We have Sean.

We made to Almaty after an extended flight. The initial flight from O’Hare to London was supposed to be 7 ½ hours and turned out to be more like a 9 hour flight due to fog. Our flight from London to Almaty was pretty uneventful but for some reason or other it took off an hour late. We got off the plane at about 4:00am and didn’t get to our place until 5:30am. They lost our stroller. If they were going to lose anything that is what we would have wanted because we didn’t bring our good stroller we brought a $12.oo umbrella stroller. We are supposed to get it on Tuesday.

Before we left from Chicago we were told that the hotel that we wanted to stay at was booked and that we wouldn’t find out where we were staying at until we arrived. Our driver told us that all the hotels were booked because there is a convention in town so we would stay at an apartment. We were really pleasantly surprised at how nice it is. It is also located in the center of Almaty. There is a big shopping mall only about two blocks from our apartment. We already took two trips there today.

Our driver told us on the way to our apartment that Sean would be arriving in Almaty at 10:20am. He told us that another driver would pick him up and bring him here. We asked if we could be picked up so that we could see him come off the plane and we were told “No”. Normally this would have bothered us but being so tired and learning how things work in Kazakhstan reminded us that it does no good to get upset. So we just waited at our apartment and got some rest.

We couldn’t wait to see Sean and to see if he would remember us so we were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him to arrive. Finally a car pulled up and was looking at the addresses. We figured it must be Sean but we couldn’t see who was in the back seat. The driver figured out it was the right place and opened up the back seat at out came the doctor and Sean. We waited for them at the front door. They pretty much just handed him over and left. He definitely remembered us. He was tired from just waking up but mustered up enough energy to give us a few smiles. Mama’s faucet turned on, and I even think that there was a few tears in Papa’s eyes. It was complete relief to have him in our arms again.

He has been very inquisitive, extremely good, and has loved the food that we have given him so far. We had to resort to something that we said we would never do but had to because of our situation. We didn’t bring a Pack & Play because the hotels usually have them. We are not at the hotel and there is nothing for him to sleep in except between us in the bed. So the three of us laid down for an afternoon nap. We felt like we were little kids at DisneyWorld. We kept giggling because he was being so gosh darn cute. He was talking, sucking on his toes, and head-butting his Dada. He was so tired but yet stayed up for a while entertaining himself. Finally he clunked out. He woke up about an hour and a half later a little bit confused. We think that he forgot where he was at.

The highlight of our night was giving Sean his first bath. It was so cute. He wasn’t completely sure about it but seemed to enjoy until we washed his hair. But boy oh boy does he look like a different baby. His hair looks so much cleaner and fuller, and he smells really good too. We are winding down our evening and getting ready for bed.
We are going to the doctor tomorrow morning. It is good that we got the appointment right away. We are not getting our hopes up but we are thinking that there could be a slight possibility that we can come home early providing that we get a flight out early. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

P.S.
Sean loves all of his new clothes and toys. He wanted us to say thank you to everyone.