Amazed at my recovery thanks to Dr Sergei and other updates

May 29th: Morning

The Grandparents (Babushka and Dedushka/Nani & Nanu, call them what he may) have booked their tickets for Canada! So, my mom & Dad have finalized their tickets and plan for coming to meet their Grandson. Yippee! And even though things are not easy right now, my darling one and only lil sister is also booking her tickets along with our sweet lil Nyda (who has much to teach her little brother) and Rohan, soon! The whole family will be together in Ottawa, in our new home, on AV's 1st ever birthday celebration as he turns TWO in November this yr! Followed by a very special DIWALI that weekend in our new home. Could it get any more special!? Now we need to plan a birthday bash that won't freak out lil AV. SO excited!!! Thanks mom (Bhoal Channi) , Pa (Bs Channi) , Harnoor & Ro for moving heaven and earth to make this possible. Even without a big bash, his birthday just got extra extra special with all of us together.

Evening Update:
 
Love affair with the Manual therapist continues. Sergei is a GOD! I'm now walking one way from the BH and am going to try and make dinner tonight! This is with just 3 sessions with him over a 5 day period. ($100 for 4 sessions, each session between 1 to 1.5 hrs long-with miraculous results). 
From the night I felt paralyzed till today where there is almost a hop-skip-n-jump in my step (ok maybe that's an exaggeration, but u get the point). AV enjoyed all his delicious food we brought him today and played a few games, including push the car to move, but soon after being outside there was a full on drama session, with the wailing pitch increasing from a threatening 'pick me up or else' note (which is usually fixed with cajoling and bribing with an impending kiss if he pushes on a bit more or a bite of a biscuit) to a FULL ON BAWLING session complete with big tears. At that point Mommy didnt care what rules of teaching and not giving in were being broken, up he was taken in Mommy's arms and in 2 seconds it stopped with a tight hug and song. Daddy was not impressed. On the food note, we tried a student cafe near the university (Guess what, the Indian rule of always having someone who makes an omelet applies here too and in hindsight that's what we shud have ordered). First time in 5 weeks - not a good meal. Let's just say a cheeseburger was insulted today to be called by that name. Ah well, you win most, you lose one. Had some urgent papers to be signed at a Notary office where a verbal dressing down was given to the officer by Dee as we've had enough of some people treating us like we're kids and the manner they speak to you. Excuse me, at least be professional and do your job first. The job you are being paid a hell of a lot of money for! Nonsensical peoples I tell you! Ok that was my venting. All is well, as T called and apologized after. Sometimes, people are mistakenly led to think they can try to walk over you and say anything in any way just because you may appear to be very friendly and open. One tight slap! Thish Thish! They haven't seen my crabby side yet---beware thy peoplessss. 'Bee' as my dad calls that doppelganger. Ok, now I'm off to cook after a week of being out of commission. Dasvidaniya. 5 weeks since we left home today. Hopefully not more than 2 more left to go.

Guess who has been reading the blog in the past 1 week

It is interesting to find out that people from all corners of the world have been reading your blog, and following your journey. Here is a snapshot of the viewers in the past 1 week.

Entry	Pageviews
United States	147
Canada	142
Spain	71
Kazakhstan	42
Russia	14
India	9
Belgium	7
United Arab Emirates	6
Germany	3
Argentina	1

Pending updates: Till May 27th, the LAST official bonding day.

May 25 BD 26:
As advised by the Dr here in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, am lying on what is best described as a pad of nails, to work and relax the muscles that are tight around the hip jt I have hurt. Feel like Bheeshm Pitamah from Mahabharat. If laughing at this situation didn't hurt more than lying on a bed of nails, I would.

My bed of nails. If you have a back or neck problem-You HAVE to try this!

May 26 BD 27:
Morning-Its amazing how simple things can bring on a smile on even the most blank faces. Took a packet of balloons I brought from Canada and seeing the Russian 2-4 yr batch outside for their 'outside time', blew them all a balloon each. OH The Excitement that ensued!!! Even the girl who doesn't speak came up raising her arms saying something in Russian asking for "Shar!" Happy faces and smiles coupled with throwing the colorful balloons in the air. Made my day! In other news, AV's Masi, Masu, Big Sis Nyda, Nani and Nanu (my family in Delhi) have now each had a live 1 min skype session with our Kaz warrior. Most intrigued by his Hanu Masi's face/interaction, the highlight for us (apart from the fact that our family got to 'meet' him while we're here in Kaz!) was darling lil Nyda calling out to him "Dont Cry, A!", "Veryyyy Goooood!". I think she will do perfectly well in her new role as a Big Sister.

