No commie coffee for me please

A Zogby poll shows that liberals, progressives, and urbanites prefer Starbucks to Dunkin Donuts, while Dunkin Donuts is more popular among senior citizens, rural Americans, and those on the East coast.

I'll keep drinking the official coffee of the world-series-champion Red Sox, thank you.
[who are coincidentally up 5-3 over the "Evil Empire"in the bottom of the 7th]

HT: Catholic Light

Meow, meatballs, and other firsts

Agent 004's first English word was "Mama."

Okay, that is a Russian word too, but she really does know what it means. She says just those two syllables, then giggles whenever I kiss her belly during a diaper change. I may be deluding myself, but as a first-time mother I have that right and I am going with it. The kid knows my name, and I eat it up.

Her second word was funnier. That was "meow." Not meow pronounced like a person reading the written word, but an exact copy of Janice's incessant cry. You honestly need to look to see which four-legged creature the sound came from. Sometimes, they converse back and forth in indistinguishable screaches. I am not sure if either has figured out that they belong to different species.

Now for those that know me, Agent 004's first sample of table food will really shock you -- she ate four entire (but diced) meatballs from last night's spaghetti and meatball dinners at Grammy's house. The near-vegetarian mother and her carnivore daughter. She has since eaten toast, a carrot chunk, and fork-mashed peas. Now that is a girl after my own heart!

The calm after the storm

This is not a post about hurricanes. I have nothing meaningful to add to the discussion of Hurricanes Rita and Katrina other than to wish some mercy on the people of the Gulf Coast for the remainder of the hurricane season.

The post is about real life. My real life. My real life with a husband and two kids in a suburban farmhouse in New England. A real life in which my job is to watch out for the well-being of two small but independent beings who call me Mama.

After three years of wishing for children and working towards their adoption, after two years of heartbreak and delay, after a summer of frantic transitions -- they are finally here and finally "real".

Even the first few weeks weren't "real;" it felt like a movie plot that we were acting in. We went from no children to one child to two children and from apartment guests to hotel residents to family visits to home with everything a blur. Those first few weeks were about getting by, not about "living."

Life is still chaotic, but it is now the chaos of everyday life. It is the screams of stolen toys and sleepy wimpers, of spilled lunch and bumps and bruises. I am coming to terms with this as my reality. I am overstretched,exhausted, and sometimes frustrated, but extremely content. This is my reality, and I love it.

Update: to highlight the chaos that I call my life, note that this post was written last Saturday, but saved as a draft because I was distracted by a small person's whimper. Sorry about not publishing it sooner.

Tuning out, Tuning in, Starting over

As any new stay-at-home parent well knows, it is very hard to get a moment alone to read a newspaper, watch the news, or check blogs. You don't even have the "luxury" of a commute to work in which you can listen to the radio uninterupted.

Anyone who reads this blog understands that I am a bit of a news freak, so it was a major blow to be so out of the loop.

Last night was my first attempt to read blogs since May. I had over 7000 unread posts accumulated in my RSS aggregator. I tried to skim, I tried to prioritize, and then I just decided to start over.

Note to friends virtual and real -- if you have posted anything in the past three months, I probably haven't read it. Sorry. But in order to move on, I have marked all as read.

...And I think that I will be cutting back on some of the 129 feeds.....

Ug

Mama warillever is still floating on cloud nine, but unfortunately, much of that "floating" feeling is the result of the cold medication I just took.

Just as everyone had started to adjust to the new home and new time zone, the head cold from #### struck with a vengeance. Mr. Warillever began his new job yesterday with a packet of tissues in each pocket; Agent 004 has the worst combination of booger and teething drool that you can imagine. Agent 002 looks to be the best off -- other than a slight cough, he is the same as usual. Of course, we might all be better off if a cold would sap some of his energy........

Naptime Bliss

I love my children -- they are wonderful in every way.

