Saturday, October 28, 2006
Day 5 of our 14-day bonding period
It's Saturday today so we got to visit LG earlier than normal. We arrived around 11:00 and went to a park. Evidently, there is a lot to do there in the summer, but in late October all of the park rides are closed. There was a slide and swing that LG spent some time on. I also saw the first Soviet remnant in the park, a big statue of Lenin. When we adopted our daughter Megan in Ukraine in 2001, we saw statues of Lenin everywhere. And this was a decade after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Here in Kazakhstan, there isn't a lot of evidence that this was once a republic of the Soviet Union.
After the park, we convinced LG that she needed to try pizza, so we went to our favorite pizza place and had a cheese pizza. LG really liked it. She ate every bit of her two large slices. She was happy to hear that Jo Ann can make pizza just as good at home.
After eating, we stayed at the table and practiced writing her name and "Gashler" in English. After we left her yesterday, she had practiced writing her first name in English but she could not remember how to spell Gashler. So today we tore a page out of a note book with her name and Gashler so she could practice.
Jo Ann and LG also colored a picture in the coloring book. When they were finished they both signed their names.
LG is feeling more comfortable saying some of the words we try to teach her in English. Today she said "hat, hair, hello, pizza, nose, sweater, pants, and shoes." She also said "I love you."
As I mentioned yesterday, it's getting really hard to leave her there. More of the kids were outside today and they all seem to know who we are. Just about every one of them want to say "hello" in English to us, so we humor them by saying "hello" back. We were told on the first day we visited the orphanage that only three children had been adopted from that orphanage all year. LG will be the fourth. I wish more adoptive parents would consider adopting older children. There really are some wonderful kids there at the orphanage.
It's Saturday today so we got to visit LG earlier than normal. We arrived around 11:00 and went to a park. Evidently, there is a lot to do there in the summer, but in late October all of the park rides are closed. There was a slide and swing that LG spent some time on. I also saw the first Soviet remnant in the park, a big statue of Lenin. When we adopted our daughter Megan in Ukraine in 2001, we saw statues of Lenin everywhere. And this was a decade after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Here in Kazakhstan, there isn't a lot of evidence that this was once a republic of the Soviet Union.
After the park, we convinced LG that she needed to try pizza, so we went to our favorite pizza place and had a cheese pizza. LG really liked it. She ate every bit of her two large slices. She was happy to hear that Jo Ann can make pizza just as good at home.
After eating, we stayed at the table and practiced writing her name and "Gashler" in English. After we left her yesterday, she had practiced writing her first name in English but she could not remember how to spell Gashler. So today we tore a page out of a note book with her name and Gashler so she could practice.
Jo Ann and LG also colored a picture in the coloring book. When they were finished they both signed their names.
LG is feeling more comfortable saying some of the words we try to teach her in English. Today she said "hat, hair, hello, pizza, nose, sweater, pants, and shoes." She also said "I love you."
As I mentioned yesterday, it's getting really hard to leave her there. More of the kids were outside today and they all seem to know who we are. Just about every one of them want to say "hello" in English to us, so we humor them by saying "hello" back. We were told on the first day we visited the orphanage that only three children had been adopted from that orphanage all year. LG will be the fourth. I wish more adoptive parents would consider adopting older children. There really are some wonderful kids there at the orphanage.
# posted by Buck and Jo Ann @ 4:34 AM 
