Day 35

One more week and we get Erlan! The three of us are ready to be together as a family. Erlan practiced saying "up" more today. He's started whispering it instead of saying it--not sure what that's about. He's also decided not to use the potty when he's with us. He'll sit for awhile, but he doesn't do anything. He hasn't used it since we started sharing the playroom... maybe he has a shy bladder?


We were able to go out during our afternoon visit. It was a very nice day. The kiddos watch us from the playrooms. When Nadia goes outside, Erlan will watch for her. Nadia does the same thing. In the picture, she just gave Erlan his toy cell phone. As we were getting ready to go back inside, Erlan just about fell asleep on my shoulder. He was tired. I meant to ask the nanny if he's taking his naps.


We haven't taken pictures of Erlan's nannies yet. We tried once but the woman practically dropped Erlan trying to run away. We've been a bit wary of asking after that.

Today's video is actually from a few days ago. Erlan doesn't like sharing, whether it be food or toys... we're working on this skill. :)

Day 34

It was Sunday, so only one visit today. Erlan was in high spirits. I am posting a very quick video where he says "up" and then Ben tries to get him to say it more. Naturally once Erlan saw the camera, he refused. :-) Such a 2 year old!

Erlan does look quite serious in all of the pictures and video that we take outside. I imagine that he is on sensory overload when we are out there trying to take it all in. I also think he's plotting his escape. ;-) We saw puppies today, and Erlan was intrigued. He wanted to follow the puppies. Poor old Jackson (Ben's 14 y.o. cattle dog), he doesn't know what he's in for.

Erlan had a grand time playing with Nadia. She's such a funny little girl. She tries to mother Erlan. She helps him with his boots and with the potty. She wants to share her cookie and drink with him. She is prepping Erlan quite well for the mothering he will get from Kenzi and Keely.

We hope everyone had a great weekend!

Day 33

Another visit, another big day! Erlan said his first English word, "Up!" He has said mama, papa, and baba (banana) but this was his first clear word. He held his hands up to me and clearly said, "Up!" He also tried to say animal names when we read his book today. He understands when I tell him to put his shoes by my shoes. He knows when we want him to come to us. He's such a clever boy!

We were able to go outside twice today. Erlan likes going outside so much. I think he would like to escape from the orphanage whenever we go outside. The nannies are taking the children outside now so we see groups of kids. We try to avoid them b/c they just watch us and some clearly want to interact with us. I kind of think Erlan likes to show us off when we do see groups of kids.

Erlan is very fearful of stuffed animals. He's even afraid of the fur on my boots. The only stuffed animals in the orphanage are huge. At first, Erlan would give them wide berth and a terrified look. Ben showed him that Erlan could hit them so he wouldn't be afraid. The video shows the results of Ben's efforts. Erlan still doesn't like stuffed animals, but I think he's overcoming his fear.

Day 32

Erlan was Mr. Gigglepants (I like that one Regina!) during our visits. He got to go outside. He played with Nadia. He ran around the room. He was worn out by the time we left today. I'm posting some video of him playing soccer with his balloon. I know that I'm completely biased but I think he may be the next Beckham ;-) (Yes, he is the only soccer player that I know.)

Day 31

We were joined in our playroom by another family today. A woman from Spain is adopting a 5 year old girl named Nadia (I think). Erlan loves Nadia. We were so happy to watch him interact with another child. Erlan is going to love meeting his cousins. Nadia looks like Erlan’s cousin Kenzi—I’m not sure if you can tell from the video or the picture.

When we first met Erlan, we were told he was very serious with the other children. The nannies said that he didn’t really interact with the other kids. This was not evident today. He has just blossomed over the last month.

During our morning visit (pre-Nadia visit), Erlan was Mr. Fussypants. I think that he really wanted to go outside. He kept bringing us our shoes. Naturally we assumed that he needed to use the bathroom. He didn’t. I think he enjoyed his time outside of the window and was ready for more.

Day 30

OK, we skipped a couple of days. We think Erlan's die hard fans will forgive us. Before I show the video, I think we've finally determined Erlan's size. I think he wears an 18-month top and a 12-month pant. The 12-month pants are just on the verge of being too short. I think his head is probably a 2T! Let's see, we have a kid with short legs and a big head... kind of like his cousins! I have no clue what size shoes he wears. The sizes are different here. Also, he tends to curl his toes whenever he puts on shoes. The boy does love his shoes. (BTW, Stacey, save everything until we get back! You can put them in our garage--don't put them in your dad's garage, he'll throw them away.)

