Friday in Kharkiv

This morning we visited Dasha again.  We were only at the orphanage at about 10am until about noon, but we did get some qualit y play time in today.  Her group was just going outside to play when we got there.  We met the group in the staircase as we were going up.  Her face just lit up when she saw us, and ran over for a hug.  We took her away from her group to play as a family.  Her choice as much or more than ours!  She loves a bit of attention.  We brought a Sesame Street coloring book to her today.  Her eyes just lit right up when she saw that.  She loves to color.  We sat on one of the park benches in the playground for a while and she continued to color in the coloring book.  She wanted us to move a few times, but she still wanted the coloring book.  Other kids would come by, and she definitely didn't like that.  She would pack up our stuff and go somewhere else.

She took us over to the playground and wanted to play her favorite daredevil game, jumping off of stuff and letting us catch her.  She would take turns saying mama and papa for who she wanted to catch her.

She then remembered that yesterday we had some cookies in my pocket.  She kept asking for a cookie (in Russian, of course).  I did bring what was left of the cookie package, but it was only two.  She ate those, and I showed her that the package was empty.  A bit later, I opened a package of M&Ms.  She really likes those too.  She would let the candy coating melt in her mouth, then eat the chocolate.  Everytime I would give her an  M&M, she would continue to hold her hand out and say "dva", meaning two!  I would then tell her "odim", or one.  She would then give us the most sad / fake sad look that you could imagine. It was funny seeing how much she thinks (maybe she's right) that she can manipulate us.   I guess it was working, because most of the time she got "dva"!

We went back inside a bit before noon so she would be around her group when it was lunch time.  She went and got a puzzle to put together, then lost interest soon after.  She really wanted the coloring book back.  She went to my backpack and told us what she wanted.  We didn't understand her verbal request, but her body language said it all.  She colored a few pages then her group started to come in.  The then wanted to put the coloring book away because the other kids started to show interest in it.  We went over to the couch and sat with her as the other kids came in.  The care taker turned on the television so the kids could watch some cartoons.  The room fell completely silent as the kids were glued to the television.  Dasha was on my lap leaning back on me also watching the cartoons as the care taker was preparing their lunches.  As the lunches were ready, we told Dasha "Das Vadanya", and she replied in kind.  We both received big hugs, and she went to the other children to watch the cartoons.

As we left, we found out that the Judge that was on vacation is coming back into town tonight.  We were able to get a tentative court date of July 8.  We dropped off all the documents at the inspector's office, so if they get signed, Lyuda will take the documents to Kyiv to get the NAC approval to be able to go to the court hearing.

We will be able to take Dasha from the orphanage tomorrow for a bit to get a passport photo taken, some medical tests, and do some clothes shopping.  She will not be able to take ANY clothes from the orphanage, as all the clothes are "community" clothes and are shared by all.  We will need to buy everything from underwear to shoes. 
So, if all goes well, we are looking at being able to use our original return flights (4-weeks).  We will have to see how things work out in the next week or so though. 

We did buy a Russian version of Tom & Jerry on VHS yesterday.  Our apartment has a VCR in it, so I was able to transfer from the VHS to a video that can be played on the laptop computer or on our video MP3 player.  This may be the thing for part of the plane ride home.