Another day, another visit; such is life here in Russia

During a time when I thought our hours would be spent bonding as a family of 4, we continue to trudge on, in our quest to bring Harry home. We spent 3 hours with Harry this morning- our longest visit yet, and went well, save the first 5 minutes when he was again, guarded and shy.

The rest of the visit went well. He particularly liked the miniature flashlight I gave him to play with. Being the kid he is, he immediately opened it to see how it worked, put it back together, then used it to "examine" everything and everyone in the room. The other hit was the portable DVD player we brought with us today. He clearly hadn't seen one, and was quite intrigued. He pushed every button, moved every dial, and reset the start button about 50 times. He was very happy to just keep resetting, watching for a minute, turning the volume up & down, turning the monitor in every direction possible, then starting over again. At one point Skip asked why he kept shutting it off and turning it on, and we replied, "Because he can". The things we take for granted, are so foreign to these children. Clearly nobody ever let him explore with a flashlight, or learn to operate a DVD player, and he was making up for lost time...

We also played with Dinosaurs, giant dump trucks, jumbo soft blocks, and the train set. We taught him to say "light" in reference to the flashlight, and while watching a DVD about Jay-Jay the Jet plane, he began repeating "sem-al-lyot Jay Jay" meaning "airplane Jay Jay". No doubt he will learn English quickly. He says Skip, Momma, & Poppa, and will repeat other words when we keep repeating them, but for now, he's too busy exploring this new found independence that comes in small doses - 2 and 3 hours daily....

We are almost done with medicals for Skip, and for us. We are just waiting for test results as far as ours, and Skip has 2 more appointments tomorrow, then we have the forms signed by clinic directors, notarized & brought to the Judge. This SHOULD coincide with the arrival of our Dept. of EE letter we needed. Hopefully then, we'll get a court date. We are meeting with a lawyer tomorrow or Saturday, and are contacting the regional Humans Rights Advocacy Department to request they attend the next hearing on behalf of Harry. They will not represent us, but rather, Harry, as he is the Russian citizen.

Life is routine, yet hectic, and far from how we imagined this time, but there is little else we can do. Life goes on, as do the journey. We are inspired by the support from family and friends, and driven by the reward that awaits us - our son.

Pictures to follow...