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Friday, December 22, 2006

Bananas!

Alexandra has a new favourite food...bananas. As soon as we arrive in the morning and the evening she goes for the bag and grabs a banana, which she eats in about two minutes. This evening it took a little while longer because she would alternate biting the banana with licking of the peeling in her other hand. A couple of other things that we are noticing with her are quite amusing. First off, she is a bit of a clean freak. She often stops what she is doing to go gather up other toys that are lying around and then returns them to their proper place. For everyone who keeps telling me how our house will be a mess once I have kids, I beg to differ. Now there will likely be two people cleaning up after Candace on a regular basis. The other thing worries me a little bit...she seems to be a girly-girl. She really likes things such as dolls and dresses and hair brushes. I need to get her a basketball and a baseball glove when we get home.
We walked back from the orphanage this morning. On the way, we spent some time searching for what we thought was a laundromat. We criss-cossed the main street checking all the stores until we finally came across this small business on the back corner of a large apartment block. It was actually a laundry service which does the cleaning for you. They told us (through an interpreter on the telephone) that if we dropped our stuff off today it would be ready next week. We decided we would wash things oursleves in the sink. Our new friends from Minnesota are moving into an apartment this weekend with a washing machine. I just hope we don't do anything to offend them before we get a couple of loads done.
During our afternoon break, I booked Alexandra's ticket for the return trip on January 12th. I had to contact the German airline Lufthansa which is the Air Canada partner in the Ukraine. They advertise their service as being in English, although I would say that Alexandra's grasp of the language is better than that of the ticket agent with whom I spoke. It took about 16 minutes to get everything worked out, and I emailed the airline afterwards to confirm my booking just in case anything was missed. I actually was worried that I was going to run out of time on my phone during the booking.
The number of couples at the orphanage is starting to dwindle. Today was the last day for a couple from France and another from Arkansas. Best of luck as you return home to start your new families.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Folks!
Last day of school before Christmas break -- thinking of you all and hope you have a very Merry Christmas - both on the 25th and the 7th! Let the countdown begin to your return home! Merry Christmas with love for Monday!
Sandy

lynne hogg said...

We are very excited and proud of you both with your chosen lifes adventure. Merry Christmas and God Bless , have a safe journey home !

From All of us at ShoalLake Hospital and Personal Care Home.

Anonymous said...

Hi,how are you doing? We read your blog today and can hardly wait for you to come home with Alexandra. I am at nanas and papas house for xmas holidays. Lots of hugs and kisses and especially for my new cousin. Love Kelci

Anonymous said...

It just would not be fair to Candace if Alexandra is also a neat freak! On the other hand, having two people picking up after you might not be that bad Candace! I'm sure it's very exciting learning about Alexandra's personality! Recognizing that our children share one/some of our personality traits can also be quite scary! Keep blogging, it's a daily highlight!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for letting us share in your Ukrainian Adventure. We check everyday for the next installment.
Merry Christmas to all three of you and have a safe journey home.
The Usicks