Grandma reading to Ella
Family to Emptiness
My parents were here for two weeks. And this is the only picture I took! (They took a lot more, but until they return from England, I don't have them!) We had a wonderful time together. I am more and more appreciative of their willingness to suffer physical discomfort and culture stress to visit us. The kids loved having their grandparents, and Tima was constantly saying things like, "And this is our woods," even after they'd been here many days. But they left on Tuesday. And to add insult to injury, Eric left on Wednesday for a nine-day trip to Russia. I thought I would wake up on Thursday morning and not want to get out of bed. But so far, I'm enjoying the time with the kids, and the relaxed pace of life. For the down side, see my post about getting Danya from soccer practice!
Summer to winter
In one week, we went from 95 to 45 degrees F. And we've stayed there. While the neighbors promise a return to warmer temperatures and sunshine, there's no hope in the immediate forecast. Well, on Tuesday, it's supposed to be just cloudy--the first day in a week without rain. The strangest thing is that the trees have barely started turning. Most are still green.
What to do on rainy days? We usually go outside for an hour anyway, but today I decided to stay at home. We played the 'call the cell phone game'. Not exactly a famous game, but it has entertained everyone for at least half an hour both yesterday and today. Danya dials from our home phone (which has taught him my number) while Ella holds the cell phone. When it starts to ring, we all dance to the music--Glenn Miller's "In the Mood". Fun and exercise and lifting-of-spirits for everyone!
Naptime to no naptime
Ella is still napping twice a day. But not consistently. We've been trying to shorten her morning nap so that her afternoon one is longer and deeper sleep. But I think we need to drop it entirely. The only problem is that we usually do school during that hour and a half. I hope to replace is with playpen time, but she's never done that well. So, who knows how that will go! Just now, she was quiet for about 30 minutes, so I guess it was a short nap.
Naptime to no naptime, version 2.o
For the last 6 months, Tima has shown signs of dropping his nap, but last week we made it official. I've been worried about this transition, but so far, it's still working for me to rest. He spends half an hour in my bed reading while I stay in the living room and have a mental break. Then I let him get up and play quietly (with Danya when he's not at soccer) while I sleep. And bedtime is now much quicker!
Tima working on his computer during naptime.
The boys' creation while I was resting. It was quite the feast!
Breastmilk to SoymilkAlthough she's dug in her heels to drop the previous feedings, Ella surprised us by forgetting about her dinner time feeding for the last three days. And I didn't remind her! So now, she's down to only a morning feeding. And in the past, when I slept in, she did fine to eat breakfast and drink from a cup. So the plan is that after Eric returns next week, I'll sleep in for a week (maybe two...:) and she'll drop the feeding with no fussing. This is made possible largely by the rice milk powder my parents brought from the States. At $1 a gallon, it's much more feasible to give her than the $16 a gallon soymilk we can buy here!
Ella happily drinking soy/rice milk.
Baby to Toddler
It's hard to remember all the ways Ella is developing. Yesterday, she started saying, "Wa-wa" for water, and "Ye-ne" which means our neighbor Lena. She's mimicking more and more words, especially as she points to facial features. Her words are very imprecise, but now recognizable.
