Day 24--January 12, 2009

Day 24-- January 12, 2009

OK, don’t break out the champagne yet. John and I went to court this a.m. only to be postponed until Thursday. We were bombarded with questions by the judge, who didn’t seem to like our response to “Why are you adopting from Kazakhstan?” We told him about the low childcare giver to child ratio (so there aren’t bonding issues), that the country is economically developed, that the children are essentially given up for social reasons (e.g. single motherhood), but he asked John the same question three times and he asked it of me once. We answered all of his and the prosecutor’s questions as best—and honestly—as we could. The regional director of the Almaty orphanages was there and explained that the parents had been contacted and still agreed to give Aidar up for adoption. The assistant director of the baby house was there and gave positive feedback regarding John and me and our visits to the baby house. Our coordinator went through the judge’s checklist with him (was a criminal background check done, was a homestudy done, are our documents in order, etc) and she recommended that we be allowed to adopt Aidar. Even after all of that, the judge said that he wanted to review our paperwork, and that he is continuing our hearing until Thursday. We don't think that we did a great job, but we also don't know how we could have done better. Our translator did a fantastic job; he got tripped up a little bit, but didn’t really get a break, so we give him great kudos.

Back at the homestead, we had to send our laundry to be done by the hotel. I called the front desk to ask how it is charged (e.g. by weight or by item), but they just told me to call X-1236--where no one speaks English. They did bring a price sheet for drycleaning and repairs, and even a charge for “urgency”, so who knows when we’ll get how clothes back (maybe Friday?) and how they will come back. I pray they don’t dryclean our socks and charge us for it.

On the downside of the hotel that I fell in love with: there are absolutely no English channels on TV—not even BBC. Also, the restaurant isn’t nearly as good as Hotel Kazzhol, but it is much more pricey. They have a small “cafeteria” that John would have loved to have eaten at, but you know me…….So, we’re having peanut butter and jelly (again) and crackers and cheese. My drink of choice here is Fanta orange soda. I’d pay anything for a Mountain Dew. Speaking of paying anything, John ordered a 1-liter bottle of Coke at a restaurant, and was charged $10! It’s water for him from now on!

We saw Aidar this afternoon, and he put his puzzle together almost all by himself. He is an amazing child. We can’t get over how tiny he is, though. We brought shoes that are size 8, and they’re actually a little big for him. I think Karis was in a size 9 by that age (4 years, 4 months).

Aidar really fell into his comfort zone this afternoon. He loves the cell phones, and recently discovered the various ring tones. He loves to have us hold him and dance and then stop when the ring tone ends. He plays another to have us dance—and then stop. Sooooooo, John played his MP3 music from his phone, and after a few songs, Aidar just rested his head and truly felt like he could relax and just be content. This lasted for probably twenty minutes. How could a judge say “no” to that?

We’ll write more tomorrow, but want to let you know that we think of you all day, every day, and miss you. We can’t wait for this to come to a close, and for all of you to meet our new little guy.