Give me five!

Our day started with Simone picking us up at 9:45 - De Ja Vu. When we got to the visiting room, Daddy fed Maks a pear. He loves loves loves food. At first, anytime he would see food he would grab and grunt. So we have been working on saying pashaloosta (please) with Maks. As soon as he sees the pear, he quiets down, sits next to the food source and says pashaloosta. It is really cute. He learns so fast. It takes him one time to learn as long as he wants to. After the snack, we decided that it would be fun to go on a walk. We asked the caregiver if we could go on a Goolats (walk)! Maks says goolats, Momma and Daddy say goolats! And the caregiver says goolats! So Momma helped Maks get bundled up. Momma was sad because the caregiver didn't give us the clothes that Maks normally wears outside - the ones in his locker. She picked from the lockers all of the warmest and best clothes for Maks to wear. He looked like a snowman and could barely walk down the stairs.

It was really cold outside. We had been outside for about 10 minutes and Maks' cheeks were soooo cold. He kinda got scared or sad maybe when we were in the shade of the building so we decided to head back in. When we made it back to the sun, he seemed happier so we stayed outside for a little while longer. It was the first time we felt cold since being in Kazakhstan. It was probably -5 degrees F and it was the longest we had spent outside.





The afternoon visit was very fun today. At first, Maks started with the Ne-yet. So we decided to break out the crackers and look at some books together. We looked at the life book - all the way through. Maks was interested in the pictures and some of the little activities. Not too much. But he really liked the picture of himself and his friends that we had put into the book. He kept saying something and staring at it. All the while, he would interupt Momma and Daddy with a pashaloosta for a cracker. He ate all of them and probably would have eaten a hundred more.

Daddy taught Maks to play give me five on the side. It was one of the best moments so far. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Especially when he was too slow! Momma captured some video of it and a couple of stills.






The caregivers told Lena that they are amazed by his ability to communicate with his parents. We are amazed, too. At the end of the visit, he gave each of us a hug and a "so much".

We were stoked.