I set up our new Spiderman tent for Nikolas to use as his 'toilet'. I put his potty inside and read him a book while he sat there with a promise that I'd give him chocolate if he pooped before bedtime. After about half an hour of reading Jen came over for our girls' night, so I told Nikolas that he was done and that he was going to bed. He insisted that he'd go in the potty, so after a minute of arguing he persuaded me to let him stay a few more minutes. While I was busy getting the wine and appetizers, he called for me saying that he was done. Sure enough, he pooped! He said, 'Look it's MY poop. And it looks like a letter 'C' '.
As promised, he got a ton of chocolate as a reward :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Grandma and Grandpa's visit and the latest on kids
Grandma and Grandpa took Nikolas to one of his favorite places, the Butterfly Exhibit. They saw live butterfly release and had some land on them. Nikolas was happy to see butterflies land on others, but scared to see them land on his own shirt! In the past few months he has been scared of dogs too.
Sonja and Michael like to sit on my legs on the floor. This morning Sonja settled on my leg and leaned her head against my chest with her finger in her mouth. Then Michael came over and sat on my other leg, but he wanted to be closer to me than Sonja so he literally climbed over her and sat on the leg she was sitting on, in front of her. She got mad. She yelled, they shuffled a little, and she ended up pushing Michael and sitting back in the same spot with the thumb back in her mouth, calmly leaning against my chest.
Later we played outside. Just like the other day on the lawn, Michael went all the way down the slope in the backyard where he found sand and an old tree trunk that he climbed like it was a car and ate pieces of, got dirty, while Sonja stayed up with me, completely clean (the other day when the grass was damp, I had to change Michael twice in an hour and Sonja's butt never got wet). She thought it was fun to stomp her feet on the stepping stones. And she blew kisses to me and kissed my face too. She is the cuddliest little creature in the world when she wants to be (when he has full attention).
Dancing is her latest favorite thing. She taps her right foot on the floor as she bounces up and down.
Kissing on the face is her other favorite thing (on the mouth mostly). Sometimes she'll stick the entire tongue out and give a little lick, but now she mostly makes normal smacking kisses. She loves blowing kisses to us too. Michael learned give real kisses just days after Sonja did. Today, as I sat on the floor with Nikolas and Michael I kissed Nikolas on the cheek, and immediately afterward Michael literally pulled me to his face and gave me his first kiss on the cheek, a real kiss!
Nikolas is our 'big bad wolf'. He run after his friends howling and roaring. But he is not aggressive and never hurts other kids. He tries to be funny to me while I change his diaper saying, 'Ja cu da se popisam na tebe,' or 'Ja cu da se pokakim na tebe.' (I'll pee on you, or, I'll poop on you.)
Lately he also often says, 'Mama, dodji da ti pokazem nesto (Mommy, come here, let me show you something), and it would be some toy hidden from his reach or cake on the counter that he is not supposed to have until after dinner, etc., so it's like he is letting me see something important and in return I should give it to him :)
He reads his name on the wall, letter by letter correctly. He can read other short words like 'mama', 'baka', 'daddy'... When we walk around the neighborhood, he finds marks and scratches in the road and says, Here is an 'I', Here is an 'O', Here is an 'S', etc.
Sonja and Michael like to sit on my legs on the floor. This morning Sonja settled on my leg and leaned her head against my chest with her finger in her mouth. Then Michael came over and sat on my other leg, but he wanted to be closer to me than Sonja so he literally climbed over her and sat on the leg she was sitting on, in front of her. She got mad. She yelled, they shuffled a little, and she ended up pushing Michael and sitting back in the same spot with the thumb back in her mouth, calmly leaning against my chest.
Later we played outside. Just like the other day on the lawn, Michael went all the way down the slope in the backyard where he found sand and an old tree trunk that he climbed like it was a car and ate pieces of, got dirty, while Sonja stayed up with me, completely clean (the other day when the grass was damp, I had to change Michael twice in an hour and Sonja's butt never got wet). She thought it was fun to stomp her feet on the stepping stones. And she blew kisses to me and kissed my face too. She is the cuddliest little creature in the world when she wants to be (when he has full attention).
Dancing is her latest favorite thing. She taps her right foot on the floor as she bounces up and down.