Evening: Feels like school again. Was writing daily Diary entries in my draft folder for the 2 diaries to be handwritten for Court and the Ministry of Youth here in Kaz, which will then be translated to Russian for presentation. Sat down finally to write them both today as tomorrow is the last official bonding day (Woohoo!) and Saltanat needs to start the translation to Russian/Kazakh. Guess What!? Mysteriously the 'Diary' Draft mail has 'vamoosed'!!! WAAAIIIIN! Why!? Why!? Thankfully we recorded each day on our FB updates and my blog, so going through each day to do a write up for 30 days x 2. Tried a great new Shashlik place run by an Armenian family. Interesting encounter with a young (and happily drunk) Kazakh guy who fell in love with our dear Koko (can't blame him) and took us a good half hr to indulge him with details about Canada before he left us to finish our dinner. No lewd or bad behavior, just an inquisitive young fella drunk on a Sunday, who btw asked Dee if his forefathers were from Africa. (I told Dee he shud have told him, hate to burst your bubble, buddy, but so were yours!) Now time to get to bed, after writing some pages of the diary and get ready for our last official day of Bonding! Can't believe this part is done! Where did a month go!?

May 27 BD 28 - THE LAST OFFICIAL BONDING DAY:
-And just like that our Bonding period is now officially completed. That flew by SO fast! Tomorrow the court application gets filed and then we wait for the court date and the paperwork to come from Canada and Russia (Embassy is in Moscow). My back is much better thanks to the magical (and strong!) hands of Dr Sergei, who took about 1.5 hrs today to work on my bones and muscles. God! I think Im in love! Dee was in the room while I screamed in pain and still asked him to go on. (That sounds wrong I know, but hey dont judge! :P) Now while I upload a gazillion more pics on my laptop to make space on my SD card for a gazillion more, the enticing aroma of a delicious Dahi Chicken that Dee is cooking for dinner tonight to celebrate this day while I rest on my bed of nails, is wafting through the apartment. From tomorrow we see AV on a more relaxed schedule while we catch up on other goings-on and I recover.
Thank you for all your wonderful comments everyday on our updates, pics and blog comments along with your personal msgs and emails. I hope you know how wonderful it is to read them all and hear from you. You are all along with us on this amazing journey, even though we are oceans and continents apart. Makes the journey even more exciting!

 

May 25th BD 26: Painful trip to the Dr (Manual Therapist, Sergei) and did someone say COURT soon!!!!!

-A Long but very important post: Bonding Day 26: WHAT A DAY! After a sleepless night, trying to find a less painful side to sleep on (though sleep eluded me still), managed to slowly get ready to go to the BH to see our lil one. He was SO good today, playing happily with daddy and giving mommy smiles (and what a squealing greeting when he entered the room!) as if understanding the pain I was in. Dee then took me to the Dr - a Manual Therapist (think Chiro meets Physio cum massage therapist) who worked for a full hour first trying to figure out the problem, tendon by tendon, L1 to L5, till he too realized what I feared. The hip joint has dislocated causing this debilitating pain. To describe the scene while he tried to relax the tendons around the affected joint so that he could try and align in back in the socket all I can say is imagine a delivery room-and a woman without drugs in it. Bloodcurdling screams with intermittent curses followed by profuse apologies, all the while Dee translating back and forth b/w me and the Dr/therapist from Russian to English. After a very rough one hour, and only 3 pops, we realized my body was not ready to take more and physio manual stretching by his very strong hands could only do so much for today. The great thing was that though I'm not anywhere close to recovered yet (its going to be a long painful journey back to that), I was walking a bit better, able to sit on the bed and chair on my own for the most part, while being in still constant but manageable pain. End result: We could meet Koko & John for lunch at a lovely Patio and have delicious Lagman and soup (spicy and SO good!). After about an hr though I was ready to lie down and needed to be taken back home by cab for a nap. THEN!!!! What a lovely way to be woken up by Dee asking me, "How soon would you like to officially make AV our son!?" Don't think anything else could have bolted me straight up from a deep slumber! The very elusive Tanya (our Kaz counter-part agency Coordinator, who we hadn't met till now) was finally here in Aktobe and met with Dee & KoJo while I slept and told us we needed to EXTEND OUR STAY! She said she will confirm by next week but she expects us to have our court date within just TWO WEEKS after our official Bonding Process is completed day-after tomorrow!!!! OMG!!! Definitely throws us in a tizzy and there are a gazillion things we have to work out, esp with Dee's work and our little darling doggie Nikki as he cannot stay for longer at J&J as they have already been so kind to keep him all this while we were here, so I don't know how we will manage to find him somewhere to stay quickly, till we are back around June 12th, but WE ARE STAYING here till COURT in 2 weeks!!! This is a VERY surprising and sudden development and though I am in IMMENSE pain right now, and we have to figure out so many things in Ottawa for us to be able to, it is very very exciting news for us as it means AV might be home by mid-July at the latest if all goes as planned. We will of course come back home to Ottawa, after court and then return only to pick up AV once all his paperwork is ready and done.

The room AV has spent most of his life till now in.

Back is gone

So, 2 days back, while Dee tried to fix Saltanat's Copier machine at the BH, AV tried to make a run for it as always trying to get out of the small room we are supposed to be in. I rushed to him, swooping him up in my arms and turning, to prevent him from getting his hands caught in the doorway and hurt himself and felt a 'Crick' in my back immediately. Flash back to 8 yrs back when a bowling incident caused havoc in my life sending me to bed rest for weeks, and then a slow, long recovery to fix my back. My Chiropractor became my savior. Took me about 2 yrs to enjoy walking around in a mall for more than 5 mins.

