Layers!

Today we cleaned……. so the cleaning lady could come and clean the clean. How we have been shaped by Barbara! Feeding Alex was slightly painful today as he clearly did not want to eat. However it was eat the porridge from me or be fed it very, very quickly by a caregiver with a large spoon. He took the lesser of two evils but we still paid for it later. Otherwise we had a nice visit today with Alex, and Pops and Zach joined us for both. We got a roast chicken from a street vender for dinner and it was delicious. The breads and cheeses are wonderful and we have been enjoying both. They are so good I would pay more for them, but they’re very inexpensive.
Alex was very mobile today in the afternoon, and we have no doubt he will be crawling before we leave. He was quite a fashion disaster in the afternoon, but had less layers on, which was nice. In the morning Alex had 2 layers on his bottom half and 4 on his top. It is a part of their culture for children to be dressed far warmer than the adults. We still see some people with winter coats on and are not allowed to open any windows in the orphanage. Have a great day, and enjoy a Stewarts milkshake on us!

Zach's End of the Rainbow

Zach Shopping Up a Storm

The Streets of Karaganda

Little Market Next to the Apt.

Our Apartment on the Right-4th Floor

The Back of Our Apartment Building

Priorities

No orphanage today so we decided to do some shopping. We walked to the 3 story mall, hit the mall across the street from it and another strip mall on the way home. We found some great stuff that was Kazak, Russian, as well as Chinese. The adults looked for ethnic treasures to bring home, Zach’s priority; police cars and fire trucks. Some things never change. Don bought us some food from a kiosk outside of our apartment. It was a popover and though I think it had pork in it; it was very good. After that Don and I crashed while Pops tackled Zach and the schoolwork. It was a struggle, but Pops was victorious! After we got up we went to the mall above the grocery store that’s two blocks from the house and then came back home. Not too much to do, but it was a full day.
I just wanted to give you a little insight on how different prices are here for some things. Some of these prices are crazy! $67 for 1.5 pounds of scallops. $38 for 5 pounds of French Fries. $44 for 1.5 pounds of shrimp. $10 for all four of us to eat at the café. $80 for a regular Barbie, $67 for a 5 inch Brat doll. $18 for all of us to eat at a nice café.
Have a great day and enjoy some Dunkin Donuts coffee on us!

School outside the Orphanage

My son looks like Big Bird

We had really good visits with Alex today, and found out that one of his caretakers was also Zach’s caretaker. Dad grabbed the photos of Zach (which I just happened to bring with us) from 2000, and the two women were so excited to learn who he was. They looked at the photos and Zach and talked a blue streak; unfortunately it was all in Russian. They asked me if I was a doctor and where we lived. When I told them New York, they were surprised to see the photos of where we live now; I think she expected to see NYC. They also asked me what Alex’s name was, and were clearly happy to learn it was a Russian name, saying it was beautiful. We do seem to be blessed with good caretakers. They want to know about us, and make an effort to call me by my name. They even asked if Dad was my Papa or Don’s. We will go in with Olga another day soon to talk to her about both of the boys. Enjoy the pictures, and have a steak on us!

Thank God it's Friday

I actually had to think about what day it was for about 10 minutes today. They all run in together and the feeling is “another day down”, not “it’s almost Friday”. We had two great visits with Alex today. Pops bought Alex a new teether and he loved it. It was much better than chewing on every toy possible. Alex was so enamored with Zach that he had a hard time finishing his lunch. Alex just kept smiling and laughing at Zach. We left early again today for the cleaning lady, and got back to the apartment to find too many wet things and not enough space to dry everything. Needless to say we have sheets hanging off of doors and pants hanging wet in our closetsJ Have a great day and enjoy Testos meal on us!

Zach with his Grump On

We found it!

Today we went to see Alex, and I somehow got fired from his morning feeding but was hired for the afternoon one. Alex was smiley as usual, and everyone had fun giving him rides and making him laugh. He was trying to crawl more, and spent a lot of the second visit on the floor. Alex does this cute thing when he tired; he puts his thumb in his mouth and rubs his head at the same time. It’s a precursor to a whine, meaning pick me up please (of course he uses mannersJ). He is so smiley when he sees Zach, it’s adorable. Don worked with Zach on his school work today and felt the pain that I have. He wants to be doing fun things, and for Zach schoolwork just gets in the way.
We talked to Larissa today and she gave us a few new restaurants that we can try. Two of them even have English menus. One of the restaurants was Assorti, which we went to with Zach in 2000, we just couldn’t remember where it was. It was hysterical to learn that Assorti was right across the street from our apartment! We went there tonight, and Pops had French steak with cheese, Don and I had a chicken popover and Zach had crepes. It was really good, and we all left there saying we would be coming back. Have a T-bone steak on us!

The Men in My Life

Pops and His Boys

Let's Bowl!

