On the third day, we were able to see K for a couple of hours in the morning.  Our coordinator picked us up, and this morning our coordinator brought her little dog with her (purse-sized!).  We got to the orphanage around 10AM and went directly to K’s groupa.  It is located just past the reception area on the right side of the building.  When we walked in, all of the children (including K) rushed over to see our coordinator.  “Sabashka, Sabashka!” they squealed and circled around trying to pet the dog.  I had one little girl come over to me, latching onto my legs so tight giving me the sweetest hug.

One of the caretakers whisked K away and brought her into the bedroom area.  I think this is where they keep some of their clothes and personal things.  Even though the temperature was easily in the 70s, the caregiver dressed K in jeans, a long shirt, a jacket and a hat.  She also gave her some shoes to put on, and K let me tie them for her.  The caregiver was laughing, and I think telling me (speaking in Russian), that K knows how to do it herself and she should do it!

We were able to spend the rest of the morning outside.  We weren’t with K’s groupa, but joined another group of kids who were probably 3-4 years old.  K loved to run, and explore the adjoining playground area.  When she got her hands dirty going down a slide, she immediately came over to me and wanted help getting them clean again. I got out the wetwipes and helped her.  Many of the children interacted with Michael and I.  A few wanted hugs, but mostly they wanted their picture taken and to see themselves on the display.  At times it was hard to balance giving attention to K versus interacting with the children. 

At one point, our coordinator brought her dog back outside and asked us to watch him while she did some paperwork inside.  That’s when K practiced walked the dog.  She “claimed” the dog as her own and wouldn’t let any other child hold the leash.  She was very strongwilled, wanting to walk the dog herself but whenever the dog came towards her, she would squeal and was afraid that the dog was going to touch her.  We’ll have to work on this with Thani!  I think we’ll be fine because although she was “afraid” she also didn’t want to let him go.

K’s confidence also shined when we were walking down a sidewalk at the side of the orphanage.  There is a tall iron fence that surrounds the orphanage.  She saw some young people unloading a car with food and balloons and kept yelling to them about the balloons until they acknowledged her and confirmed that yes, they were balloons (!). 

Late morning, K’s groupa came out and played at the adjoining playground on the side of the orphanage.  Around noon, the caregiver called for K to be brought in for lunch and afternoon nap.  We had a quick, rushed goodbye.  I had not yet given her the photo album.  So I quickly got that out, and began to show her the pictures.  After a couple, she said “OK, I will look at them later” and began to run after her groupa.  The coordinator called her back for some quick hugs and she ran away again.  She did look back a few times, and once she got inside she looked again and waved so I think she understands who we are!

Many people have asked whether it was hard to leave.  Honestly, I was ready to go.  It doesn’t feel very natural playing in the orphanage with the other children and under the watchful eye of everyone.  I knew that she was our daughter and was anxious to get to the next step in the process!  That means leaving to get more paperwork done!!! J  I was also reassured (like with R’s orphanage) that she is in a “nice” orphanage.  Everything is very clean, she has clean clothes, the children are clean and seemingly well fed.  The children were well-behaved and friendly. The caregivers were all nice and took a lot of time with us so I have a feeling that it’s more than a job to them.

After leaving the orphanage, we had to go back to the adoption center so that our coordinator could draft the petition which we needed to have notarized to adopt K.  We stopped at the town’s shopping mall and had a quick lunch before we headed to the notary.  Again I was impressed with the connections that our coordinator has.  She walked right into the office and spent a long time talking to people before having us come into the room to sign the paperwork (leaving many locals in the waiting room).  We had two pieces of paperwork to sign.  One was to officially accept K as our referral, and the other was the court petition to adopt K.  On this document, we had to specify what K’s new legal name will be. 

We chose to keep her first name as we did with R for obvious reasons (older child, name given to her by her birthmother, etc) and it’s really just a beautiful name.  Because R got a special middle name (her grandma’s middle name, which also happens to be my Russian grandmother’s first name) we needed something meaningful so we decided to give her my middle name.  My middle name is actually a simplied version of my great grandmother’s  last name.

And that was it!  We dropped off our coordinator at her car and our driver drove us to Moscow.  It was a long drive back due to traffic around/in Moscow.  Once we got to the hotel, we crashed and didn’t get up until the next morning.  (Well, Michael got up in the middle of the night and went down to the lobby and used the free internet.)

Next up, Friday’s in-country 8-doctor medical!!!