I love watching them experience new things and love watching them recognize old pleasures. Agent 002's pure enjoyment of his first potato chip at lunch today was just precious.

I even love their tantrums, because it gives me a glimpse into who they really are and what they really want.

Seeing Agent 004's exhileration as she stood on her own last night was great -- seeing her do it twice this morning was incredible.

But naptime is my time. Now that they are (finally) napping at the same time, I am able to get a few things accomplished, and have a cup of tea. JOY!

Girls' Morning Out

In response to "Guys' Night Out" (in which my husband and son go out for ice cream while I get the baby fed, bathed and to sleep), comes "Girls' Morning Out." This is when the girls (Agent 004 and I) go for a walk while the guys (Papa and Agent 002) sleep in. Have you noticed that the guys get the sweet end of both of these events?

Both of these rituals are the result of four people with very different schedules living in one 100 square foot room. The children have been surprisingly good about the lack of space; Agent 004 has a managable amount of space to scoot, crawl, and pull herself about; Agent 002 has just enough room to play his favorite game -- throwing all of his blocks under the furnniture and then retrieving them with a plastic rake. The obvious difficulty is that the children have vastly different sleep schedules and constantly wake each other up. Thus I am at the internet cafe with Agent 004 sleeping in her stroller as Agent 002 should awake very soon from his middday nap. Hopefully with the change in time zones we will be able to adjust their afternoon naps to coincide......

Have I mentioned yet that this parenthood thing rocks? Even a full month in, I am still loving it.

Two weeks as a parent.......

Russia 5:24pm

Having just started my third week as a parent, I am beginning to laugh at the folly of my ways in the first days. Some rules for those who are starting out :

1. Never, ever, put orange juice in a sippy cup.
2. Do not say the word "cookie" when you have none one hand, even if your son did not know any English a week ago.
3. Toys should never come within a hundred meter radius of a toilet.
4. When booking a hotel, make sure there will be screens on the windows, especially if you will be on the 21st floor.
5. When a toddler says that he needs to go "pee-pee," do not hold him up against your own chest to get him there faster.
6. Two parents are easier than one. Three would be better.

So far so good. Our family of three is getting along very well. We will see how things work out when we add a fourth family member in a week..........

Light posting (again)

12:18 Moscow

I will probably not be able to post much next week, if at all. Being alone with Agent 002, I don't think that spending an hour in an internet cafe in the middle of a shopping mall is the wisest idea.

If things work out that Mr. Warillever comes to Russia soon, then I may be able to resume posting on a limited basis. For those trying to follow our flight plans from home, if a court date for Agent 004 is scheduled for anytime soon, Mr. Warillever will join Agent 002 and I in Russia as soon as he can. I Agent 004's court date is delayed, Agent 002 and I will fly home, and we will all return to Russia whenever Agent 004 is ready.

All of this hinges on whether or not our case is fit in before the judge's vacation. There is only one judge in Agent 002's region, and that one judge has a six week vacation scheduled from mid-August through October. So she will be with us soon, or not for a while.

All that I have missed!

Moscow 15:26

I went most of the summer without internet -- we had just moved and were spending time in Russia -- so I stopped reading news and blogs. What I missed --

• One of my friends is getting married! (Ruth -- I don't know you're email address, so send me one -- to warillever or the other one -- and we'll exchange snail mail addresses)
• There is a new Supreme Court nominee. I don't know enough about him to know if he will be a good justice, but I see that he has made the right enemies -- The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and Planned Parenthood oppose him.
• The Strattons are home with their baby!
• Catholics are now considered Christians, by Bethany Christian Services, at least.

It looks like good news all around.

Getting excited

I should know better, but I am beginning to get excited. Unless something goes awry today, Agent 002 will be released to my custody on Monday. As in, on Monday, he will officially, legally, and completely be a Warillever. My son. Our son.

