Our last night in Astana. I should probably feel some sense of sadness for leaving this place where our daughter was born and has spent her first 8 months of life, and perhaps at some point in the future I will, but all I can think of now as I prepare to pack up our basecamp here is that tomorrow we move camp to Almaty, then on to the summit in a week or so. It has been a long and rewarding climb, but we are ready to go home.

Our Super-Trooper Aitugan continues to amaze. Her smiles float with an unearthly airiness and her giggles resonate with such vibrancy that any lingering doubts I might ever have had about my readiness and capacity as a parent are vanquished - hopefully forever.

We went on another short excursion today, this time to have lunch with Elena and a friend of hers, Tatiana. Again Aitugan fussed at the donning of her snowsuit, but after that was generally agreeable.

She is fascinated with the wheels on other cars and loves to watch them spin. Stop lights are the more difficult time in our rides, as her movie seems to inexplicably come to a temporarily pause.

We continue to wonder where the real source of her energy is coming from, and when will we be held accountable. Yesterday she went all day with only one nap, and even that, just over an hour.

This from a child we were led to believe was napping 6 hours a day, and whom, most of the time, could seemingly not hold it together for the full two hours of our daily visits. Now suddenly she is taking on stretches of 5 and 6 hours. Surely this borrowed energy will need to be repaid - the question seems, when?

I had mentioned that for several days we were experiencing a phenomenon wherein within seconds of removing Aitugan's diaper, we were being rewarded with a little bonus urination. Well, today we tried to be practical about it, and the results seem to indicate we may be on to something.

Initially I decided to change her next to the toilet so that I could hold her over the toilet if it happened. Of course it did, and so about an hour later I tested it again and removed her diaper and put her over the toilet - success. Satisfied that it was not a fluke, I invited KJ to try it a short while later, and sure enough, we went 3 for 3.

It doesn't in any way suggest that she is close to potty training, but she definitely has a connection between diaper removed and pee. We had specifically asked her care givers before she left whether or not she had begun potty training (as often in the Baby Houses it begins quite early) but were told that her group had not.

She continues to eat well, though with her sleeping so out of schedule, her feeding has also fallen out of routine. I can't begin to imagine the sheer volume of connections being made in her brain on a daily basis right now. It is simply staggering.

It seems futile to try and even elaborate upon anything in particular. Suffice it to say that all that is new is what we have come to know of as life.

She is of a mind to begin to comprehend certain portions of it, but to this point has had so little exposure. Now suddenly the blinders come off and her senses are bombarded with images, sounds, smells, feelings, and ideas, all atempting to find meaning and association in her mind.

You can literally watch her brain develop right before your eyes as processes, causations, and actions are calculated, tested, and stored away.

One area in which we were pleasantly surprised was her comfort in water. It astounds us how at ease she is, given our understanding of the relative infrequency with which she was exposed to bath time and water in general.

As you may recall, KJ was able to be with Aitugan at the Baby House one afternoon when the caregivers gave her a bath and took pictures showing her playing and splashing happily. Well our bath time experiences produce more of the same.

She actively climbs about the tub searching out toys and playing with her feet and legs without any sense of fear or hesitation. Her immediate willingness to lie on her back keeping her ears submerged and allowing the occasional wave of water to lap up into her eyes astounds us. She is so at ease that we can't wait to get her into a pool and see how she feels with floating.

Well we have a busy day ahead of us and so I should put this down and get to sleep. I am not sure what we will find for internet in Almaty. I am sure it is all there, it just may take a day or two before we get settled in and powered up. Maybe not, but we will see.

Hopefully our flight tomorrow will pass uneventfully and we will find ourselves sleeping happily in Almaty in just 24 short hours. Take Care.