Days 48 & 49

Day 48

Our first Sunday in Almaty. We strolled down the pedestrian avenue that our apartment overlooks. Erlan was fascinated by the concrete. He would stoop to feel the sidewalk every few steps. We also saw a pug as we were walking…he was about 2 years old from the looks of him. He was a very handsome pug. I stopped (of course) to pet him. We tried to get Erlan close to him, but Erlan would rather admire dogs (even pugs!) from a distance at this point.

We just walked around a bit to get some fresh air and stretch our legs. We also needed to pick up a warm sleeper for Erlan since he refuses to sleep with a blanket. We found a fleece sleeper for $12 and some tights for him.

Ben, of course, discovered the local samsa place. The meat is better here, but the crust is so much better in Aqtobe. Erlan actually tried the samsa and enjoyed it. He’s like every other 2 y.o. that I know… he will not look at the food that you want him to like (e.g. veggies), but he’s more than happy to try the Pringles that Mama was trying to sneak into her mouth. Two things were learned from this: (1) Mama is not very sneaky, and (2) Erlan likes Pringles.

We’ve also discovered that Erlan covers his eyes with his arm when he doesn’t want another bite of his meal. I guess he thinks that if he can’t see the food, then the food will disappear. He also tries this trick when he sees me coming with his medicine. It doesn’t work then either.

He has finally started giving kisses on a more regular basis. It started as I was trying to post to the blog yesterday. I had the computer on my lap. He climbed onto the couch (ok, this is a bit of an exaggeration b/c he said “Up!” to me and I obliged him), he sidled up to me, and gave me a big hug. Naturally I ate this up. Then he does a repeat performance, but this time he leans in and gave me a kiss. I was delighted. He was delighted with himself and with my delight. I quickly received 5 or 6 more kisses—all smack on the lips.

We’re working on his vocabulary. So far, he has 3 words that he uses on a regular basis: Mama, Papa, and up! When he sees the sheep in his book, he will say “baaa.” He will try to repeat the animal names as we look at the book. He has 6 other words that he can repeat: hi, dog, door, bubble, Amy, and Mike. (For those of you who have names that he isn’t saying yet, we are working on them. For example, when I say “Debbie”, Erlan says “Mama.” When I say “Kathi”, Erlan babbles. Grandma also elicits a “Mama.” Aly’s name did get a short “a” sound.)

Last night we were all in bed early since we managed to blow the fuse for the apartment. We tried to run the washer while we had the living room and kitchen lights on. I guess it was too much for the electrical system.

Day 49

Today was a lazy day. Our landlord came right away this morning to fix our electrical problem. For the electricians in the crowd, they make their own fuses. It’s 240 volt, and they used a size 18 wire for a fuse. Ben tried to finagle some wire from our landlord so he could make his own repairs next time this happen. No dice.

Ben also showed our landlord that the toilet runs continuously. The man showed Ben how to shut the bathroom door so that we wouldn't hear it run. (For those of you who are wondering, we cannot shut the water off.) :-)

As soon as we walked out of our apartment, Ben spotted the SmartCar. He was elated to see one up close and personal. Erlan and I got to be in the picture with the car... there were a few taken without us too.

We walked to the Arasan spa to try to schedule a massage, but it was closed. It started sprinkling on the walk home and rained fairly hard most of the day. Erlan no longer had a fever today, so he had all of the energy of a 2 year old boy. He chased Ben around the apartment while they played hide-and-go seek. Erlan’s cousins will be happy to know that he is as good at hide-and-go seek as they are.

In spite of the rain, Ben walked to a nearby Chinese restaurant so we were able to enjoy Chinese food for dinner! What a wonderful treat! Shortly after Ben left, Erlan grabbed his hat so he could follow Daddy.

Today's video consists of a few scenes from our day. It would be longer, but I'm tired and we only have dial-up which severely limits the size of the video.