We finally have video! Of course, this twenty second clip took over an hour to upload via our dialup connection, but isn't she adorable? In the video she is playing with a toy we brought her, stringing shapes on a shoelace. She really loves to work with her hands and is very determined to get it right, and do things herself. I think you can see a little bit of her personality even in this short clip.

Nothing really new here. We've kind of gone into a holding pattern, settling into a daily routine as we wait for our court hearing 12/10. We typically spend a couple of hours a day with her, usually an hour in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon. When the weather's not too cold, like today (temp probably around 40) they let us take her outside to play. She loves bubbles - not sure if she had seen them before, but we brought a bottle and, again, she insists on blowing them herself (not too successful, but she lucks out now and then and gets a small one off).

She is favoring mommy a bit over daddy, but does come to Steve for a short time and sits on his lap before returning to mommy's lap for a much longer period of time. She absolutely loves to give kisses and hugs, and calls out "mama dadda" or "mama papa" when we arrive at the orphanage to see her. She likes to take toys in to show the other kids what "mama dadda" brought her, but of course she will not allow them to touch anything, looking is all she'll allow them to do.

We should, hopefully, know by the end of the week whether we will likely be able to get her home before the end of the year. We're both extremely homesick and long for truly hot showers, street signs we can understand, and strangers on the street that don't look like they're perpetually disgusted with us, if they look at us at all. That sterotype of Russians (Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union too) being very stern and unsmiling... true. Trust us. Of course, I'm sure on a personal basis they can be very pleasant - Luba is wonderful, for instance. But as a general rule, very intimidating. Can't wait to see Justin and Jonathan again - we love you guys! We'll all be together for Christmas, thankfully.

Thanks again, everyone for your encouraging posts. You have no idea how precious they are to us. We'll try to post again in the next day or two.