I have to admit the fault does lie with me. I need to lead a more active lifestyle, I'm just too much of a homebody, preferring to go out mostly when I need a break or when I make plans to meet my friends for lunch or dinner. The expensive gym membership to the fanciest Club in Ottawa (The Athletic Club) was wasted for 2 yrs after I found I would get sick (catch a cold or coughing bout) after a Yoga class or working on the equipment.

But like my mom has always said, if you really want to stay fit and put your mind to it, you don't need any Gym membership. Just need sheer determination and will. I am planning, now, to get out of my funk, once I am home and well enough, to make a routine and fit in exercise and yoga in it so that I can be healthy and stronger. Because I love carrying AV in my arms, and snuggling him and giving him tight hugs and kisses, and not being able to do that has made me cry these past 2 days. :(

Anyway, to continue the story, after that the pain slowly kept increasing throughout the day becoming worse by night. The next morning I went for the morning session, but even carrying a big pillow was not helpful and I was wincing with every step. The kind nurse saw this and after Deepak told her what was going on, she walked up to me while I sat outside on the play train in the playground and with actions told me in Russian that she would be happy to give me a massage to help with the pain. I was so grateful and trotted behind her and was very touched at this kind gesture by this lady. She suggested I not lift anything, and relax it completely. Which I tried to do, but by the evening I was on bed rest. In immense pain and unable to even get out of bed, go to the washroom on my own to even wash my face (as bending even slightly became impossible). By now I could see that my lower half of the body was twisted and it seemed that I had displaced my hip, causing pressure on the nerves now not protected. A panic call to my mom and sis in the evening requesting them to call Dee on his Kaz local no. to come back home immediately as I was suddenly feeling faint and didnt have the strength to even fall down on the floor, left me crying like a child. Anyway, Dee was now left with the responsibility of doing everything for me, hs work and preparing things for the Bonding session.

Thankfully (only because of this situation) this was on a Friday, and the weekend only has us seeing AV
only once a day. The night was just terrible, with me unable to turn on my own, writhing like a snake trying to do the same without waking Dee up in the next room, holding my screams in my mouth. Needless to say there wasnt much sleep for me. Next morning, Dee helped me get ready and called a cab to the door and Im glad I mustered the guts to go for the bonding session. Seeing him made me feel so much better.

After that, we went to the MANUAL THERAPIST, Sergei. Apparently he has treated 3 other Adoptive parents from US and Belgium, before us! Seems like, us new parents are definitely in need of getting more fit! ;) What ensued was a one hour session of constant translation from russian to english and vice versa between Sergei, Dee and me. Some words needed no translation as Sergei seemed to understand perfectly well when I screamed cursing out loud or threatening things that I obv didnt mean (?). I apologized for my behaviour and I think he understood why I was screaming and cursing as I was, as he could see how bad the situation with my body was. He worked so hard on me, trying to put back the hip in the socket it seems to have been dislocated from a bit, causing immense pain. Eventually we realised that he could not do anymore today and with tips and some medication and advice to 'sleep on a bed of nails' that Dee bought from the pharmacy, I was asked to return on Monday and hopefully by then the muscles/tendons would be relaxed a bit and he could pop it back in then.

Whew! That, my friends, is the episode from hell about my back on Bonding Day 26. WHEW!!!

The evening brought wonderful news about Court-read above post for the same.
Thank you to all my friends, and fellow Kaz moms for your messages of advice & support. As always you make things easier and bring a smile in tough times. :D

May 21st and 22nd. And of course, some pictures :)

Monday 20th May, Bonding Day 21:
So it is confirmed. The little one likes to moze around (its a word I created which means just flop all over, be lazy and not even sit up) when Daddykins is in within arm's reach. The morning was a relatively lazy one (Mommy has high standards of performance), with good intake of an egg and banana going in, but then we decided to change our strategy since Mr U-may-think-u can-make-me-do-it-but-ur-wrong went into loud 'Ahen Ahens' when we tried to make him walk on the hold and walk bars in the playground in the BH, or if we tried to get him to push the car around, which he usually enjoys doing. Anyhow. Daddykins stayed within watching distance but completely hidden from view, though he tried to move his head as far as it would go to try and see where his savior/catcher went. Success as mommy encouraged him on and got him to do a FULL LAP of the whole BH on his little push car! The things one can accomplish if we stop mozing around. Evening was a super success and we continue to be fascinated by doors. Ingfact they mesmerize us enough to hypnotize us. Ah well. 3 WEEKS COMPLETED TODAY! WOOHOO! 1 More week of official bonding time left and then we can sign off the document to request a court date for AV!

Tuesday 21st May, Bonding Day 22:
They are definitely onto something when they overdress the kids. The little one has a cold. And since no one else does but the 2 of them going thru bonding, and going outside everyday for sometime, its obv us. So, ban on going out till its warmer-it was pretty windy and nippy today as it is. Just felt like mozing around mostly, but lots and lots of cuddling and lovings. Enjoyed the Formula 1 style vvrrrooom vvrrooom daddy did with the car while AV was at the wheel, but he didnt want to do much work. He did doze off in mommy's arms in the morning while she sang some hindi songs-I love it when mommy sings to me, he says telepathically as he coos along. when the caregiver came to get him he looked like a drunk chap, with his semi-open eyes and bobbing head and slight smile, still in dreamland. Evening was a food fest, mommy seems to be on a mission to feed the cold rather than starve it. Also slayed Goliath in the evening, walking all over Daddy. And just like that 6 more bonding days left. Mommy is already in a pool of tears at night thinking of having to leave AV here for a few weeks before the court date is given. But then her famous Cancerian wall goes up so others can't see beneath the tough shell. Survival tactics.

