Home in 2 weeks

I can't believe we will be home in 2 weeks!  We went to the aquarium today bit of a trek and we had bad directions, but it was worth it.  An amazing glass tunnel you can walk through with sharks and sting rays directly over head.  I would add a photo but apparently blogger only has an android app.

2 weeks

It has been 2 weeks since we were given custody.  3 weeks exactly until we go home.
We've been getting a bit a cabin fever here.  The weather has been cold and we haven't had much to do.  Thanks to some other adoptive families here in Hungary, we've found ways to occupy our time.
I never thought staying home with a kid would be difficult, in fact I'd hoped to do it.  But spending 24/7 in the apartment with no contacts over here is a little daunting.
We've put the baby on a schedule.  In the foster home she just did as she pleased.  She has had no enrichment- she doesn't know her colors, numbers, body parts, animals, etc- not in Hungarian.
So our schedule, to keep us all occupied goes like this:
Wake ip and breakfast.  Followed by songs and finger plays with daddy while mommy goes to the gym.  We found a gym that you can buy a 10 visit pass for 6500 forints about $25.  Daddy does snack.  Mommy comes home we all do lunch.  Then nap.  Daddy goes to th gym or to the cafe to do we work.  Wake up, snack.  Then outside to the park or if it's cold walk th baby around the mall.  
Then arts and crafts.  Cutting, pasting, painting, coloring, matching shapes, etc.  then while we make dinner baby watches tv.  Sometimes we let her watch Hungarian cartoons to get a brak from all th English.  Being surrounded by a new language can be exhaust, otherwise she watches videos we uploaded to the iPad for her.  
The first few days we ft a lot of eye rolling and shed just walk away when we tried to engage her, but she's caught o. That she isn't in charge.  She knows and loves itsy bitty spider and head shoulders.  Already she knows more colors and body parts in English and is learning the animal sounds and names.

Juice cleanse ended, baby feeling better, mommy and daddy sick

After 48 hours the baby ended her self imposed juice cleanse.  She only ate bananas and juice for 2 days, but pizza challenged her resolve.  She is back to eating nearly everything. And like a true eastern European her favorit foods are pickled things and extruded meats ( like salami).  I hope this horse meat scandal in Europe does t affect Hungary.
I also caught the bug she had but am mostly over it and so did Chris.  We had known there is. I OTC medicine in Hungary that contains any actual medicine.  We packed Tylenol for us and the baby, but I should have packed pedialyte.  And a medicine dropper.

Quick update

We are in Budapest now, but no internet in the apartment.  So we are at a coffee shop with Internet.  The peanut caught the virus the other foster kids had.  Yesterday was rough, we had to go to the hospital for blod screenings to complete the adopts paperwork.  It was awful, they took 3 voles of blood from a 26 lb baby.  They made Chris hold her down , great for attachment.  On top of that she was running a fever of 100.  The doctor gave us some prescriptions, because even Tylenol is not OTC here.  Luckily she's been in a good mood, and she knows to keep her mouth closed for the thermometer though it's tricky to get it under her tongue.  Getting the cough syrup in is another story. Poor baby, we've been watching cartoons and playing play dough all day.  The toughest part is eating.  We don't know if she isn't hungry, doesn't like what we feed her or if she is refusing as a power struggle.  This morning was a bit better, so I think she just was feeling crumby.

Birthday and custody day!

Today is our pumpkin's third birthday.  It is also the day we got custody.
Yesterday was our last visit to the village.  The foster mother had planned a birthday party, but many of the friends and the other children in the home came down with the flu.  We were concerned about our pumpkin, because the transition is hard enough without feeling crummy.  She seems to have avoided it, the benefits of not going to daycare.  So we had a simple lunch with just us, her, the foster mother and translator.  She made an amazing cake, she's a semi- professional cake maker.  Her foster mother got her a Dora the Explorer backpack.  That will be perfect for the flight.
The foster mother showed us she had things to give us for the peanut.  It was a lot of clothes and toys.  We didn't want to take anything from her because we know it will be put to good use there.  As we looked through photos on Sunday, we could see the older two girls both at times wearing the winter coat our peanut was wearing.  But the foster mother was insistent.  Apparently, shes trying to clear out a bit.  Her husband's job has him across the country, so they are trying to sell their home to join him.  She ended up giving us tons of stuff, more than we had even packed for her.  I don't know how it's all a going to fit in the car or on the plane.

