Appointment Day at State Department for Adoption

Can not say we are fully readjusted to this time zone. Feeling rested and restless, and misreading the clock in the dark, John was awake, up, showered and ready to go - - - - at 3:10 AM!!! He was very disappointed when he realized it was still almost 6 hours until our appointment time. As for me, well, at least I got some Continuing Medical Education credits done . . . And then we both got a couple more hours of sleep.

Breakfast today was a plate of tomatoes, meat and cheese, bread, juice, yogurt and an omelet to share. John had coffee, I brought my herbal tea with me. We have nifty electric tea kettle in our room and I have been trying to flood a cold out of my system particularly before we enter a baby house.


Our appointment at 9 AM went very well. Oleksandr picked us up in his car, we arrived at the SDA with 5 minutes to spare. We took our photographs again - this time including Oleksandr (we never managed to photograph him last round). He was able to accompany us inside today and we had a very pleasant time with the SDA representative. As soon as she opened the folder we could see a photograph of Daniel. She asked us to tell her a little about ourselves and it was hard to focus and to guess what she would like to know. Then she shared the known facts about Daniel. Really not much more than we knew before. He has a crossed eye and some problem with his muscles and/or joints. He is also "neurologically and psychologically delayed", but then pretty much every child in an orphanage carries those diagnoses, so the facts/severity remain to be seen. The photograph of Daniel at a younger age shows hair exactly the color of Dennis’ at 18 months, and the later photograph (March, 2009) shows it has also turned darker but different shade. We were back outside about fifteen minutes later very excited for this glimpse of our third son. We stopped in at the small café next to our hotel for a cup of coffee and celebratory second breakfast with Oleksandr. We asked if we could possibly receive our referral yet today rather than the customary tomorrow, hoping to meet Daniel as early as Friday, but this seems unlikely.

John and Oleksandr need to get some software installed in the MacBook in order to use the broadband modem, but Oleksandr was called away on urgent business for another adoptive family. We browsed through the underground mall that can be reached just outside our hotel and runs a good six blocks. We found paper, colored pencils, a ball and some bubbles for Daniel. I found knitting needles to complete the sets I neglected to bring with me (simply ran out of time to verify prior to departure). We will find something for dinner later. Perhaps we will be able to meet up with Mama Karla (from Idaho). Tomorrow has no current plan.