Footloose

Today was another great day! We walked to the baby house and visited with the baby. She appears to love her caregivers, but is also very happy when we get there to visit which is certainly nice for my ego. It is definitely a daily routine, playing, then eating, then more playing. But each day, there is slightly different food for her, and she also enjoys slightly different toys each day. Today, Mom pushed her around on the gym mats in the baby room and she really liked that! A baby in motion! She also loves playing with paper - any paper. A tag on a stuffed toy, a piece of paper with her menu on it for the day (given to me so I know what she eats), a map our Interpreter shows us of the city - ANY paper. Sometimes she just crumples it up and carries it in her hand, but most times, she wants to put it in her mouth! Of course!

She does like to hold on to any toy given to her - for dear life. She might have two toys, one in each hand, but she'll try to crawl, or pull to a stand, or even reach for something else, with these two toys already in her hand. Too cute! She still loves playing (and snuggling) with her socks/slippers and any blanket given to her.

She also enjoys peek-a-boo. I'll put the blanket on my head and say, "where's Mommy?" and she'll pull the blanket off my head and laugh. Then she started putting it on her head, and while she is under the blanket, she makes a sound, whether she's asking "Where's the baby" or she's saying "Peek-a-boo" I don't know... but it is just the cutest - whatever that little noise means!! Then she either removes the blanket herself, or I do, and she'll grin or laugh... ah... the cuteness of it all.

Here's your sneak peek for today - her cute little toes and foot!

After lunch today, we went to lunch with our Interpreter. I asked today if I could use her name, and I can, so now I will refer to her as Masha (or Maria). She is just so wonderful and we're thrilled to have her with us every day. She took us to a restaurant - our first real meal out. I got French Meat. I don't know what that is, but it was good. It was beef, with sliced potatoes, and cheese and onions in layers. Quite delicious. Mom got Chicken and Mushrooms in White Wine Sauce with mashed potatoes on the side. She ate about half, so she has a whole other meal. I actually got a soda! But they didn't have Coke Light (diet Coke) and said it was only Pepsi Light. Well, crap - I'll survive, but really wanted a Coke Light! Then the waitress came back and they had nothing Light.... So I had a regular Coke. Even that was good. Yum! Soda!

On the walk home we stopped to buy some CD-ROM's so I can back-up all my pictures. Then home for the rest of the day. I took a few pictures of the apartment and outside on the way home which I will post here now. The one of the apartment building shows our porch - a row of windows on the ground floor on the left side of the blue door. The blue door is the entrance to the building and we go up one small flight of stairs and to the left to enter our apt. All apartments have two front doors to enter the apartment - again, I suppose this is for safety? That's our porch off our living room.... check out the windows - totally frosted over. Can't see a thing out porch windows now. LOL.

This is the inside shots of the same windows. There are bars on windows on the first floor everywhere, for safety, although we haven't heard or seen any problem with safety at all.

I'll post more pictures tomorrow - enjoy this taste of Petropavlovsk and the little cutie for now.