We had a great day in Karaganda today! We had great visits with Alex, Zach even let Alex ride him around the playroom. Alex is mesmerized with Zach, he just loves to watch him and gets a big smile whenever Zach talks to him. Alex ate bananas with us today (a first besides porridge) and he loved it. Miraculously there was no spitting up.
Tonight we went to the café for dinner with Beth and Phil, and Zach ate 6 pieces of pizza! He must have had a hollow leg, because he is not like that at home. After dinner we went bowling and it looked much different than last time. There are lights everywhere, it looks like the bowlers club in Latham. We got shoes (and socks) from the place, and Pops came out the winner for our family. Zach had a ball, and danced to the hip hop music.

Mom and Two of Her Three Boys!

Zach Doing School Work

Laugh and the whole world laughs at (oops) with you!

Today we have a really nice visit at the orphanage today. Zach and Pops stayed in the playroom when we went to go feed and get Alex. After a few minutes, Zach’s curiosity got the better of him and they joined us. Alex was so excited to see him that he got this huge smile on his face. After we took Alex from his room, Olga brought us down to Zachary’s old room (number 9) and he got to see where he spent the first year of his life. We could tell that it meant a lot to Zach, and I was excited for Pops to see as well.
We got more food at the grocery store, and were overjoyed to see Corona! For the bargain price of $14, we have a 6 pack chilling in our refrigerator. It’s the little pleasures people.
After dinner we went for a walk to the park, and no less than 11 groups of people openly laughed at Pops and Don because they were wearing shorts. The best was when two girls who looked no more than eight giggled hysterically when they saw us. It was over 80 degrees today and we still saw a couple people in winter coats. It is amazing how different cultures react to things. Have a great day, and Zach wants all of you (well not all) to have a 6 pack of chicken nuggets on us!

The Four Baldwin's

The 1st Time Feeding Alex

It's time to eat!

Hello everyone! We had a good day here in Karaganda. Everyone went to the orphanage in the morning and afternoon. Alex was great, and I got to feed him for the first time. No, it has not changed, and yes, it is the same taste. The spoon was smaller this time and they didn't take him away from me (because they thought I was too slow) like with Zach so that's a plus. Zach did a great job doing his schoolwork, and Don fed us a gourmet dinner of french fries and pepperoni (you don't want to know). We miss you all, but are having a good time while we're here. Have a piece of cheesecake on us!

Don in Living Room

Zach in the Morning

Poppy and Baby

Greetings from Karaganda!

We had another visit to the orphanage at 4 yesterday and it was a good one. I got to get the baby from his room, and we had a ball with him. Don and I did tell him about his extended family however, so we may have scared him off a bit;) The baby was rolling around in a walker, and really seemed to love it. Our internet card ran out, so we were not able to post until today. The card will last longer if we post in the am, so I think that’s how we’ll be doing it. Zach had his grump on in the afternoon from jet lag and as a result is still sleeping now, at 9:41am. He has really been great, and is enjoying time with Pops, playing in the park behind our apartment and coveting the Lego store we saw yesterday.
Today there is no trip to the orphanage as we have to give the drivers and Olga a day off. Instead we will walk to the lake, buy diapers and check out some stores. We are an adventurous group, and don’t want to miss showing Pop and Zach anything. Who knows, we may even go bowling soon! Love to you all, and have some Gus’ hot dogs (with the works) on us!

Baby Baldwin with Poppy

Back to the old stomping grounds

We went to the orphanage this morning and had a ball with the baby. He has a cold and was spitting up a lot, but otherwise was a very happy little guy. Still no name, but we are working on that. After our visit we went to the cafe we used to eat at with Zach and then to the mall. It is much more like a mall now, and we bought the baby a new outfit there. Now we rest and Don and I go back in an hour. Toodles!

Zach and his New Brother

Don't let the pink fool you, he's all boy!

We have had quite a journey so far. Zach was a complete trooper (despite a 104 degree fever on two of the plane rides) and thankfully now is fever free. We got to Karaganda last night and Don and I went to the orphanage this morning. We were supposed to be going to another orphanage (not Zach's) but we were pleasantly suprised to pull up at Malutka. We spent time with the babies, and have decided on the cutest little guy there:) He is nine months old and is a summer baby. He has a huge smile with big blue eyes and blonde hair. Pops and Zach joined us for the afternoon visit, and all were charmed with our new little guy (no name yet). Zach was great with him, and did his best to make the little guy laugh. After a great visit, we came back to the apartment and have been on the computer since. We will post again when we can, and hopefully the pictures will come up. Thanks for your good wishes, these four jet lagged travelers needed it.

The Baldwin's Journey to Kaz (cont.)

The Baldwin's and Ken reached Frankfurt and are now on their way to Almaty, Kazakhstan. They will arrive tonight and stay over. Tomorrow night they will travel to Karaganda and hopefully go to the Baby Home Friday morning (which will be Friday night our time). I am supposed to speak with them when they reach Almaty. I'll update as soon as I do. Please pray for a safe trip.