We finally get to meet Sutton Young

Today was filled with excitement and confusion. We did get to meet Sutton, but every good author knows that you have to build to the climax in the middle of the novel - so skip to the middle if you want - but I am a very organized, chronological writer - so we are going to start at the beginning of the day.



Bryan slept like a rock for 14 hours last night (a snoring rock, but he slept soundly). I slept for my standard 7 hours - then I awoke and watched the BBC news for a bit - fell back asleep, listened to Bryan snore, etc., until I finally got up around 5:30 am because I could sleep no more. Bryan woke up around 6:30. We figured it out that we are definitely 16 hours ahead of Texas time, so most of you are sleeping right now. Anyway, we got up and got ready to meet the doctors for our medical exams. We had gone to the store yesterday, so we had a small breakfast of salami slices, bread, and orange juice.



Then it was off to the doctors by 9am. We entered the first clinic and did our labs. They pulled blood from our vein (not a finger prick). Bryan was definitely NOT HAPPY about that. Remember, that he could get extra credit in college on tests if he gave blood to the blood bank - he never could, so I would give blood in his name so he could get extra credit. I could not give blood for him this time, so he had to cowboy up and just do it. Then we went to the psychiatrist. This was funny. There was a sign outside the office - even though I could not read it, I knew it was a medicine advertisement - there was a man on the front with his hair in disarray and he really looked crazy - Talk about stereotypes! Anyway, Bryan and I were allowed to go in together. The psychiatrist asked us to sit down. She then said that we were beautiful people and looked healthy and rich. She said that as a formality we needed to roll up our sleeves and show her our veins (to make sure we are not drug users). After bearing our arms, she pronounced us healthy. The next psychiatrist met with us and asked her if we have ever needed to see a counselor or psychiatrist - I said no. She asked what I do and I stated that I was the director of an elementary school that specializes in two languages - she was impressed, and then pronounced me to be of sound mind. Bryan went in and was asked the same questions. Since it is too difficult to explain his job to them, he just stated that he worked for the university - she was equally impressed and pronounced him sane as well. Three doctors down, only 4 more to go!



We then went to another clinic and had various physicals. We met the skin doctor and made sure that we do not have any cancer - then off to the physical where they listened to our lungs and heart- then to the surgeon to review any surgeries that we had to determine if we still have problems - then on the neurologist who asked about brain injuries and spinal surgeries. I thought they might put me through some exercises to determine that my surgery on my back was successful - but all he did was push on my beautiful scar and ask me if it bothered me. Of course not, it is just a scar - Now if he would have asked if I get down in my back from time to time, that would have been a different story - but he did not ask, and I did not volunteer the information.



The medical socialistic environment in Russia is very interesting. There are no appointments. You just show up. Then you wait outside the door of the specialist that you need to see. When the door opens to let someone out, there are several people that try to push their way to the front - first come, first served. People were not happy that these Americans were getting preferential treatment because our translator was pushing the doctors to see us quickly. We did have to wait like all the others, but when it was our turn, we all went at the same time. All in all, the doctors just signed off on us. They did not even take our blood pressure. They just asked one or two questions, did a very quick overview, and then stamped our paper and shooed us out the door. We started the medicals at 9:15 am and finished around 2:00pm. It was long, but we did see many doctors in two different buildings.



Then we came back to the hotel, grabbed a quick meal, and then packed to go see Sutton. We got to the orphanage, and once again I was pleasantly pleased. There were several playgrounds around the building and the whole area was fenced. The inside was extremely clean and the staff was pleasant. They brought Sutton to us in a small playroom. He is extremely shy and did not talk. We tried playing with puppets - that did not really get him excited. We tried the puppet book with sounds. He was interested, but did not engage. We blew up a big beach ball, and he enjoyed kicking it, but did not do so alot. Bryan then took out the bubbles. He liked the bubbles - he would clap them in his hands and pop them. He even jumped several times to catch the ones that were really high. Bryan did the "bubble eating" trick again, and Sutton ate a few in an attempt to imitate Bryan. I then took the bubbles to see if he would blow the bubbles. He would not. Bryan took over again and blew more bubbles. When Bryan held the bubble wand up to Sutton, he decided that he would blow them. That was good fun. Bryan would act like he could not blow the bubbles and then hold it out for Sutton who would blow the bubbles and then catch them. We were then allowed to go outside, but first Sutton had to go to the restroom. He went by himself - and he had overalls on - wow. Then he came out, went to his little locker cubby, neatly took off his shoes, placed them side by side in the cubby, got his outside shoes out, put them on (on the correct feet) and was ready to go. He climbed up and down two flights of stairs without any help.



Once outside, the true Sutton began to take shape. He was not as shy anymore. He and Bryan kicked the beach ball back and forth. Spoken as the proud Momma, but this child has great gross motor skills. He ran full blast at a rolling ball and kicked it. Then when Bryan kicked it back to him, his reflexes were so fast that he was able to kick it back without any stops. He also played catch and had no problems there either - but he loves to run and kick the ball. At one point a lady was outside the orphanage fence and she called to him. Sutton looked over at her, got a big smile on his face and ran toward the fence. She said something to him in Russian that mentioned Mama and Papa. He gave her a big hug through the fence and then immediately turned back around to go play with Bryan. Our translator talked to the lady for a brief moment and explained that she is one of the caregivers and it was her day off. She saw us playing with him and was so excited that he would have a family. We were excited to see that he has a strong attachment to a caregiver, but that he was also able to go straight to Bryan to continue playing after giving her a hug.



When our translator told us it was time to go back inside, you could tell that Sutton was sad. He did not want to stop playing, but he did without tears or anger. We began walking back to the building and he wanted to hang back and walk with Bryan. He seemed to have a great connection with Bryan. When we got back to his area, he went to his locker, took off his outside shoes, placed them neatly in his locker, put on shorts (because he was hot), and then put on his inside shoes. He stood outside the door to his room but did not want to go in. When the caregiver opened the door, she explained that he did not want to leave us. I told him goodbye in Russian and waved. He would not wave. I took his hand and gave it loud kisses. He just looked at me with a smile. At that point I was ready to cry and we had to leave. It was a great day. We got great video of him. We are concerned that he is EXTREMELY shy and does not talk much, but the caregivers have stated that he speaks well when in his environment of others. We laughed because when we were playing with him another girl came up with a ball. She called to him and she threw him a ball. He did not want to share Bryan, so he took her ball and threw it far away so he could continue to play with Bryan. I am loosing power on the laptop right now, so I will say goodnight real quick until the battery boots back up and post again.