Botakoz Room #3

My daughter currently lives in Botakoz baby house, room number 3.  "Botakoz" means camel's eye, and this can be seen in the picture I have posted of the baby house logo.  Room number 3 consists of a crib room with 12 cribs, a communal room for playing and eating, a small storage room where we leave our coats and bags, and a bathroom.  Every day, I arrive at 10 am, punch in the code to the external door lock, take off my shoes at the door and put on slippers (as is required), go to room number 3, greet the other adoptive parents and the caregivers, wash my hands, retrieve A from her crib (#12) and then feed her the mid-morning meal, which consists of baby cereal and juice.  They eat five times a day, with different components in each meal, and I am there for two of these meals - at 10 am and 2 pm.  A is a very messy eater, because she is always curiously looking around at what else is going on in the room, and not paying attention to being fed!  I have two visits per day, from 10-12 and 2-4 (in between which is nap time), but only one visit on Sundays.

In room number 3, there are currently about 11 babies under one year of age.  I say 'about' because it does change every couple of weeks - a new baby arrives, an older one is moved up to the next age group room, etc.  Of the 11 babies in the room, 4 have adoptive parents who have been visiting with them daily - the other 3 families consist of another Canadian woman, a French couple, and an American couple with a 4 year old first child with them.  Yesterday, two of these families had their court dates, and then left to go home and wait until their second trip can be booked.  This leaves only me and the American couple, and suddenly things seem a lot quieter in the room.  Those of us who remain are watching over our Canadian and French friends' children for them, trying to give them some individual attention while they wait for their parents to return 4-6 weeks from now.  The caregivers keep saying 'Where's mama, where's papa?' (in Russian) to these two children, and telling them that their parents will be back.

Other than the 4 children with adoptive parents, the other 7 children are generally not visited by anyone, and there are 2 caregivers that take care of them. Two of these children have actually had visits from relatives since I have been here, and these children are not available for adoption - although it is likely that many of the others are not available as well. Today I was told that one of the babies is there for 3 months because her mother is a student - perhaps she is trying to finish her degree and get a job so that she can afford child care and bring her daughter home. 

The communal room contains two large communal cribs where the children spend some of their time, as well as a number of baby walkers that children are moved in and out of during the day. Only the children with adoptive parents have diapers.  The rest are placed on potties in the communal cribs after meals, where they are 'strapped in' with a soft cloth to the corner of the crib for at least 20 minutes or so.  This doesn't seem to bother them at all - it is a routine they are used to - sort of like being strapped into a car seat!  The caregivers do give the babies some individual attention, but much of their time is spent just working through the daily routines of feeding, changing, etc. all of these babies.  The caregivers are lovely people who work very hard and obviously care about the babies. We can't talk too much given the language barrier, but they do try to communicate and treat our children with great care.

Above, see photos of Botakoz baby house and room #3.