Due to some technical difficulties and some good old fashion "Chaos",
our team has re-located to a new " channel" (Blogspot.com) We apologize for any inconvenience , however this solution is better than the alternative of Team Chaos "going dark" or "off the grid" so to speak :)
So here is Day 31/32 -so tired not sure what day it is anymore :) :
Max and I are in Kiev now, awaiting the next part of the process with the US Embassy, and enjoying some good quality time together. The car ride from Zaporizchya was the usual saga, with the added fun of Max getting car sick three times--Bleh. Note to self--DO NOT FEED A CHILD BANANAS ON A LONG BUMPY CAR TRIP!!! The bananas do not look as wonderful when they are projectile vomited all over his clothes and mine..... On a positive note, he was always happy and smiling, even after he vomitted, and when we stopped at a gas station to clean up the toxic spillage, he asked to go potty! I had brought along ava's potty seat and he sat right down and went potty. Very exciting to know he is potty trained and able to communicate.
After a costume change, and car seat clean-up we were back on the road...for about twenty minutes, and then Bananas " part two" came out. This time I managed to stem the damage just a little with some quick paper towel work.
By this time, Poor Oleg was not happy about his back seat--even though he said he's had worse things happen with children in the back seat before. We stopped at a local pharmacy for some children's dramamine--which of course did not agree with his stomach. Round three of vomiting started about 20 minutes after that. This time I was prepared with a plastic bag, and caught all of it--yay!! Now that we were officially on a saga, Oleg, Max, and I just hunkered down and kept driving. The medicine did help though, because after that Max was fine for the rest of the trip-- Although we still had over 400 KM to go....
Max was a real trooper! I discovered that he liked to have pretend conversations on my cell phone, and play with my watch, so we traded back and forth pretending to talk to people, and examining all the functions on my watch. He never cried or really complained it was amazing. Occasionally he would point at the door latch, and as we got within an hour of Kiev He would sit up in his seat and point at the door and then look at me with his hands raised in a questioning manner every time we came to a red light or momentarily stopped in traffic.
It was really great to see him communicating so well with me.
By the end of the trip we were all ready to get out of the car. The last 200 KM took FOREVER. Kiev seemed to be getting farther away as traffic slowed our approach. When we finally made it to the apartment, we jumped out of the puke/banana-smelling vehicle for a nice breath of fresh air. Yuri was waiting for us in the parking lot with the key, and we all took turns holding Max's hand as we unloaded luggage and groceries. I threw out the remaining bananas in the nearest dumpster, even thought they were perfectly good---I couldn't stand the smell or thought of them. I think it will be a long time before I eat one again. The next morning morning in fact, as Max and I were walking around Tolstoy square we past a fruit stand with bananas and I caught myself shuddering :).
We got all set up in the apartment, and Max was in sensory overload--He ran from room to room yelling in excitement with every new discovery. I was thankful for a moment to rest--but it was not to be. There is a balcony in this apartment that isn't enclosed like our other apartments. Max of course mad a beeline for the door to the balcony, and I caught him as he was headed out to "check the view". Yuri and I quickly moved a large table in front of the door (I'm typing from it now), and fixed that problem. Meanwhile, max discovered to his pure joy that there was a large piano in the master bedroom? (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?--Mark Litkowski is chuckling to himself I'm sure) He banged away for a good hour on that baby.....and again the next morning at 0630...HA!
After Yuri left us, Max continued his exploring/terrorism about the apartment. Overall he was pretty good, but there were a few times I had to stop him from hurting himself with something he shouldn't touch--like a hot light bulb :) Everything is just so new, I have to find a balance I guess between giving him the freedom to discover and not letting him run after moving BMW's! By the time we finally got settled, it was 9:30 PM and we hadn't eaten, so I fed him some oatmeal, and then we finished the night with a much-needed bath and teeth brushing! He went to the potty again all by himself, and slipped into his new jammies.
I was concerned that bedtime would be difficult, but it was actually pretty easy. He just wanted me to lay next to him--he signed emphatically with his hands patting the bed next to him and pointing at me. So I laid next to him, and he smiled at me and fell asleep holding my hand. I got back up for a while and finally got a shower as well , and he snored happily in the next room. Finally around midnight, I laid down exhausted next to him--looking annoyingly at my fate across the room (the piano) , and knowing full well I did not need an alarm clock.....
