Day 2 post Andrew

First for the pictures (I haven't done a lot of pictures lately because we are too busy soaking Andrew in):

Andrew with his serious face (he smiles a ton, we are just too busy to take pictures during those moments):

Andrew about to go out for a quick stroll (I think the SC hat is a bit small)  Oh, and I like the Ergo carrier, despite the holistic instructional dvd that was a little bit cheezy:

Andrew reaching for the wrapping paper:

Andrew playing with the wrapping paper (and babbling):

We have had a good couple of days all in all.  As you can tell, he is getting around well.  Andrew seems happy.  And he seems to be doing new things before we know it.  He is crawling all over the place - Vernon calls it the Andrew 500.  He is also pulling himself up to a standing position completely by himself, and even tentatively moves with the assistance of the coffee table.

Today we had his doctors appointment, if you can call it that.  The doctor weighed him, took his length measurements, poked him in a few areas, checked his ears and breathing, and then we were done.  All for the price of 2800 rubles.  The dollar is so amazingly weak here in Europe.  I even read an article online how all the Europeans are traveling to the U.S. to make all of their purchases, because their currency goes so much further in the U.S.  Oh well.  Whatever it takes to get Andrew home.  The doctor said he was just a bit small but healthy.  Of course, I don't know how much one can gather from such a brief exam...

Tomorrow we go to the passport office to try once again to get Andrew's passport.  I wish we could have done this on Friday because it will be a long day for Andrew.  He doesn't like different surroundings, and being in a car is quite different for him.   I guess this will get him ready for our marathon flight home.  We will be on a plane for 12 hours from Moscow to Atlanta, a 3 hour layover for Atlanta (to make sure we get everything done for customs), and then the quick hop to Charlotte.  

We are pretty much done for the day.  Andrew is sleeping and Vernon is studying Russian.  Andrew woke up at 5:00 this morning, and although I got up first with Andrew, Vernon pitched in and let me sleep from 7 to 8.  And Vernon got Andrew back to sleep as well.

Tomorrow we will do dinner with our friends Carol and Lance, and Ron and Dinia.  Carol and Lance have adopted with through our agency, and Ron and Dinia are from Alabama but presently work here, but not for long.  Ron works for BP and if you google BP and Russia, you can learn some interesting business/political news.  I'm glad we will get to see them for a little while tomorrow evening.  

Well, that's it for now.  The weather dropped 20 degrees overnight.  Vernon's long sleeved clothing is coming in quite handy now.  Oh, and we got back the disposable camera we left at the baby home back in June.  The good news is it looks like they took pictures.  As adoptive parents, we don't get to see the living quarters for these babies, so I am hoping the pictures give us a glimpse into his life at the baby home.  I will wait until we return to the States to get them developed, though.  Talk to you later!

Christa and Vernon