Always read the fine print

For future travelers it's good to take note that when a charging unit states "Switching adaptor", it's a good idea to read the rest of the words like "input 110-120" please note it did not at all mention 220 or 240.  I realized this mistake when I went to re-charge our brand new portable DVD player and it would not charge. It's interesting that I've been using it for over 2 weeks with no issues, but tonight when we went to watch a movie for our wild and crazy Saturday night in Karaganda it would not turn on nor charge.  That's when I read the adaptor and said "oh crap, I think I've fried it" hopefully it's just the charger and not the DVD player, although based on the fact that it was playing off the battery this afternoon, I'm thinking it's just the charger.  I'll be taking the charger and the DVD player to a store or two tomorrow (without the aid of a translator, this should be interesting!) to try and get a new charger.  Quite frankly I cannot imagine the next 3 weeks or our trip home without a DVD player.    So instead of a quiet night watching "Bolt" with Ciera (for about the 20^th time I might add) and then me finishing watching "My one and only", we watched 2 episodes of the Penguins from Madagascar on Nickelodeon…..in Russian.   Those penguins are not nearly as funny in Russian as they are in English.

 

If anyone has any suggestions for the DVD player issue I'm more than willing to read them.  It's an RCA , model DRC99310U.  I already tried to seed if I had another charger with me that would fit and I do not.  My laptop for some reason will not play DVD's that's why I bought the DVD player.   I'm doubting I can buy a DVD player here that will play North American formatted DVD's.    The DVD player also helps occupy time for Ciera at the babyhouse….our sanity depends on this!!  Sad I know…

 

Our initial plan for the evening was to head downtown to the circus building (it's a permanent building for the travelling circus) as we've been told the circus is in town soon, but we have no idea when, or at what time.  So we were going to head into town to see what our options were for the circus but Ciera said she just wanted to stay home and watch a movie, so after an early dinner that's what we attempted to do.  Now we have a dual purpose for heading into town tomorrow, the circus information and a new charger.

 

Today was thankfully a little warmer outside but still cold as all get out in the apartment and at the babyhouse (where they open windows in the play room when the babies are napping in the sleep room).  By 6:00 tonight, Ciera and I were both in full fleece mode again…..hmm perhaps I should start on the cognac, at the very least it should take the chill off, hey then maybe I would not care about the DVD player…..oh shoot I'm getting punchy now.

 

Mr. Baby was a happy girl again today, again I marvel at the changes in her in 2 short weeks.  She is a totally happy baby, smiling, laughing and babbling, jumping up and down on her little legs (with me holding her under her armpits of course) and she is "crawling" now, if you call doing the army drag crawling.  She is getting pretty quick at it too, I put her down today to turn and do something, I turned back and she was not where I had put her down,  she was a good 5 feet away.  Her cheeks are rosy, her eyes are bright and she looks so different than she did 2 weeks ago….pale and serious.   Today she looked all comfy cozy and warm in her new velour pants and top, and darned cute all in pink.  M from Spain commented as she laughed when she saw what Mr. Baby was wearing "all pink!", yep I get to select the clothing and colours while I can.  It's a rare day these days when I can pick out what Ciera is going to wear, she certainly has her own opinions on her clothing.

 

Mr. Baby was introduced today to several new things….Batman, Spiderman (both of whom she just wanted to chew on) and "TV".  Ciera was quietly laying on the floor beside me watching "Bolt" and Mr. Baby was sitting on my lap facing it and she was mesmerized by it.   Although I doubt "Bolt" is the best thing for an almost 9 month old to watch, but hopefully she won't be scared for life from it.

 

Today's pictures are:

 

-       Mr. Baby showing her big sister the finer points of rattle shaking

-       The 3 of us watching "Bolt", it is by the way a cute movie, just not over and over and over and over again

-       Mr. Baby and I cuddling

 

 

And thanks Maggie, I will pass the message onto Ciera in the morning, and I will let your mom and dad know what she says.  Oh and Ciera is planning to be Superman for Halloween (assuming that Auntie Dada can find a Superman costume that will fit)