Potluck!!

Victoria brushing Mommy's hair.

Well, Victoria slept until 8:00 am this morning. Now that was a pretty good night’s rest. It was another busy day; mostly this morning. I am starting to have trouble keeping track of where we are going and what we are doing. I did get Victoria’s passport today and she also had to visit a Dr. This Dr. makes a report for the US Embassy. She did very well with the doctor, but of course did not talk. The Dr. asked if she talked and then asked her, “Why don’t you talk to me?”…..Nothing. She does talk A LOT in the hotel room and is also talking a lot around the other families. During the car ride the kids were very serious and she wanted to look out the window as much as possible. And yes, that is possible here, no child car seats at all!

Victoria did fall asleep for about 10 minutes on the ride back and that was about it for any sort of nap. We played in the room and then went for a walk to the store. Sandy had a great idea for tonight, she suggested that we have a potluck and all bring something to share. It really was a lot of fun. There were 5 families total. The idea of the whole thing was to just sort of put something together that you got from the market, grocery store or really just whatever you had. Also, it was the Overstreet’s last night here, as they will leave in the morning to Moscow and eventually home. It was fun to get everyone all together, though it does seem we all sort of hang out in the morning now too! We had our potluck in the upstairs dining area, which is called the “White Rabbit”. I am grateful that I was able to meet the Overstreets on this trip and get to know them. I will miss Heather, Justin and Blake and am also envious that they are traveling on.

Potluck gathering.

Victoria ate A LOT today! I am not sure where she is putting it. It really is a fine line, I want her to know there is not a shortage of food and that she can have what she needs and wants. The other side of it is that I don’t want her to get sick. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, this issue with food is not uncommon. It is also not uncommon for a child to stuff themselves until they throw up. Bodi, Sandy and Ryan’s little boy, had the nickname “Baby Bird” for a few days because anytime there was food nearby he had his mouth open ready for someone to poke some in for him. Visualize a nest of baby birds waiting for the adult bird to return to the nest with a worm. He would also have a little melt down (cry) when the meal was over. This is improving. It sounds very cute and we all joke about it here, but the reality of it is really sad to think about. I have been trying to let her eat as much as she wants, mostly monitoring how much she puts in her mouth at one time, so she does not choke. I really just have to take something away until she clears her mouth by chewing and swallowing then it is given back, sometimes one piece of something at a time. Tonight though, I did feel that I needed to cut off the food when I really started to think about the whole day and how much she had eaten. This will subside soon, I know for sure.

Trying to get a pictures of all the kids....Walker, Victoria, Blake and Bodi.

Again, I received all kinds of hugs and kisses from Victoria, mostly in the evening though while enjoying the potluck. We brought a lot of items to the potluck, because we had to bring our own dishes and silverware. Also, I had my laptop there for a picture exchange. I moved Victoria over to sit on mom’s lap and told mom that I was going to make a trip downstairs, bring some of our stuff, would return for the other stuff and we could all go down together. I went down, came back up and Victoria was just sitting there crying. Heather (from Canada, not Overstreet) and mom were both trying to console her, but of course in English. This did not work. Her little heart was broken when I left the room. She did continue to cry when I held her again, letting me know that my behavior was just not OK. This was the first time I had actually seen her cry, besides the first visit when she was told to play because we would be leaving soon. Like I said, I did feel bad for her, but I for sure think that is showing signs of attaching and I think she kind of likes me. =)

Watching Dora (Russian name is Dasha. Yes, she is popular here too) on laptop.

At orphanage the day we were able to take Victoria and Blake outside.