Day 3

When we left the orphanage yesterday, we could tell that he wasn't feeling too well, so we weren't sure what kind of mood he'd be in today. Much to our surprise, he was dressed and ready to go outside and play.

He is starting to recognize us, or at least the toys we are bringing. We walked around the grounds, again, and this time played with the toys outside. He seems to like the balls that make noise, and always makes sure he has all five in his possession.

We also played on the slide and laughed more and more with each trip down. Towards the end of our visit, he started to get a bit cranky, so we just walked with him and he nearly fell asleep in our arms. His caretaker said that it was just about time for lunch, which is always followed by a nap. We think he was ready for both!!

During our break between visits, we toured a local Russian Orthodox Church, which was having pre-Easter services (Russian's follow the Orthodox calendar). The Orthodox religion has many similarities to the Catholic faith, but also some stark differences. The most obvious is the format of their services and the church, itself.

Upon walking into an Orthodox Church, you will notice that there are no pews, as members of the church stand at various Icons during the services. That leads me to the second distinction, there are no figures, but rather two-dimentional icons throughout. At these Icons, members light candles in represenation of their prayers.

There are differences in ideologies as well, but for sake of not deviating from the purpose of this blog, I digress...

We also experienced local favorites, like a well known chocolate store, traditional Russian cuisine, and shopping at local retail stores.

Before we knew it, we were back to the orphanage to see how lunch and the nap went. We were greeted with a "freshly-charged" little boy, who was anxious to play with the toys we have been bringing the past few days.

His caretaker brought with him the stuffed animal of a chocolate lab we gave him on Monday. He wasn't too sure of it then, but seems to like it now.

It didn't take him long to start stacking the blocks, and throwing the balls. Shelly spent some time chasing him around the room, trying to keep him out of things he wasn't supposed to be getting into.

About 10 minutes before our visit was over, he started to get sleepy, and wanted to be held. He found comfort in Shelly's arms and cuddled right up to her. As shown in the picture, he likes to suck on his fingers. Looks like we should start saving for braces!