Phoebe's first steps and first theft!

Hi again, All,
We thought we ought to mention that Phoebe (15 months) took her first steps yesterday morning in Luba's orphanage. She walked several steps in a row on two different bouts. She is now officially a walker! She is also officially a thief. We had to go get a document notarized yesterday afternoon. Phoebe was getting a little worn out at the notary's office and started crying. One of the nice ladies there brought her a stuffed animal (pig) to calm her down. It worked, and Phoebe hugged it tightly. So tightly, in fact, that she managed to smuggle it out of the office and into the taxi before we realized it. Now we have to take a trip back to the notary at some point to return the stolen goods... :-)

By the way, the purpose for going to the notary was to generate the formal letter stating that we are adopting Luba. We still have to go to court, etc., but it is a done deal as far as we are concerned, in case that wasn't abundantly apparent already!

On another front, at the risk of sounding boastful, I must say that the Russian I learned before coming here has proven very helpful. I have managed to take a couple taxi rides without our interpreter, have asked for directions to a store where I could find bananas, have gone grocery shopping, have managed a visit to Luba's orphanage by myself, etc. On top of that, I am able to communicate with Luba a decent amount, which has been nice.

Before I forget, please do pray for Tara. She is still sleeping awfully. Last night she only slept 2-3 hours again and ended up having to miss our first visit with Luba today as a result. That is why I went with just our two girls this morning...

Bye for now,
Josh