Dad's Post

This is the first entry by Joe. Up to this point Kamber has been our able narrator. Today looks to be the first day we will not see the sun. We saw it every day up until now. This is drastically different from our last trip. We saw the sun once in about the same amount of time. The sun also comes up around 6am and goes down about 7:30pm. It came up when we were here last at 10:30 and went down at 4:00. It is racing toward the time when there is 1 hour of night.
The children are getting somewhat restless in the apartment, as are we. They have not let anything diminish their appetites. Daniel would eat 24 hrs if we let him. He had French fries for the first time today and loved them. He also had the Russian rendition of fry sauce (not so good).
They have both been taught very well to eat w/ utensils. We have to convince them it is ok to eat finger foods w/ their hands. Katya will eat with her hands but will only to it while holding onto the fork with one hand. If you try to take it out she freaks out. Daniel is starting to understand he can eat grapes with his hands.
Per Russian culture, Daniel asked where his slippers were the first day we got to the apartment. I explained we don’t have any for him. He had a hard time understanding this. He turned his tennis shoes into slippers that he does not use outside. It is too wet for tennis shoes. After a few days I convinced him that only socks were ok. He protested but got used to it. After a few more days I convinced him he didn’t need to where his socks. They are really big on him and look funny. He relented when he figured out I could tickle him easier.
Daniel is doing fine connecting w/ both of us, but Katya is a Daddy’s girl. Up until today she almost refused to go to Kamber. Today, Kamber braved her crying and held her until she settled down. She seems much more willing to be with her now. There is still a ways to go.
We may wear out our Uno cards by the time we get home. We play many times a day with Daniel. He is ok not winning as long as Dad doesn’t win four times in a row. We may have another boy as competitive as me. It is a good thing Kamber brought a big coloring book for Daniel he has almost half of it colored.
Daniel spoke w/ Grandma Dent yesterday. Afterward he asked again when we are going to go to America. He wants to go now. I explained we all want to go. It is hard to do all of this away from home but the days are passing and we will be home eventually.
We have four more days before we get the court decree declaring that we are officially the proud parents of four.