Cold, Caps, and Communication

(Brent writing....)  It was cold, damp, and dark in Moscow today.  We woke up from a semi-restless slumber to our first "free" day as a family.  Breakfast and play time in the morning were relatively low key.  The kids really enjoyed just running around and playing together.

There is a playground area in the middle of our block of apartments, so we decided to bundle up and play outside for a while.  This resulted in our first communication breakdown of the day.  Because of the cold, we wanted to put a knitted cap on Nikita to cover his ears.  This meant taking the baseball cap away and putting on the warmer hat.  Nikita refused to wear the knitted cap and was very agitated at our efforts to convince him that it was too cold for the baseball cap.  We ended up just taking the knitted cap and putting on his hood over the baseball cap.  Nikita was a bit hesitant at the playground.  His orphanage didn't have a playscape like the apartment and I don't think he had ever gone down a slide before.  It was cold enough that there were periods of light snow flurries, so it wasn't long before Nikita began to shiver.  We remembered that at the orphanage, they really bundled up the kids way more than what we thought was necessary, so we decided that he was a layer too light in his clothing.  We all went up stairs and decided that we would bundle up more and then attempt a longer walk to a more developed area where there were shops and restaurants.  This lead to communication breakdown number two.  The bundling process was met with tears that we couldn't discern the reason for.  He couldn't explain his feelings and we couldn't explain the situation.  We ultimately decided that we would put off our walk until after lunch and try again later. 

By mid afternoon, we had finally worked up to giving it another shot.  We were able to get everyone bundled up and get out the door.  We had a really nice walk with the family.  Nikita has not really seen the city before, and we were in an area where it felt like the 'real' Moscow.  Nikita had a lot of new experiences.  We walked by a kids store and decided to go in.  Nikita was so surprised at all of the toys.  Surprisingly, he wasn't prone to grabbing a lot of toys, but was instead so excited just to see what kind of toys exist.  He would walk from section to section pointing and talking.  I will admit it was an exceptionally good toy store and Dylan was just as excited as Nik.  All we bought was pull ups and a toilet seat for potty trainers, but everyone was happy nonetheless.  Our next stop was a restaurant.  Again, a first for Nikita; he loved everything that was put in front of him.  Nik will clearly be our first truly non-picky eater.  On the other hand, getting him to stop eating when he has had enough proved to be a bit tougher.  We had our first negotiation session, so I guess children are born as attorneys in every culture.  When it became apparent that his three year old frame could not sustain another fettuccine noodle and still make it home, Ann-Marie leaned over and said "dva (2) more bites".  Without hesitation he held up three fingers.  I guess he understood that!  Explaining the concept of a doggy bag also proved difficult.

Our walk home was a bit tougher as you can imagine.  It was already getting darker and colder and everyone was tired from a long day.  Although Moscow is a fairly pedestrian friendly city, we still had a few moments where we felt like we were playing a game of 'Frogger' with rush hour traffic while juggling children.  Nikita's last 'first' of the day came on the way home when a dog ran down the sidewalk (leash laws don't seem to apply in Moscow).  After his initial shock, he ran up the sidewalk toward Ann-Marie anxious to describe his encounter with a real live 'sabaka'. 

Today left several impressions.  First, the language barrier will prove to be difficult, but not insurmountable.  Second, Maddie and Dylan are amazing ambassadors of love.  Third, dollar gloves from Target are not adequate for truly cold weather.  Fourth, we still need prayer, and lots of it.

A little play time after breakfast.  Why Ann-Marie bought a Spurs hat for him to get attached to I'll never know!

"Are you sure about this!"

I can't caption this

Our long walk

Brent - "Please, not the Play Dough!"

Let's go eat!

Tomatoes, yep.  Olives, green and black please.  Cucumber, Red Peppers, bring it on!  Fettuccine, more please!  Wait, let me get this straight.  You just sit here and people keep bringing food?!  What is the catch?