The Playroom

I think I’ll describe the Baby House, as it’s commonly referred to, and where we stay with Matthew for the hour we have with him each day.

First, let me say that the first two weeks we visited the Baby House, they were in a make shift place for the past six months while the real Baby House was under renovations. The British couple that was here ahead of us never got to see the real Baby House. The make shift place was an old building—definitely Soviet era—and was grungy, colorless, and official looking. I believe they said its main purpose was a rehabilitation facility. It seemed like cross between a mental institution (as I imagine one, since I’ve never been in one) and an old bureaucratic facility. It was located on the west side of town by the river that passes through Shymkent in the industrial part of the city near a couple of factories (I think a pharmaceutical and a tin), a ten minute drive, and you had to go up this one lane dilapidated road that was dirt road in a place and wound up a slight hill.

We only got to go to the make shift Baby House for a week and a day, that last day being the day they surprised us and told us Matthew had been sent to the hospital. They were in transition of moving out that day (in fact I helped carry a couple of steel cabinets to the truck when the two young men were struggling to get them out and needed a hand), and though it was not said I tend to suspect the baby was sent to the hospital partly because of all the turmoil in moving. At least I think part of the decision was influenced by the move—but it’s only a suspicion on my part. The real Baby House is in the northeast part of the city, a twenty minute drive, and in a nice residential area.

The real Baby House was completely different, something that looked like it was set up for children: bright colors for curtains and rugs, pleasant paint hues, large windows for lots of sunshine, potted plants on the window sills, big open spaces, children’s decorations, two buildings that are connected with indoor corridors, an outdoor playground with slides, a sandbox, swings, a see-saw, a gazebo, playpens, a garden, lots of shady trees, concrete animal structures, and even a little in-ground pool. Both buildings are two stories, and the children are kept upstairs, and we have never been allowed to see how they spend their time or are roomed. The first floor has offices, a kitchen, an isolation area for sick babies, a medical examining room, a music room, a game room, and what I call the playroom but our translator calls the gymnasium.

The playroom does have equipment to help children with walking difficulties, but they are off to the perimeter. The bulk are children play equipment—a swing and slide, rattle things, a plastic ball pool pit, a big circle climb through, and things to hold oneself up. Ok, here are some pictures.

This is outside the Baby House in the play area.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/006-1.jpg

And here are two pictures of the playroom. You can see the climbing and rubber things.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/012-1.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/015-1-1.jpg

In that second picture of the playroom you can see that that fake pool. we call it the plastic ball pit and Matthew just loves going into it. If we’re by it, he tries to climb in. Here he is “swimming” in the plastic ball pit.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/041-1.jpg

And here he is in his crawl position. Actually what he’s doing is rocking his behind back and forth as if to load the spring and then he springs forward into a lunge. That’s what I’ve been calling his single shot crawl.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/011-3-1.jpg

And finally I leave you with this picture with him near his rubber horsey. He likes to sit on that (of course we hold him) and bounces on it and moths the horse ears.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o123/virgil_015/013-2-1.jpg

So those who have been asking about his hair, he does have it. He hates wearing a hat now and takes it off himself every opportunity.