Speaking of shoes, the head nanny told us that we needed to buy Erlan new shoes. She thought he was scratching himself putting on the high tops that we bought for him. She showed us a pair of Mary Janes and told us to buy that kind of shoe. Yes, she wanted us to buy Erlan some girl shoes. :-) We found some shoes that look like Birkenstock clogs and got those instead. Erlan liked the high tops better.

Today we had two big events. First, we brought bubbles for Erlan. He wasn't too sure what to think at first, but he loved them in the end. He also wanted to eat them. Thank you Kami and Eric! The bubbles were a big hit!



At our afternoon visit, we got to go outside! Yes, OUTSIDE!!! It was probably 50 degrees. We had to dress him like it was 20 degrees. He really liked it. When we brought him back inside and gave him back to the nannies, he just screamed. Ben had to run his clothes back up to the nannies, and one told him that Erlan was crying for us and told her that he did not want to stay with her, he wanted to go with us. Poor little boy! Not much longer now.

Day 28

We wanted to share this video of Erlan greeting us. Ben always waits in the hallway for him. You'll see what happens. Remember that just a short time ago, Erlan would walk into the room, sit down and cry when he saw us. Now he tells the other kids that he has a mama and a papa.



What a difference this last month has made in his life. When we met him, the nannies told us that he was a serious little boy. He didn't smile. He didn't talk. He didn't interact with the other kids. Now, he is almost always smiling. We still see his serious side when he plays with Legos or if he is concentrating on something important (like taking a sticker off of his books). Mostly, though, we see the little goofball that resides inside Erlan. We see his goofy faces. We see him check himself out in the mirror. We hear his laughter and his singing. We see how's he has learned to work his mama by giving cute faces when he's being naughty. He's such a happy little boy.

Erlan hasn't babbled as much as he was in the past few days. I think he may be trying to figure out how to use English like Mama and Papa. Sometimes he just studies us as if he's trying to figure out what we are saying.

He is so ready to go outside. He is so easy distracted by what's going on outside. He would spend our entire visit just looking out the windows. I would love just to take him outside. Two more weeks and he'll be able to spend as much time outside as he wants. :-)

Day 27: Erlan gets a cell phone

We couldn't post this video last night. We couldn't get on dial up. We found a toy cell phone for Erlan. He loves it. For those of you who have been planning to buy us obnoxiously loud toys to pay us back for the toys Ben has purchased for your children, please don't worry about it. Ben is doing it for you. The cell phone is annoying. :-)

Erlan goes bowling

I think Erlan may be a natural at bowling. :-)

Day 25

We were able to have our afternoon visit with Erlan. We were a little worried that it wouldn't happen because Kazakh New Year's is the weekend. I'm not sure if it's tonight or tomorrow, but I know that it happens sometime this weekend. To celebrate the holiday, we will post a couple of pix of our favorite Kazakh (soon to be US) citizen (and a video to follow):

Here's a picture of Erlan making a yucky face after he tried some berry baby food. He would not try a second bite. I don't blame him... it wasn't that good. The yogurt that we give him is much better.


Here's a picture of Ben teaching Erlan to make funny faces. *Sigh* I have two of them on my hands. :-D

Success at Court!

We had our court hearing today. I am very happy to report that our application to adopt was accepted. We start our 15-day appeal period tomorrow. The last day must be a business day; therefore, our appeal period will end on Monday, April 7. We should be able to bring Erlan to our Kazakh apartment on April 8. We then have another week before we can head back to the States. Hopefully, the next 15 days go by as quickly as the last 15 days went by.

The hearing itself went very quickly. Ben read our prepared speech. I added two sentences. A representative from the orphanage told about Erlan's history. A representative from the Dept of Education read their conclusions about our bonding with Erlan and that they supported our application. We were asked no other questions. The whole thing was done in 20 minutes.

This is a picture of us in front of the court house.

This is a picture with our driver Ceric. He and Bayana are our favorite people in Kazakhstan.

Day 23

It will be a quick post tonight. We just got home from a long day--a good day, but a long day. We visited with Erlan this morning. We went out to eat at lunch (The Istanbul), which was tasty. We then went to the Mosque Mall where we finally hit the very cheap store in the basement at the right time. This store gets clothes that were donated to India, which India sells to Kazakhstan (or something like that). We picked up a jacket, a couple of pairs of pants and a couple of shirts for Erlan (and a shirt for me). We had our second visit and then went out to dinner. We usually don't have this much activity in a month at home, so we are tired now.

