A Four Family

Today our Three Family became a Four Family, according to Denis. Our adoption of Dmitry was finalized this morning (yay!), and this afternoon we traveled to the orphanage one last time to pick him up. In adoption circles, this day is often called Gotcha Day. Gotcha, Dima!

Once at the orphanage, we had to take care of a few final formalities before we could go see Little D. When we entered the play area, he ran to greet us with smiles and hugs - he was as happy as could be! We changed him into the clothes we brought for him and spent some time with two of his caregivers. One of the ladies, Natasha, gave Dima a gift and a picture of the two of them together. She told him how beautiful he is and gave him a heartfelt blessing for the future - an incredibly sweet and emotional moment. After thanking everyone through tearful good-byes, we left the Kaliningrad orphanage - a place we've come to love - for the very last time.

Dmitry did very well on the ride back to Yuri's apartment. He didn't seem the least bit fazed by all that was happening. In fact, he was singing and babbling the whole way home! Back at the apartment, the four of us played together, had dinner, and played some more. Having learned a thing or two from our first night with Denis, we didn't even entertain the idea of a bath before bed for Dima. Instead, we let him watch Denis splash around in the tub just to introduce the idea. He was curious - but definitely not interested in getting wet. Before we knew it, both kids were in pj's, listening to stories, then tucked into bed. Dmitry was a bit restless but eventually settled down. Denis was very worried about him and informed us of every little noise or movement he made. To be fair, he was the one who alerted us to the fact that Little D can climb out of the crib - and just in time! All is quiet now, and both boys are sound asleep.

Here are a few photos from the day. I'll try to add some video clips tomorrow. I'm off to bed.

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!