The first 48 hours with Max

It has been an eventful first couple days and nights for all of us. The first day and night was spent in a very tight motel room and Max did not sleep well at all (and his parents didn't sleep at all) Hard to blame him as everything is new and he was probably scared. Plus he has some teeth coming in and is still fighting off an infection in his chest. After a restless night and a mistake by Mom and Dad of giving him a nap too early we were on our way from Yaroslavl to Moscow (normally a 4 hour car ride). Max did ok the first couple hours but then started screaming. He had a full belly and a clean diaper but we think he was just very tired. The looooong trip took even longer though when we were in minor fender bender on about a 5 lane road in Moscow (that the Russians make 7 lanes). Needless to say Max was not a happy baby after being in the car for 5.5 hours to try to get to Moscow. After we got here last night he went to sleep and had a much better night 2. We think he is starting to adjust to us some. It is difficult because Max is not used to the attention that we want to give him. He is used to getting a couple bottles a day and a couple diaper changes a day. He is not used to two people fussing after him although he does seem to appreciate having a full belly and a clean diaper. It is going to be a tough adjustment - he doesn't really like to be held or rocked to sleep - he has grown used to figuring out ways to comfort and calm himself. He is not used to playing with others and with toys so we are trying to help him adjust as smoothly as possible to all the newness in his life. He is crawling and with help loves to stand up and take a couple steps. We are still trying to find that magic routine for him. Overall it is going well - maybe a little more difficult than we expected but we are confident we will all adjust to each other in time.

I attached a few pictures of Max. One of them is when we got him back to the motel the first time in his brand new coat (that is a little big!). Another is of his favorite activity which is standing up and checking things out and the other one is just him saying hi to everyone.

This morning we had a visit from a doctor who prepares immigration medical documentation for the adoption. He made a much appreciated house call. He doesn't see anything wrong with Max that won't heal with a little tlc. The rest of our time will be spent at the apartment in Moscow. We meet with our agency at 12:00 on Sunday to prepare documentation for the US Embassy. On Monday we all go there for an interview and to get Max's citizenship documentation in order. That takes a couple days to process and we pick it all up on Wednesday before heading home on Thursday.

We hope all is well with everyone. We are really looking forward to being home. It has been a long trip and we are looking forward to Thursday.