Catching up.....

We have had some more internet problems.....but we think again that they have been resolved.   Uploading pictures takes much longer, so we may not be putting up as many.  We visited Julia and Aaron on Thursday and Friday.  On Friday they took us down to a room to visit that has rabbits, parakeets, a turtle, and some other animals that I can't remember.  There are a few toys in this room as well.  It smells kinda funky, but it was a change of scenery. 

Aaron loved playing with a toy cell phone that records your voice and plays it back.  It has a prerecorded voice that says, "I love you!"  He gets a big kick out of this since this is one of the few English phrases he recognizes. 

 There is carpet in this room so we could put Julia down and let her have some more freedom to move around.  She is very good at grasping toys that are near her and moving herself to better positions to get to the toys. 

Yesterday, Tatiana and Valentin took us to a children's market to get a stroller.  It is getting difficult to lug Evan everywhere we need to walk here in the city.  We also need a stroller to help get Aaron home.  We will leave it here for when I come back on the second trip..

After we got the stroller we went out to lunch with Tatiana and Valentin.  The food was very good and it was nice spending some time with them.  They are so nice.  It was also much easier to talk with Valentin, with Tatiana there to help translate. 

We also learned a little bit more about Aaron's backround.  We had been told by the doctor at the orphanage that he has been here since he was four years old and that he was at a different orphanage before this, probably since he was a baby.  But Tatiana told us that paperwork she has gathered says that he was put in an orphanage at around 2 or 3 years old when his mother died.  This was sad to hear, but it also means that it is more likely that he did form an emotional attachment and was socially and physically nurtured during most of his formative years as a baby. 

 Julia focused on her toy

 Aaron displaying one of his favorite "misbehaviors."

 This is the view from our apartment window.

 This is our apartment building from the outside (street side).

This is the backdoor entrance to our apartment.

He is so cute!

Julia has very good hand-eye coordination

Outside the restaurant where we had lunch with Tatiana and Valentin