Sofia is feeling much better!!!

Today Sofia had more energy and smiled a little more. She does not have a fever. That was nice to see.

Today, some older children from the orphanage were in the playroom having speech class and then they stayed to play. All of them have a parent or family member who comes to visit at least once every 6 months. So they cannot be adopted. In fact, most of the children at the orphanage are not adoptable. They live there because their family can't take care of them, but the family does not want to relinquish rights to them either. So they grow up in the orphanage. The baby house that I visit has children ages birth to 4 years old. There is another building where the older children live and go to school. They are very cute children and seem very happy.

During our afternoon break, we went to visit Karaganda University. Its only a few blocks from our hotel. It felt just like a college campus in the states, except everyone is dressed up. We walked around and had a look a classrooms. Also tried to find the bookstore to buy T shirts. They don't sell them. If anyone in the states needs a job, I think it would be a great business to sell Karaganda University T shirts. They also don't have coffee shops here. A Starbucks or other coffee shop would do well. Something to think about.

Sofie is still making progress. She loves to stand most of all. She's wobbly and her knees buckle here and there, but she is up to 5 minutes!!! She does not like to be on her knees. She won't go into the crawling position unless my leg or a blanket is underneath her belly. We'll keep trying.

Her two best friends are Melvina and Anya. Sofie's crib is in between theirs. Sometimes when I arrive to pick Sofie up, they are holding hands. It"s so sweet.