Hurry up and wait

Our 15-day visitation period has passed, and so today our facilitator submitted our petition to adopt Aliya, and hopefully we will know tomorrow what our court date will be. Though trying not to get our hopes up, we are simultaneously keeping fingers and toes crossed that it will fall on or before Nov 30th, so we can keep our current schedule for departure on the 2nd (only one international flight per week from Kostonai). We are down to about 8.5 hours of daylight each day, and I for one am starting to feel a little stir-crazy.

Kohladna – cold. We awoke this morning to temperatures of -13C, though this afternoon it has warmed to -9C. The bitter winds & icy sidewalks have made afternoon strolls through the market less palatable, so there’s been a substantial increase in the amount of time spent reading, playing cards, and watching videos. The mood of the group is such that we’ve tried to avoid watching any movie that doesn’t feature either Jack Black, Will Ferrell, or a supernatural monster. A flu is going around the group as well, and thankfully so far Sal & I have been only mildly affected. We are taking our vitamins and drinking the special herbal tea recommended by our facilitator, which features a drawing of a 3-fold compound leaf inside a red cross, and is called “Zerde” – not sure of the translation.

And the little Aliya – she is doing well. She is starting to really like being snuggled, and for the first time today she cried after being put down (I know some day this phenomenon will be a frustration, but for now it's a triumph). I'm putting up a new video at video.yahoo.com - search for "baby Aliya ipod" I am so eager to try so many things with her, and show her so much stuff, that sometimes I feel impatient with the short, confined visits. Yet she is utterly content to sit on the floor of her little playroom with us and the other babies, and play with the same 4 toys we’ve brought her, and try to tear off my opal necklace and whack Sal’s nose and leave tooth-marks on the camera. For now at least, this is all the novelty she needs.