FIRST NIGHT WITH MAMA & DADDY

Yesterday was a long and very busy day. We got to the courthouse at 8:20 AM and dropped Andrew off. Then Paul, our very nice English speaking taxi driver, took us to the orphanage to get Jacob so we could go get his passport pictures. We had to go see the doctor for a pass to take him out of the orphanage. This sounds simple but, of course, with everything in Ukraine it is not. Paul was kind enough to translate for us. We had to get the main doctor to sign the pass. We also had to have a caregiver go with us. They chose one, but Jacob wasn’t familiar with her, so we got Tanya, one of his favorite.

Jacob’s first car ride. Tanya got in the car with him and he whined, so she got out and waited a minute or two. When she got back in the car she entertained him with toys. He did fine. It was a short ride. We got to the photo shop (and I use the term shop loosely) to find they hadn’t open yet. The sign said 9:00 AM and it was 9:20. As Paul said, very typical of Ukraine. The lady showed up a couple minutes later. After about 15-20 shots we took the best 2 shots there were. We were close enough to the orphanage that Tanya walked back with Jacob and we waited about 10 minutes for the pictures. During this time Andrew still hadn’t got our court decree.

Around 10:30 Andrew called and had the court decree and had dropped off the passport application and asked us to meet him at the notary office. After that we had to go back to the orphanage to talk with the doctor. The doctor along with James and myself had to sign some more paperwork. For a child that we were told was fine with no neuro problems we now find out Jacob takes 2 different medications everyday. He is also taking some pills for 7-10 days. The only explanation for the meds is to keep him calm. Needless to say, I will be finding more asap. Back to the whirlwind day. We finally headed for the birth city of Armiansk at 11:30 to get the new birth certificate. This was a 5 hour trip. We got back to the passport office to find out we couldn’t get the passport until the morning due to the main guy leaving at 2:00. Hopefully we are not going to have any problems getting the passport this morning or we will be here in Simeropol until Monday at least.

Then as we are headed to the orphanage to pick up Jacob the lawyer calls and says we have to sign some MORE papers take them to the Inspector’s office for the Inspector to sign then back to the orphanage and give the paperwork to the doctor. Throw in a couple of short visits to the orphanage director’s office too.

We finally got to pick up Jacob. While James and Andrew went to see the doctor for the last time, thankfully I was getting Jacob changed into his new BOY clothes with one exception. I didn’t bring socks because it is 90 degrees and I have him sandals, but the caregiver just had to put socks on him and, you guessed it, they were girly socks.

He did GREAT during the car ride to the apartment. They dropped Jacob and myself off at the apartment then went to get medicine and, again you guessed it, McDonald’s. Jacob instantly went to exploring the apartment and went straight to one of the suitcases and started unloading it. We have found out that Jacob likes fries and chicken McNuggets. He ate very well. I had a caramel sundae and James wanted me to give Jacob some. I told James he wouldn’t like it because he is not used to cold stuff. I let him try a bite and he spit it out. I’m sure in time he will come to love it like all kids. After he ate we gave him his first real bath in a tub. He LOVES bathtime. Like most kids he loves to splash. He isn’t afraid of the water at all. He was pouring water over his head and it was running all in his face.

We had a small problem with bedtime. He cried for a few minutes. I rocked him in my arms for about 20 minutes and he fell asleep. He is a very restless sleeper. We tried letting him and James sleep in the bed and I slept (for a while) on the little sofa in the kitchen. Sometime around 11:30 he fell off the bed. I don’t think he completely woke up but when I got to him he was standing up. I decided to try to sleep with them. James and I neither one got much sleep. Jacob slept for 11 hours. He was a little slow moving this morning.

He fed himself oatmeal for breakfast, what wasn’t all over him. So of course he needed another bath this morning. James handled the bath while I have been typing this blog. Then the big fight came. He swallowed his pill last night with no problem, but this morning he didn’t want the syrup. We tried to give him his medicine and he spit it out all down the front of himself. I didn’t want to put clothes on him until he took his medicine but I should have put a diaper on. Oh yeah, he did it. He wet me good. You would think I would have learned from being around Matthew and listening to Melissa and Scott. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. It took James and I both to get him to take he medicine and he is happily playing right now. I could use any advice on how to get a child to take liquid medicine.

We are planning to go a park near the apartment in a little while. Hopefully Shelby can bring her kids over to play with him.

Well James has breakfast ready so I’ll go for now. Hopefully the next post will be from Kiev.

Love,

JTJ