Tomorrow we move to a nicer, safer, and less noisy apartment ---no piano :)
Day 32:
Max woke up at 0630 on the dot (just like his schedule said he would) and began
Playing the piano--I immediately woke up and distracted him elsewhere, so as to not have anymore incidents with the neighbors like our first night in Zaporizchya!
After a while I figured out it would be better to take him outside to explore. He probably had so much energy stored up from the long car ride yesterday, and it was easier to expend it outside in a nice park down the street. We ate a quick snack of dry cheerios, and some juice and got dressed. We walked down the street to a beautiful park. I have to re-check the spelling, but Yuri said the park is called "Shevyenko park" --it is famous for a meet and greet former President Clinton had there once after a more formal speech in St. Catherine's square. Apparently President Clinton is famous over here for being among the people and charismatic. Max was not interested in President Clinton, but really enjoyed the nice playground they had there, and chasing unsuspecting pigeons. We played for a good hour, before I figured it was time to hunt for some breakfast for Max and Coffee for "Big Daddy". I say "Big Daddy" in this case, because the only place open at 0745 was McDonald's (Adam Sandler movie ref). It was a good thing Mcdonalds wasn't too expensive, because I was almost out of Hyrvnia, and the exchange banks don't open until 0900 at the earliest. I counted all my change carefully,
and ordered Max his first egg Mcmuffin. He loved it of course, and wanted to share some with me. I didn't have enough money to get me anything for myself, so I was glad to share a few bites! After some breakfast, the banks were open so I was able to stock up on some cash flow again.
We walked around the underground malls, and I bought a cell phone top-up card. Max started complaining that he wanted the cell phone, because he likes the built-in flashlight. He complained by whining a little and trying to fish into the pocket where he knew my phone was.
The store I bought the card from had some cheap LED flashlights for sale, so I bought one and gave it to Max. He was thrilled, and showed it to everyone we passed on the street and in the Gloria Jean's cafe. The owner, who is very nice, gave Max some attention, and he just loved that someone else thought his light that daddy gave him was so cool. Max is very friendly to strangers. Which is funny here--because people don't generally smile or pay attention to you on the street. And her is this little boy, bopping along, happy as a clam, waving, smiling and trying to show everyone his flashlight--including the owner of a nice Black Bently (who was not interested in seeing the flashlight incidentally).
Max and I returned to the apartment, and the cleaning lady who cleans both apartments met us there to help us move into the newer place we stayed in before with Beck, Ava, and Mom.
She helped me move our belongings, which was great because Max does not like the elevators!
He rode it twice, and the second time he got this nervous look on his face. After that, anytime we would go near one he started to cry, and grab my leg and shake his head no. I figured "why torture the Kid", so we have been taking the stairs--it's better exercise anyway. The cleaning lady was happy to ride the lift with our luggage. So now we are set up in the new place, and all is well with the world. Max is taking a nap---that is how I have a moment to write. He is just like Ava--your time is my time Daddy!!! Which is great actually! Hats off to the orphanage-he is so scheduled! He would not fall asleep in bed until exactly 1230 on my watch--which is on the schedule they gave me--just like the 0630 wake up.
I am having so much fun despite being tired.
He is so curious about everything around him, and it is fun to re-discover the world together. I have to laugh at some of the things he homes in on as we walk about the city. There are of course the cars--he loves the cars as you all know. The trick now is keeping him from trying to open the doors to every parked car we come across. Surprisingly he only picks the really expensive ones--the ones that owners are less than thrilled to see a small child anywhere near! So far we have tried to steal a Bently, a Mercedes, and a Porsche---at least he has good taste!!
You also have to hold his hand unless you are in a park or someplace very safe. I once let go while I was paying for his egg McMuffin, and he bolted out the door towards a shiny porsche leaving it's parking space just outside. I caught him just as he was making his escape through the door, and brought him back to the chuckling people in line at the cash register.....
Anyway I will add more to this blog as I fiddle with the architecture and figure out how to use this program....Just wanted everyone to know we were still alive!!
That's all for now! More soon. Spread the word if you can of our new location on the web. Love,
Team Chaos
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