It's a Boy!

Hello all! We finally had a chance to get to an internet cafe. We do not have internet in the apartment that we rented. We know you have been anxiously awaiting an update.

We have some very good news! Our 15 hour train ride paid off and we have met a delightful little boy named Alexander! He is two and a half years old, has brown eyes and blondish/brown hair. He is healthy and has a mind of his own. He is very bright and is able to concentrate for a very long time on tasks given to him. We are already very proud of him.

We have spent the last two days visiting him over a period of about 6 hours. He is starting to get used to us but is a bit shy (a good sign and totally normal). More than likely he is still testing us and wondering who are these funny talking big people coming to see him. They tell us he does not know the concept of "mommy and daddy (momma and pappa)" since he has spent his entire life with care givers at the orphanage and the hospital where he was born. The orphanage here is wonderful (in comparison to others we have read about). Alex loves to play kick the ball and play on the slides. He is very curious and also likes to do things on his own often saying "let me,,niet". Twice he dumped out the crayons Lara brought him and put them all back in order in the right direction. He seems very particular about things having their place (this may be the orphanage environment with lots kids, he did not get this from Lara).

Today we played outside. It snowed here yesterday, but today is warm and sunny. Alex learned to drink from a straw (juice box) after we showed him how to suck on the straw. He mimics well. He also loves bananas.

We are now in the process of running around and getting documents together, drafting applications, and waiting for a court date. Lots of activity the last couple of days. We are able to visit Alex from 9-12 and 4-6 everyday and plan to take full advantage of this. We will let you know when the court date is assigned. Should be in the next week.

We would love to put a photo on the blog, but we will not be posting the photo on the blog until he is legally ours. We still have a few hurdles to clear before everything is official so we still have a bit of pucker factor going on.