Long Day to Moscow

We awoke at 5:30 to be ready for our driver and translator to pick us up at 6:30 to go to the airport. Kevin and I over the years have reverted back to being last minute people, because we haven't had babies for a while. This morning I was reminded that I need to be a little more proactive and prepared. Five minutes before we were supposed to leave I was still feeding M a bottle and I realized that I had left myself no time for surprises. M was good though (and the translator came 5 minutes late).

In a previous post I had mentioned that there are few things that a Stavropol (or probably any typical Russian driver) will stop for. I need to add one thing to the list: a police officer waving you to the side of the road to give you a traffic ticket. Because traffic tickets seem to be little more than a small inconvenience, everyone promptly stops when waved over. I would guess the penalty for not stopping is harsh. We weren't even speeding. Anyway, we made it to the airport on time, and I hardly had to catch my breath. M did great in the car.

Ok, I have to say that this little baby of ours is amazingly flexible, patient and happy. We've spent more than 24 hours straight with her now and she's only cried out a few times, mostly when she's tired or is confined to a high chair or stroller. She stays in our arms without squirming, unless she's tired, and then we lay her down in the crib and she rolls a couple of times then goes to sleep. On the airplane I fed her a half bottle of formula at takeoff and then she passed out for her morning nap. She slept the entire way to Moscow, stretched across both our laps while an infant a couple of rows behind us howled with ear pain. She was great at the doctor's appointment and wiggled and played with his musical toy through the whole examination. Good news too... one of M's diagnoses was that she had open oval window of the heart. He said he heard no indication of it and guesses that it may have already closed. I wasn't too concerned about it anyway because it seems fairly common. I am curious how he could hear anything with all the racket from the toy that M played with.

At the orphanage the caregiver with M on the last day said that M liked everything she was fed, but didn't care for wheat cereal. Today I found out something else she doesn't like... soy formula and/or baby oatmeal cereal. She would have absolutely none of it. She happily drank the regular formula and milk that we gave her. She also liked applesauce, yogurt and cookies (like a cracker).

She comforts herself to sleep by sucking her thumbs. She alternates between each one, and they go deep into the mouth. I've never had a thumb sucker before. I think it's probably a good thing in this case because she's not wildly rocking herself to sleep. A few rolls back and forth and she's out. I hope we don't lose this ability to lay her down awake. I never had this with my twins (okay, I spoiled them... but I was a new mother).

Today I came down with a full-fledged head cold. I'm hoping that M doesn't catch it right before our flight home... that would be a drag. I feel guilty holding her and giving her kisses ... on the top of the head ... because I am a walking germ factory, but what can I do? She still gets scared and overwhelmed by things (in a quiet way) and I hold her to console her.

Gotta get some rest now. More to come later.