We love how happy and easy-going she seems, just thrilled with a bouncy ball, and very adept with the blocks, phone & doll baby. The first we saw her act upset at all was when we started to bundle her up to go outside. Her little lower lip jutted out, she clearly did not want to go outside until the caregivers talked to her. We don’t know what they said, but it did the trick. We all enjoyed the playground and the nice weather.
Another interesting point in the day was a visit to “the specialists” - three doctors who visit twice each year. In the picture here, she was getting her eyes checked. Russ and I were impressed by the 10-12 two year olds who sat patiently in the waiting area - all the kids seem so well behaved here!
One last photo, of Valeria having a snack in her room with her group. Can you guess which one is Valeria? (By the way, they call her "Lera" here, with a rolled R - I think that's cute!)
Thanks to everyone for your blog comments, they are fun to read and it’s great to hear from back home.
Thanks so much for these blog posts, and sorry for the tardy response. Just arrived yesterday a.m. in Madrid and only now got connected to the internet. So glad you arrived safely, and pretty little Valeria seems to be warming up to you and Russ so quickly. She really is a little cutie, and it's evident by your pics that she's in a safe, nice environment, and has been been cared for by what sounds like very kind people.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how surreal this entire experience thus far has been--from the other-wordly language and culture thing...to spending two hours locked in a room with a now strange little girl but soon a daughter for life who must have just been so confused and perplexed about the whole thing...to simply adjusting to everyday life in a strange land. But you and Russ, as you said, I know take it all in stride, so hope and suspect you're enjoying it all tremendously. What memories you'll have about all of this, and what fun it will be to recount these days with Valeria in the years ahead.
I hope when you have time in the coming days you'll take some pics of the city and sights there. Curious to see what the land of Borat is really like.
Good luck with the coming days, and hope all continues to work out according to plan. Thanks again for this great blog. And please give the prettiest little girl in Kazakstan a kiss from Uncle Bard for me (what am I going to do when she's back in Ohio, since I've already appointed Krissy the prettiest little girl in Ohio...?).
So what's the real pronunciation of her name? Va-LER-ia or Val-er-EE-a?
ReplyDeleteOh, oh, oh, you're making me Kaz sick!
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