Day 1 of Trip 2!

We arrived in Moscow last night and were up early to visit the orphanage this morning.  I (Ann-Marie) was a little nervous about seeing Nikita. I wasn't sure what to expect: Would he remember us? Would it be awkward after we hadn't seen him in 6 weeks? I was very pleasantly surprised; Nik did not miss a beat. He walked up to us immediately and began trying to "share" a wadded up piece of paper with me that he was carrying around.  In fact, all of the kids his age at the orphanage seemed to remember me and began calling out "Mama" to me as soon as they saw me.  That part is heart-breaking to me, but I was touched by their sweet smiles. 

We spent about 2 hours playing with Nik.  We played with cars, threw balls, colored, and blew bubbles.  It seemed as if we had never left him. This part is such a huge answer to prayer for me as I have had concerns about how his bonding will be effected by the gaps in our time together. 

We have visits planned with Nik over the next 3 days and then will go to court on Tuesday, the 18th.

Here are a couple of pictures from today: Brent and Nik playing with stickers and me teaching Nik how to blow bubbles.