Day 4

JMI and I had a great day today, playing and talking and zooming around in the walker toy. Too bad those things are considered "unsafe" (kids can zoom down staircases), because she really loves it and I'd get her one at home ...

We were all alone in the playroom for visitation, and enjoyed having the space all to ourselves. JMI is so sweet, just like any 7 month old, I guess, who is still all about the simple things: a warm, comfy lap to sit in, stuff to chew on and cool toys to play with. Of course, I'm only there for a short time each day, missing all the difficult parts of the day. Plenty of time for that when she comes home : )

She definitely shows interest in the books I bring to read to her. Current favorite is "Moo, Baa, La La La" by Sandra Boynton.

"The cow says moo. The sheep say baaa. Three singing pigs say La La La. No, No, you say. That's not right. Pigs say OINK all day and night ... "

As you can see, I kind of like it, too : ) She's oh-so cute when I read it to her; she really zooms in on the animal pix and grunts a little and pats each page. I do the "cats and kittens say, MEOW" with an actual meow. As we know, I'm really good at that, being a cat mom already. She really perks up and stares at me intently. Maybe meow will be her first word, who knows?

I talked with Zhaniya today about JMI's future official name, and it seems that I won't be able to add Irina to the official Kaz. papers. The forms only allow for 2 names and a last name. So, I'll have to add the Irina informally or something. Anybody know ... do Episcopalians get to add a baptism name? But, I'll still keep calling her JMI on the blog for now, just to keep it simple.

I hear it's really cold and snowy back home, but here we are hovering around 35-42 F each day, and no precipitation at all (unless you count fog and smog, which they have in abundance this time of year). They say this warm weather is unusual, but it's okay with us. Zhaniya and Anara took us up into the mountains today. Beautiful and clear there, where we stood overlooking a 10,500 square metre speed skating ice rink, Medeu, at the site of the 7th Asian Winter Games, which is much like an Olympics for this area of the world. Very cool.

***The Government of Kazakhstan plans to allocate US$726 million in the 2008 budget for construction and renovation of the sports facilities for the games, including the Medeo skating rink and the Shymbulak skating area to the south east of the city.[2] Timur Dosymbetov is the Director General of the 2011 Asian Games Executive Body. The games are considered good experience in hosting for the city of Almaty, and will likely be a strong point in their planned bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[3] (wikipedia.com)

K, M & G