These top two photos are of the other two children who share the playroom in the afternoon's with Aitugan. The top photo is Berik and the lower photo is Anna Lina. They are both 8 months old



The remainder of today's photos are of our precious Aitugan. She was feeling quite lively again this afternoon, and we think that everyday brings a little more recognition of us as predictable parts of her day.

She definitely responds to the sound of our voices and looks to us for reassurance when she wants something. It is really a terrific feeling to know that she is beginning to count on us and look to us for simple guidance and security as she begins to explore more of her world.

Crazy to think of the untold multitudes of newness that await her departure from the Baby House in a few weeks time. Cars, traffic, noise, people, airplanes, smells, voices, Dogs! I can only imagine it will overwhelm.

Hopefully our constant presence will both comfort her and give her the confidence to explore the new.








So there you have it, Day 12 of the 15 Day Bonding period has come and gone. This coming Thursday we will apply for a court date, and if all goes well, by next Monday or Tuesday we will have been assigned to a judge and will have a date and time for our hearing.

Once we have a court date set, much of the rest of our time in Kaz will follow a fairly rigid and predictable course, and we will begin to be able to anticipate the dates for both our time in Almaty as well as our eventual flights home.

We are still optimistic that the timing will allow us to travel home before Christmas, but for the time being we will keep our return flights as scheduled for 28Dec.

This date was seen as improbably late, but we knew that changing flights last minute around the holidays can be risky and so confirmed a date we felt comfortable in making and will try to move it up as possible. If nothing else, we should at least guarantee that we arrive back in the US by years end.

The weather here is warming a bit and we are hoping to get up above freezing by the middle part of the week before looking at snow showers later in the weekend/early part of next week.

The Baby House has been a bee hive of activity lately with several new families arriving. Also today, a family came back to Astana from the states, took their daughter out of the Baby House this afternoon, and then flew out to Almaty tonight to complete their adoption process in Almaty and fly back home Saturday. It is great fun to see a family at the end of the process and we wish them well.

Our day will come soon enough. Take Care.