Kissing on the face is her other favorite thing (on the mouth mostly). Sometimes she'll stick the entire tongue out and give a little lick, but now she mostly makes normal smacking kisses. She loves blowing kisses to us too. Michael learned give real kisses just days after Sonja did. Today, as I sat on the floor with Nikolas and Michael I kissed Nikolas on the cheek, and immediately afterward Michael literally pulled me to his face and gave me his first kiss on the cheek, a real kiss!
Nikolas is our 'big bad wolf'. He run after his friends howling and roaring. But he is not aggressive and never hurts other kids. He tries to be funny to me while I change his diaper saying, 'Ja cu da se popisam na tebe,' or 'Ja cu da se pokakim na tebe.' (I'll pee on you, or, I'll poop on you.)
Lately he also often says, 'Mama, dodji da ti pokazem nesto (Mommy, come here, let me show you something), and it would be some toy hidden from his reach or cake on the counter that he is not supposed to have until after dinner, etc., so it's like he is letting me see something important and in return I should give it to him :)
He reads his name on the wall, letter by letter correctly. He can read other short words like 'mama', 'baka', 'daddy'... When we walk around the neighborhood, he finds marks and scratches in the road and says, Here is an 'I', Here is an 'O', Here is an 'S', etc.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Easter
Easter egg hunt at Emily's:
Nikolas left the party with a major sugar rush!
Hanging out in front of our house:
Nikolas left the party with a major sugar rush!Hanging out in front of our house:
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sonja's molar, Micahel pushes cars, Nikolas makes 'angry' face
We just noticed Sonja is getting her first molar (her upper left). She's been drooling a bit more recently, but I forgot that we should be expecting molars before canines, so this was a surprise! It was probably because of the pain of the protruding tooth that she had been so cranky over the past few weeks, until we came back from Delaware. These days she is the sweetest and cuddliest smiley little baby in the world!
Michael loves pushing cars around. That way he is finally spending active time on his feet.
He imitates facial expressions and words with a lot of attention. Robb winked and him, and he winked back (closing both eyes tightly). When I say 'gore' (up) and lift my arms up, he says 'go-go' and lifts arms up too. I asked him 'where is the nose?' and a week later he already knows to touch his nose or mine.
Nikolas is making a new 'angry' face: he pulls his eyebrows in and purses his lips. He can't hold it longer than a fraction of a second because he immediately bursts into laughter. He also started saying 'Mama, sad ja pricam, gledaj mene, nemoj da gledas Sonju, ja tebi pricam.' (Mom, I'm talking now, look at me, don't look at Sonja, I'm talking to you.). If he can reach me, he'll grab my face with both hands to make me look at him. He likes to run around yelling 'I'm a big bad wolf!' Apparently he and some other boys chase each other like this at school. At least he is not aggressive and he doesn't push and hurt other kids.
Playdate at Kyle's:
Michael wants to double-check that there are no leftover unexpected things from the first year due to hit him soon...
Tandem swinging at a park:
Playdate at Emily and Coby's:
Sonja had a lot of fun playing with the ribbon, our girly girl,
while Michael sat in a pool of balls,
and Nikolas found a tennis racket (or, as he calls it, tennix):
Posing already:
Michael loves pushing cars around. That way he is finally spending active time on his feet.
He imitates facial expressions and words with a lot of attention. Robb winked and him, and he winked back (closing both eyes tightly). When I say 'gore' (up) and lift my arms up, he says 'go-go' and lifts arms up too. I asked him 'where is the nose?' and a week later he already knows to touch his nose or mine.
Nikolas is making a new 'angry' face: he pulls his eyebrows in and purses his lips. He can't hold it longer than a fraction of a second because he immediately bursts into laughter. He also started saying 'Mama, sad ja pricam, gledaj mene, nemoj da gledas Sonju, ja tebi pricam.' (Mom, I'm talking now, look at me, don't look at Sonja, I'm talking to you.). If he can reach me, he'll grab my face with both hands to make me look at him. He likes to run around yelling 'I'm a big bad wolf!' Apparently he and some other boys chase each other like this at school. At least he is not aggressive and he doesn't push and hurt other kids.
Playdate at Kyle's:
Michael wants to double-check that there are no leftover unexpected things from the first year due to hit him soon...
