Surprise, it's open!

Well, I was walking to get us some lunch and Surprise, the internet cafe was open. So, I had to just stop in for a quick note. I will send Pat later this afternoon for his break and he can maybe post some also.

So, a quick version of the last 3 days. Nurik came to our apartment without any trouble. No crying. We all got emotional when Dr. Roza was holding him and saying good-bye. We know she truly loves all of these children and I can only imagine her range of emotions when the children leave. He was just wide-eyed and curious with the cab ride to the apartment and pretty much has been non stop since. Everything new and exciting. We have had great surprises in his affection towards us, his talking, his singing, his animated excitement about everything. We really did not see any of this in the Green room. It has been a joy. Sleeping has gone pretty well. Naps are harder because he had a dark room and a group of children all going to sleep with him. We do lay down with him and this seems to work pretty well except sometimes he wants to play. Having only one room is hard because all of the toys are near him. We are journaling at home because there is so much to tell but won't take too much time now. Thank you to all for your prayers for Nick. I think he is doing quite well. His fits are interesting to me and we just keep praying for wisdom on how to discipline him at this very early stage. He corrects fairly quickly and has lately started crying when we say no and then comes right to me to be held. Kind of humorous at times but hard to tell him no all of the time since everything is so new to him but we still have to protect him. I worry about our apartments neighbors thinking that we are hurting him but I suppose most people understand kids.

The latest news is that we moved yesterday on the spur of the moment as a new apartment came open just a block from the internet and only a few blocks from our food (grocery and restaurant) plus only on 3rd floor now. It is a bigger apartment but as we have learned, bigger never means better. More on that later. We are just thankful about the location as Nurik likes to walk but this place puts us much closer to everything for quick breaks like today. Plus, the other place was much more crowded near the market and I welcome less stares now especially with him.

Pat and I have seem to hit the wall emotionally and physically. We feel so terrible for happy little Nurik because we seem to have expended all of our energy just to get to his arrival. It is so hard to cook in a foreign place with little supplies and much smaller food supply. We are going to try out a restaurant when he is excepting going in and out of buildings better but until then we are in a pretty desperate mode. He loves being outside so much that he has little fits everytime you try to take him inside....glad we have a nice fenced in yard for him. As a dietitian, it is killing me that I can't provide better food for him but we are just trying to get by for now. He has had a bad cough that has not been good for his sleeping as he only coughs when he is in the bed. Masha got us some medicine that seems to be helping some. They keep saying it is probably because we give him some cold drinks or sweets which we have not done much since we know how unusual they are about that......can't wait to get back to our kind of why the kid is sick excuses. I just can't get their reasoning. Regardless, please keep Pat and I in your prayers. I have my Nanny coping skills which kick in most of the time but as weary and tired as we are it has been a hard few days for us. This holiday has cost us 4 days of business days for our paperwork so I think that is what got us a little sad. Masha is very firm with the fact that she doesn't see how we would be home before easter. We can't emotionally even think that far ahead or we get teary. We are just trying to take one day at a time and just enjoy our little boy. It is very hard to be introduced to a life changing experience in a very uncomfortable environment but we know God doesn't give us anything that we can't handle so we are just praying for a miracle quick paperwork turn around and will just be so happy to have Nurik at home. He really is amazing and funny. We just wish we could enjoy him with more energy. Thanks for all of the comments. We value them so much.
To our Moms and Dads.....we are trying to get the new phone number for you. If you don't already have it, we will get Pat to send this afternoon. Love to all, K-Pat and N