Some Pics from last week's shenanigans.

Climbing all over mommy-we just like to stand a lot now, using mom and dad as a pole

And yes! We hold our own Sippy cup and drink on our own! Since the day Mommy showed us how.

I got the whole world in my hands...

FB Updates: May 13th to May 18th

 Monday, May 13th:  
So today Dr Sultanov, the Director at the baby house, asked Deepak (in Russian) if we were exhausted yet and how we were dealing with everything and I saw quite a few pleasantly surprised eyebrows raised when Dee proceeded to tell him what all we do everyday including our daily use of the local bus, discovering local restaurants and of course the amazing time we are having here in Aktobe. AV's posture is getting better and better-poor guy has to go through a full parade and food and exercises and new toys and lessons every day. Its not a surprise he dozed off again in my arms after all that, while we sat in the sun. Now at home, where moong dal (found it in the hidden Uzbek Bazaar from a chinese food kiosk!) and capsicum aalu sabzi await with pulav that I cooked as soon as we got home. ALSO! Tickets to ALmaty booked along with a full service apartment ($50/night-even the translator is shocked how we found that!) near the city centre, I believe, (Airbnb rocks as always). Tien Shan mountains and Almaty to be planned out now-4 days there. Sara and all the Almaty moms, bring on the tips and suggestions.

Tuesday, May 14th:
Great performance of the lessons from the past 2 weeks, AV! Good Job! The representative from the Ministry was there today to note the progress of the 2 babies (Koko/John and ours) and she was very very pleased with what she saw, grinning from ear to ear she commended us all on the quiet, weak, blank boys we met on 29th April in that room who were now stronger, doing things that she wouldn't have believed unless she saw them herself and making loud sounds trying to express themselves (loved how AV talks to his 'twin' in the mirror). Now if she only knew all the secret food being given to him while Dee guards the door as I give him egg, dal soup, mashed meals etc. But hey! Its working, right! Plus he is now holding the sides of the slide and pushing himself off to giggles-this boy is going to give me many-a-heart attacks! Redder cheeks too. Ah! Im happy.

Wednesday, May 15th:
Praying for my paternal grandmother, Barhe mummy, today, as she is being wheeled in as of this moment to the operation theater for an amputation. God, pls have mercy on her. Praying for her suffering to end, hope the Doctor's can stop it from getting worse, with this operation. And praying for my dad to have the strength to go through this difficult time. I cannot imagine seeing a parent go through such suffering. Physically in Kaz right now but mentally in India at this moment. Pls say a prayer in your mind today for her.

What a day! Glad that my Grand-mom's operation was successful and she even has a lot of her memory back miraculously. The little warrior was in a full 'Daddy's boy' kinda mood today. Now drinks his compote, juice and water all by himself from his new sippy cup, enjoyed yummy sweet french toast that mommy made for him and sneaked in the afternoon, was entranced watching life by the window sill watching his first major thunderstorm, lightening and rainfall (not a shudder! this one is def a Brave lil guy just like his name suggests), showed that his sun sign really is Scorpio-first signs of anger-fists closed, teeth gritted et all! All because I took away the thing he was chewing on - Beks's toy. He will soon realize who he is dealing with, if he hasn't already. Woh ser to main sava ser. Its getting too hot for him, so we had him without tights under his pants for the first time today and saw his snow white legs and feet! "Apne paer zameen pe mat utariyega, maele ho jayenge".

Thursday, May 16th:  
3 ft by 3 ft 1 person kitchen. Cooking for 9 people for tomorrow night's Dinner party. No exhaust, hot day. 2 hrs 4 dishes and appetizer mise-en-place done. Whew! Somebody give me a Daiquiri or Mojito, pls! A girl's allowed to dream, right?

Update 2 for Thursday - Another fun day. Got AV his first 'car'. A push-to-move toy car that he needs to sit on and push with his feet to propel himself forward. Took to it like a star, once he was shown how! Also enjoyed a few spoons of Moong Dal we had for lunch. Ginger, garlic tarka and all! Such a foodie, I tell ya! Now we need to prepare for the big dinner tomorrow and we are having our Kazakh Rep and her non-English speaking family over for an Indian dinner-on our regular 2 visit days so will surely be exhausting, but I need her mom to teach me some Kazakh dishes, so Indian din invitation is a must to break the ice.  

Friday, May 17th:  
What were we thinking when we agreed to hosting a full scale dinner on a weekday right after our very busy day of 2 visits in over 30deg C heat. I am going to be crankier than the baby tonight. Plan on doing vodka shots finally. Tomorrow has to be a day of rest otherwise Im going to be one heck of a cranky Indo-Canadian mom to a Kazakh baby in Aktobe.