I went shopping -- I bought him slippers (Russians do not where shoes in their homes) and a few toys. Nothing major mind you -- I am a little strapped for cash and I know that I will need to lug this all home -- but I bought him his very own sandbox shovel, a plastic dumptruck, and a small car. I really wanted to get him a Tonka truck, but thought better of it.

Did I mention that he is obsessed with cars? And that he will be our son on Monday?

Residential Skyline

Residential Skyline
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

...and a different view of Moscow.

Beautiful Moscow

Kremlin
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Kitty

Kitty
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Even the cats are tired in Moscow.

There seems to be a national sleep-crisis, where the only place people sleep is on park benches or in the metro.

So much to say

If we did this again, I would bring a laptop with me.

I have several blog posts written out longhand which I have not had time at a computer to post. With my limited online time, precededence goes to communication with my husband and with my adoption agency. Sorry.

Here are some titles of the posts that are written or in process: "The joy of cooking," "An opportunity for identity theft," "Ruskii Bwit," "Where happy meets sad,"The (comparative) cost of living," "Moscvichii," and "People on the metro."

Most blog thoughts come to me during the 90 minute commute to Agent 002's baby home, and then flit away as I spend the next two hours playing with him. The trick is to write them down at lunchtime.

Oh Beautiful Night

Moscow
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

It does actually get dark in Moscow in the summer. Very late at night, that is. When I first got here, it was only dark from midnight to 4am. It is now 10:30 to 5 or so.

Bird Stalker

Russian Pigeon
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

I have been stalking birds here too. I will have lots of pictures like this o share when I return.

Agent 002 talks

13:38 Moscow

Some of you have asked (with unnecessary embaressment) whether Agent 002 speaks English or Russian.

He does, in fact, speak Russian, although he is quickly learning English. His vocabulary now includes:

• car
• bye-bye
• no
• fly (applied to all insects, just as he calls all insects 'mooka' in Russian)
• God bless you

That last one cracks me up. He appears to be allergic to pollen, and was sneezing like mad this morning. I said "God bless you" after each sneeze, and soon he was pretending to sneeze so that I would say it again. When I fake-sneezed, he pronounced (with no discernable accent) "God bless you" to me. Neat.

Alone again (but healthy)

13:07 Moscow

Mr. Warillever is enroute to the United States again. Someone has to take care of the cat, you know. And prepare the house, which is still in a state of complete disarray. And study for the bar of course. He is very nervous about the bar; he claims to be very distracted from his studies. Not sure why.

His distraction is not the result of poor health; we were both tested for AIDS, syphillis, hepatitis and somthing else this morning. My Russian is not good enough to understand technical terms. The judge in Agent 004's case requires these tests, and I would not have time to have it done in the US before her proceeding. Mr. Warillever had his done with me for moral support (and so that he would not have to deal with the logistics of scheduling it once he gets home. Something about being very busy).

So here I am, alone in Moscow. I have the middle of the day free while Agent 002 and his compatriots nap; I spend the morning and afternoon with him. The poor little guy is getting very impatient to leave the home -- he cried as we left the past few days. I know that I can't let his crying get me down, but it breaks my heart. I cry too as soon as I leave the orphanage gate. At least I have a long walk to clean myself up before I get to the Metro.

And the Verdict is?

12:53pm Moscow

....that Agent 002 is our son.

Mr. Warillever and I went to court yesterday to officially petition to adopt Agent 002. The proceeding was more intensive than our translator had expected, but nonetheless went very smoothly. I knew that we had everything in order, that we would have already known if there was a major problem with our petition, but I was still shaking. I stopped breathing when the judge left the bench to "consider" her decision. I have no idea how long she was gone -- 30 seconds, 10 minutes, or an hour -- but when she came back she read a declaration announcing that she approved our petition.

Of course, it is not yet over. All MosGorSud (Moscow City Court) decisions have a ten-business-day period in which the decision can be appealed. During this time the little Agent will stay at the Baby Home. There is no reason to think that anyone would appeal the decision, but there is still a bit of nailbiting going on on my end.