Dobre Utra Deite!

"Dobre utra deite!" we announced when we first arrived. "Good morning, children!" Of course they all looked up with smiles and giggles while Brooke laughed and ran straight for Kristi. The caretakers said that our Russian is getting better.

Apparently Brooke came to this room three weeks ago from another house in the orphanage. Two of her previous caretakers came by to see her and say hello to us. They said they see Brooke often because she is so special to them. The caretakers also asked us how much paid time off the mother get in the United States after a birth or adoption. Ukraine pays the equivalent of $1000 USD when a child is born and the mother can take up to three years paid leave from work at a reduced salary. Needless to say, they were suprised to learn that although insurance pays for a lot of the expenses of childbirth, we have to pay the rest ourselves and only get six weeks of unpaid leave from work. We asked if Ukrainian families often adopt children and they said that they do, but there are more children than parents, so they are happy when any good family adopts a child, no matter what country.

We spent the entire morning playing with the kids in their room. Ira, the sweet caretaker who went with us to Brooke's medical exam, brought pictures to show us of her family, her home, and a recent vacation to the Black Sea. We showed her and four other caretakers more of our pictures on our laptop. The kids also loved the laptop and wanted to push all of the buttons.

It was so hot in the room today. I was sweating, the kids were sweating ... a lot of adults and kids in a small room and the heat was totally cranked up too. It's interesting, but everytime we see a child outside, they are completely bundled up so that they can barely walk and you can barely see their faces. I think to make up for how cold the winters are here, they make sure their houses and kids stay really warm!

We brought the rest of the toys today, but hid them from the kids and gave them to the caretakers instead. They went through the toys, liked what we brought, and let the kids have three stuffed animals and the big box of Duplos (big Leggos). The Duplos had stickers with them and those were the hit of the day. At one point Jenna had stickers plastered all the way up her arm and the boys put them all over the chairs and beds. They were stuck, re-stuck, and stuck again to anything and everything.

I made a paper airplane for Shy Max and we had fun throwing it back and forth in the room. And both Maxes wanted to arm wrestly and for me to hold them up as high as I could. At one point, I had a Max under each arm and walked around the house with them ... they thought that was hillarious. We found out the Active Max because eligible for adoption six days ago ... right around the same time as Brooke. Natasha still follows Kristi around calling her "mama," but then gets distracted to something else. Brooke can cop a 'tude now and then. When someone takes something she wants or when she can't go where she wants, she plops down on her butt and yells. Sometimes she lays down and kicks her feet, but invariably, within just a minute or so, she's back up laughing and running around as if nothing happened. She gets very tired by lunch time and is ready for a nap.

When we went back to Kharkiv, Yuri dropped us off a little way from our apartment. We had lunch at McDonald's and sat next to a boy and girl who were obviously on a date. It's the same no matter where you go in the world ... people love their children, go out for walks in the park, take vacations, have fun with family and friends, and young girls talk about young boys. As for the girls in Kharkiv, Kristi says they all look like they just stepped off the runway in Milan. Nearly every young woman had a designer purse, high boots (often with stiletto heels) and fur or faux fur lined coats. Kristi had total boot, purse, and coat envy and wished she wouldn't look so out-of-place if she dressed like that back where we live. Serge compared Kiev to New York City and Kharkiv to Chicago and that seem about right.

After lunch, we walked to a cute kids store just up the road called Antoshka and started picking out clothing for the return trip home. All we have right now is a cute little coat and two pairs of socks. We'll probably need to buy a bit more than that before we take her home. :-) Kristi is going to have so much fun dressing her.

Tomorrow morning we get up early to take the adoption papers to get them notarized and then take them to the court. Just another big day for the most adorable and loved little girl in the world.