Here are some pix from today's visit:


Here Erlan is dressed like somebody we all know and love. :-)

This is Erlan's "I did something naughty, so I'll make this cute face" look.

This is Erlan with our interpreter Bayana.

Here is Erlan carrying Daddy's boot. Yes, this was a warning that he needed to potty. We did not heed his warning. We were stupid.

Erlan makes animal sounds

Now that we figured out how to edit and post our videos, we wanted to share this one where Erlan makes animal sounds. Ben makes pretty realistic animal sounds, and Erlan does his best to imitate Ben. The nurse told our interpreter that Erlan makes animal sounds that are different from the other kids. He doesn’t say “Moo” (or the Kazakh equivalent), he makes a lower noise (much like Ben’s version of moo). We’re teaching him something. ;-)

Day 22

Erlan loves our cell phone. He had an entire conversation with himself today. He would say “Da, da” (or “yeah, yeah”)… that was the only bit we understood. He threw a fit when I took it away from him—tears and everything. We will try to find him a toy cell phone here, but I haven’t seen any in the stores.

Erlan has learned that he can push the lego table around the room. He pushes the table and he pulls the table back and forth. He squeals when Ben blocks the path.


You can see in the picture that Erlan knows how to purse his lips, to say “Shhh”, and to put his finger up. Instead of putting his finger in front of his lips though, he puts his finger in front of his nose. :-)

Please note that Erlan put himself in the cage. We didn't do it. We just laughed.

Day 21

We found out our court date: Friday, March 21 @ 11:00 am. It is scheduled to occur 10 days after our last bonding day. We are quite happy.

Our friend Agnes from Belgium had success at court today! Congratulations to Agnes and her son Sasha. We are very happy for the two of them. (BTW, Sasha is the Russian nickname for Alexander.)

As usual, we had two great visits with Erlan today. He is such a ham. He loves to laugh. He continues to relax more and more around us. This afternoon he just took off and played with us. We did not have to coax him like we normally do.

Here are some pictures from our visit today.

Just so you know that Erlan isn't perfect.... here he is throwing a fit. He just threw a lego at Mommy and got it taken away from him.

Erlan tries to dress himself. You can tell from his grip that he is doing his darndest to pull his pants up.

It is hard to get a shirt over such a big head!

Here's Daddy letting Erlan stand on the window ledge.


I'm not sure who Erlan has seen talking on a cell phone, but he knew exactly what to do with our cell phone when Ben laid it down! It also rang, and he went running to it. (It wasn't for him.)


Here's a current family picture.

Erlan's Laugh

We hope you find his laugh as infectious as we do. You can also hear him say "Papa Pa!" just before he chases Ben. :-D

Days 19 & 20

I cannot believe the weekend is over already! The time goes so quickly here. I thought that we’d have down time over here and be bored, but I can honestly say that has not happened.


We had three wonderful visits with Erlan this weekend, two on Saturday and one today. Yesterday, we brought yogurt for Erlan. He LOVED it. He cleaned the little container out. He even let Daddy help him so he could get more food out.

He continues to babble more each day. I am fairly certain that he starts singing whenever he gets tired (much like his cousin Brian).


We had to go to our afternoon visit an hour early yesterday. We went to a traditional Kazakh concert that started at the same time as our afternoon visit. Anyhoo, we showed up unannounced for our earlier visit. It turns out that Erlan was laying in bed awake, not taking his nap, so we got our visit! I think that Erlan is skipping naps b/c he is anticipating our visits. He has been tired through our last several visits. I’m glad he looks forward to seeing us though!

Today, he kept bringing me Ben’s shoes. He wanted to take me somewhere in the orphanage. I let him lead me down the hallway, but I brought him back to our playroom b/c I was worried that the nurses would get upset that we were roaming the halls. After we came back, he tried to get me to leave again. He was saying something, and he was trying to get me to put on Ben’s shoes. We thought he was bored with our playroom. Shortly thereafter he had an accident (nice orange poop—EE that description’s for you). I feel so bad that I didn’t understand him. I think he was trying to tell me that he had an imminent need. Poor kid. He looked so sad. The nanny came right after it happened. I was going to clean him up, but she took him (for all of those who’ve seen me with dirty diapers… yes, I was completely grossed out but figured I needed to get over it! I wasn’t sad that the nanny took care of it.)

