It's a boy

Well, after many hours in a plane and sleeping(not) in the Almaty airport, we're in Karaganda. We arrived in Karaganda at about 1030am on Wednesday. After dropping our things off to the apartment and doing some grocery shopping, we went to the baby house. We had to sit in a room with doctors anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new addition. We had no idea what to expect and then they brought in Arman. He has HUGE cheeks and a wonderful disposition. We only saw him for about 5 minutes (Wednesday) and then they returned him to his room so he could continue his nap. Even though he was kept from his nap to meet us, he was very content to be with us.

Thursday - When we woke up today, Irina was very excited to go meet Melvin. We had to explain that was not his name. In true Irina fashion, she began a couple minute dissertation as to why his name should be Melvin. She was excited to go see her little brother. She helped feed him this morning and this afternoon. She was intrigued about the process of changing a diaper. We brought a book for Arman and because Irina can read, she read him the book, "Who do you see?" He is very fascinated in Irina, like all the kids in his room. All the kids like to crowd around Irina in their walkers.

Arman has black hair, BIG brown eyes, and olive skin. He has a full head of hair and 5 teeth. Arman is 8 months old and is rolling around and wanting to crawl by getting up on his hands and knees and rocking. Arman seems very healthy with good fine motor skills. Arman has a great laugh, especially when the care-givers come to see him. Arman has a great appetite as well. Even though he has some congestion, he's eating like a champ. And much like Irina, even being sick he's in good spirits. Of course he is continuing the family tradition of throwing up only on Kevin. And today, Laura almost became part of that tradition as well......yes, puking on Kevin after watching Arman hurl his food all over his blanket. Laura rocked him to sleep this morning before we left for lunch. Something that Irina never did (we always wondered if she ever slept). There is a good chance he'll be verbalizing his desires because Irina is talking non-stop to him. He makes cute noises like he's attempting to say things. Like Irina, Arman seems to be a favorite amongst all the care-givers and doctors at the baby house. The people here are very nurturing and loving. We're going to talk to his doctor tomorrow to get the full medical information. We don't have any concerns with him and can't wait to bring him home.

Not much has changed here since we were here last. There seemed to be a good surge of money but we learned the Kaz Tenge dropped almost 25% a few months ago. The President of Kaz invoked more Kazakh lanuguage into businesses and advertisements. His idea is that everyone should know some of the Kazakh language. We continue to be lucky working with a great facilitator and translator. Please bear with us as we can't upload pictures because our camera isn't compatible with Vista and neither is the modem we have to use in the apartment. We've also tried to call back to the US with our cell phone but apparently that won't work either. Wi-fi is readily available at restaurants but it's slow and that's where we are now.

Our apartment complex is adjacent to the one we stayed in 4 years ago. When workers in the airport saw the Kaz passport Irina is using, they all smiled. Of course, because we have US passports, we didn't get a smile or anything overtly friendly. In the cafe we're using for FREE wi-fi, Irina didn't have a Dunkin' Donuts, she had a Domino' Donuts. Even the logo is the same. Off to try and connect in our apartment.