Orphanage - Day 2

We were told to be at the orphanage by 11am today. When we arrived at the orphanage Konabek was outside playing again. Well - they had him in a walker and he was just sitting there. He seems to sort of sit in a daze if no one is talking to him. We were able to take him out of the walker and then play with him. They are very nice about allowing us to go to a private area and play. They gave us a stroller and told us that we could take him for a walk. They have a sidewalk all around the building. We obviously had to stay inside the gate. I took him out of the stroller right away. I didn't feel like we would really bond with him in a stroller. Konabek doesn't do much when we are playing outside. He has so many clothes on that I really don't think that he can move! He is getting pretty good at walking though when holding our hands. He seems to know Leeza - Jen and Kyle's daughter quite well. He wanted to walk to where she was. When we were walking around the orphanage we saw at least 2 more groups of children with at least 10 per group. There were two more outside playground areas. He had to go in for lunch around 12 so we didn't get too much time to chat with him. Jen mentioned that Konabek came outside when Leeza did so didn't think that was napping in the morning. We plan to go earlier tomorrow.

For lunch, our drivers insisted that we go to the Arbat. It is a big site to see in Moscow. A pedestrian only road with lots of cute shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. It is a good thing that we ate - the drive was making me a bit car sick today. His driving seemed a little crazy. The traffic was horrible. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the orphanage (it is only about 6K) and tonight it took us 70 minutes! ouch... So back to lunch - they spoke good english and then we walked the Arbat back to our hotel. The drivers met us back at our hotel and took us back to the orphanage.

It was raining when we got back to the orphanage. We went up to play in the playroom again. This time Kyle, Jen and Leeza came up to play as well. Konabek was good. It took him about 30 minutes and then he was quite relaxed. We stayed until 6:30. He was playing really well. He really like to follow Leeza around. He crawls great and seemed to really want to run after her. He was really trying to take steps. It was cute - Jeff was holding him and he was come right to me. It was more like a step and then a dive towards me. He loves to be lifted in the air - the one on one play and the body contact. He started to crawl to me and then crawl right up onto me. It was sad to take him back downstairs when we had to go. I really don't want to bond with him anymore because we are just leaving in a day for at least a month. He is too young to understand or maybe even remember us. We are ready to bring him home. He seems very smart. He will try anything that we show him. His fine motor skills seem great. We think that these kids seem well cared for.

We journeyed to the McDonald's for dinner again. :( It is the right price after an expensive lunch. After walking to pick up dinner, we ate in Kyle and Jen's hotel. We needed to stop by and borrow something from them and spotted Kyle at McDonald's - so followed him back. :) We had to stop and pick up some more water to drink and some things for breakfast. We didn't get back to the hotel until 10! Long days....