We also tried out our backpack today. I bought a Kelty Kid backpack in which we can Erlan can ride. We totally bribed him the entire time he sat in the backpack. We had banana pieces ready before we put him in the backpack. As soon as I got him in the backpack, we had the banana ready as soon as he started to fuss. I think he kind of liked the ride. He really liked walking around the room and looking out the window. I can’t wait to get him outside. He is so ready to try the outdoors!

I hope all of you had a great weekend too!

Day 18

Well today was uneventful. We just hung out, sang songs, ate bananas, and had fun. No accidents.(YEA!!!)
We are going to have to install some full length mirrors in Erlan’s bedroom when we get home. He likes looking at himself. He is fascinating. It doesn’t matter if he is eating, making funny faces or just strolling by, there is always time to stop and look at himself and then look at mommy or daddy and grin.

Karla enjoyed it when he first came in today and was all smiles. He was very happy to see her.

He has come up with this celebration where he raises his arms and points his index fingers up in the air while clicking his cheek like he is telling a horse to move along. We did not show him this, but it is really hilarious. When I started cracking up, he was like ‘what you haven’t seen this’, here I’ll do it again. We got it on video.

He found a yellow and blue stool and played with it all day. If he wasn’t climbing on it, he was dragging it
around. He even put his sippee cup down, so he could have at least one hand free.
He has also started swinging an arm when he walks. I thinks he is either very happy or just knows he’s super cool. It could be both.

Ben about questions

Hello all,
This is to try and answer some of the questions people have been asking.
- Erlan is pronounced like hair with a y, YAIR, and then lan like lawn. So YAIR-lawn. Please practice, I had to do a lot of talking to convince Karla to keep his name. She thought everyone would pronounce it wrong and he would be teased. I told her none of this would happen and that he would be proud of his name. If you agree with Karla, I will ban you from this blog. Just practice with your husbands, YAIR-lawn. See, it’s easy.
- No news yet on a court date.
- We have not found pull-ups yet. We are hoping we wont need them, he’s doing great so far. Did find diapers they are $15 for 30.
- No we don’t know what to expect with Erlan’s transitions. He has blown us away in the last 17 days and we probably have about 25 days more left and then about a week with him here in our apartment before we get on an airplane to come home. We are wondering if we should take a day in Frankfurt or just push through and get it over with. Hoping to hear from and talk to some veterans on this dilemma.
- Yes the caregivers have been talking to Erlan and he has been talking to them a lot this last week. He tells the other kids he has a mommy and a daddy.
- No, I haven’t bought a can of dip in a good many years. I also don’t drink soda and rarely drink alcohol. My lifestyle has changed a little in the last 15 years. Still good lookin’, still like to laugh, but now a lot more boring. Some would say Karla has been a good influence. Some being Karla.
- We are doing one trip. I can honestly say I wouldn’t leave him for anything. Some couples have to do two trips (they leave after court during the appeal period), but Karla and I were lucky enough to do one trip, because of Karla’s great co-workers and a lot of great family members picking up the slack for us. THANK YOU ALL!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
- When we get home, everyone can act as they normally do. He is like any other two year old. He’s leery of strange people. Well maybe some of you should act different. He likes me now, so he’ll surely accept you all for who you are some day.
- Yes, the interpreters go with us to the markets, twice so far. They are always asking if we need anything. They have also taken us to several restaurants, to an art gallery, to a museum, and to flea markets.
- Our driver knows very little English, though I think he understands a lot. He is very nice. I bring him a sum sa every morning. He says ‘benny love sum sa’.
- Yes, they have public transportation here. Buses and even electric buses that run off of overhead lines. In Almaty, they are completing a subway system. We are trying to bribe Bayana into taking us on the train for a 6 hour round trip to see the countryside some Sunday.
- No, we can not take Erlan outside until after the appeal period. Yes, he has been outside during the summer. We look out the windows a lot. He will now sit on my shoulders.
- Yes, we have a cell phone to call the 10 people we know here who speak English. Wonder if I ought get Morrat’s, the sum sa guy, and the crazy meat ladies’ numbers
- We have a little Canon elph powershot sd1000 camera. It fits into my pocket and it takes pretty good video with sound. I have been taking about 200 pics and about 2 minutes of video a day and then downloading them to the computer. So when we get home, you all can see every one of them.
If I left any out, sorry, remind me and I’ ll try again.

Day 17

We have not heard about our court date yet. I’m hoping that we hear tomorrow. My fingers and toes are crossed for a quick date.

