This morning we were picked up by Misha and what a surprise when we got in his car and heard the OSU marching band playing some tunes! I started applauding and he began to grin from ear to ear. (At least from what I could tell from the rear view mirror!) Aliya had told him earlier we were from Ohio and he had been given an OSU Pride of the Buckeyes CD from one of the previous visiting families. As we were driving he held up the case and ask Tom what the O was in the picture... painted on the field. I think he was either a little confused or just very good at messing with us because he asked us if it was a baseball game and if they drink there.
Misha is a very good driver and he is starting to come out of his shell. He was very quiet when we first met him and little by little we are getting to know him better. Aliya also tells us he's not a morning person so he is more chatty in the afternoons. They are funny when they get to speaking Russian very quickly in the car. He asks a lot of questions about us and about the news and sometimes you can tell he is correcting something that Aliya has said when she's talking about the city. Sometimes they remind me of an old married couple... you can tell they've worked together for a long time and enjoy it. We still need to find out about Misha... he is married but we don't know much more than that. Aliya is still single and teases me about learning how to train a husband... as if that's even possible! ;-)
Our visits with Nadia/Emily are going great. We're still meeting in the physical therapy room. It's not so bad meeting in there, but when you know there is a bigger room that you could be meeting in that you could spread out in... well, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Nadia vs. Emily - Nadia is the baby's given name. Actually, it's Nadezhda (pronounced Nod-yesh-da) but it's shortened form is Nadia (pronounced over here/Kazakhstan as Nod-ja). It's very awkward for us to call her Emily when everyone else is calling her Nadia... especially when we don't have custody yet. So, for now and while we're visiting we are referring to her as Nadia. We put both names in the blog so it's less confusing and so you don't think we're talking about a totally different child. We will call her Emily once we get back to the states and will likely start that conversion with her once we get custody. It will probably be a combination of her names until she gets used to hearing it since she does turn her head sometimes when she hears Nadia.
Nadia/Emily is such a sweet little thing and very snuggly. I just love it when she nuzzles into my neck when I'm holding her and she's recently started rubbing my shoulder or arm while holding her and walking around. Sometimes she will also just lean back a bit and stare into my eyes like she's studying me. She's very inquisitive and watches everything around her. If she starts getting fussy the best way to calm her is to walk her to the big cabinet in the room and let her look at all the toys and equipment inside.
Some of you have asked about sizes. At our first meeting with the doctor when we met Nadia/Emily, we were told that she weighs 6 kilograms and is 65 centimeters long. That converts to 13.2 pounds and 25.6 inches long. We have tried a few different sizes of clothing on her. The 3-6 mos. onesies and shirts will fit her but they are tight. The 6-9 mos. clothes that we brought fit much better even though we have to roll up the sleeves a bit. (She has my short arms!)
After our first visit with Nadia/Emily I couldn't tell you what color her eyes were, but after further inspection they are gray with a hint of blue. I had never noticed that eye color on anyone until I met Tom... they are exactly like his!
As far as her nose... she has a button nose just like Ryan's. On one occasion so far, it has been a VERY snotty nose... but we'll save you the details! ;-)
In regard to her hair... well, there just isn't a whole lot there yet but she promises that she won't be like her Grandpa Gaston forever. It is coming in and there are some hairs at the back that are almost a whole inch long. Her hair is coming in very light brown... so far.
In other news.... she's a champion spewer - especially in the afternoons. They feed her right before we visit her at 2:30 in the afternoon. They must shovel it in because she is usually bursting at the seams when we get her. I (Jenni) am going to be inducted into the spit-up hall of fame. So far the score is: J-2, T-1 (Yes, Ryan, as in putt-putt the object of the game is to get the lowest score and so far I'm losing!) We had our tour of Uralsk in the afternoon after our visit and I got to wear my new scent - "Essence of Emily" as my badge of honor. ;-) Mmmmm, yummy.
We got to see her turn on the waterworks for the first time this afternoon. I'm still not sure what triggered it but she was very content and all of a sudden she puckered up, her eyes got red, the lip started quivering and real, genuine tears started to flow. But as quickly as it started it also stopped... as soon as I picked her up. Man, she's got me trained already! She's good!
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