Happy Halloween

Here are a few Halloween pics:

Jake playing with his pumpkin


Jake in the costume he was supposed to wear to his cousin Shaun's school Halloween parade (Shaun's in kindergarten) but we had to miss the parade because Jake has an ear infection.




Here's Jake in the Halloween costume that he got from Julie (who was in Kaz with us).

I Don't Need No Stinkin Nap!

Despite Mommy's best efforts this morning Jake would not take a nap . . . until lunch - he fell asleep midsip! LOL

He's a Boy on the Go

Sorry for the lack of updates. I am feeling better but still have annoying cough that will not go away and while the sleeping situation has gotten a bit better we still have a ways to go but like everything in life it will just take time. Jake is adjusting really well to being home.

Jake's been busy playing with his toys and having fun. He amazes me by how much he's learned in the almost 3 weeks he's been home. He's gotten really good at feeding himself. He really waves hi and goodbye now (before it was just curling and uncurling his hand) and even says hi. He cruises around the furniture and he's really fast. I'm waiting for him to let go and then there'll be no stopping him. He's incredibly adventurous and has no fear whatsoever (which scares the crap out of me). He always wants to do what he knows he's not supposed to do!

He's really into books these days. I've read "Puddle the Duck" and "Big Wheels" about a million times each. He's also really into the touchy feely books I had bought for him so I got him a couple new ones but "That's Not My Dragon" and "That's Not My Monster" are still his favorites.

Here are a few pictures so you can see him in action.

Sleeplessness and Strep Throat

Sorry for the lack of updates but we’ve been having some adjustment issues mainly dealing with sleep or lack thereof. I think there are so many new and interesting things to see that Jake just doesn’t want to go to sleep. Based on the schedule I was given from the baby house they used to have him nap 2 hours for every 1.5 hours he was awake so no wonder he doesn’t want to go in the crib. It’s made it tough for me to adjust to the time change and to top it all off I ended up with strep throat. Ugh!

Jake did pretty well on the flights home but was understandably fussy during parts of it. Other than the issues getting Jake to sleep things have been going well. He loves to explore and touch everything (especially the stuff you don’t want him to touch). He’s cruising around the furniture, smiling, laughing and babbling up a storm. It’s so great to see (or rather hear) because he was so quiet at the baby house. He’s also learning so much. He now knows how to wave hello and goodbye and he’s really into feeding himself (he'll even use utensils himself if you hand the food to him already on the fork or spoon). He also calls me ama (he can’t quite say mama yet but he’s getting there).

Our welcome home sign

Playing with Grandma and Grandpa at Jake's first Friday night dinner


Hanging out with Auntie Ruth


Waving to Mama


Chilling with his toys


What do you mean the box is for toys? It's the perfect size for me!

We're Home

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are home but completely EXHAUSTED! I am so jet lagged but I think Jake is doing better. Once I've had a chance to adjust I'll add more info about our trip but here's a video of Jake in Kaz.

Abby

On Their Way Home

As I post this Abby and Jake are on the plane heading home. I speak for her entire family when I say we CANNOT wait to see them.

I am sure Abby will have lots more stories and photos to post when she get home and has Internet access. In the mean time I have tried to keep her up to date via the telephone. I know how much she appreciates all the support of her friends - at home and via the Internet. For Abby and Jake this is just a start to an exciting journey that I am sure she is looking forward to sharing with all of you.

Ruth

It's Offical

Abby and Jake had their appointment at the US Embassy and now have all of the paper work in hand to come home. Abby said the official at the US Embassy was really pleasant and seemed genuinely excited for her which made it that much more special. Jake must have known that today was the day. Abby said he laughed and smiled and had the best day of the week. It was almost as if he knew what was happening.

Jake is also developing in leaps and bounds. He has move from pulling himself up to a stand against the chair to cruising the furniture. Today LaTonya held his hands ans they walked around and around the living room.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Hi from Almaty. Sorry for the lack of updates but we don’t have internet at the apartment. We found out where we could go for wifi but it’s really hard to get there with a 10 month old! I’ve added posts below for each day we’ve been here.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

We didn’t have a great night last night. Let’s just say the only person who got any sleep was Jake so today was a long day. Our coordinator Marina and our driver Leonid had a barbeque/picnic for us (and the other family who is here in Almaty) in the woods outside the city right before the mountains. The scenery was beautiful and we enjoyed some grilled chicken wings and pork (which Latonya said was good – I didn’t try any) and a fresh tomato and dill salad. Jake fell asleep on the ride home and fortunately I was able to get him up to the apartment and into his crib without waking him up. We just hung out at the apartment for the rest of the day and went to bed early.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I didn’t really sleep again last night. We went to bed around 11:00 and I was up a couple of times and then up for good around 4:40 am. Jake was up early around 6:45 we had breakfast and played for a while before we Noticed The Smell. Yup - “be careful what you wish for” part two and this time it was everywhere, inside the diaper, outside the diaper in his pjs. Thank goodness we have a washing machine! We plopped him into the tub and hosed him down. It didn’t faze him one bit.

Today we went to the Mega which was much nicer than the Mega in Shymkent. This one has an ice rink and a rock climbing wall and has a lot of stores you can find in the US – like Clarks, Lacoste and Levis and even some fast food places like Sbarro and KFC (which we sadly didn’t see). Of course there is a Ramstore there as well (it was bigger than the one in Shymkent). I bought Jake a cd of children’s music at one store and a new toy at another.

