More Details

Two things:

1. We just got 26 (yes! Count 'em! 26!!!!) pictures of Pasha. I won't share the details of how we got them, but we did. The biggest part of the 26 pictures is that he is SMILING in several of them. He's even laughing in 1 of the pictures. This is a really big deal b/c he only smiled twice during our entire first trip and every picture subsequent to this, he has been very somber looking. I can't begin to say how thrilled we are with these pictures. I'll go into more detail some other day.

2. I wanted to continue my details of our first trip:

A short time after the "ball game" that we played in the first few moments of meeting Pasha, it was time for lunch. In a very quick and orderly manner, the children sat down at their tables. There were approximately 5 or 6 small tables that sat 4 kids to each one. I'm not exactly sure, but it appeared that the kids had assigned seating. Either that or the kids were VERY decisive as to where they should sit.

This is where things really got interesting. (Keep in mind, meal time is the single biggest parenting battle that we go through in our house.... on a daily basis. We've read entire books on how to control the situation during meals.)

The caretakers put bibs on each of the children whereupon these 1 and 2 year olds took it upon themselves to place their draping bibs onto the table and then place their bowls on top of the bibs. (Thus creating a "catch net" for anything that might possiblly not make it into their mouths). This didn't seem to be a problem though because each and every one of these children had extremely good command of their utencils. - yes, that's not a typo. These 1 year olds were using forks and spoons.

The room was completely silent. There was no complaining. There was no "picking" through their food. They just ate. And ate FAST. If any child even so much as lifted their head, a caretaker was there to quickly push their head back down toward their food. (Not in an abusive way - just a "no nonsense way" - or what I came to realize was the Russian way.)

No sooner did they start, but the second course of the meal was brought out. Some sort of rice thing. Followed by chicken. (we think And finished with some bread. (A dinner roll) Come to think of it, it was a meal that I've had at many-a-wedding receptions.

At the end of it all, they brought out drinks (water, I assume) No sippy cups. No bottles. Just regular cups. It was explained that they wait and give drinks at the end of their meal, otherwise the kids may fill up their tummies with nothing but liquids. (Oh yea.... good thinking..... Hallie has done that trick before). So they give them their food when they're hungry and drinks when they're thirsty. Dang! These guys are smart.

Just at the point when I'm thinking that these children and super-bionic-perfect children, one of them dropped and spilled their drink all over the place. Whew! I was beginning to get a little freaked out..... or at the very least, thinking that I was a pretty lousy parent.

Side Note: Zac was NOT the one who dropped the drink. (Good job Pasha!)

Believe it or not, that was the extent of day 1.

I have to admit though, day 1 is pretty fuzzy in our minds.

This is because:
1. We were not allowed to take any pictures on the first day (so not to freak out the children)
2. We were only there 45 minutes at the max
3. We had gone 3 1/2 days and only slept 1 night. Our brains were not sharp.

Next up: Day 2.