Day 15 Just the Two of Us

I'm feeling so much better about being here today.  I guess a good night's sleep helped give me some perspective.  I still miss my kiddos back home, but it helps a lot to know that Daddy is on his way and will soon be with them.  My mom and grandparents have been staying with them and I think they are all growing weary and ready for reinforcements to arrive.

The visit with Dasha today went great.  I have to admit I was a little nervous about going alone.  I arrived with zero expectations.  I didn't know how Dasha would react to Norm and Polina not being there.  She was a little slow to warm up, but once she did everything was fine.  It was probably our best visit yet.  She talked to me a lot more today than she has been and she even started using some English words.  We stayed busy by looking at pictures (on the camera and in the photobook...she LOVES seeing herself), eating (of course), and doing stickers and coloring.  We also used almost an entire bottle of hand sanitizer on our hands.  This was Dasha's idea, not mine.  I'm not that OCD!  :)  She would put some on my hands, then on hers.  It was sweet and she learned to say the word "open" and was using it to ask me to flip the lid open to the hand sanitizer.  The highlight of today was my purse and its contents.  I haven't brought my purse along on any of our previous visits, so it was something new.  She loved digging through it and checking out both my cell phones (US and UA), my notepad and pen, and my nail file.  Her favorite was the tube of strawberry lip gloss I had in a little cosmetic bag.  Oh my word, I think she would have eaten it if I would have let her!  She probably got into that little case and put some on about 15 times.  Guess what other English word she learned today?  Yep, lip gloss!  :)  I would have preferred she learn "pottty" or "eat" or something useful, but I'll take what I can get.  At one point, Norm called me and Dasha was able to talk to him for a few minutes and she actually did talk!  Another good part about today was that she seemed much less interested in her groupa and only went over to them one time.  The visit ended with an unsolicited hug and she told me dasvedanya (good-bye).  Seems minor, but some days she just runs off.

Still being a little shy

Gotta have the banana

Texting Polina  :)

"Open"-she has the hand sanitizer

I guarantee she had the cleanest hands at the baby house!

In other news, I received an appointment for our US Embassy document intake and consular interview on June 22 and 23!  Hurray!!!  That will take place the two days prior to us leaving.  I am praying so hard that we can keep these appointments and don't have to reschedule.  If one thing goes wrong and we don't leave Donetsk in time, we will have to wait 3 extra days in Kiev because they won't process visas June 24.  If this happens, I'll miss Matthew's 8th birthday.  :( I know this is several weeks down the road, but I'm already worrying about it.  I guess that's what happens when you don't have much else to do.