This whole tickling thing is alright...

I've almost got as many teeth as you Dad...

Look out Bob the Builder...here comes Sam the Hammer...

Hello World!

A day of firsts for the new family!  Sam had his first airplane ride, on Air Kazakhstan from Uralsk to Almaty (three hours).  Fortunately, it was a snap for him and he slept most of the way.  As we were waiting for our luggage, his mommy experienced her first time being peed on, as Sam soaked through his diaper, his outfit, and Mommy's sweater and jeans.  We got to our apartment, washed up, changed clothes, fed the weary traveler, who proceeded to have another explosion in his diaper (which we discovered were the wrong size, but too late) and completely soiled his next outfit, Mommy's next pair of pants, etc. etc.  Daddy had his first poopy diaper changing experience and it was truly a horrific "first".  It was such disaster that we seriously considered cutting his clothes off with scissors.  Then Sam promptly had his first bath.

We have such moments of hilarity at our new found lifestyle.  On Air Kazakstan, the flight was oversold and I was crammed with Sam and all of the accoutrements in the window seat, Darrick had to put up with the middle seat, and this Pakistani man had the misfortune of sitting next to us on the aisle. Sam passed out and sprawled across my lap and there was no where for my arm to go but on Darrick's head.  When the meal was served, we decided that it would be best for Darrick to feed me, as I had complete loss of my limbs for the time being.  The chicken breast was on the bone and here was Darrick, trying to saw it off the bone with his flimsy plastic fork and knife, balance two meals precariously on his tray, and not elbow the sleeping Pakistani in the head.  The whole scene was so hopeless and we were laughing so hard that the tears were rolling.

Tonight I told Darrick that I was planning on feeding Sam pasta for dinner and once he heard the word "pasta" he mistakenly thought I was talking about our dinner. Darrick asked what kind of a sauce I was going to put on it, and he looked utterly mortified when I told him I was going to use the rest of the babyfood jar (carrots and apples) that I'd used on Sam's oatmeal this morning.

We are so happy to be back in Almaty. Sam is such a happy baby and is very patient with us. Our apartment is beautiful with hard wood floors and a great view of trees from every window.  Almaty is a bustling city, very European in feeling.   We have a very relaxed schedule while we are here.   The US Embassy requires that Sam have a physical, so that will be our adventure tomorrow, and we also have to go to the Embassy to  fill out paperwork.  That's it. The rest of the time we'll be playing with Sam, going for walks in the park, eating "Shaslyck (shish-kabobs), and fitting a bit of sightseeing in while we can.  It's great to be here!