Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Last Post from Krasnoyarsk

It's our last night in Krasnoyarsk. Tomorrow we fly to Moscow to finish up the last of Tatiana's paperwork before we can head home on March 3rd. Our flight tomorrow is in the evening at 730pm. Hopefully my little kiddo will sleep most of the way as it is just about her bedtime then.

This morning we spent doing laundry in preparation for packing tomorrow as we will have no washing machine in Moscow. Boohoo! (that was one big advantage of apartment verses hotel).We each only packed a weeks worth of clothing so its important to start out with clean clothes. We'll be in Moscow for 5 days.

My little princess has the sniffles too. Darn it! Oleg and Sveta were kind enough to bring us some medicine today, so hopefully she will start to feel better in the morning. She has been kind of cranky yesterday and today again. Combination of the sniffly nose and not wanting to take a nap. Tia is still for the most part very happy and plays well, with Mama and now Grandma some too. But boy oh boy...when she doesn't get her way she can sure scream. Today's temper tantrum lasted for almost 20 minutes. Poor Grandma! No place to go really in a one bedroom apartment to take a screaming child, or for Grandma to go. Most things I just give in for now so she doesn't go to crazy with the temper tantrums, but it has been a battle with her wanting to put on her boots and snow suit and go outside. She loves her snowsuit and boots which is good. I am also glad that she likes to go outside, but sometimes we just can't. She doesn't understand that Mama cannot go out in her pajamas, or when it is too cold and windy for a little person who already has a runny nose.

By late afternoon today, my Little Princess, Tia, finally got her wish. Oleg and Sveta came and picked us up at 315pm to go for one last tour around the city and to see the ice sculptures. Yeah! They were very cool! I couldn't believe how many of them there were. After visiting the ice sculptures we went out to dinner with Oleg and Sveta for one last time. We went to a bar, restaurant about 2 blocks from the apartment, on the same street as Peppers. I never did catch the name of the place, but it was nice. Very comfortable seats and eating area. Delicious food too! I got some traditional meat dumplings in broth. Mom got some fried kind with fish and meat and onions. She liked hers too! I think she also had a cucumber and tomato salad, but I was busy entertaining Tia, so wasn't really paying that much attention. Tia loved the chicken broth that was on my dumplings, but wouldn't eat the dumplings nor the cheese and potato ones that I got her. Funny cause she just ate some this afternoon for lunch, very similar, except no broth. At least she ate some bread too! By the way, thank you for all the helpful comments on the last post about picky eaters. Made me feel alot better! Thanks!

Once back at the apartment it was bath time and then nite nite for little Princess. She was fast asleep by about 8pm. I'm so glad that she is at least sleeping all night, since nap time has been history. Hopefully once we are home, we can get back to napping, cause this 2 1/2 year old still needs one, even though she thinks otherwise.

One last tidbit and then pictures of the ice sculptures before I sign off for tonight. Tatiana said her new name when referring to herself for the first time today. I haven't really heard anyone else talk about this much, but this is also a big adjustment for her. I wasn't really sure how to transition her into her new identity, so just kind of played it by ear and took cues from her. While we were at the orphanage during our 10 day wait, I mostly called her by her old name as not to confuse her to much and take away from our bonding. Near the end of the 10 days, I started slipping in her new nickname at times. Once back at the apartment, I called her a hyphenated name for the first day, and switched to Tia after that. She still says her old name quite frequently, and sometimes both old and new names together. I think she is starting to figure it out, but I'm sure we will still use the old name and new for a while. Especially to get her attention right away. Grandma calls her "Grandma's Tatiana", and she really likes the sound of that, which helps. I call her Tatiana mostly when I need her attention and Tia when we are having fun playing.

Now to the pictures.









Have a great day! Next post from Moscow!
Shannon, Mom and Tatiana

11 comments:

Roger and Joanne said...

Beautiful pictures of the ice sculptures. That must have been wonderful to see and experience with Tatiana. I'm so happy for you to finally have your dream come true. Wishing you the best of everything on the flight to Moscow!

kate said...

Love the pix!

I've heard (and friends have) to call children old-name new-name for a couple of weeks, then switch to new-name old-name for a couple of weeks and then just drop the old name.

Heather Brandt said...

Once we had custody of our son we called him by his new first name plus his old diminutive name..."Colin V." This helped him to learn his new name. We use both names separately and he recognizes that Colin refers to him and that V. refers to him...

said...

It is a very bitter sweet time as you leave, you will always think fondly of Tatiana's old home but now off to the new. Do not worry about the nap thing, my little guy(2.5 at the time) did not take one nap while in country but after home he went right back to them.It took awhile to get him down but one down, he slept great. As for the name, she should start referring to herself with her new name soon. I used his name so much while traveling home that there was no need to use his old name( now middle) once we got home. It is funny now that we have been home 5 months and I ask him where Emir is( his birth name) he still points to himself.

Blessings on the traveling and bring plenty of snacks.

One more thing on the screaming, I get a lot of that too and I have found over time that if I just look them in the eye with no reaction, that is the best ( like I am just waiting for them to stop). I know you might not want to do that until you are home because sometimes it takes awhile until they stop. I know my first reaction is to react to them in some manner trying to tell them or get them to be quite but it then becomes a control game with my little one and that is not good either.

Blessings - Monica

Amy said...

The sculptures are GORGEOUS!! WOW!! So glad you got to see that!

I hate admitting it, but (sigh) I am a picky eater too!! LOL

Carey and Norman said...

The ice sculptures are amazing. What a fun way to end your trip in Kras. Glad things are going well and Tia is keeping you on your toes.

It took our daughter 4 months to go by her new name. She insisted on her old name and called herself by her Russian nickname once home. Now, she doesn't even remember her Russian nickname which makes me sad. Funny how we try so hard to get them to switch and then are sad when they do.

Safe travels to Moscow!

Troy and Rachel said...

Those pictures are so neat! Thanks for sharing! Safe travels to Moscow - your slowly getting home!

JoodyC said...

Great ice scuplture pictures! Nothing like that here in Maryland.

Re: the tantrums. Once you're home, track what triggers them so you can avoid those situations. Usually tantrums arise when the child is tired, hungry, or otherwise frustrated.

Other causes can be allergies (inhalents and ingestables), strange situations, certain people, and any number of other things.

They eventually grow out of this phase -- unless they're adult athletes, movie stars, or politicians. I'm not sure there's any help for them. < g >

Judy Colbert
TuffTurtle.com/tantrums.htm

Kim Abraham - Mom to the Fabulous Five! said...

The ice sculptures are so beautiful! It's been fun reading all about your adventures in Kras and the great meals you've created. Moscow will be fun too! You and little princess are one step closer to the finish line!

The Wilson's said...

I think it's great that she is picking up ok her new name so quickly. I was set on not even introducing Nics new name until we were back home but after court everyone at the orphanage began using his new name around us. I actually think he associated the new name with us and the old name with the orphanage because he would get pouty when we used it.

Love the ice sculpture pics -- I guess there's one benefit to being in Siberia in the middle of winter!

Lita said...

My husband and I were in Krasnoyarsk for the month of December 2008, and they had only a few ice castles and slides up. it was incredible to watch them carve with chain saws!! you got to see the complete finished product...how wonderful!!

Congratulations on your family!!

BTW, when we were there it was an average of -11....how cold was it when you were there in March?