Saturday, May 18th Afternoon:  
It finally happened. The staff were treated to a very quizzical and petrified look from me when they handed us a baby 'sit-down-and-u-know-what' seat saying his Pampers are over. I was in panic mode suddenly never having had to deal with a baby boy in my life. Deepak had a nice chuckle at my expense watching me trying to figure out what on earth I was supposed to do. Alls well that ends well. It was pointless cause after the first 'session' (he was so good, went immediately as soon as I put him on it!), after an hr, he proceeded to 'bless' me drenching my only pair of jeans. Ah well, I'm just going to have to start understanding the signs and 'rules'.

Evening update: WOW! What an absolutely amazing day it turned out to be! After the morning 'baby-ventures', I was exhausted and wishing we hadnt planned anything for the day with every muscle in my body aching and begging for rest. Nyet. Off to the 'Local style' shopping we went with Saltanat's mom, Nurjamaal, her nephew who begged his mom to let him spend the day with us and Saltanat. And are we glad we did! Think Sarojini Ngr Mkt combined with Janpath with INA Mkt/Lajpat Ngr Mkt. That was the local farmer's market in the Old Aktobe area. Mommy Nur kept us all in line, made sure nobody took us for a ride, and matched my every offer for the vendors that we agreed to negotiate with for everything! The meat market was an adventure in itself since we had to buy all the Shaslik meat and veggies for tomorrow's big out-of-Aktobe country-side picnic that we convinced Salta to take us for. (Woohoo!!!) Since we refuse to shop at touristy places/tourist centred malls if possible, they took us to this awesome bazaar where we bought loads of Kazakh stuff for the house, mom, Hanu and of course Kazakh jackets for moi. Feet are killing me again (when are they not!) but we have an hour's break to rest before we get together again with Koko & John to marinate all the meat for the Shaslik and then head for dinner at the German Pub we've been told about. Ah. Just another Saturday here in Aktobe, Kazakhstan. Over and out.

Happy 5th Meetcha day to Milan (Milo) Ruopoli

Just wanted to take a moment to wish Milo, son of Regina Garza Ruopoli, someone I met through good ol' FB and fellow AP, who adopted her adorable son also from Aktobe, here in Kazakhstan. I wanted to make a special mention of this special day for them since we are here currently in the same place that they were 5 yrs back when they met and their journey as a family began, same as ours, super scary and full of trepidations at first but changing every day as they too saw their son blossom into the wonderful child that he is. May your lives always be filled with laughter and happiness and togetherness.

Much love from your birthplace, Milo...here in Aktobe (Aktobye as they call it here). :) Had a Pirazhok with a pastry in your honor tonight.

Schedule of our usual day and excuse for delays on my blog posts.

I know I know I am so behind on my Blog posts its sad. I was re-reading some other blogs from other Kaz parents and was feeling very guilty since I am not really able to update this blog too much, or in as much details as I would like to and I wondered why. Here's our daily schedule and it may show why. ;)

7am alarm goes off, by 7:15am we are out of bed, have a bath-sometimes the hot water is gone so Dee warms water on the stove and puts it in a bucket for me, then we enjoy a luxurious bath (ps Unlike in the West, the word 'Bath' means just bathing it doesn't men you have a tub bath or bubble bath. This is not a Kazakh thing, it is a world outside of North America thing.) :)

by 8:30am we have quickly grabbed a bite to eat and a few sips of coffee (Tchibo instant coffee), I have prepared the bag of food for AV (ZIPLOCK BAGS! Bring the large and medium ones with you if you are coming. Thanks for the tip Melanie Hill!), washed his fav Oral B toothbrush, his green cup and the sippy cup and filled it with 30ml of water for his 'Alphavit' vitamins (Bought from a pharmacy here for $15 for a 45 day dose). By then we are in a panic and rush since Im also trying to make sure all the videos from my Camera are transferred on to my laptop so that I can delete them and make space for more, on my camera. These videos are uploaded daily on youtube for my family to see how much progress AV is making everyday and for us to review what is working and what we could change and do better. By now, we are panicking and rushing to get out the door. We catch our bus (no. 22 or 8a) that go from across the street, a 3 min walk or so away. Rush hr means standing and going in these small local buses, which is fun for us. I mean seriously-we are from India originally, and this is a cakewalk-no one grabs you or ogles at you so you are very safe and comfortable, honestly. And for about 90 to 110 Tenge (150 tenge is $1) you can buy 2 bus tickets and it drops you a 2 min walk away from the Baby House.

5 mins to 9am we reach the baby house and get the keys to the room we bond in, and let Rosa or Sveta know we are here and that they can bring in 'Eldos' or as we call him Ayaan (God's gift).

9am to 11am we play, feed (banana, apple juice, 2 Gerber biscuits and the vit water) him, take him outside for 10-15mins to get him some sun, make him hold the bars on the play structure and get him to walk while enticing him with a bite of the biscuit on the other end-works like a charm! he looooves the slide, the swing, and even the little train thing they have in the park of the BH.

