A Cookie, a Ball and a Bag, What Fun!

Last night before bed we pulled two extra comforters out of the closet and laid them on top of the mattress under the sheet. I also drank a double dose of Sleepytime Extra tea (Celestial Seasonings) and it was nearly midnight when we went to bed. I don’t know which factor was most important, but I had the best sleep since that five hours after getting off the train last week Sunday. It was marvelous! I finally woke up feeling rested. John says he slept ‘good’, nothing remarkable. He woke up this morning. End of comments. We haven’t completely figured out the boiler. We still have no heat coming to the apartment (which is fine under warm blankets together at night), but washing up this morning was, shall we say, quite invigorating. John may have the answer for a warmer shower tomorrow. Hope so.

Yogurt and egg for breakfast. We walked to the orphanage. It was warm enough to have standing water on and between the areas of ice but the wind was brisk and it definitely felt colder. We had a good visit down in the green corridor. We showed him our pictures of family and home for the first time this morning. He was more interested in turning the pages, but we’ll keep working on it.

Yesterday we first introduced him to the American Sign Language sign for ‘more’. Today he knew it well and we started working on ‘please’ and ‘cracker’. It helps, of course that he wanted the cookie we gave him in small pieces. John also worked on “down” and “up”, which I have him saying on video. A big bunch of children dressed very warmly came through to go outside via the door right next to us. This was really hard on Daniel. I held and rocked him and told him “I know, I know”. They were barely outside before returning and Daniel calmed down. We are guessing it was too wet or messy out that door (not all of the children were wearing boots), as we could then see them through a window out on a paved area. Someone came to get him around 11:30. When we didn’t understand her words she said “gymnastics” and started some very energetic and comical antics. We’ve never seen this in any Ukrainian before, and we, including Daniel, thought it was great.

We headed for the apartment. John checked in with Sergei who gave us the good news that he was able to secure a Friday court date. Sergei was surprised to get it yet this week. We learned later that usually there is a preliminary hearing, then the real hearing. They sometimes do it all at once, but if not the ‘real’ hearing will be a couple of days later. Please pray that the judge chooses to complete both on Friday. We stopped at a sporting goods store in the same parking lot as the Billa and picked up 4# hand weights. John will get back to work on his shoulder. Now that I can sleep, I need to start ‘shredding’ again. After the subpoenas were prepared Sergei picked us up for lunch around 12:10 and took us to a cafeteria where we’ve never eaten. The name sounds something like “Jillybilly” and means “Once Upon a Time” in Russian or Ukrainian. He said it was the first cafeteria in Kharkiv. The décor was fun and the food very good. We both had the borsch - even better than most - John had kielbasa and vereniky, I had meat wrapped with pancakes and chocolate tort.

Then we thought it was a good time to start working on the power of attorney I need to assign to John so he can travel home alone with Daniel. (The next section is dry - may want to skim or skip it). First stop the notary. The one we have been working with previously didn’t think I would need a Ukrainian tax ID number (like a social security number), but she since then she checked with someone else and I do. So over to the tax ID place (not easy in the traffic and had to park at a McDonalds). We decided to get a number for John right away, too, just in case. When it was our turned they needed an official translation of our passports, a copy of which the inspector had. After coffee and a bathroom break at McDonalds it was back across town to the inspector, to whom Sergei needed to deliver a subpoena anyway. Getting the document from her was quick, finding a place to make the copies was not and John and I fogged up the car windows talking while waiting for Sergei to take care of it. We call Nick and Dennis every day at 3 PM. Since it was obvious we would not be back at the apartment (and our computers to use Skype), we got some quick instructions from Alec and called them on the cell phone. A quick stop back in at the Inspectors office and we went back to the tax ID place. We did better with a parking place this time, and did not need to wait in line. The woman told us this usually only takes two to three days, in exotic cases up to one week. We needed the blankets and toys from our apartment and by the time we reached the orphanage it was 5:15. What an afternoon! This has been Sergei’s life for the past week.

They brought Daniel out about 10 minutes later and we had a great visit. Our usual evening landing was already in use by another mom and baby so we settled in on a couch in the green corridor. He wanted a cookie first and we fed it to him a small piece at a time while he practiced signing and saying “more” and “please”. When the last crumb in the bag was gone we brought out the ball we had purchased in Kyiv. Turns out the cookie, the ball and the shopping bag it came in were all we needed. He spent a long time with the colorful shopping bag, sometimes having us help put the ball inside, shaking it down and then dumping it out. We batted the ball around for a while. We all passed the shopping bag around for a while, bunched up or folded. He practiced rising from sitting to standing, getting ‘fives’ and the chance to fall backwards.

I finished his hat for the third time and tried it on tonight. He wasn’t thrilled, but we got him to smile for the picture. The most fun was at the end when he stood up on the couch, I only provided balance, and he knocked the ball off of John’s hand again and again and again. He thought it was hilarious to watch John chase after the ball and even consented to use his right hand part of the time (if I held his left hand back against his body). He did a great job keeping his legs straight and his torso upright. This is the way to do Physical Therapy! At 6:40 we started telling him that soon it would be time to go back to group, but we were all having such a good time we put it off until the same lady who came for him at lunch came to lead us upstairs for supper.

On the walk home we noticed that no standing water remains, it has all turned to ice. We had our grilled ham and cheese and an orange for supper again. Tonight we are snacking on the microwave popcorn. It is the first thing that has tasted just like it does at home (including bottle Coca-cola, John says). Wonder how it would be popped? Just kidding. The microwave works fine.