Maxim Noah William Block

Sunday 2/24/08 2:30 am , In the wee hours of the morning we leave to catch a flight out of Miami International Airport . Our flight is scheduled to leave at 9:20 am . We have rented a car so that the vans we use daily are at the disposal of the caretakers at our homes with our children. It takes time to check in one at a time trying to leave the car at the no parking area and with an extra piece of luggage which must be paid extra for $100.00. The folks checking us in seem like this is not “normal.” We have packed to the max for donations to the orphanage.

We fly into Atlanta to connect to Moscow. It is Sunday, approaching noon, and no sleep…no sleep for 36 hours at this point. We are unbalanced walking tired with such heavy bags and some might say, giddy. We decide to hit the bar to get into the relaxed mode for a ten hour flight of sleep. We are in Georgia , a state where drinking on Sunday will only happen after noon ( 12:30 to be exact) and they make no exceptions. A phone call back to the house, the kids have gone to Pizza Hut for a farewell/good ridence mom lunch.

We begin drinking more coffee and a snack of chips and spicy salsa at Chili’s in the airport. It is now 12:30 and the place is hopping.The afternoon slips by and it is time to board for Moscow . If we thought it a challenge to walk and carry our bags before we are pushing our Physical skill now. We are past the point of being tired with a 2nd possibly 3rd or 4th wind of excitement keeping us from laying down to sleep. The plane is not completely full, although full enough for us to be inquisitive to why so many people would be leaving Atlanta on a Sunday afternoon to go to Russia .. It appeared in time many were Russians returning home possibly, then it is clear, business is a prime reason. We meet a teacher who has a passion for the Russian population trying to get the young educated properly. She has a missing student she hopes to locate to get back on track. She explains more of their culture and hopes to find her student. Many seem interested in our journey of adopting not only a child from another country but the child who has Down syndrome; although at the same time the looks on their faces seem a bit puzzling as they can not understand “WHY.”

Once we land in Moscow the little sleep we were able to get and some airplane food has us in a mode of minute by minute processing… Oksana meets us as we make it through customs and suggests we sleep in a hotel for the 7 hour wait between flights. Her job is to ride with us across Moscow , a little over an hour to the other airport that will take us to Novokuznetsk . At the end of this next flight it puts us about an hour and a half from the orphanage by car. The time zones are working against us so we are loosing a full day as it is now Monday with Tuesday approaching and sleep has not been a regular part of our journey thus far. Who knows what day it is but the alarm is set so we are ready to be picked up at 8:00 pm for the next leg of our travel to the orphanage.

Once in Moscow ’s smaller airport departing for Novokuznetsk the customs security and process seem loose and money talks, another $100 which must be in Rubles. We begin the security clearance to board S7 Siberian Airlines. The body odor is overwhelming as we move through the lines. Personal space is not understood here.

We are driving to Prokopyevsk, where the Baby house/orphanage is located. I am full of emotion. The outside play area covered in snow gives sign of children although the complex is behind an industrial warehouse division hidden from society. Smiles, oh so many many smiles on the adult faces inside. Ludmilla remembers me and states Max has all his papers signed off on. She is amazed at the amount of donations we have for the orphanage and that people care from so far away about the children. She comments on how beautiful the clothing is, the love that was put into knitting blankets and so many hats and mittens. Tears fill the Director, Ludmilla’s eyes and she hugs us and asks us to tell everyone who donated. thank you. We get this information through the translator. The translator states these are sincere words as it is not customary for the locals to give to the orphanage.

And thennnnnnnnnnn and thennnnnnnnnnnnnn...............................

Max comes bouncing in like Tigger. A typical little four year old boy with energy and charm. He is interested in the laptop playing a DVD of Alexi and Niky and their journey from this BabyHouse home. Max is a busy boy checking out everything. We go to the playroom where it is full of bright colors and things for children to do. Max is most interested in the stereo and how to get it to play music. He loves music, listening playing and dancing to music. He is very talkative and Alyona says it is just babble. It is wonderful to see how he has grown and all he has achieved in the past year. Max blows kisses, repeats simple words, baby, mama, no in repetition.

Time with Max is at an end for today. I am sad but know we shall have court and then be on our way home in a few days.

Wed. 2/27/2008

We wake and begin to locate coffee and pack the room to see Max and travel to Kemerovo, three and half hours from the orphanage by car after our visit. The driver, Alex and Alyona show up just after 9:00 am.

We turn the corner to enter the orphanage where an ambulance is parked and two women exit carrying a very small infant wrapped in a blanket. When we go inside the orphanage they are surprised to see yet another bag of donations. We inform them it is all the items we expected to use to get Max home. All the clothing, bottles, vitamins, formula and baby toys would be of no use so we needed to leave them where they can be put to use.