11 to 12ish: we walk back home, sometimes stopping at Cafe Manti, or our fav Bakery Vanil or the smaller bakery for a Pirazhok (my fav is the pirazhok skapusti-its like a fried bhatura with lightly sauteed cabbage mix inside-yumm!)

12 to 3pm: download all pics and videos from the camera, upload on FB private or other albums, youtube so that I can delete them on the camera to make space for the afternoon session. Make soemthing to eat if not had anything yet. try to sleep for half to an hr.

3pm-RUN to the bus stop and cath the same bus again to the BH.

3:30 to 5:30pm: repeat the 9 to 11am plan only this ime with a plain scrambled egg (no salt), dal soup that I may make sometimes-that AV JUST LOVES! or apple puree or some other baby food from the ANVAR (AHBAP as it is written in Russian) store.

5:30pm to 7pm: Walk back home, while stopping along the way in a store or two, picking up more stuff we want to try or need.

7pm and after: Sometime we eat dinner with Koko & John at our apartment if we're cooking or we all go out to some cafe or restaurant to experience more new food, with Deepak reading all the menus for us. :) Back home around 9 or 10pm after which I download all pics of the day, remaining videos and then upload the same on Facebook and Youtube, so that I can delete the videos from my camera SD card to make room for more the next day. Skype-ing with my family in India, sorting out any tenant related tasks, and other home management stuff back home etc is done and before you know it, its midnight or 1am. Sleep off like a rock and wake up to do it all over again. :)

Missing updates for last week. Bonding days 8 to 12. May 7th to May 11th

May 7th, BD 8: What an awesome little baby we have! Enjoyed a yummy egg for the 1st time, had a teeny pinch of cake for Uncle John's birthday celeb today at the BH and even learnt how to clap his hands!!! Mommy almost screamed with joy!!! The wind outside still makes us GASP in shock though with a big smile we are learning that its not something to be scared of but enjoyed. Now time to get dressed and go for John's Birthday dinner. Koko is treating us all to a traditional Kazakh din - BESHBARMAK here we come!!!! Have been waiting to try it since forever!

John in his new Kazakh outfit.

May 8th, BD 9: -Morning session was fun, though too cold to take the baby outside for a bit, so indoors it was. A bit of a tug of war ensured between K&J's son B and ours, over B's Lego box set with AV wanting to take out every piece and B wanting to keep things neat and inside the box. We let them sort it out, till A decided he wanted to eat the Lego box too, and before war ensued. Chicken soup on the menu tonight with scrambled eggs. Dr confirms its all good. Fun and games continue this evening. Though mommy might stink of Chicken curry having rushed back home to make it within the hour between the break shift. Oh, and local buses rock. 90 tenge (about 60cents) for 2 people one way, not too bad Id say. Plus you get to do a lot of people watching-love wondering about the stories behind the faces.

May 9th, BD 10: Today we discovered the mirror and enjoyed playing with the  'other child' in the mirror. Ayaan's posture is improving everyday and he is now holding and walking or standing for longer. He eats and drinks while standing up holding his mother. Also is has now learned to put the stacking cups inside each other. Earlier he only liked to topple them over or take them out of each other. Also loved going on the slide outside and still trying to get used to the breeze and make a funny face and say a loud AAAh! when the breeze touches the face.

May 10th BD 11: Ate like a champ, loved the most time spent in the sun today even if it was mostly in our arms...but another big first-an extra special one that melted my heart even more-as if thats possible still-slept off while mommy rocked baby to a lullaby in the sun as he seemed to be getting a bit upset, crinkling his face to let us know something was wrong. Lil baby was just tired from all the activity mommy n daddy make him do in 2 hr intervals everyday. The sun felt so warm on his rosy cheeks and in a just few secs mommy realized that we have another gentle snorer on our hands. Mommy 0 Boys 3. Ah well. Totally worth it. So in love with you, babykins. SO! And waking up refreshed, no crying - saw daddy in front of him and gave a nice big smile and hehehe. Lublu Tibiya! 

May 11th BD 12:  Finally the heat wave has begun, Boy! Its hot! And just 26C right now. Had a very productive day with AV today, enticing him with bites of food to move more, try to cruise more and do more working like a charm. Daddy blames mommy for pushing too hard, but Mommy knows AV can do it and he doesn't give up either. Lil tussle with Beks over toys, both exerting their right and grunting at each other. The standoff ended peacefully. Little bit of a break over the weekend with just once a day bonding - sightseeing and continuing to enjoy the local fare. Today's lunch was a delicious Ukrainian cum Russian meal. Snacktime delicacies continue, today's were fresh doughnuts from Pirozhki dough. The sweets are just the best here! As you can guess the budget has been thrown out of the window. Nurdaulat (the blue mosque of Aktobe and the downtown shopping mall) - check. 

8pm:
-Indian dinner is ready, Tikkis are hot on the griddle, The Vodka and Beer are in the fridge, the TV is all set (Thanks Dee!) Movie night begins in 3...2..1!!! We watched 'Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' and 'Identity thief', with Koko & John. Fun night!

My First Mother's Day, May 12th. Finally a member of the Club!

You Do, my little one, you do. Thank you for making this day Special for me, just by your mere presence in my life. Lublu Tibiya Moi Daragoi, Love you so very much. It was a wonderful first Mother's Day!

