Teething is no fun ...

I got to feed Noah his breakfast this morning. It looked like a cross between grits and cream of wheat. He looooooooved it. He had his warm tea to go with it. All drinks that the orphans get are warm. The Kazakhs believe that if you give a child a cold drink, it will make cold symptoms worse and even CAUSE sickness. We had a good bonding session this morning.

For lunch, we went to a new restaurant and ordered fajitas. They were different, but actually VERY good! After lunch, we went shopping for necessities … namely diapers and bottled water!!! I go through bottled water quickly. As a "bonding parent," I am required by the orphanage to provide 5 "Pampers" each day for my child.

We also went to the Nuclear Memorial. It is a memorial to the victims of radiation poisoning thanks to the 460 odd nukes that were tested by Russia in the region during the cold war. The hollow part of the monument resembles the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb. Next to the memorial is the “ribbon tree.” It is covered in brightly covered ribbons. People make a wish and then tie a ribbon on the tree so that it will come true.

When I went to get Noah from the infirmary for our afternoon bonding session, the caretaker had me feel his forehead and it was very hot. She pointed to the two teeth coming in. I was a little relieved that they weren't crediting the fever to the respiratory infection anymore … but just to teething. The caretaker brought me a blanket and motioned for me to “rock the baby.” So, I took Noah upstairs to the bonding room and he just laid in my arms. He didn’t want to move. The caretaker came up later and gave him some medicine and WHAT A FACE!! He hated it and threw up some of his lunch. She decided it would be best if he go back to the infirmary and go to sleep. Hmmm ... I hope he's better tomorrow.

After our afternoon bonding session, we went to a pub and had pork shish-ke-bobs that were EXCELLENT and everyone had a Russian beer and then a Kazakh beer. Both were light and very good.