"the letter" and the "adoption visa"

Irina called this evening to say the letter hadn't arrived yet, and that the staff told her not to bother checking back til Thursday since they didn't get a notice of any mail(?!) I don't quite understand that, but, hopefully Thursday it'll be there and we can get our documents and apply for the passport.

As for the adoption visa, apparently they contacted Irina and told her the invitation was ready. Gee, it only took them 2 months! Hopefully though we won't need it, but while we're in Irkutsk picking up the documents, we'll get the invitation - just in case.

That's about it for updates. We continue to follow a routine, and Harry continues to expand his vocabulary. He can say ALOT, understands ALOT more, and listens when he feels like it :) He's getting better at it, actually. I think he has noticed the consistency in my responses, and taken the attitude that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Tonite when he was talking to Mike on the phone, I told him to say "I'll talk to you in the morning, Poppa", figuring he'd get the first 2 words right, and then wing it, like he usually does. Well what he said was "I'll talk to you Good Morning, Poppa". I thought that was great - as did Mike.

Then at tuck-in time, he was wishy washy about hugs. I gave him a quick peck on the head instead as I passed him :) As they were winding down, Skip asked "Do you need a big hug Mommy?" - something he says to me OFTEN. Before I could answer, Harry said "Momma need hug?" I said sure to both, and both of my boys jumped back out of bed and gave me not one but two big hugs apiece.

Cool stuff!