Skip’s Big Adventure

As promised, Irina & Boris came by yesterday around 1:00 to take us shopping. I didn't tell Skip in advance because I wanted him to be surprised :) He was very excited when he saw me take the snowsuit out and was very obedient as I dressed him, figuring I suppose, “THE SLED” was next. He was somewhat confused, therefore, when I didn’t get the sled out and when we headed for the door without it, he was a bit concerned. Little did he know he was going on his first shopping adventure. We were going to do grocery shopping again, go find “Russian” Spring clothes for Skip, and to purchase a stroller since many of the paths and roads are now down to bare pavement with the warm weather we had all week and our options for “sledding” were limited. The stroller we’d keep in the apt. for the next trip and then donate to the Baby Home, or leave it in the apt. for other families to use. Once we were all in the car, and Mommy managed to find the one lone seatbelt for Skip (Car Seats aren’t required or found anywhere around here- probably because there are so few cars.) we all took off hoping for success. Skip’s only experience with cars has been the few times he has left the Baby Home or to go to see a Dr. so we were hoping and praying he wouldn’t be bothered by the motion. A child with motion sickness makes for a loooooooong boating season! I had a plastic bag nearby just in case…Skip was most excited once he realized he was going to see all sorts of things he’d never seen before. He couldn’t believe all the colors and objects that kept flying past him in through the window and his tentative stare quickly turned to delight. He was mesmerized by the blurs and it was fun to watch him. He looked from one side to the other, in awe…Since Boris was in charge, we made our first stop at the most logical destination – grocery store. “Okay” I thought, I suppose its warm enough outside so that we don’t have worry about anything spoiling…” This time we went to a bigger supermarket (2x the size of a Cumberland Farms) and Skip was again excited to get to ride in a grocery cart. Since the carts here don’t have seats in the front for children, Skip gets to sit in the back of one cart while Irina pushes the cart that holds the food. Boris waited out in the car reading the paper, so I knew we shouldn’t take too much time.. Skip got impatient about ¾ of the way through and began getting brave, trying to stand up as I pushed, making both Irina and I nervous – so Irina gave him something to occupy him…a few brightly colored containers of Kefir (Yogurt) Skip liked that a lot, but then the motion of the cart made him sleepy so, he then did what he does in his crib just before he goes to sleep – he tossed all the contents out of the cart out so he could get comfy… Did you ever wonder what splattered Kefir does for a woman’s fur coat? Well just ask the lady next to him when he made his toss…. At that point we very quickly finished our shopping and got out of the store before he caused any further commotion…Next stop was the next logical – clothes shopping – so we took turns carrying Skip, who was warm in his snowsuit, through the “mall”. It’s not a mall actually, It’s more like a big indoor flea market. Every vendor selling something different, a few similar vendors, but each had a specialty. Irina picked out some things for Skip and while they’re not anything I would bought for him, I told her I’d trust her judgment. I was puzzled because most all the clothes had words in English on them – like the coat she picked out that spells C-A-T on the sleeves, and says something about bears on the back – and the T-shirts that say things like “Silly” and “Tall giraffe”. My favorite was a Las Vegas Nevada T-shirt that was made in China. Actually most of the clothing was made in China and reminds me of the stuff you’d buy a places like Building 19, Globe Mills, or Ocean State Job Lot. Cheap Junk” But, if this is “RUSSIAN” clothing, it works for me…We only got a few things since once again, Boris had that “I took you shopping, you had 15 minutes, why aren’t you done yet look” that afflicts most men (My husband excluded – he is very considerate that way and NEVER complains when we take a long time shopping J ) Irina said we’d come again (hopefully without Boris!)Final stop was the baby stroller…(why Boris didn’t take us there FIRST, so we’d have a place for Skip to sit and not have to take turns holding him is beyond me, but that’s another story) The first place he took us to only had really big prams – which the Russians use here most often since they offer more shelter from the elements and can hold more “stuff” – like all the stuff you buy….Remember, cars are scarce here, so if you buy it, you lug it… The next place was the closest thing to a Baby Universe as it had 70 – 100 different strollers/carriages/­prams to choose from. We found one we liked, and Boris gave it his approval (he was concerned if we got one that was too heavy, I wouldn’t be able to drag him and the stroller up and down the stairs…I have to say, the strollers here are a lot heavier and you don’t see the cheap umbrella type. Skip gave his approval too and Irina and I went to pay while Boris agreed to stay with Skip and the salesperson who continued to show him all the features of this model…When we came back, Boris had already strapped “SKEEP” in the new stroller and was pushing him around the “mall”. Skip was impressed – another moving mode of transportation. Boris insisted on pushing Skip until we got to the car – which was weird because while he’s a very nice, caring man, he doesn’t show much emotion and for him to be pushing “SKEEP” talking to him in Russian, and telling him “mala-dyets” (good boy or good job) was an experience in itself.Once Boris got the stroller folded we got back into the car and headed back to the apt. Skip was once again enjoying the ride, and when Boris would stop at an intersection or light, he would tap the back of his seat, as if to tell him he wanted to keep moving….About 10 minutes from the apt the excitement of the day caught up with Skip and he couldn’t fight it anymore – yep – you guessed it – he simply closed his eyes and went to sleep…(and you all were waiting for a good puking story…)Yep, our little boy was just plain exhausted and as you can see from the pictures – he was “OUT COLD”… With their help, I got Skip and all our stuff upstairs and they said good – bye while I tried to pry Skip out of his snowsuit. Didn’t matter, he wasn’t gonna wake up anytime soon….I looked at the clock – it was 4:00 p.m. About an hour later than Skip usually goes down for his nap but no big deal...I got all our purchases sorted out and put away, and then sat to upload some pictures on the computer. He was sleeping soundly still at 5:15 so I decided to rest my eyes until he got up. He usually is up by 5:00 and his routine is so structured at the Baby Home that his internal clock isn’t off much more than 15 either way…until now…until this shopping adventure….becausewhen I woke up, it was 7:00 p.m. Three hours he’d been sleeping and I had “closed my eyes” for 1 ½ hours…Guess it was just too much excitement for one day – for both of us….Skip spent the rest of the night pushing the stroller around this tiny apt and there was a look in his eyes that said "we're gonna be mobile again by morning"...P.S. We awoke this morning to a new blanket of snow. That was 7:00 A.M and as of this writing - 4:30 p.m - it is still coming down. When I snuck out to dump the trash before I sat to write this, it looked like we already had at 6- 8 inches of the white stuff… Guess we’ll get the sled out again - the stroller will make a nice high chair I suppose…