Baby Polina

We went to Zhitomir today; it's about a 2-hour taxi van ride from Kyiv. Of course, the seats are too close together so I had to ride with my legs out in the aisle. There was also a small dog roaming around the van. Lena had a very bumpy ride on the way back. Besides a few transportation woes, the visit was relatively successful. We delivered all the baby goods we had--clothes, bottles, pacifiers, a blanket, Polina's first book, etc. First we ate lunch at their apartment--kolbasa, cheese, ham, and a cucumber-tomato-dill-oil salad. Fortunately, someone had made some ice so I enjoyed my Cola Lite with ice. Lena's mom has been very busy taking care of Ira and Polina. She had not slept much last night but still managed to prepare two meals for everyone. She would have it no other way. Mom and daughter are still in the hospital. When we arrived, we went to a door, Lena's mom picked up a stick and pecked on the window. After some waiting, Ira was finally able to let us in to this secure "family room."

If you can afford to pay for the family room, you can have visitors. Otherwise, people have to talk to people through a window (that's if you are lucky enough to be on the first floor). We enjoyed our visit and returned to their apartment where some fried cabbage and chicken awaited. We also lugged home some fresh chicken eggs and several pounds of fresh strawberries from the Morozova garden.

(After I wrote this post, I realized it was mostly about food and not the baby. So I apologize. But the baby is just great, of course. And Ira is getting used to and figuring out how to take care of little Polina. No easy task, of course. Major achievements for Polina today include eating, taking some medicine for a small stomach problem, sleeping for more than 2 hours, and getting her diaper changed.!)