Erlan was quite the ham during our two visits today. He loves to look at himself in the mirror. He practices making all kinds of silly faces, and he loves it when Mom and Dad get in on the game with him.

We had three successful uses of the potty today. He insists on having a book every time he sits on the pot (it is literally a pot)… hmmm, reminds me of his grandpa! Ben did a really good job today. He recognized the potty dance and put Erlan on the pot before he had an accident. :-D

Ben also taught Erlan a new trick: he showed him how to stuff his stacking cups into his pants. I’m really not sure when this trick will come in handy… perhaps if he takes up a career as a thief? If Erlan starts wearing baggy pants, I’ll be worried.

He now babbles almost continuously through our visits. He also likes to sing! I try to sing to him throughout our visits. Now he is singing too. One of his tunes sounded like “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes…”

I cannot believe how quickly this boy has stolen our hearts. I also cannot believe that we traveled to the other side of the earth to find a junior Ben. I told you about the continuous “Why?” Erlan also likes to build things and to take them apart. He wants to know how things work. He will try to figure it out. Ben is delighted at how much Erlan is like him. It’s like he found a partner in crime.

Day 16

Hello all,
Hopefully this will be a quick post. First thing Karla and I did this morning was run to the bazaar and buy sum sa, a juice box, and something else for Erlan you’ll see in the pictures below. He sucked out of a straw and inhaled the juice box. He figured it right out. Then he played and hung out with mommy and daddy. He likes trying to walk up the slide.. He also tried blowing up the balloon that he had watched me blow up an hour earlier. Then we tried out Erlan’s brand new personal blue thing. Well we didn’t try it out, Erlan did. Nothing happened in it this morning or this afternoon, but he sat and didn’t fight it or cry. We were very happy. Erlan is 25 months old and doesn’t wear diapers. He has had four accidents now. One each the previous two days and two today. He has been getting a lot of liquids and today we were about 30 seconds behind, both times. We do not want him to revert back to diapers. A lot of changes happening but today I still think was a success. He keeps amazing us. -ben

Baba Janice (and anyone else who has ever talked to Ben) will enjoy the following story. After Erlan had an accident this afternoon, our translator, Bayana, had a conversation (in Kazakh) with Erlan:


Bayana: Erlan, you need to tell Mama that you need to use the potty.
Erlan: Why?
Bayana: Because you want to make Mama happy.
Erlan: Why?
Bayana: You want to be a good boy for Mama.
Erlan: Why?

Finally, Bayana looked at us and said, “He keeps asking me ‘Why?’ every time I tell him something! The nannies told me that he’s been asking ‘Why?” for the last 4 days. Is it just the age?” (I thought, “No, it’s the universe paying Ben back.) She told us the Kazakh word for why, and he has been using it for the last 4 days. -karla

Day 15

I cannot believe 15 bonding days have passed already! It seems like we just met this adorable little two-year old boy. I think that our morning visit is best summarized by the following pictures:



We had one tired little boy on our hands this morning. He was Mr. Fussypants for the entire visit, and he had a 30-minute nap. (Yes, I love it that he fell asleep in my arms.) Ben thinks he was just mad b/c of the way the nannies dressed him. Daddy is pouting b/c Erlan wouldn't play with him. :-(









Afternoon Visit


We were a little worried after the morning visit that Erlan was getting sick. He quickly alleviated those worries since he was all smiles during our afternoon visit. Today he finally discovered the slide and swing that are in the playroom with us. Ben has been using a large teddy bear to show him how to go up the ladder and down the slide. He then lifted Erlan onto the slide and let him go down. Erlan loved it! It wasn’t long until Erlan was climbing up the ladder and doing it himself. :-) He still needs to learn how to lift his feet.


Of course, we did give him some new shoes today. They are little high top shoes and are clunkier than the mary-jane shoes that he has been wearing. He really liked the new shoes. As soon as we showed them to him, he took off the shoes he was wearing
and wanted his new shoes. We had tried to give him new shoes yesterday, but our first attempt resulted in shoes that were two sizes too big. He looked like a clown. Erlan was happy with the clown shoes, but he kept tripping so we exchanged for a smaller size. The shoes were $20—this was cheap for here. We found them at the Mosque Mall on the first floor in the west corner (thanks to Kami & Eric for showing us!)

We don’t think that he has seen a TV yet. He enjoys watching the screen on the digital camera and waving to the images. I’d like to take a picture but, for obvious reasons, cannot.