Our Cultural Education Continues

Day 11

Garrett was absolutely darling today: wide awake and chattering like we've never heard him do. We were in the music room today. It was still decorated from yesterday' Nauryz performance and it's lined with mirrors. The combination was very exciting for our little bug. He loved the balloons and once he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he couldn't get enough. He kept smiling at himself in the mirror and then shrieking with joy. Those happy guggles just melted me. He's been so quiet until now. We have hardly hear a peep, but I think he is starting to open up a little. He even did a little "ba-ba-ba-ba" talking. Pretty advanced stuff. He's so smart.

Since the babyhouse is closed tomorrow for Nauryz, we had to hug and kiss him enough for two days. Tomorrow will be the first day since arriving in Kokshetau that we haven't seen our little bug. I'm going to go into withdraw.

(I don't know about this hat, ma)

I've mentioned before that after our visit Garrett goes down for his nap. We got in trouble yesterday for letting him fall asleep at the end of our visit. I guess that his catnap with us refreshed him so much that he didn't take his afternoon nap, opting instead to soliloquize and keeping all of his roommates from their slumber. After promising never to let him sleep on our watch again and then making good on this promise by returning him awake, the caregiver rewarded us by letting me take a picture of him getting swaddled for his nap.

Boy-oh-boy are they good swaddlers. I don't think that Houdini could get out of that wrap. Garrett looks like a catapiller in a coccoon! After wrapping him tight, the caregiver held him up like some sort of prize cabbage. She was obviously very proud that her efforts had so effectively foiled any attempt by Garrett to use his limbs. Garrett is so used to it, however, that I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to swaddle him like this to get him to sleep at home. I'm going to have to learn baby-blanket-oragami.

I took advantage of the permission to take picture and snapped a couple more pictures of the nursery and playroom where Garrett lives when we aren't with him. It is warm and bright, and like the rest of the babyhouse, spotlessly clean. It smells like warm wood, probably a pleasant side effect of the pine floors being heated by the sun through those big windows. It's really pretty nice. Just an interesting side note, the TV is always tuned to music videos, like the Kazakh equivilent of MTV2.

After our visit, Makhabbat informed us that she would be back later to take us to a ballet performance at the local concert hall... ALL of us. For those of you who thought that my little Calvin couldn't sit still and keep quiet for an hour long demonstration of traditional Kazakh dance... earlier today, I would have agreed. Once again, however, Calvin proved us wrong! Sitting right next to Makhabbat, with the mayor of Kokshetau only three rows behind us, Calvin endured the performance with stoaic fortitude. Tim, however, only barely survived. The feathered hats were almost too much for him!

Paka,

Becca