Birthday Boy

Our little boy turned two years old today! We had a great morning celebrating with him at the orphanage. We bought him a cake and candle, the caretakers let us light it and sing to him, and he got a big piece to eat (which he loved). We dressed him in the outfit we had bought at Tsum yesterday, and he looked absolutely adorable. It's better that I can't show you his face in the picture, because you would probably die of cuteness! His present (other than the fun lollipop from the Dubai airport) was a toy guitar, so he can play along with his daddy when he gets home to Denver.

After he ate cake, we joined the other kids in the main room for the practicing of their Christmas program. One lady played the accordion, and the caretakers and some of the kids read parts (in Russian) and did little dances. It was precious, and it was so nice to see how much the workers love the kids and take good care of them.

After the practice, we went to the playroom and tried some painting crafts. We were attempting to get his handprint on a Christmas ornament and fingerprints on paper to look like little Christmas lights, but we totally overestimated the ability of a toddler to understand how to work (nicely) with paint. We basically made a mess! But I guess he had fun doing it. One thing that's interesting is that the workers insist that the kids do everything with their right hands...eat, color, paint, etc. No left hands allowed! After some more time with toys, including cars, bowling, pretend food, balls, etc., it was time to go. We're so glad we got to spend the day with our son on his second birthday!

Oh, and after visiting Burana Tower this afternoon, we spent a few hours at the notary getting power of attorney forms done for future visits. This is only significant to mention because it means that our boy officially has a name! Yes, we had to decide on this trip (which we didn't expect) in order to put it on the paperwork. And no, we are not telling anybody what it is until he is officially ours! But we will say that we moved his current Kyrgyz name to become his middle name, so he sort of gets to keep that.

One more thing...we are getting better at saying some Russian words and phrases, which has really helped us communicate better with our son and the caretakers. So far we've mastered yes, no, good day, hello, goodbye, good boy, thank you, happy birthday, and I love you. We carry around a little booklet that helps us when we need it!

Okay, it's been a busy birthday. Time for bed on this side of the world!