A lot of temper and a little exageration

Maia was at music class when we arrived at the orphanage this morning. As the kids came towards us, she came to me first but then immediately went to daddy (I keep telling Mark that she is going to be "daddy's girl!"). It was still a little cool outside so we stayed indoors during our visit. Maia immediately went looking for treats. We had decided to try to keep snacks healthier so gave her some banana and apple. Played with her MagnaDoodle and colored for a while. Maia decided that it was a good idea to start throwing her markers on the floor. We showed her that she was not getting new markers to color with until she picked up the ones she was throwing. Well, that did not make her happy and she decided to hit mommy in the face. Away went the markers for a while. She pouted for a minute, then resumed playing. Her hands were covered in marker so I washed them off with some hand sanitizer. Maia was absolutely enthralled by the small bottle. New toy - Mark made sure the cap was on very tight and trying to get that off kept her attention for a while. It was close to the end of our visit so daddy took the hand sanitizer bottle away and put it in his pocket. Boy... you would have thought we were torturing the poor thing. Oh, yes - screaming, wailing, the caregivers wondered what we were doing. We told Maia we were going back to her "dom" (home) and she took my purse and was ready to go. Problem was that she didn't want to give my purse back when we get there. So... another tantrum. She didn't care one bit that we left today - lol! We don't take it personally, know it is expected behavior. She is used to getting her way and I think bullying a little bit, too. Stinker!

Afterwards, Vitaly dropped us off at the coffee shop we visited the other night. There are two small eating areas - here is one of them.

A "salat" does not have lettuce here. I had a "Chesare" salat which was chicken, cheese, and green beans.

 Mark had the "Francoise" salat, I think. It was chicken, tomatoes, croutons, and mayonnaise. We split a plate of chicken with grilled vegetables. Yes, notice the green pepper and tomato sitting on the plate - they were still there when we were finished. :-) The mushrooms were very good, though. Then, we shared ice cream with bananas, dark chocolate sauce, and almonds for dessert.

We walked home after lunch, stopping at the market to buy some onions, oranges, bread, and cheese. One of the stalls is a second hand clothing store. Even on new clothes, finding a label with the size is next to impossible so I had to guess at what I purchased. But, I hope I have 2 pairs of pants, a sweater, hat, and pair of shoes for Maia. This is where the "little exaggeration" that I mentioned in the title comes in. Mark makes it sound like I have been constantly shopping. It isn't the same as at home where you can go to one store and buy every item you need. So... over the past two days, yes I have done a little shopping for Maia. And yes, she has 3 hats (I know... totally unnecessary - one would be enough), but she does not have 4 shirts and 5 pairs of pants. A girl needs a few clothes for travelling - especially since we need to be prepared for "accidents." Still need to get a pair of boots for sure and I will have to take inventory for other items.

Here are a couple of photos from town.

And I'll leave you with a few more pics of the princess. The first one was taken yesterday after court - our first "official" family photo. As you can tell, Maia is much too busy contemplating her social contacts to be bothered with looking at the camera!  ;-)