Greetings !

Giles and I haven't had access to the internet for a few days  so now you will get our updates!

Our little boy's name is Benjamin Victor Baker.  :)

His Ukrainian name is Victor (Veetya for short) and his American name will be Ben.  Everyone who knows him tells us what a good boy he is and smart too!  We have seen this for ourselves as we visited him 4 times in the last 2 days.  He is already calling us Papa and Mama.  We have been doing puzzles and card games with him.  Giles helped him to build a  lego helicopter too.  He loved it!

We were in a room  visiting with a Ben yesterday (the TV was on).  I went over  to turn it off with the remote  and couldn't for some reason.  Then up comes Ben saying, " Oh Mama, you can't do it, I will turn it off for you."  Then he picks up the other remote and turns it off.  We have an interpreter with us most of the time we are with him right now to help with communication.

Today we went outside to play with a variety of balls.  Every boy loves a ball...it's a universal language.  We also ate ice cream (another universal language.)   Then we went to a nearby river where he was thrilled to see fish and frogs!  Giles chased him down the path (at Ben's bidding) --when he was caught there would be squeals of laughter.  He loves for Giles to play spaceship...he gets a ride up to the ceiling...so Giles gets his daily workout.

We are in a different flat now, one that has internet access...that sometimes works. :-) This one has a mall across the street with a nice supermarket.  There is also a toy store around the corner  which has a good variety of toys and games.  It's interesting to see a Scrabble game in Russian!

The Ukrainian food we've had has been excellent! We go to a cafeteria style restaurant each day (nice to see what you are ordering, i.e., you're not surprised with something like spreadable pork fat) and the price is reasonable.

We can't say enough good things about our Ukrainian coordinator, Zhenya.  He helps us with even the smallest details.  He has spoken with the judge and has scheduled our court date on Friday.  Once we have the court meeting, we, by Ukrainian law, must stay 10 days.  Then we can return to Kiev, get our paperwork done there and then come home!

Feel free to email us.