This morning we meet our driver and interpreter Sasha at 7:30. We drove through the country side of Samara. The countryside was very pretty with wild flowers of all kinds. We arrived at the orphanage about 9:30. We unloaded and went in and met the Head Doctor of the orphanage. She was very nice and seemed happy that we were there. We were led to a room to await John Mark Baytimir's arrival. At this point Greg and I were very excited and we were a little emotional. After a few minutes wait the doctor brought John Mark Baytimir in to meet us. At first he was very shy and actually whimpered some but never really cried, so Sasha stepped in to make him feel more comfortable since she could speak to him and he would understand her. He was watching Greg very closely, he was not sure what to think about him. He finally warmed up enough to sit by me and let Greg play with him. After a few minutes he was sitting in my lap playing with Greg. Sasha seemed to think his concern for Greg was because he had not seen many men at all and after all we were total strangers.
John Mark Baytimir is absolutely adorable. We are not biased in any way. He is just so stinking cute. You just want to eat him up. We wanted to immediately run up to him and hug on him but we knew he would need to time to warm up to us. He is very serious looking but we did eventually get smiles out of him during the visit. He loved the touch an feel book we had brought and the cars. He carried an alligator and a turtle around with him all morning. He is teething so he chewed on the alligators tail a lot since it would reach those baby molars that are coming in. After a little while we went outside to the playground. He loved walking around and playing on some of the toy sets available outside. He held our hand and walked around and looked at flowers. I know that shocks each of you who know us. John Mark really enjoyed the slide on the play ground and playing with some rings that you could slide from one side to the other of the play area. When we picked him up he seemed happy to be in our arms, snuggled and loved. He seemed to immediately hug us back. At noon we walked him back to his room were all his friends were eating lunch. He sat down with them and immediately drank an entire glass of juice. It was hot outside so I know he was very thirsty.
We left him there to eat and nap and went back to the waiting room to meet with the social worker for the orphanage and the doctor. The social worker came in and explained that John Mark Baytimir was abandoned at the Maternity house by his his mother. She had told the hospital there that he was the third child and her other two children were being cared for by relatives in Echbachstand. She gave no other relatives or family. The orphanage had tried to find family and could not so the court declared that he was abandoned and considers parents unknown. The medical doctor came in later and explained all his vitals to us at birth and how he had grown. The only concern they have for him is speech delay but almost all children in orphanages have speech delay. She said he had no real illnesses or any real problems to be concerned about. She said he started walking at age 14 months. Overall he is healthy little boy from her evaluation.
Our interpreter then ordered pizza for us (yes pizza of all things again) and we went outside to wait the hour and half for its arrival. We spent about 3 hours waiting in the playground area for our next visit with John Mark. The care givers brought him back right after his nap and brought his snack of crackers an juice with him. He drank all the juice in one big drink, but only ate a few crackers. I guess he was too fascinated with Greg and the music from the ipod to eat. It was soooo hot in the room upstairs where we were playing with him that we all had sweat running down our face so again we went outside where you do have a breeze. He played and even laughed with us a little more this trip outside.
John Mark Baytimir as you can tell from his photos is not completely of Russian decent. He is the only child in the orphanage with dark complexion or slanted eyes. We were told before arrival that no one wanted to adopt him in Russia because he does not Russian. All the other children in the orphanage have blond hair and fair complexion. It is a sad reality that prejudice over skin color is a world wide problem. Greg and I are so blessed to think that God choose this precious little boy to be a part of our family. We feel especially honored because no one else wanted him and God choose him for us. The way he loved on us when we picked him up is so hard to understand and explain. It was like he was just waiting for someone to come along and love him so he could love in return. Greg and I are so thankful for your prayers for us and especially thankful for your prayers for the precious little boy.
The Orphanage here in Toyliatti is very nice. There are several play sets outside and you can tell that the care givers indeed care. When we left John Mark with them this afternoon he ran up to one caregiver and hugged her and she hugged and loved him back. He is well taken care of and that fact makes leaving him here in Russia much easier.
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