays (our third in three months!) - is coming our way this morning. Doubt it will be the last detour.

This evening we fly to Kaliningrad, where we'll spend the next three weeks. We're excited to meet Granny and Tom there, who will be arriving from St. Petersburg today. They'll be staying at the Hotel Moscow, where we've stayed in the past and which is just a block or two away from the apartment where we'll be staying. And guess which cafe is right in the middle?! More on that later...!

We'll be visiting Little D the next three days before court on Monday. I wonder how much he's changed in three months?

Big D and I at dinner last night - looking more awake than either of us felt.

Denis Gets Dressed

And THIS is why I'm often late to school...

It takes this kid forever to get dressed in the morning. Just before I started recording this small sample of dillydallying, he'd already been karate-chopping and light-sabering into the mirror for about four minutes! Did you notice that he put his jeans on backwards, and then started singing. "Oh, what have I done?"

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Dad! We wish we could have been there to celebrate with you and everyone else today. We don't like being half way around the world when there are fall-clean-up parties and evening bonfires with family. Sounds like the weather cooperated and that everyone had a good time. I'm glad I'm in the photo (if only on the phone with Tim!). Here's to 80 and you, Dad!

Jamie Oliver: He's What's For Dinner Tonight

Well, not really. But some of his recipes are. We all know about Jamie Oliver, right? The guy who's been leading a food revolution in the UK for the last few years? For some reason I've never purchased one of his cookbooks and I'm not sure why, seeing as I love what he's all about. But today, I'm the proud new owner of one of his recent books, Jamie's 30-Minute Meals. I've been reading it for the last few hours and surfing YouTube for his cooking shows, and all I can say is WOW! Why don't my 30-minute dinners look like this?! I love the meals he's put together. I love the way he has them all organized, taking you through step-by-step, multi-tasking instructions, so that at the end of thirty minutes you have a 4-course meal on the table. And, let's be honest, I love his accent.

So here's to Jamie! And to shaking up my dinner repertoire and getting some great meals on the table in thirty minutes or less.

The book:

And in case you want to see how I spent an afternoon watching YouTube videos, here's an intro to the book:

An intro to the show:

And the first episode, if you have 20 minutes to spare:

Court Date - Confirmed!

Our court date of November 14 has been confirmed. We're expected to be in Moscow on November 7, so that we'll be ready for our 8-doctor medical exam on November 8. We'll then fly to K'grad that evening, and visit Little D for the next few days before court.

Next step is to book our flights, get our visas, and pack those bags!

Court Date Reassigned - Again!

We woke up to news that our court date was pushed back again. Looks like November 14 might be the day. We're not too worried about these delays, as we know our agency and in-region rep are on top of things. It'd be nice to get a date nailed down, though, so we could finalize our plans. But such is the journey of an international adoption! We'll keep you posted.

Restaurant Night

Rainy nights = candlelit dinners at our house. And sometimes, a candlelit dinner turns into Restaurant Night (D's favorite!), if the conditions are right. Those conditions being a Friday or Saturday night and favorable moods. We go to great lengths (ha!) for these nights - we dig out the red and white checkered table cloth and play some French Café music in the background. Voila! Restaurant Night! At the end of tonight's dinner, Denis gave us a little dance show. It's a bit hard to see, due to the candlelight, but you get the idea.

Meanwhile...

Life goes on as normal. Denis is at a great stage right now and seems to be growing up so quickly. He's fascinated with Legos and does a good job of following the building instructions. He loves to help around the house and is showing more and more independence everyday. The cats now love him and finally trust him as someone who won't pull their tails or chase them mercilessly around the house! He continues to process the idea of having a brother, and recently told me that he will have to teach Dmitry how to build a snowman.

For the two grandmothers out there: Denis and I made Grandma's pea soup the other day (his favorite!) and wants to make Granny's rhubarb pie today. If only we could get our hands on some rhubarb!

New Court Date Assigned

We've been assigned a new court date - October 31 - due to a few delays with all the paper work. While I'm a little disappointed about not leaving for Russia this time next week, this new date gives us more time to get things squared away at work and home before we leave for a month. Hopefully, we'll be able to book our flights soon. We're just waiting for one last green light.

Pre-Reading Fun

I love watching the changes in Denis as he becomes more interested in reading and figuring out how letters turn into words and words turn into stories. He's always loved books, but lately his interest seems to have intensified. Whereas before he would say, "I can't read this yet", he now says, "Mom, I think I can read this!" He can't yet, of course, but something is shifting within and he's beginning to recognize certain things. Technically, he's in what's called the pre-reading stage, and I'm awed by the way the brain works. I look forward to watching the transformation that'll take place over the next couple of years as he learns to read.

This morning we've been playing Cariboo and Boggle Jr., having all sorts of fun with letters and words. What great games for this age!

Typhoon Talas

We're hunkering down tonight as Typhoon Talas begins to rear her ugly head. According to the map above, we'll be just shy of a direct hit. Winds are picking up, but the worst of it isn't expected to hit until early tomorrow morning. We've cleared the balconies and stocked up on food and drink... just in case.