Our coordinator Marina came by this afternoon to have me fill out some of the paperwork for the embassy. We found out that I won’t be going until Monday afternoon (we had thought there might be a chance that I would get to go on Friday). I think we did a little too much today because Jake did not want to take an afternoon nap despite the fact that he was very tired. I tried a few times to put him in the crib but he would cry and stand up so I took him out. I finally was able to rock him to sleep in my arms.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Jake did a great job sleeping through the night - way better than me because I was up just about every hour and then woke up at 4:30 am and was unable to fall back to sleep. I’m sure I’ll be feeling it later. We went to the SOS clinic this morning which was relatively painless (no needles thank goodness). The nurse weighed him and measured his length. Then we saw the doctor who checked him out. Jake got a little fussy because he was hungry so the doctor gave him an animal cracker. Jake didn’t know what it was but he sure held on to it. Everything went well and I mentioned to the doctor that I was a little concerned because Jake hadn’t pooped at all. Well the old saying be careful what you wish because you just might get it came true. Right after I asked it Jake got all red in the face and was concentrating really hard. Then came the smell. We stopped on our way out of the SOS clinic to change him. And then again two more times when we got home.

After the SOS clinic we went to the Green Market to walk around but purposely avoided the raw meat section. It’s been really warm in Almaty, warmer than I expected, and I sure can’t even imagine what the raw meat section would smell like in this weather. We did a little bit of shopping and then headed home. Latonya and I were hungry so we went back to the cafe around the corner because we wanted to try the kebobs we’d seen the other day. We were hopeful that Jake would fall asleep in the stroller but that didn’t work out the way we planned. He did enjoy eating my lentil soup and some of the crepe/tortilla like thing that was part of what I ordered (I thought I was getting a shish kebob but it was some kind of meat wrapped up in the crepe/tortilla). While I paid the bill Latonya walked Jake in the stroller and he finally fell asleep so we carried him up to the apartment in the stroller. I didn’t want to wake him up so I left him in the stroller. The problem was he likes to move around when he sleeps and since he couldn’t move in the stroller he got upset. Fortunately I was able to move him into the crib and he settled down. I tried to take a nap took but just couldn’t fall asleep. It’s hard being so tired but unable to sleep (especially as my family knows I’m usually a world class sleeper!).

We did a little better in the tub tonight because we decided to try putting toys in the tub to keep him occupied. I had bought him some stacking rings that had a rubber ducky at the top at the Green Market that we used (he loves them and insists on crawling with one in each hand!).

Ruth and I had tried really hard to get him to clap his hands when we were at the baby house but he wanted nothing to do with it. Now he totally gets it and likes to clap. He also is a pro at pulling himself up on the furniture and “cruising”. He really likes to walk around the coffee table but it makes me nervous that he’s going to fall and bump his little head. I think he’s going to be walking really soon.

Greetings from Almaty from Abby, Jake and Latonya

Sunday, September 27, 2009

We got here early in the morning and found out that Jake wouldn’t be arriving until Monday. It turns out there was no one at the baby house to sign him out on Sunday. While it was a bummer it turned out to be a good thing. It gave us time to getting settled in and get our bearings. Plus we barely slept on the flights here so we’re really tired. We went out to lunch at a cafe that is around the corner from our apartment. We are staying near the city center (close to the Tsum store). We found the grocery store and got the basics but didn’t know what to do about baby food. We called Marina and asked what we should get. She checked with Balzhan and let us know that the brand of formula that they use at the baby house is called Nutrilon so we thought we were set until we got to the Ramstore and saw there were at least 5 different kinds of Nutrilon formula. We remembered something about light green so we bought the one that had some green on it. We hope we guessed right. We also did a quick trip to the Tsum store just to keep moving and stay awake. We’re trying really hard to adjust to the time change so we tried to watch some dvds to stay awake until at least 9 pm.

Monday, September 28th

Balzhan flew in with Jake on this morning and they came to our apartment around lunch time. It was so great to see him. He’s just as happy go lucky as ever. Balzhan said he did great on the plane. We hung out at the apartment for a while and played. He was laughing, smiling and babbling up a storm. He was more vocal today then he was the entire time I was in Shymkent. He also has gotten really good at pulling himself up and likes to stand. He eventually got tired so I put him down for a nap (he went down so easily so I thought every time would be that way – ha did he prove me wrong on Wednesday!). He tends to roll around in the crib and ends up in the funniest positions. I don’t know how they could be comfortable but he doesn’t seem to mind.

After his nap we played for a little while longer and then headed out for a walk and to go to dinner. He really loved being in the stroller. He’s such a curious guy and loves to look at everything. We had dinner at Mamma Mia (I had eaten here the last time I was in Almaty, I just didn’t know the name.) Jake was very engaged with all the other diners around us. He walked (with Mama’s assistance of course) over to a table with two ladies who gave him breadstick (which he thought was a toy). He was happy to sit on my lap until we got our food and then he decided that he was hungry and needed to be fed immediately. He would get mad at me if I tried to take a bite. I guess I’m now on the Jake diet. LOL.

After dinner we came home and took a bath. I’m not really sure he loved it but there were no tears so that’s a good thing. We played for a little while and then he went to sleep.

Thinking About Getting Home

All is well with the Kaz group but I knew that Abby was really ready to come home when she asked me to look at seats for the return trip - yes they still do not have internet access. Hopefully it will be as scheduled for early next week.

Jacob is adjusting well to life with Mommy although both of them running on not a lot of sleep. After all why sleep in a crib when you have a Mommy to "march" you around.

On a personal note we cannot wait for them to get home. This trip seems so much longer than the last one to Abby's family. I think it is because we know we are just days away from having Jake with us.

Ruth