Getting close to Evan (Video!)

Hey all,

Brian here. Well, we've now had a total of 21 visits with Evan Ulan at the babyhouse. And, this coming Thursday is our big court date!

I've been stressing for the past week about the big speech I have to give to the judge. (Honestly, we've been told there's not much to worry about, as our agency has a 100% success rate, but that doesn't change the fact that I need to give this speech!)

After court, we will HOPEFULLY get to take Evan back to our apartment immediately afterward. Now, just to clarify, there's a 15 day waiting period after the court date before we get Evan's birth certificate, which will make him officially our son. (So, he can't leave the country with us just yet!) But, often times the baby house will allow the adopted child to stay with their new parents during the 15 day wait. (Jen and I had the option to come home after the court date and then return at the end of the 15 days to take him home, but the cost and hassle of traveling to and from Kazakhstan twice, plus the fact that we'd have to leave him here, led us to deciding to stay for the additional 15 days.) So, we'll see!

In the meantime, here's a couple of new video tidbits for you.

Evan's been talking a lot lately, In this first one, Evan is just being introduced to the view screen on the video camera. (It's flipped around so that he can see himself.)

Evan's Image

Now, Jen and I aren't exactly sure what he's trying to say. "Da-da-da-da" either means "yes, yes, yes, yes" in Russian, or "Daddy, Daddy" in baby English, but considering the fact that his other "words" don't translate into either language, who knows.

He's also been laughing a lot more. Still feel like I haven't caught the ultimate moment on tape yet, but our interpreter, Makhabbat discovered a trick that's gets a good giggle out of him! It mainly involves putting your face against his tummy and making funny noises.

Evan Giggles

That's all for now! We can't wait to get him back to the apartment!

Brian