First time ever I saw your face...

It was exactly one year ago today that we first set eyes on each other. In some ways it is as clear as yesterday and in other ways it seems like an eternity ago. The picture below is from that first visit. We had only arrived earlier that morning after traveling for almost 2 days. We were allowed to settle in for a while and then it was off to the baby house. When they first brought him into the office he went straight to our coordinator Janette. He wouldn't even look at us. They directed him towards us and he came quietly and looking down at the floor the entire time. I finally got him to look at me by giving him a little bear we brought. He still has that bear on his nightstand. They brought another little boy in and after what seemed only seconds asked if we were interested in spending time with either child. We said yes to Anton and they took us to the music room we would come to spend lots of time in over the next month.


He looks so sad and withdrawn in this picture when I look at it today. Notice the toy phone in his hand. He wouldn't let go of it that first day. He just kept pushing the buttons and answering it when it would ring. Never talked in it just listened and smiled. Ironically, this morning he brought some books and toys into our bed. I didn't realize what all he had brought until I put him down for his nap this afternoon. The first thing he did when we layed down was pick up that very same toy phone and play with it (Yes we still have it, I made sure to bring it home after the first trip so he would have something familiar to play with on each trip and when he got home). This time, when the phone said "Can you come out and play?", Lukas responded back, "go outside to play?". He pushed another button that says,"I love you so much!" and repeated it back with a smile on his face as he looked at me. Oh how far we have come in one short year and 8 1/2 short months home.

We spent the morning at the Jump Zone for a classmates birthday. We made the mistake of letting Lukas stay up a little later last night and he woke up early. It made for a very cranky little boy that would start crying at the least little thing. At least the tears were usually short lived since he was easily distracted by all the activities and other children. The afternoon was spent getting into things he shouldn't when mommy and daddy weren't looking and playing outside. I thought my arm was going to fall off after pushing him on the swing for over an hour! But the joy on his face and the thrill he gets from it make it more than worth while. Then we played and interesting version of Lukas still "hide and seek". It is a mix of hide and seek and peek a boo. He is into hiding these days. I would cover my eyes and he would hide (usually not very well, but being a good mommy I would pretend not to be able to find him)after searching for him I would say," Lukas, come out, come out wherever you are" and he would pop out, shout,"Peek a boo", and come running over with a big grin and give me a big hug. I would respond back with a kiss and "I love you." We played this for quite some time. He then wanted me to hide, of course he also wanted to tell me where to hide. Some one likes to peek between his hands when I hide as well. He is just to cute sometimes.

So in one year we have gone from the quiet, withdrawn, unsure little boy to this...



Truely an amazing transformation in such a short time. Tomorrow we will go to the Circus to celebrate.

It's a boy!!

17 April 2009

The Russian word for the day is malcheek = boy.

We went to Umit baby house this morning with Zema, Janetta and a woman from the Ministry of Education. They took us into the doctor’s office and brought in two little boys for us to meet. A 2 year old boy and a 3 year old boy. They were both shy. The younger of the two had a very serious look on his face when introduced. Unfortunately for us the children are spoken to in Kazak and not Russian. So I guess our phrase book is not going to be to helpful initially. Toys and hand gestures work pretty well though. They asked which of the two we would like to spend time with initially. They were both adorable. We looked at each other and agreed we would spend time with the 3 year old.

Meet Anton


We all headed to the music room to get acquainted. And when I say all of us, I mean all of us; Zema, Janetta, Janetta’s granddaughter and the Ministry of Education representative. They all sat and watched us get acquainted. It is a little un-nerving being watched as you play with your prospective new child. His name is Anton and all though he was shy and quiet in the office he is actually a very pleasant, friendly boy. We attempted to break the ice by giving him a little panda bear in the office. He took it without hesitation. I tickled him with the bear and a big smile broke out across his face. That was pretty much it for me. He held my hand as we walked down the hall to the music room. Once in the music room we sat on the floor and made our best attempts at interacting with him. The toy that was the biggest hit was the cell phone. He was quite enthralled with it and that was all he wanted to play with. I think he is going to be the type that is going to want to take everything apart and see how it works. He was quite amused at Wayne blowing up the beach ball we brought a long, we got a big smile with that. He was too interested in the cell phone to want to play catch. He didn’t seem to mind too much when I took the phone away. He is so so at catching but he can throw very well. After a while they asked if we wanted to choose him. We said da (yes) and then had the obligatory picture taken with the lady from the MOE, us and Anton before she had to leave. Lunchtime for Anton was at 11:45 so they came to get him and we each got a hug and wave goodbye. We didn’t get to spend much time with him today but look forward to going back tomorrow afternoon and spending more time together.

Notice the phone in his hands. This was our picture with the lady from the MOE. This kid doesn’t know what he is in for.




Playing catch with Papa.


He is on the small side for a 3 year old but seems very fit. His coordination is good as well. My guess at this point is that he wears around a 2T in US size. He probably weights around 20 lbs or so. He has brown hair and what appear to be Hazel eyes. Janetta commented as we headed to the car that Anton looks like Wayne.

Paka until tomorrow,
Lynda and Wayne