A day in the life

Thanks all for your suggestions as to the source of my allergy, and many thanks Hector yes it would have made a scary mask for sure!!  Whatever it was is gone now, my face is back to normal and I feel much better.  Ciera on the other hand was attacked yet again and her bites always swell and look nasty so she has a combination of Bendryl spray on the new ones to stop the itching and Kids Polysporin on the now healing ones.  She's been pretty tried and grumpy so I know her immune system is fighting it all big time.  Hopefully tonight they leave her alone and the poor kid can heal, she is quite miffed that they have left me alone and wants to switch side of the bed with me as she thinks that will solve the problem.
 
Life here is quite different than in North America, not better, not worse just different.  It's a slower paced life for sure and I have to keep reminding myself to not walk so fast and to slow down, other than being at the Baby House at 10:00 and 2:00 we have nothing else that ties us to a clock.   Everyday at 4:00 when we leave the babyhouse we walk back to the apartment and have a healthy snack of fruit and yogurt and then head out for a walk of some sort.  Either to the grocery store or on a quest for some item or another (like slippers for me for the BH, as mine disappeared the first day when we left for lunch...ah well).  The grocery store by us is quite new, but in comparison to ours at home it's quite small.  Unlike at home everything seems to be sold in small portions, we bought Corn Flakes and they have only lasted us less than a week and that is with mostly Ciera eating them.  Milk is sold quite small, and I was quite pleased that I figured out my milk error, I think what I bought was (and pardon my spelling of it) keifer, I have now purchased  the "Movoko" and it's all good...phew!!!  The thing is the bag is smaller than an individual bag (from the bag of 3) at home and between CIera and I we go thru alot of milk, so I am buying them 2 at a time every 2 days!!  Everyone seems to buy for just a day or so worth at the grocery store.   What I like is that when buying fruits or veggies there is a person who works in that department and they weigh and price it so you know before you hit the checkout how much your clementine's will be, it avoids sticker shock at the register.
 
The best part is that people actually stop at a cross walk, it appears as if they are going to fly right into you but as soon as they see you they stop, and as soon as you are by their bumper they start again but they do stop.  it took a few days to get used to just stepping off the curb but if you just stand there they tend not to stop, you have to move into it. Needless to say I have Ciera's wrist in my grasp and we move across it pretty quickly, but as we cross several times a day we are both getting used to it.
 
We are tending to have dinner late, 7:30/8:00, then some schoolwork for Ciera, then bed for her, and I stay up for a bit.  So far I've read 2 books (I NEVER get to do that at home!) and tonight I am going to try and get through a movie.
 
Irina, the woman who prepares our meals, had asked when we moved in if there was anything we didn't eat...I told her fish.  So day 2 we come home at lunch to mushroom soup....ohh yeah...NOT!!  To those who know me I detest mushrooms as does Ciera, so sadly that soup went out.  The nest morning I said "Irina, we also don't like mushrooms, nyet mushrooms", she seemed to know what I was saying and was very apologetic.  Tonight for dinner it was a kind of bread dough outside that had been pan fried and inside was some tasty ground meat, and as I cut it up for Ciera I saw...yup mushrooms.  Fortunately they were big and I could pick them out, but I need to find the Russian word for mushrooms and let Irina know...NYET!!!
 
The weather here has been fantastic, we were out in just short sleeves and no jackets again today, but by Tuesday it's supposed to be considerably colder.  I'm guessing once that happens they will no longer let Mr Baby go outside.  That'll be hard for several reasons, first off I think we all need some fresh air throughout the day, and it helps to break up the monotony of the day by heading outside and most of all it allows Ciera to burn off some energy while she runs around on the grounds and plays on the playground equipment.   Irina, our translator, has been a great sport and a great help......from being ordered around as to what to play on the playground to today sitting and drawing superheroes with Ciera.   Ciera enjoys her time with us and always wants to know why she has to go.  I need to talk to her on Monday about the indoor aqua land as Ciera really wants to go swimming and I have an issue with paying $50US to go swimming at the Cosmonaut for an hour or so, when aqualand is around $2 a person, plus I presume a cab ride, but it's not going to add up to $50 for sure!!!  Has anyone been to the indoor aqualand, is it any good?
 
As I looked at pictures last night, I was struck by how already Mr Baby's cheeks have pinkened (is that a word?) up, she looks less pale now, and she's definitely smiling and babbling more and more.  Again today with the wrenching cries when she went down for her nap, more so the 4:00 one than the noon one.  And once again Ciera did not want to leave her, she was just standing at her crib rubbing her arm.   They learn so fast.  Even the other little ones in the room, they know if they roll over to us in the walkers that we will tickle them and talk to them.  There is one beautiful little girl, Kazak features but blond/reddish hair and big blue eyes, the first few days we were there she was so serious but after "talking with her", tickling her and smiling at her she now smiles when she sees us.  I hope they all find their forever homes soon, it's so heartbreaking to think otherwise.   The nannies take great care of them and they all get some individual attention throughout the day but it's just not the same.