 Well worth the wait! What a LOVELY First Mother's day! My Fav breakfast made by Dee at 7:30am before we left to meet our little bundle of joy, who was in a good mood and made sure he did everything Mommy pushed him to do, including repeating Mamama and even said a soft papapa while leaving Dee tell me, which is awesome! Then to be surprised with a Day at the Spa (Sakura) for extensive pampering! Koko & I were shocked and very glad that so much planning went into making this special day a great memory for us. Manicures, Pedicures and a lie-down and sleep while you get an awesome Facial lasting a total of about 6-7 hours....Sigh! It was just what we needed to relax. Followed by Dinner at 'Taikazan' (a very good Kazakh restaurant here we enjoy going to. It couldn't have been better! Thank you Hun for a wonderful First Mother's Day. I am touched and feel so blessed.

More pics from our life here in Aktobe

http://aktobepictures.blogspot.com/

BD 6 & 7: Baby Diary (May 5th and 6th)

Day 6: We decided to roam around today and liked the airplane game that mommy played...watch the spoon zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...oom!!! Apple puree is so nice! Sunday was the celebrity's day off, took it easy but we now know how to press the buttons on our new toy to play music...maestro attention SVP!!

Day 7: Started our twice a day visits with AV today. What a change in just 1 week (started week 2 today, yippee!). He was all over the room in his sitting crawl preferred choice of movement. Banana, Gerber biscuits, apple juice, apple puree, dal water, vitamins and 2 slivers of apple went down in 4 hrs. Lots of mmm, mumumum, tatata, papapa (very softly and short durations though), lots of aping mommy's zoooooom tune when I feed him his treats. Stood holding mommy's legs while eating the banana and mommy tricked him into standing holding the bar while giving him bites of the Biscuits. And we love our Drum/Piano set. Playing each key now.

Bonding day 4 and 5

May 3rd and 4th. Gosh I am so behind!

Sorry about the delay in posts. Between preparing for the BH, reviewing the videos to see what he is doing, what we should change and discussing it with my mom and family in Delhi, India, and uploading the shorter videos to show them along with the FB pics, and updates time just flies.

Here are the past 2 days. Today is BD 6-its still morning here (9:20am, Sunday-our first weekend with him)

 

Day 4: First time outside, in the sun. He loved it! loved the slide and the monkey bars, tried to do push ups while I held him. sat on Dee's shoulders and discovered the top of his head. Inside he said his first babbling words "Tatatata" to his fav new toothbrush and enjoyed a full banana. He is already improving so much. 

When the caregiver took him to his play/feed room we followed as we were helping carry the gift bags we brought for them. The second he was put down on the floor by her, suddenly he gave a looooud cry and started crying to be picked up, extending one hand and trying to go near them. I was so happy to see that attachment and that he was actually upset enough to cry. But couldnt pick him up quickly to soothe him as we were now in their domain. But good to see the reaction. Since we were there, the other nanny picked him up and he was quiet immediately. Drama. :D

Day 5: AV comes into the room and as soon as we start calling him and saying "Paaariii" (kisses) he starts giggling and almost jumps from the nanny's arms into ours-putting his whole weight to the front so you can take him. :) Today was good too. Lots of smiling, giggles, more of sitting in mom and daddy's lap to play with his toys. Enjoyed listening to Hindi movie songs on the iPad that Dad had loaded for AV. We changed him into this cuper cute set of clothes, collared blue shirt, with a sweater and a small tie and jeans! he was ready for University! :D he giggled all the time we tried to change him-super ticklish. :) Ate some dal soup with his Vitamins, half a big banana, 2 gerber biscuits. enjoys eating but doesnt gobble, takes his time and eats with his mouth closed-looks SO CUTE when he eats. :D 
Discovered his new musical toy-a small drum cum piano we bought for him from the HUGE toy store here for about $35 (its not cheap here). 

Enjoyed a delish dinner at K&J's apartment. Yummy chicken pasta with a greek salad, wine and the draft beer you get here - you fill it up in bottles-about $4 for 1.5 litres. Its pretty good John and Dee tell us. We have a great time together and laugh and talk about all sorts of stuff. Its really wonderful to have them along on this journey and great to have made friends with them. They're awesome. And their son is super cute too! 

Tonight is Indian dinner and movie night at our apartment-since we have a flat screen-life can be tough you know. ;)

Past 2 days-Bonding period begins! Day 2 and 3 of BD

Between preparing for the BH, reviewing every day's videos and other things along with skype reports and discussions with mom, dad and my sister who are great with their tips and advice about what not to do and do based on a few short videos they get to see, and of course managing my FB account, the blog gets left to the back of the list.

First of....I love being here. I think I could totally live in Aktobe, as long as Deepak was here to translate for me. this place has everything you need and more. People drive 'normal' cars as well as the typical Russian style old Ladas. Saltanata drives Toyota Camry that her dad gifted her and looks like a model in Paris or New York doing it.

