Little Boy - Take 2

Where do I start? What an AMAZING day. Day "1" in St. Petersburg (thankfully) went DRASTICALLY different than Day "1" in Vladivostok. Even though Day "1" in Vladivostok ended well - I am happy to say that everything about Day "1" St. Petersburg was fabulous. Perfect, even.

Rhonda and I both slept like ROCKS last night. I remember waking up around 5am and thinking, "I really hope I can go back to sleep". NO issues. She woke up around 6:30am and I woke up about 7:30am. We were told to be ready @ 11:00am, and yes, knowing me I thought "Really? That late? Let's get this show on the road". Thankfully we were ready early, because at 10:20am our phone rang and the front desk told us they were here for us.

Off we went to the Ministry of Education (aka "The Committee"). Completely different. No 6 flights of stairs to climb, and NO scary Tatiana. Instead, Nataylia met us with a smile, provided us with lots of information about the little man (including his birthday which is dangerously close to mine!!) and then sent us on our way. No scary questions. And no blue eyeshadow - an inside joke for those of you who have been through Vlad.

Next stop: Baby home #6 in the city of St. Petersburg. What? No hour plus drive out on scary country roads? Nope! Score! A short drive through the heart of the city. Baby home #6 is very cute outside with a great playground hidden under mounds and mounds of snow. We went inside and eventually proceeded up to the greeting room. We arrived around lunch time and I'll let you imagine the smells. If you can't imagine, you'll have to ask Rhonda for some specifics. She'll explain it much more colorfully than I ever could. I almost lost her at one point. I literally had to wave my hand sanitizer under her nose for a diversion. Disaster averted.

After the longest 5 minutes of the day, in walked "Baby Soup". Teetered/walked. Same difference. Actually for his age (not quite 18 months) he walks REALLY well. He is BEAUTIFUL, as gorgeous in person than in the pictures I got. No tears, but some shyness for the first 5 minutes. I brought out some toys, a small ball, a car and stacking cups. Score one for mama. The toys were a huge hit. Within 10 minutes we were laughing, giggling and having a great time. We spent over two hours with him.

I don't need two days - although thankfully, I've got them. I am ready to sign now. He's perfect, he's amazing and I am super lucky!

Most of you know the drill. I can't post any pictures of him, but I will leave you with a teaser. Of course. How could I not? I can't wait to show his adorable face to everyone, but for now, this will have to do.

We found a cute little "bar" (I think it's really a restaurant that serves alcohol, but they called it a bar) that had pretty good food, so after a walk around the neighborhood, we had some pizza and pasta.