We left our hotel at 6:30 this morning to make the 3 hour drive to see Sasha. Today a social worker from the Dept of Family Services was there to supervise the visit. This is common on the first visit since this is the Dept that represents the child. Typically it’s just a worker from the office but for some reason today we got a visit by the director of the department herself. She was very nice but it was still pretty intimidating. We spent most of the time talking with the baby home doctor regarding Sasha and what information they have on her. We are very thankful that the information we received in our referral is accurate and she is healthy. She was outside playing with the other kids when we finally got to see her. Our first look of her was one of a little face peaking out of a bunch of clothes and a hat and scarf that covered a good portion of her face. She was adorable! Once inside they took the layers of clothing off and we got to play with her for about 30 minutes or so. It was pretty overwhelming but overall I think it went well. We were just starting to get comfortable around her and it was time to leave. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a little more time and can get to know her a little bit. We took some pictures of us and of the dogs for her to have. She really liked the pictures of Dudley and Sally and kept turning back to them and pointing at them. She even tried to repeat Dudley’s name to me at one point which was very encouraging. I know he would be a proud big “brother” if he were actually with her today! Sasha has quite the personality and a laugh and smile that would make anyone feel good; she’s ticklish, too which is what led to the laugh! All in all, she’s your average 2 year old with lots of determination and energy. One other thing we realized once we got back and were looking at some video, she appears to be left handed which makes her daddy proud.
In Russia they are at a baby home until 3 years of age. After the age of 3 they go to an orphanage. Neither one of us have ever been to an orphanage so we weren’t sure what to expect. The facility was very clean and kept up nicely. I had done some reading on the Krasnodar region and overall it is a region where the kids receive pretty good care. The kids are split up into groups by their age and each group has four care givers that work with them specifically. This is an answered prayer! I have been praying from the very beginning that our child would have consistent care givers because this can really help the attachment process later on. It was reassuring to see how well she was doing and how nice the living conditions were.
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