Not long before midnight the snow finally stopped. It was the big, fat, fluffy kind so the pine trees outside our hotel window were puffy all flocked in white. I was so pleased to see it stop, almost as pleased as I was when I woke up to a sunny, snowless morning, but still not as pleased as when I got the phone call saying that our flight was still departing as scheduled.
Now we sit on an Aeroflot airplane making our way to Moscow. Already we are 3.5 hours into it and Natalia just went to sleep. She has been quite a trooper on the flight. A bit of a rough start when I introduced her to the concept of a seatbelt, but we worked through it after some crying but no full on screaming. The plane has the individual TV's for each seat which is great, but it took me too long (as far as Natalia was concerned) to find the Tom & Jerry cartoon in Russian. Besides that, we spent the first few hours playing with anything and everything. It's so easy to entertain a toddler, so long as you don't try too hard. Spend 10 minutes unwrapping the complementary head phones? Go for it! Use a wet nap to clean the stray marker art off the seat tray? Absolutely! Remove the Diet Coke label from mom's empty bottle? That'll eat up a few more minutes!
We also had some lunch (airplane food is all the same, no matter the country of travel). In a million years I would not have guessed the one, and only, thing Natalia wanted to eat from the wide variety of foods in our boxes. Tomato. Just plain tomato which I cut into little pieces and Natalia ate bit by bit with her little hand. I'm learning that she really likes fresh vegetables and fruits. Our first night at the hotel she picked all the cucumbers out of my salad to eat. Last night she ate an entire cucumber (small, English variety). She also ate 2 apples over just our couple days so far. And now, tomatoes. Believe me, I'm not complaining; I think it's great - especially since the only other items that have complimented these healthy food choices are Goldfish and animal crackers.
Getting through the airport and onto the plane was smooth sailing all the way. Ira and Lana saw us both off as far as they could. I almost cried saying goodbye to them, but Ira quickly chastised me. She is always telling me not to cry and, amazingly, I always listen. :)
These two women have been the absolute best. They took such good care of us, and then just me and Natalia. The strength of the relationships they have built in the region is evident. We feel very fortunate to have had them help us through this life changing event for all of us. I must also pay compliment to our coordinator in the states; her name is Maryna and we have been working with her since the very beginning in Feb. 2010. Maryna is the one who kept us organized with the intricate requirements and volumes of documentation as well as handled the coordination and follow up with so many other agencies. If you've gone through an international adoption you know there is much that is out of your control, that there are delays you hoped to avoid. Nonetheless, I would easily recommend our agency, WorldLinks, to anyone.
Okay, back to the airport . . . Natalia and I roamed around the boarding area for almost 2 hours. She checked out the air planes and the buses and the snowplows through the big windows. She had a lot to tell me about them; I'm sorry I can't tell you what she was saying. I treated myself to a little ice cream after realizing that I had not yet had anything to eat. I tried to share with Natalia, but she wasn't interested. Oh, she has so much to learn.
At the Vlad airport you take a bus out on the tarmac (no idea if that's the right word) to your airplane. The buses get very crowded so I wanted to be sure to be one of the first in line at the ticket counter and outside to get on that bus. Well, you know, I'm still remembering the extra steps necessary to take any action with a toddler in tow. Therefore, when they announced boarding 15 minutes earlier than expected I watched the line (more like mob; there are no straight lines in Russia) quickly form while I zipped up Natalia's jacket and got on her hat. No fear, I just acted like any good Russia would and budded right to the front of the line/mob. Ha!
There are only 4 seats on the bus; the rest is standing room only. All though we were one of the first on, all 4 seats were already taken. Here, the first of 2 very kind men appeared to help us on our way by offering up his seat. I'm betting the two that we sat between were wishing they had when I tucked a towel into the neck of Natalia's jacket in the event of any more motion sickness (didn't happen, either on the bus ride to the plane or all the way to the airport from the hotel).
As we sat, another gentleman, with the kindest eyes I think I have ever seen, must have noticed the fearful look on Natalia's face. He said something to her very gently in Russian and softly stroked her hand. When we arrived at the plane, I waited for the crowd around to get off the bus so I could gather up our bags and pick up Natalia without dropping my precious cargo. I heard the same phrase repeated twice, but didn't realize it was directed at me until I turned around. It was that same gentleman offering to help me. He took one of my bags while I carried Natalia. He then made sure I stepped off the bus safely and then ushered Natalia and I to the very front of the next big mob to take the steps onto the plane. Again, I almost cried; this time out of sheer gratitude for the kindness that exists throughout our world. But, remembering Ira's strict instructions, I bucked up and on the plane we went.
We have great seats; the first row behind first class, a window and aisle pair. As were settling in, I looked over to see the gentleman in our same row on the other side. I said thank you once again as he was gesturing for me to put our extra things in the overhead bin (if I appear clueless, I don't mind). He watched on kindly as we had our first sad and scary moments dealing with the seatbelt and then takeoff. I'm quite sure that if Natalia would not have been calmed soon that he would have come over to soothe her with some Russian.
It really hasn't set in yet. She's ours - forever and ever. The hard part of the journey is finally complete. This newly expanded Zehnder adventure starts the moment we all get to Moscow. I can't promise I won't cry once I see Chad and Peanut; sorry Irina. I planned ahead and wore the waterproof mascara.
Just so you don't think it's been all rainbows and butterflies, I'll share with you that last night Natalia and I played our first game of "who's the boss". Good news, mama is still the boss. It started after her bath (which she thought was great fun). I put her in a new pull-up and then planned for the pj's. Nope, not ready for pj's. I figured, why not? Who knows if she has ever gotten to run around, fresh from a bath, in just a diaper. Time to live a little. Having lots of fun, starting in on an apple, and then - off with the pull-up. First battle: no more apple until you put the pull-up back on. It's really quite hilarious. I already have the story to use for embarrassing her in front of her future (long ways into the future) boyfriend. Yep, you were running around the hotel bare-a** naked, mad as all get out, because I wouldn't give you back your apple.
It didn't last long and both the pull-up and the jammies were on and Natalia enjoyed the rest of her apple. There was a little more testing in the evening; no biggie. Like I said, mom's still the boss.
Happy Thanksgiving 2011 to all of you. For us, the reasons to give thanks will be forever changed.
Love,
Cameo
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