Stroller in Kyrgyzstan = FREEDOM

We have successfully managed to have a family outing from Room 313 at Hotel Jannat thanks to our new best friend the stroller. We were able to have breakfast downstairs (with the need to do only a couple laps in the dining room to keep Caleb happy) and then took a short stroll outside. It is pretty cool today and cloudy so we bundled him up in true Kyrg fashion. All the doormen were smiling at Caleb in his bear suit!

Overall review of Hotel Jannat for our adoptive family friends who read this blog: rooms are nice - nicer than Silk Road Lodge, food is okay, cribs are good quality although not a very soft mattress. Caleb hasn't seemed to mind that part. Location - not so good. We are 20 minutes outside of the Bishkek city center and there are not many restaurants with English menus and only a small grocery store nearby... so no quick trips to Beta or even easy access to Zum for souvenier shopping! We are here because it was literally the only room we could find because of a goverment summit that is taking place in Bishkek this week. I'd say it's ok for Trip 2 since you probably won't cruise out to dinner each night with baby anyways, but probably not a good idea for Trip 1 when you have more down time and would like better access to the sights of Bishkek.

Here's the breakfast buffet, complete with cream puffs, crepes, watermelon and unidentifiable breakfast meats:

Caleb, dressed as a baby bear and ready to go outside for a stroll:

Getting to Know Little Caleb

I'm happy to report that things get better and better each day we spend with Caleb. We think he is over the initial shock of being removed from all that is familiar and is starting to adjust to his new environment. It was heartbreaking to know that he was scared and unsure of his new surroundings. Fortunately, he made great progress by the end of Gotcha Day and began to eat and sleep well. On the first night he slept from 9pm to 6am, only waking up at midnight for a feeding. He did the same thing last night as well. We wish he would eat a bit more as he is so tiny, but for now we are just content to see him settling into some kind of routine.

Here is a quick look at what we've done so far! Enjoy the fashion show of boy clothing :)

Caleb likes to hang out on the bed and has been all smiles! He loves to smile and "talk" to us, sometimes mid-bottle. This of course does not work out well as he ends up with formula dribbling down his cheeks, but we are thrilled to see he is happy and trying to communicate with us.

We gave him his first bath, although we weren't brave enough to do a full bath yet. We just gave him a little sponge bath which he viewed as pure torture! Once he was wrapped up and warm again he was just fine. It was nice to have him smelling like a sweet, clean baby.

Caleb was all smiles after the bath and in clean pajamas. This picture is kind of dark because he's not a fan of the flash on the camera! If you look closely you can see a classic Caleb move -- sticking his tongue out and to the right.

As I write this post, Caleb is cruising the hotel hallways in his new stroller! He likes to be in motion so this is perfect for us to use. He's still working on sitting up straight (as evidenced by this photo where he's leaning to his right) but when supported by a couple rolled up blankets he's happy as a clam in the stroller! We think this will make the trips to the Embassy in Almaty and cruising through the airport much easier. Whenever he is in a happy mood, Bryan puts him in the stroller so he will hopefully learn to love it. So far Bryan's plan is working!

Today will be our last full day in Kyrgyzstan. We will leave for Almaty at 7am tomorrow as Saule believes it will be easier to cross the border earlier in the day. We have all of Caleb's paperwork ready to go including his new passport which contains a hilarious photo of him! Please pray that all will go well as we prepare to go to Kazakhstan - safe travel, that Caleb would tolerate the car ride well, ease in crossing the border, and a safe clean hotel with a crib in Almaty!

Thanks for all your prayers and support! We hope you are enjoying the updates from this new family of 3!