Today we met with our translator and went to th regional office of children's welfare.  The foster mother brought in the pumpkin.  That was rough.  She was emotional and so was the pumpkin.  Some forms were signed and we left with her.  She cried a bit.  She calmed down looking at dr. Seuss abc.  She likes the b page.  Then we had to do the passport photos.  That was difficult.  She was scared because it was a new place.  We had to have a photo of her looking into the camera with her mouth closed.  The photographers were great.  Very patient, and it did t take them long.  You can't even tell she was crying in the photo.  Then off to another office, I think it was the courts.  There was an advocat for the child, the social worker, the representative from children's welfare, the translator and us.  The pumpkin was incredible well behaved.  She colored and looked at her dr Seuss book.  That took an hour or more.  We were finally free.  By then it was nearly 3 pm and she hadn't eaten or napped.  We went back to th hotel, changed her diaper and put her down.  She was exhausted, but we could t let her sleep too long if she was going to sleep through the night.  We got her up at 4 and took a walk to a playground.  She looked like a baba sitting in the stroller- bundled up with a knit blanket across her knees, and those glasses.  We grabbed a quick bite, and realized we were novice parents- we hadn't brought a sippy cup.  She did drink juice through a straw when we held the cup for her.  We came to th hotel, had a quick bath, put on pjs and FaceTime with family.  She made grandmas day when she kissed the screen.  We read goodnight moon and she went to be rather easily.
Tomorrows a big day, we need to leave here at 7 am to make it to our embassy appointment on time. I hear it always takes longer to get ready with a toddler around, and this will be our first full day together.  Chris is packing up the car tonight.  Knock on wood and thumbs in my fist that everything goes smoothly.
I have t figured out how to add photos on the iPad and we can't upload photos of her anyway, I'll try to get on a computer next week.

Visiting with the foster family

Day 4 and 5 were exhausting!  We visited with the foster family, but it was the weekend so all the children were there.  It must be very difficult for them.  They will miss their little foster sister, but they also feel sorry that they aren't getting adopted.  The oldest child is the family's biological daughter, and sweet girl.  She helps her mom prepare meals and look after the younger ones.  She is very good at distracting and redirecting the younger children.  The next oldest child is a beautiful little girl.  She's sweet and smart and completely healthy.  She's lived with the family for more than 3 years, I hope she is able to find a permanent family soon.  The next child is a little boy, recently placed with the family.  His mother got sick and was unable to care for him, so they are sorting out his legal status as far as whether he can become available for adoption.  Like our daughter, he is Roma.  He is a healthy and active little guy.
With all the kids around, our little one gets overstimulated.  She never gets her naps on the weekends because of all the activity.  She was exhausted when we left today.  Tomorrow is Monday and her last full day with the foster family.  They are throwing a little birthday part, her birthday is Tuesday.  Tuesday, the social worker drives her to th regional office and the documents are signed to give us temporary custody.  Then we are off to th embassy.
Our translator keeps saying, don't worry she'll forget the foster mother.  But we do t want to forgt the foster mother.  She has been so kind and caring to all the children.  Today she gave us dozens of digital pictures on a flash drive we brought.  We'll be able to our pumpkin pictures from when she was a baby and the other children who played such a large role in her life.
Sorry for all the typos, I'm typing o  a tablet :)

Day 3

Another busy one, just a few more days until we have custody!
We started the day by going to the regional ministry of child welfare and meeting with the social worker to sign some documents.  Then, back out to the village, even though we took the highway, it still took 1 hour and 30 minutes.  The plan for today was to pick her up and take her out, without the foster mother.  The translator decided we should go to Tesco which is like British Walmart.  The car ride there went smoothly, she slept most of the way.  We pushed her in the stroller around Tesco.  It was a little odd, we felt obligated to buy her something, though we didn't need anything at the moment.  We bought her a packet of hair clips with flowers on them and toy cookware.  The trip back was fine, she stayed awake but traveled easily.  When we got back we played with the new cookware, which was a hit.  She pretended to cook me something and I pretended it was too hot when she gave it to me.  Later the foster mother called us in for lunch and she pretended that it was too hot saying "hot, hot, hot" in English.  We played some more until nap time, then it was time for us to go.
This evening, we went to one of the mineral baths in the town we are staying.  It was nice, clean and fun.  I was remarking how nice that all the tile is nonslip on the pool decks, but managed to slip and whack my head on one of the slides.  I put a nice gash between my eyes, and head wounds bleed a lot.  Still waiting to see if I'm going to have a black eye or two.  The life guards taped me up, but it was too late this evening to find a pharmacy that's open for butterfly closures or at least more tape to change the bandage.
Hopefully my new look doesn't scare her and she still recognizes me without my glasses.