Tax Numbers and Passport scans

Well, it was a long and a short night.  A long time to get Hanna to sleep and then not so much sleep.  I think she may have slept about 4-5 hours.  We were awake way before dawn, but she actually behaved quite well.  The first thing she said when she woke up was, "Ect," ("yest" means "eat").  So I got her a snack and hoped we would go back to sleep.  No such luck.  Lena was awake a little before 6 and then there was no hope of going back to sleep.

First order of business for the day was to feed everyone.  Oleg wasn't hungry (WHAT??), but the girls ate well.  Then we got them all bathed.  THAT was fun.  Hanna and Lena got in the tub together.  It was interesting that Hanna really didn't seem to know what to do in the tub.  Lena had no problems entertaining herself.  John fashioned some make shift tub toys out of plastic bottles, and the girls went to town pouring water.  I had just gotten Lena out of the tub when Hanna pooped in the water.  Huge thanks to John for cleaning up the tub while I took care of the girls.

Just before lunch, Zhenia came to get me to go legalize the birth certificates.  I had to sign some things at some office not far away, and we were done.  Got to ride in a Russian car (Lada) that Zhenia says is a piece of junk (I must agree).  John kept the kids while I was gone.  When I got back we did lunch.  John got some hot dog type sausages at the grocery yesterday.  I boiled them (the Ukrainian way), cut some apples, and shared the last of our American potato chips.  Seemed to work well.  Hanna didn't like the potato chips.

Just when we were ready to put Hanna down for a nap and have John take the big kids to the park, the landlord appeared with a satellite repair guy.  They did fix the satellite, but they delayed nap time by about an hour.  John took Oleg and Lena to the park to work out some energy.  Poor Hanna only got about an hour before we had to head out again to do passport pictures.  But before we left we had a chance to Skype with Cliff.  The kids were so excited to see Papa. They wanted to tell him everything we've done and show him pictures and videos.  I had to tell them that we would send them to him, because he couldn't see them through Skype.

Passport photos went well, and we had a few minutes to "relax" at the flat before Zhenia came back to go to dinner with us at the "Fat House" for some authentic Ukrainian food.  He came bearing a gift that requires some background.

When we got the kids yesterday, we were all so excited that we forgot to be sure the kids had any of the the toys and things that we had given them - including Oleg's GameBoy.  When we asked about it, he said he forgot it.  Then later he said that a caregiver had taken it from him when he didn't put it down immediately to do his chores.  Zhenia called another caregiver to inquire and heard a different story that Oleg had given the GameBoy to a friend.  We have no way of knowing what really happened, but Zhenia arranged for Vitaly to pick up the GameBoy and take it to the bus station to give it to the driver coming to Odessa to bring it to Zhenia (did that make any sense).  Long and short is that the GameBoy made it here - minus the charger.  But we now have a charger.

The Fat House was fun.  Really cool when 5 people can eat for $20.  And it is good food, too.  Oleg said I should try a certain salad, so I did.  Pretty sure it was crab.  And it was good.  I had a chicken steak (flat chicken breast dipped in egg and fried in a skillet), buckwheat, and one of Zhenia's cabbage rolls.  Hanna had mashed potatoes, some of my buckwheat (which she liked!), some of my chicken (which she didn't like) and some of the cabbage roll (which she liked).  Lena had mashed potatoes and 2 big meatballs with tomato sauce.  Oleg had chicken kiev (which he always wanted to try but did not like), dumplings (which he didn't eat because he got too full), coleslaw, skillet potatoes, and something else.  

After supper, I took the girls back to the flat to get them ready for bed.  John, Oleg and Zhenia went to the drug store to try to find something for these spots that Hanna has.  Zhenia called the orphanage doctor to find out what to get.  That's when we found out that Hanna has a citrus allergy.  Apparently someone at the orphanage must have given her citrus, and she now has about 5 spots on her arms, legs and face that are about the size of a dime.  Wish I'd known!  I asked specifically about food allergies when we met Hanna the first time.  They said she didn't have any.  Kinda ticks me off, but there's really nothing I can do about it.  I would still be her mom.  And we'll see what the doctors in the States say.

Had another hard night with Hanna.  Not as bad as last night.  About half as long.  She just can't let herself relax and go to sleep.  She keeps stimulating herself to stay awake - rolling her tongue, smacking her lips, scratching her spots, kicking her legs, etc., and she refuses to close her eyes.  I console myself with the fact that it was better tonight than last night.  Hoping it keeps getting better! 

So I should close now and take advantage of her being asleep by getting some sleep myself.

P.S.  I have a very sweet son.  He brought me flowers today and he gave me a big hug when I put him to bed.