Turns out that Roman was going to have a breathing treatment and we wouldn't be able to see him after that. But they would bring him out to see us. By law, we HAVE to spend time with him before we can accept him to be adopted. We were required to wear masks over our mouth and nose at all times.

When the nurse brought Roman through the door for the first time - my heart, ah, all my insides - melted into a puddle. There he was! The boy of the pictures! We went into an adjoining room where there was a changing table. The nurses "introduced" us to him, then left us alone. I took Roman's little hands and tried to make faces with just my eyebrows - he grinned at me. Doug picked him up first and Roman just settled right in on his shoulder.

He was teething, so was trying to put everything in his mouth. He liked Doug's finger best. We took pictures and basically just kept touching him, trading him between us; when not holding him, just playing with his feet and hands. Amazing.

He had a rolled-up receiving blanket as a diaper, and the outfit was worn through at the toes. For being sick and wheezy, he was still in a pleasant mood. He was a little tired, I'd say, he kept wiping his eyes. We had only about 15 minutes with him but I remember every moment. There was no doubt, even then, that he was ours.

While we were with Roman, the nurse told Helen that she knew the birthmother personally - she had partied with both birthmom and birthdad over New Year's Eve. They were still friends. The nurse then told us later to remember to tell Roman that she "loved him very, very much." We said we'd be sure to.

Helen reported to us later that Dad was a Tartar (or Tatar, as it's officially spelled) and most likely Muslim (as apparently most Tatars are), so he would be unable to admit to fathering a child with a Russian Orthodox girl, much less support her. So that would explain why he was relinquished.

Tatars, by the way, are mostly Mongolian or Kazakh; they are a mix of 3 different tribes, but nowadays when being referred to, Russians mean it to be of Asian origin. Their written language is based on Arabic, and their original verbal language was Turkic in origin.

Anyway, Roman went out to get a breathing treatment. It was suggested to us by a nurse that it would be much healthier if Roman had diapers. Could we get some? Of course. And if we wanted to get him a teether toy, that would be fine too. Then we had a chance to see the doctor at the hospital, which was nice - he reassured us that with treatment and antibiotics, Roman would be fine. The air is bad and as soon as we can get him to "a better climate" he would be fine. "The ecology is bad here" we kept hearing. Meaning, the copper byproducts being spouted into the air aren't good for little lungs!

We bought diapers and a teething toy, and returned to the hospital. We were encouraged to come the next day. Helen advised us to bring something the next day - "cheesecake would be a treat." She explained that technically it is against the law for them to let visitors into the Infectious Disease wing (read - contagious) but they would turn a blind eye to our visit if we brought a temptation.

Cheesecake has been introduced within the last year and apparently Russians just love it. Nurses' salaries are very low and Helen pointed out they would never be able to afford it on their own. To us, it was only a few dollars. We bought that, some coffee, and a box of chocolates.

For the rest of the afternoon, Helen took us to a new shopping mall in Ekat. The whole thing had been opened in the last 3 years (part by part) and held a lot of neat stores. We did some more shopping and ate lunch. We tried a "blini", a pancake type substance stuffed with anything imaginable. Mine was meat and onions. Doug's was stuffed with meat, mushrooms, and cheese. We're not exactly sure what type of "meat" it was though.

We went to a German restaurant with Dan that night for dinner. Jeanine was feeling really sick and emotionally drained, so just the three of us went. It was good - the menu was partially in English, and "Heineken" is the same in any language.

On Wedn. we were able to see Roman again, and then we'd be doing some paperwork before we flew back to Moscow.