Day 5 (2nd trip)

Today was our best visit yet! Baby A is back to normal and was a joy to be around today. He was happily playing in his bed when we got there. His nanny fed him breakfast then sat him at his little table so we could play. The first time we went to Eastern Europe I was a nervous wreck the whole time he was at his little table but today I was fine. He is very strong and sits well by himself. We played with his race cars and made cool car noises. Then he wanted to take a ride in his new car so we did that for a few minutes but he decided he wanted to go in his old car so one of the nurses put him in there. He loved the freedom of moving around where ever he wants on his car. All the nurses would ask him "where is Papa?" and he would point to Jason and say "tom" which means there, then they would say "where is Mama?" and he would point to ME!!!! and say "tom." He now knows that I am Mama!!! If they ask where Olga is he points to his nanny. Then it was time for our lunch. They are so excited to feed us lunch. Olga told us there is an old proverb that says something like you should treat your guests better then you own father. She is always very hospitable. We had chicken noodle soup, apples, and oranges. It was really good thankfully because if it wasn't I'm sure we would still eat it just to be polite. After lunch we played with Baby A while he sat in his bed. Jason had Baby A cracking up by having a frog puppet eat the finger puppets then spit it out. Baby A loved that game and kept handing the frog to Jason when he would put it down because he wanted to keep playing. Then I asked if I could pick Baby A up and his nanny explained what spots hurt on him and told me the best way to pick him up. She handed him to me because at first he didn't want me. He wanted his nanny but he let me hold him for about 15 minutes. We walked around and I told him what everything was in his room. We even danced a little which I loved. He is such a sweet baby and is getting very friendly.

Kenya I was showing Baby A your picture and I would say "this is your sissy" then I would say "where is sissy?" then he would point to you picture and say "tom" which means there. He knows that you are his sissy. He loves looking at your pictures. Kenya Baby A only likes to go to sleep in his stroller so you will have to help me get him to sleep by pushing him all around the house in his stroller. He is going to love having you as his big sister.

Toward the end of our visit he was getting really tired so his nanny had Jason go out in the hall and push him in his stroller to get him to sleep. It was so sweet getting to watch Jason put him to sleep! While they were doing that Baby A's nanny, our translator and I all had a great talk. His nanny told my how glad she was that he was going to our family. She said as soon as she heard he had a family she started praying for us. She said she loves him and will miss him but family is best. Then I told her how excited we are to be taking him home but I am also so sad for her because I know that he is like a son to her and she is going to miss him so much! We talked for a long time and I told her that we would keep in touch and we will send her pictures. She told us how sick he was when he first got to the hospital and how he wouldn't even eat from a spoon when he first got there. He couldn't even hold his head up and she said he was covered in blood when they got him to the hospital he is in now. He was 11 months old when he got transferred to the hospital he is at now. I told her how thankful we are for the care he has received. It was a really neat time of getting to know her. She really loves us so much and I think the first trip she was just trying to figure out if we really loved Baby A and were willing to take care of him. Once she realized that we do love him I think that changed everything. I love her so much and my heart is truly broken thinking about how sad she will be once we do get to bring him home. After that we headed home. I can't wait to go back tomorrow. I started recording our conversation so I can show Baby A when he is older. I have a lot more questions I want to ask her tomorrow so hopefully that will work out.

We are going to spend the rest of the day hanging out at our host families house then tomorrow we will get to see our sweet boy again. I am going to miss him so much when we come home we have really bonded a lot this trip.

Love you all!