Stern, Strictly-Business, Social Workers and Snap Decisions

This morning we had our appointment with the Kazakh social workers, who must approve us in order for the adoption to proceed. We couldn’t help being a little nervous going in, even though Oxana told us not to be. These were two serious women who barely made eye contact and seemed…well…like the stern stereotypical Russian woman we’d see on TV back home! Russ said "drasvitya" (hello) to which they replied, "Sit down."

They asked us - how long we’ve been married, income, if we will love the adopted child as much as our own children, what religion we are, if our family is healthy, and what our childcare arrangements will be. It felt like the whole thing took maybe 3 minutes - and with that, they signed the paper and we cleared just one more hurdle of this year-and-a-half-long journey. Check that box, whew.

We had two more good visits with Valeria, who is amazing at stacking blocks (12 high!) and can change a dolly’s diaper about 15 times per minute. There were a few workers on the roof, and she thought that was just amazing. She was particularly chatty this morning, and said 6 words - a record! - for which she got lots of “maladyets” (good girl!) and kisses on her sweet smooshy cheeks. She said mama, papa, paka (bye bye), dada (man), pipi, and a-dye (give it back).

The speech therapist was kind enough to write down some activities we can continue to do with Valeria, and when we thanked her, she said “No - thank YOU. For taking an interest and for helping Valeria. She is a good girl and I can already see improvements. She is using more words and showing a wider range of emotions than I’ve ever seen.” Pretty cool, eh?

Today, May 9, Kazakhstan is celebrating "Victory Day" - broadcasting WW2 military music on the streets, and there will be a parade and fireworks later.

Sorry no pictures today, connection is too slow and we can't post anything.