Amazing!

That is how I would describe the feeling I have right now! After all the planning, carefully being sure to have all the right clothes, hats, mittens, tights (yes tights) a heavy jacket, snowboots, ect...it as 70 degrees outside and Cy left the orphanage wearing only a sweatshirt, light jeans and tennis shoes!................ So I am sure you are wondering how the car ride went right? Well here is how it went....Drove two hours as fast as we could to the orphanage to be there before his nap, walked in, went upstairs, began to get everything ready and the caretaker came in carrying Sy who was already crying. She accepted my treats for the orphanage, swept up Sy and hurried us down the steps. As we were going she handed me a candy that I was supposed to give to him the moment he got in the car. Rush, rush, rush....people talkings, them pointing at me to get in, get in , get in. They handed me Sy who was now REALLY crying. I put him in the car seat, still crying. Lena took the candy from me, unwrapped it and pretty much shoved half of it in his mouth, he bit down, and wa la, his mouth was basically stuck shut! The candy was a chocolate covered sticky fruity thing that he could do nothing more with that suck on until it unleashed itself from his teeth. By that point, he was ok in the car despite the crazy driving. We made it home in RECORD time I am sure! Well maybe not, but seemed like it. Sy did not get car sick, did not cry anymore and napped for about 15 minutes. He didn't crack a smile the whole time and would hardly look at me. Poor guy. The orphanage caretaker did send him with a little bear which he clutched tightly the entire time. So after all the buildup, it was quick and we hardly had time to blink! Now here comes the best part....once we got out of the car, Sy held on to me tightly and once we were in the apartment, all was right with the world. He is amazingly resilient little guy. We no more got in the door and we peeled off his sweatshirt. He then preceded to take off his shoes, followed by his pants. He spent the rest of the afternoon running around in socks, underwear and his tank top. We did dress back up for a bit and go outside. It was a bit of a wrestling match at first but once we were out, he was very content. The last event of the evening was supper. Well, Grammie fixed spaghetti, cut up cheese and ham and we were excited for his first big meal. Well, NYET. Nyet to spaghetti, Nyet to cheese, Nyet to Ham and NYET to bananas....so we went to cereal. DA, DA, DA to that! Not exactly what I was envisioning but hey at this point, whatever works! With the lack of a nap, he went to bed pretty early. He is sound asleep right now and I hope it will be an uneventful evening. So day one is in the books and I could not be happier. All the stress just melted away as soon as I was here with him and could love on him without caring what anyone else was thinking. So thanks for all the prayers, they helped! I am so grateful to have Cindy here to experience this with me. She has patiently watched me go from happy, to grumpy, to growly, to happy again. What a saint she is! We will be here until Tuesday awaiting his passport and then off to Moscow for a medical exam for him and his visa to come to the US. We are on the home stretch! I will leave you with a few additional photos. One is a a roadside vendor, and this is his Marketing Plan I think! It seems to work to get people to stop, even if just for a picture. The second one is Cindy and I near a chapel high above Krasnoyarsk. It was a bit smoggy, but still a beautiful day.