To say that Masha was angelic on the flight home would be an understatement. She was terrific. She only slept when I held her in my lap but she did sleep and was a perfect child on the trip. She didn't seem bothered by the changes in pressure or by the long time sitting. She was really happy to get out of her seat although she enjoyed Mama;s mp3 player.
The flight from Moscow was turbulent and we were about 20 minutes late arriving in New York. We then had customs, along with a special customs detour celebrating Masha's new status as an American citizen and then picked up our luggage. Dropped off our luggage, went through security again and then literally ran through the airport to transfer terminals and finally arrive at our gate. We were literally the last ones on the plane and they shut the door behind us. Masha took all of this in stride and she and Mama slept most of the way to Minneapolis.
I cannot begin to describe the joy on Masha's face to see Michael again and to see Caelia and Lera. She had only seen them on skype but they were small and obviously happy to see her so she eagerly greeted them. Caelia was very happy to see "Sasha" and Masha was particularlly fond of Caelia. She really liked Caeli's round tummy. Perhaps she felt they had something in common or perhaps she was reassured that we would feed her well. She also met Grandpa and he was quite charmed by her as well.
So, here in no particular order, are the pictures that have so been anticipated.
A short ride home and then Caeli proceeded to try to pile every toy she owns on to Masha's lap.
And then she fell asleep...
