Day 3 of the 10 day wait...

I am glad you all enjoy my daily recaps. I feel like I write a book, so I am glad that I am not boring you. I know I will be very happy that I have done this when I finally get around to scrapbooking this whole event!

Well, at least 2 of us got a normal night's sleep. Kiara slept from midnight until 10 AM and I slept from 2 AM until 9 AM. Well, at least pretty close to normal. It is consecutive sleep without waking up, which I think is the key. Unfortunately, Ryan wasn't so lucky. He maybe got 5 hours of sleep and it wasn't consecutive.

So, we did a little laundry and got ready for our trek to see Vera. Our trip on the Metro went well. There were definitely more people today versus the weekend, but not as many as I imagined. We feel like pros now. We tell the guard we are there to see Vera, go into the orphange, put on our shoe coverings, go into the orange room and wait for them to bring her to us. She did cry just a bit today when they brought her to us. The lady that brought her to us, I think, is one of her favorites. Vera always lights up when she sees her, it is so sweet to see. Here is a picture of Vera and the worker she really likes, taken by Kiara.

We had another good visit with Vera. During this time of day in the orange room there are people coming and going through our room, so it is harder to really get on the floor or anything and play with her. Plus, the rug is really dirty. I don't understand it because the rest of their floors are immaculate! It doesn't look like the rug has been cleaned since we were there on our first trip. We brought a phone toy to play with today. We had also brought this toy with us on our first trip and Vera showed NO interest in the toy at all! Today she loved it and would get upset if she didn't have it. It is great to see that she has really opened up and gotten more comfortable with us. Here is a video of her playing with the phone.

Here is what goes on when Vera and I have a little alone time!

Today the Baby Home Director came through during our visit. So, she must be back from vacation. I am dreaming that she calls M and tells her that we can take Vera before the 10 day wait it over! M might be at the orphanage tomorrow when we are there, so hopefully we can ask her then. If not, I will call her on Wednesday. Plus, my agency director is also going to see what she can find out.

This picture and video are so sweet!

We also tried a little walking today, but she isn't real interested. But, yesterday when she pulled herself up, I could tell she was pretty steady on her feet. Hopefully, she isn't walking too soon!
Our trip home on the Metro went pretty smoothly. We did go up one escalator that we shouldn't have, but realized it right away and just took it back down when we got to the top. On the way home, we stopped to eat at McDonald's. Kiara thought it was pretty neat she was eating at a Russian McD's. It is interesting to order there because there is no English on the menu at all. We did find out this time that they have this big card thing they can pull out with a pictures and a bunch of different translations. So, you can point to what you want. Ryan wanted a double cheesburger, but it wasn't on the picture menu. So, he said cheesburger and put up 2 fingers, so we thought for sure he would get 2 cheesburgers, but he actually ended up with 2 double cheesburgers. Kiara also tried a strawberry sundae and I tried a chocolate shake. It was all pretty good. The shake in America is a bit better, but I wasn't complaining! We also stopped at the grocery store on our way home.

On our walk home, the little side street that our apartment is off of was completely backed up with traffic because of an accident at the beginning of the street. The traffic usually flows pretty good, so it was crazy to see how one little fender bender can competely lock everything up! I should have taken a picture.

When we got home, Ryan needed to work for 4 hours, so Kiara and I did a craft. We made our Christmas tree for our apartment! You can't be competely without a Christmas tree on Christmas. Here is our hard work!

Then, Kiara had a bath and Ryan is now putting her to bed, but I have a feeling he will be there for awhile! Oops, guess I was wrong! I am hoping to catch the Survivor finale on my Slingbox that aired last night!