Lots of Time with Dennis

I was up at 7:30. John got up after I showered to check to see if Sasha in Kiev had reviewed the possible passport photos for the boys. The first round one wasn’t faced straight enough and the other had his mouth open. (No message from Sasha.) We left a little early so we could stop at the French pastry shop. John had a cherry pastry, I ad chocolate (it’s nice to be able to sound out the labels) and we both had cappuccinos, a $3 amazing breakfast. Was pastry ever more light and flaky? We agreed that to go to such a place three or four times in the course of a month was reasonable. With only a few days left, we’ll have to go every morning to be reasonable.

We went to Nick’s room first, but they indicated he was not there. We went to Dennis’ room, and again instead of walking toward us when they opened the door he got a goofy grin and leaned back so we had to catch him and pick him up. Silly boy! We stopped to chat with Susan (and Losha), Bill has left for home. We found a place to spread out the table cloth and blanket and focused on Dennis. After 30 minutes John went to find Nick – no Nick. ??? After 30 more minutes of Daddy-Dennis time, he went to look again. This time Dennis was distressed when John left. Still no Nick. In fact, we never did see him this morning, and have no idea why. John and Dennis went for several short walks, and Dennis demonstrated that he knows very well how to wave “PaKa” (bye-bye) without any help, waving back at Mama (knitting away to give them some time alone together) again and again. When we left him at his room he also waved without needing the caretaker to lift and flap his arm (first time).

Back at the Metro stop we picked up enough tokens (26) to get us through our stay in Kharkov (probably). Lunch was hot dogs again – and a banana and yogurt. Sasha had called earlier and said the apartment manager wanted to arrange for linens to be dropped off. They settled on 3:00. Sure enough, at 3:00 the young lady who was cleaning the apartment when we moved in rang the door buzzer, handed us a bag with sheets and towels, and left. John read some medical articles for me while I got Nick’s sweater sleeves started (I modified the pattern, working them from the shoulder down instead of cuff up so I can pick up the stitches from the body already completed and avoid sewing bulky seems).

This afternoon we took the video camera along to film the approach to the orphanage, the area, a visit with the kids. We were a few minutes early to Nick’s room. The kids were all seated around a large table having something to eat or drink. I indicated he should stay and finish. John filmed Nick’s locker and their daily schedule. When Nick was ready (long sleeves this afternoon) he led us to Dennis. Actually, he asked Mama to carry him, so I did and had him point out the way. Dennis was ready for us when we opened the door. We let Nick choose our afternoon location. He had us stop right at the single bench outside the main entrance. All the same toys, games, naughtiness, ‘das vadanya’s to the departing staff . . . I think Nick is getting bored with this two-hour session routine (too). At 6:15 he came over to me, turned my left wrist so I could see my watch, and indicated it was time for him to go back to his group. I made sure that’s what he really meant, “see chess?” (now?). “Da” (yes). He helped gather and stack up all the toys, shake out the blanket and table cloth, and pack up to go. When we left him with his group he turned to get his hugs and say good-bye, and proceeded to peek through the weeds and bushes to say good-bye until we were out of sight. His group-mates also offered numerous good-byes. By the time we took Dennis to his room it was actually 6:30. John filmed him walking up the send flight of stairs with that very handy low railing. He didn’t voluntarily wave this time.

Macaroni tuna salad for supper. Four more of these two-hour entertainment sessions.