Keeping up with the Joneses

We had our usual morning today, but we tried to get moving a little quicker to make sure we got a walk in before lunch. We stopped in at the mosque mall to a kids clothing store to look for some pants for Max. We have been rotating two pairs of pants since the others we brought were just too big in the waist. We found a pair that were like sweatpants (just like his other two pairs, but at least now we have three pairs to get into the rotation). Then we went to the farmer's market for some fruit. We bought bananas, apples, some grapes, and an orange, then headed back to the apartment by way of the other market so we could get some sodas and ice cream (of course).

After lunch, Max took a longer than usual nap, although we're not sure when he actually woke up. We heard him babbling in the bedroom instead of crying, so he might have been awake and amusing himself for a little while. After his nap, we met the Joneses at the park by the stadium and walked around for a while. Marina was very cute in her Russian scarf and she was very sweet with Max. You can see in the first photo how much taller she is than Max (but of course she is two years older and big for her age).

We all then walked to Kemer for dinner with a plan to get hot chocolate afterward. Dinner was very nice and delicious as always. Max LOVED him some mashed potatoes (although he was eating constantly from the moment we sat down...graham crackers, animal crackers, bread). Alan made several comments throughout dinner that he couldn't believe how much Max could eat. Since dinner went until about 7:45, we decided to postpone hot chocolate to another night and we headed home. Max went to sleep pretty easily tonight, so we're glad he is getting into a new routine with us (of course, that will be disrupted as soon as we leave for Almaty).

One observation....We have noticed that people have tended to be more friendly to us now that we have Max with us. We still get lots of stares since we're Americans, but we also sometimes get smiles and even some locals who try to strike up a conversation with us (Jonathan and Shannon...did you notice this to be the case when you got custody of Dmitri?).

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to go back to the Sulpak market. When we went last time, we pretty much rushed in and rushed out since we were just there for the stroller and crib, so we're looking forward to a leisurely shopping experience.