Heliena, the social worker is inside with a pile of paperwork. We share hugs. She says she saw the video and photos of the boys although asks who is the little girl with long hair in the family photos….NIKY! We share stories about the kids and then Max comes through the door. He is reserved and plays with the shinny door handle showing us all he can open and close shut doors and moves on to display his talent of undoing and doing dead bolt locks. The visit was just underway when a phone call came that we needed to get to Kemerovo to deliver court papers to be translated by Svetlana from the agency. We take about 20 minutes to play with Max showing him his new toys. He seems interested in the telephone that makes music and lights up. Then into seeing what was in the bag and lining up all the items. Max is escorted back to his dorm room. He is so cute to blow kisses good bye, gives a big lip kiss, and say Mama.

We reach the next hotel which is actually a very nice bed and breakfast style setting, a facility that is owned and run by an American business for their employees. When available they allow those adopting to stay. It is SOOOOOO much nicer than the hotel I have stayed in on all previous trips. Anna meets us and goes over tomorrows schedule. She wants to be sure I still want to continue to adopt Max and all her questions are answered.. She wants to clearly be sure I am aware Max has Down syndrome. Anna informs us we will not be going to get Max tomorrow, after court, as there is too much to do paperwork wise to get his passport in order to leave the country.

Thursday, Feb 28th , 2008

It is colder here than any day prior and no sun at all, snow is beginning to fall and to look out it is like a Christmas Card photo shot, the hustle and bustle of people walking to their destination.

Feb 28th 2008 COURT DAY!!

We leave for court, which is just minutes away. Once there we check our coats and sit to wait. Only a few moments pass and we go to the basement where court is held, a cell is in the same room, near the Judge’s bench. l am called and Anna and I enter the courtroom. The usual reading of petitions and the numerous questions of the Judge and the equivalent of the Prosecutors office rep. Heliena speaks as the SW for Max. It is final Max is now Maxim Noah William BLock.

The 10 day wait is waived.

The next couple hours are driving to the vital records to have the adoption certificate made along with a birth certificate, then to the police station to register for passports to travel.

Saturday, Mar 1st, 2008

We are settling in for an early morning to be at breakfast by 7 am so we can be on the road to get Max by 8 am. We have a three hour ride to the orphanage, about an hour at the orphanage and then the return which will be three hours. We need to be back here by 4 pm to get the papers which were signed today at vital records and the passports to travel to Moscow.

6:33 pm we are back at the hotel with Max…. he is being what the Director called “naughty” as he sees what his limits outside the BabyHhouse are.

Tatiana, his caretaker, was so sad to see Max to leave. She was happy Max was going home but tears filled her eyes. These women love all their children. Max was changed and put in a new coat and hat and mittens. Max seemed ready yet unsure. He slept for nearly an hour as we sat quietly processing the emotions of leaving a building full of angels, needing families to love them and the differences in life from what we know to the BabyHouse, deep in Siberia. It causes a pause, quiet, not subtle... to ponder and appreciate all we have. Yet there is always the sadness of what can I do?

At the hotel Max was not comfortable with taking his clothes off and then putting him on the potty he totally freaked out screaming and arching his body to keep from sitting on the toilet. Max had a shower, hair washing, nail trimming, and toothbrushing. All foreign to him and he lets it be known with screams, body arching and the like. He eats roasted chicken, salad, a pear and a cookie. He explores and smiles yet one can sense some anxiety.

Tues., March 4, 2008

Max is up and ready to run... EARLY. After breakfast we prepare for the trip to the Embassy, for my interview so that Max can obtain a visa to enter the US. Max senses we are going somewhere; he gets his jacket and prepares to go out. He insists on his hat and seems disjointed for not having a scarf and mittens. He has knowledge of how it should be. He is amazing in his quick learning through mimicking. Yeah, the process completes in one easy step. The clerk and I chat, we remember each other from my previous adoptions. I have Max's VISA.

After some shopping and coffee, taking Max out for a walk, we are back at the Hotel. Reading the Court documents, Max has DAWNS syndrome, not a typo, it is used throughout all the documents. They go on to say that because he has this DISEASE the Mother gave him up at birth (although she didn't sign the final papers until a few months ago) and because of this DISEASE there is no possible chance of him being adopted by a Russian family. They court records state because I am "a strong mature women who owns an automobile and has her own house" I would make a good Mother for Max. The Judge/court states that Max must leave right away so he doesn’t fall ill while still in Russia; thus the Judge waived the ten day waiting period.


Wed, March 5th, 2008

There are the usual trials and tribulations of any airport; the usual customs money issues in Russia, the same trouble with bags, personal space, etc.; but alas, we board Delta and takeoff. It will be good to be on American soil.