Tandem swinging at a park:
Playdate at Emily and Coby's:Sonja had a lot of fun playing with the ribbon, our girly girl,
while Michael sat in a pool of balls,
and Nikolas found a tennis racket (or, as he calls it, tennix):
Posing already:
First day without breastfeeding
I'm done! Michael still digs into my shirt, but I won't let him nurse anymore.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Back in FL and all 3 doctor appointments
Michael: his height is still just below the chart, but his progress curve looks good. His head circumference is larger than Sonja's.
Sonja: 75% for height and 25-50% for weight.
Every Friday after school we go to a park and now I let Sonja and Michael out of the stroller to move around on their own. Sonja hits the ground running--she is not at all attached to me and is happy to explore by herself. I have to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't wander away! Michael like to hang out in one place, munching on mulch, picking grass, shoving his hands into sand when available..., so of course he is filthy within minutes while Sonja can spend a whole day outside and even her hands alone won't be dirty. Typical boy and a typical girl. Nikolas insists that I push him on a swing (we have progressed to big kids' swings although he still like baby swings a lot).
The little ones now eat finger food like Nikolas, including cheese, bread, cut tomatoes, mango slices, etc. I don't have to chase them around the park with a spoon, yaay!
Michael still doesn't walk, but he crawls like a pro--forward and backward.
Sonja: 75% for height and 25-50% for weight.
Every Friday after school we go to a park and now I let Sonja and Michael out of the stroller to move around on their own. Sonja hits the ground running--she is not at all attached to me and is happy to explore by herself. I have to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't wander away! Michael like to hang out in one place, munching on mulch, picking grass, shoving his hands into sand when available..., so of course he is filthy within minutes while Sonja can spend a whole day outside and even her hands alone won't be dirty. Typical boy and a typical girl. Nikolas insists that I push him on a swing (we have progressed to big kids' swings although he still like baby swings a lot).
The little ones now eat finger food like Nikolas, including cheese, bread, cut tomatoes, mango slices, etc. I don't have to chase them around the park with a spoon, yaay!
Michael still doesn't walk, but he crawls like a pro--forward and backward.
Spring break in Delaware with baka
The kids were very cooperative during our 18-hr car ride to Delaware and back. We had a great time at baka's. Every day we took walks around the pond in the shopping area across the street that was still surrounded with snow but warm enough to attract birds so, obviously, Nikolas had a blast throwing pebbles into the water and making snowballs, and the babies enjoyed new views as well. Mommy enjoyed close vicinity of Trader Joe's that we miss in FL so much!
Nikolas, standing by some leftover snow from last week's storm:
The kids were waking up at 6:30am every day so that was something to get used to, but having my mom there to share the morning coffee with was refreshing that I didn't mind being up so early. Sonja has been acting strange tough: very clingy and crying for me more than usual. She constantly wanted to be held and nursed and if I moved away from her she screamed off top of her lungs and if her angry cry didn't produce the results she wanted she'd switch to sad sob. Something's up with her lately that we haven't figured out....
Sonja doesn't just walk--she runs! And she spins in circles in the middle of the living room (her new dance). Both Sonja and Michael dance when they hear music: Sonja bounces on her feet, and Michael bounces his torso, sitting on the floor.
The twins have discovered the kitchen. They love climbing into a kitchen cabinet and playing with the dishes. Sonja's favorite is the grater, and Michael loves big pots and pans that make loud noises.
We visited the Please Touch children's museum in Philadelphia:
Terrified Nikolas, sitting in baka's lap on marry-go-round (refused to sit on a horse):
Nikolas, standing by some leftover snow from last week's storm:
The kids were waking up at 6:30am every day so that was something to get used to, but having my mom there to share the morning coffee with was refreshing that I didn't mind being up so early. Sonja has been acting strange tough: very clingy and crying for me more than usual. She constantly wanted to be held and nursed and if I moved away from her she screamed off top of her lungs and if her angry cry didn't produce the results she wanted she'd switch to sad sob. Something's up with her lately that we haven't figured out....Sonja doesn't just walk--she runs! And she spins in circles in the middle of the living room (her new dance). Both Sonja and Michael dance when they hear music: Sonja bounces on her feet, and Michael bounces his torso, sitting on the floor.
The twins have discovered the kitchen. They love climbing into a kitchen cabinet and playing with the dishes. Sonja's favorite is the grater, and Michael loves big pots and pans that make loud noises.
We visited the Please Touch children's museum in Philadelphia:
Terrified Nikolas, sitting in baka's lap on marry-go-round (refused to sit on a horse):
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