Bonding Day 4
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Gabe’s feeling better. We bought him some medicine last night that his doctor requested. It seems to be working but I’m very concerned. It looked like cough syrup and chest rubs for adults. I asked numerous times to make sure that it was for babies and they said yes. He still has a runny nose but his breathing is much better.
Joel attempted to feed Gabe again this afternoon. Gabe was not comfortable at all. He was fussing and crying again. We are definitely convinced that it’s because he isn’t accustomed to having a male feed him. Joel remained very patient but willingly handed him over after half an hour of enticing Gabe to eat. I finished feeding him without any problems.
We discovered something truly amazing about our son. He loves music. Joel played the piano in the playroom with Gabe on his lap. Gabe was moving his hands, mimicking daddy. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Gabe complained each time Joel took a break.
We had dinner at Christy’s, she’s adopted a beautiful baby girl, Z. Z is from baby room 3, the same as Gabe. She also loves music like him. Her process started 7 weeks ago and she’s on her way to meet her family in Almaty on Monday. It’s so comforting to know that she only had minor hiccups along her process. She shared her true Aqtobe experiences and gave encouraging advice. This ROCKSTAR mom went through this process by herself. We wish them a safe trip home.
Bonding Day 5
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We are a bit sad today, as we are only allowed one morning visit with Gabriel. The good new is it’s his ninth month birthday. He was born on May 10, 2007. To celebrate, we gave him apple juice in a sippy cup. He loved it so much, he actually performed crunches to get to the cup. He held it by himself at times.
After a bit of a rest, our other translator, Biyanna, came over to play with Gabriel. She started playing some music on her phone and danced for Gabriel. He got into the groove of things as well and got down with her. This kid is going to be a playa!
As usual, the time with him isn’t long enough and his caregiver comes into the room to take him away. It’s the saddest thing to see, as he knows that he wants to be with us, but he can’t stay…just yet. It kills me to see that look in his eyes when he’s carried out of the room.
After we leave the orphanage, we head over to the Sulpak marketplace to grab some lunch and do some shopping. We need to pick up a couple of baby things along with other stuff as well. I don’t know if Gen and I had mentioned it yet, but the choices for food around here can be quite adventurous. There isn’t any type of fast food restaurants like back in the states, McDonald’s, Burger King, etc…The last time one of us tried something, we beat a hasty exit to the nearest bathroom. Today’s choice of food wasn’t too bad, a very oily noodle soup with shredded beef and a baked bun stuffed with chicken and potatoes. Desert was nice, it was a crepe type of pastry topped off with honey and nuts.
We proceed to the indoor shopping area and look for the baby stuff. You would think that things here would be at a decent price or cheap, but it isn’t the case. Prices here rival NYC, yet the quality of the product is no where near it. The same goes for food shopping and baby stuff, like pampers or baby wipes.
After an unsuccessful search inside, we head to the outdoor market. Now remember that the temperature outside is about 16 degrees and ice is everywhere. Even with a fleece, cold weather parka, hat and gloves, you can still feel the cold. It’s a good thing that we brought along insulated winter boots as well, because the ground is just a sheet of ice.
The outdoor market looks pretty much like something you would find back home, except almost all the vendors use shipping containers to hock their wares. Walking in and around the maze of containers, we finally find some of the baby stuff that we needed and make our way back towards the entrance of the market. Before we exit, we find a vendor selling those fur hats. Eric, who has been looking for a fur hat immediately runs over to him and tries them on. I pick one up as well and find it very comfortable and warm! Cerric was quite delighted when we returned to the car when we returned wearing the Kazakh hats. He pointed at Eric and me and said, “Russian and Kazakh friends”. We’ll attach the picture of us with the hat vendor.
Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant, Istanbul with Eric and Kami. They didn’t have an English menu there. We called our translator to order for us, beef and chicken meals. Food was pretty good and inexpensive. We’ll definitely return for future meals.