Yesterday instead of walking to the BH (a 15 min walk-response from locals-What! You walk from there! That's soooo far! :) ), but since it was raining a bit we took the cab. Dee did all the talking (of course!) and from one guy who wanted 500 Tenge ($3.25) we went with another guy who agreed to 300 Tenge ($2). It was great knowing we could travel for just that much. Its not far though like I said so its pretty appropriate too rather than pay $900 to the Driver for hire just for the 2 visits. And we're only doing 1 visit a day for 2 hrs each for now. The BH feels that he and K&J's son arent ready for more because of all the sensory overload we probably cause. ;) But see how much of a difference there is already in 3 days! :D

When I asked Liana to try and let them see us twice she sent this message to which Deepak laughed out loud. :D Show Dee this expression and he will explain what it means: "В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят"...Its a Russian saying meaning that you can not enforce your rules on strange territory (sort of) literally it is you can not come to another monastery with your own set of rules. 

I think that's fair. Their home their rules. :) Im just glad to be here. 

Day 3: Today AV was all smiles when he came into the room-esp when we went to greet him with our ritual of head kisses and cheek kisses while I took him from the caregiver. He was very energetic from the moment he came in. He sat and crawled/sat-crawled, pulling himself backwards while sitting and moved around a bit at a faster pace than usual. grabbed the bottle of water and shook it vigorously. Discovered the thing around the mirror a bit. When Deepak removed his extra jacket as it was quite warm inside, he gave a loud sudden cry which was great to hear as it meant he does get upset and cry normally! I immediately picked him up and gave him loving and kisses and he quickly within a second stopped and was smiling again :) Then he wanted to stand a bit using his Daddy as back support. he was also very inquisitive about the family album we brought with us today along with his toothbrush that he chewed as well. but not as much as yesterday. today he was busy discovering more things around him, looking at us more. He had half a banana happily, had some water with the Vitamin supplements and also the juice and yes! He loved the Gerber baby biscuit we got for him! all these he munched on slowly, savoring their taste and enjoying it.

His eyes followed the big ball when Deepak tried to dunk it in the basketball net in the room, so that was good exercise.

Aktobe Pictures

http://aktobepictures.blogspot.com/

I have created a blog where I will only post pictures of Aktobe, so that you can see what kind of a city it is, the people here, the things you can get here. There is so little info available online about things like this for Kazakhstan esp if its anywhere outside Almaty or Astana that we don't know the reality till we see it. Hope this helps remove the mystery somewhat.

The 1st day (29th April 2013). What an emotional rollercoaster! We are SO IN LOVE!

Wow! What a crazy ride this is! We definitely were not expecting such emotions and were overwhelmed. Esp the 1st day that we met AV. The moment they brought him in the room in the caregivers arms, I don't know what I felt. I think fear, worry were the first. Was he ok, was something wrong, oh he's cute, but why is he so thin....why isnt he looking at anything in particular and sooo many other questions played soccer in our mind. After a few secs of him entering the room and us standing up and watching him I took him in my arms gently and sat down - about 5 people observing the moment. I tried to engage him, say Hi and smile and laugh and he looked at me, shy and quiet but not showing how scared he may have been. Then Deepak came and sat beside us and talked to him in Russian saying endearing things finally ending in a little tickle. Thats when the giggles started. :D and the rest as they say...is History. ok History of 3 days, but History for sure.

The 1st meeting was supposed to be just a 15 min introduction but they let us continue our interaction for about 45 mns I think. Because it was going so well. He was interacting, playing with the toys we tried to engage him with and even though he wasnt walking or talking, he had this way of sitting and crawling/dragging up to the thing he wanted. We put a ring over his legs one at a time to see what he does and he gently pulled it out of where it was stuck, repeating that a few times, including when we put it on like huge bangles. He kicked around the stacking rings (their own toy since in my anxiety I left my own bag in the Director's office - the one that had the bag of toys. So much for planning! ;)

That first day was rough on us all. Once both us couples came out of the BH, we were quiet and then made a few jokes about needing a drink or two. Its great that we are here together, with K&J. Talking about our day's experience, our worries and concerns etc helped I think. We had drinks at a restaurant called The Hunt in Russian (Thank God for Deepak!) since whatever food on the menu we asked for-Lagman or Shaslik, were not available. Then we walked up to the restaurant that reminded us of a Ruby's Tuesday on a smaller scale perhaps, and had lunch there. The food was ok, though the 'club sandwich' was something like what my little sis may have made for me in a rush when she was 10, just to get the bribe I may have offered her at the time. ;) But this downtime together was much needed I think. The rest of the evening & night was spent
talking to family, seeing the video we made of the whole meeting, researching the medical issues and other stuff. To say we were mentally exhausted is an understatement. ANd we could get those giggles out of our mind. He def had us at the first one! And when he had left the room, I quickly grabbed his hand for a pic-and he held onto my fingers as if to reassure me and say, "Why are you so worried? I can do this, with your help, trust me. Its going to be alright."

Love is all around me. And so the feeling grows...

Hugs for mommy-getting rewarded with crazy kisses and hugs for standing up using mommy as a hangar

Cant get or give enough kisses

Taking cake for the Baby House (its in the background-the new facility)

To celebrate Ayaan Veer's 1.5 yr Birthday. :)

Giving the Cake to the caregivers.