Day 1 of 10

We had a nice first day of our wait in Novosibirsk. I (Linda) am not over jet lag yet and was awake to stay by 4:00. I tried for 2 more hours to sleep, but gave up at 6:00. It was a nice, long, relaxing morning. We certainly don't have all that many of those at home, so we will enjoy them here. We stayed in the breakfast room reading, talking and blogging until it closed at 10:30. Then we hit the town.

It is pretty cold here. The temperature itself isn't so bad, but the wind really bites the face. We walked around quite a bit and then went to an art museum. They have a really nice collection. At 3:45 we were picked up at the museum and headed over to the baby home. It was great to see Ben again!

At the start of our visit he was reserved, but very quickly relaxed. He really likes putting blocks in a box and then taking them out. He plays on his own at first, but then interacts with us more and more. He really likes the run-away-I'm-gonna-getcha game. I love that game, too! He would walk several steps away and then look back at us. Then I would start the chase and he would giggle. He has a great giggle. We tried to capture that on video - check it out. :-)

We heard his first cry tonight! Wow. He had a toy of another girl that was being visited and we asked him to give it back to us. He didn't want to! When we finally got it from him he really cried. This was the first time he has cried around us and it was good to hear. He didn't have a tantrum or anything, just a normal kid cry. Then Ed said "Horshesh peet?" (Do you want a drink?) and he stopped crying immediately! He really likes water. I forgot to bring his sippy cup tonight so he was soaked by the end of our visit, but he really wanted that water.

I just checked my watch and am amazed that I am still awake at 9:25! Maybe my jet lag is coming to an end. More to add tomorrow.

Love,
Linda and Ed