Today started with another meeting scheduled for 10:30. Well, between waiting in traffic and having to stop to buy Polaroid film, we arrived 10 minutes late.
We arrived and the room we normally meet in was occupied. They searched around and we ended up going down into the little gymnasium. Because it was carpeted, we were asked to remove our shoes prior to going in. Olga was outside playing with her group, so they brought her in early for us. Needless to say, she was a little disappointed to leave her outside time. When she came in, I tried to help her remove her snow clothes but she would have nothing to do with that idea. Tracy was able to help a little, but the caregiver did most of it.
Once she was in with us, she had a pouty look on her face. We realized that she was extremely upset at us for leaving her there last night! For the first 30 or so minutes, all she wanted to do was sit down with Tracy. She varied between snuggling and laying her head on Tracy’s arm like she was about to fall asleep.
While Tracy had her, she was able to hold some clothes up to her that we had brought to get her sizes. She was absolutely swimming in the 3T’s and the 2T’s will be just a little loose. We found out later in the day that she is only 85 centimeters (34”) tall and 10.6 kilograms (23.3 pounds)! According to the charts located on the National Center for Health Statistics, for her age, she was in the 1 percentile for both height and weight. To even make the 5% ranking, she would have to be 5cm taller and 1.5 kilo heavier.
After a while, we had to get up and take some photos of the three of us. They would be used for the judge and the American Embassy for proof that we had actually met our child. Again, our little one wanted nothing to do with me. Luckily, this is something that we had been warned about several times, so I didn't take it personally… the kids just aren’t used to men being around.
After the photos, Tracy and Olga went over and played in the ball pit for a little while. She was okay with sitting on the end of the slide and playing but she was not thrilled when Tracy put her into the balls. When she got bored with that, they went over and played with the tunnel. She wasn’t interested in that at all. Tracy was able to get her to play catch. Olga was very happy with herself because she was able to throw a rubber ball and Tracy caught it every time. Once Tracy rolled it across the room to me and I rolled it back to Olga and got it right between her feet. She just looked down at it as if she didn’t even want to touch it. I guess I’ve made QUITE an impression on her, eh?!?!?!
When we were finishing up, we snapped a Polaroid of the three of us and one of Olga and Tracy for her to keep while we are gone. She was intrigued with watching the picture develop. When we walked her back upstairs for lunch, she ran into the room, yelling to her friends. We’re assuming that she was telling them about the photos as she was waving them everywhere. All her friends were very interested in what was going on. Suffice it to say, those two little pictures made her celebrity of the hour!
After our visit today, we went on a tour of the Kremlin. Turns out that Helen used to work as a translator with one of the guides there and made sure that Irina showed us around. It cost us 350 rubles each to get in and 800 rubles for the guide, works out to almost $50. The personal tour lasted almost 1 ½ hours! Contrary to many foreigners belief, the Kremlin isn’t the name of one building. Actually, the Russian word “Kremlin” is translated as fortress. Anyway, inside the Kremlin walls we walked past the Armory and the old Senate building. We walked down the edge of Tsar Square. In this square we saw the world’s largest cannon. It was built to defend Moscow against a fight that never came. As a result the cannon was never fired. Next, we saw the Tsar’s Bell. This is the world’s largest bell that has never been rung. Shortly after completion, the wooden structure holding up the bell caught fire. The local citizens attempted to put out the fire by throwing water on it. When they did, the hot metal cracked in several places. After the fire grew too large, the structure caved in and a large chunk of the bell split right off.
Our next stop was the Cathedral Square, which holds 6 separate cathedrals within the Kremlin walls. We went inside 3 of them. First, we went into the Assumption Cathedral, which is where the families of the Tsars were baptized. Secondly, we went into the Annunciation Cathedral, which is where the coronations occurred. Lastly, we toured the Archangel Cathedral, which is where the Tsars were buried.
When the tour was over, we went back to the hotel to have lunch and wait for Anna, the Moscow region coordinator for Cradle of Hope. She handles the majority of the legal paperwork for us and had just been to the court to make sure everything is ready for us tomorrow. Over coffee, she walked us through the questions she expects our judge to ask and then reviewed the paperwork we brought with us. Luckily, she noticed a small error on one sheet we had. Since I will not be able to attend on the second trip, we have Powers of Attorney for Tracy to act on my behalf. The POAs have to be in English and in Russian. Well, the Russian translation that we received had the notary statement at the bottom (“Sworn and subscribed……”) in English. According to Anna, the copy for the Registration department must be completely in Russian. Good thing we had that last pair of eyes go over everything!!!
