Give Me Something Good To Eat

Charlotte had her first "solid" food today.  I've waited until now because she has mad acid-reflux skillz.  The reflux situation is waaaay better than it used to be, but today after eating this she still refluxed (is that a word?  It is NOW) some of it up...so while the eating went well, I don't know if we'll continue if the refluxing (see above) continues to be an issue.  I might just wait until it is gone so as to make things better for all of us...I mean, who wants to taste their food again ever?

Also, could I have used the term reflux any more in that paragraph?

Anyway, here's the evidence:

Completely unsuspecting.

Still doesn't know what hit her.

Hey, wait a second... 

See-food!!!

Oh, no - more?!?

Dear Lord, give me strength.

Maybe it's not soooo bad.

I mean, if sister likes it...

Hoppy Birthday...A Little Early

Hey, we have to take advantage of the good weather, people.  Since it was not raining today, a rarity lately here in the cold, cold, north, we decided to put together Elena's 4th birthday present.  Really is it a gift for the whole family as we can all join in the fun.


It was a family affair putting things together.  Miss E helped her Daddy (While wearing pajama pants, pajama gown, rain boots, a hill tribe hat from Thailand, and her jacket):

  
This lasted for all of about an hour (pretty impressive I thought) before someone was kinda tired of waiting and kept asking if it was almost ready.  Is it?  How about now?  And now?  HOW ABOUT NOW, DADDY?!?!?

Charlotte helped too, as you can see.  She is wearing the latest in baby cool-weather duds...and yes, the thing swamps her, but that seems to be normal for her.  Regardless she is one happy girl playing outside with the rest of us!


We took a break for some lunch but then worked some more to complete our task.  Finally, it was done:

And I know at least one little girl was very, very hoppy!  She bounced and she danced and she sang and she JUMPED! 

She wants friends to come over and she can't wait to show all of us her abilities.  Every minute she is coming up with new "tricks" for us to approve.

Overall, a very good early birthday gift, I think.   Even I've had a go...and hopefully I won't regret it tomorrow!

Blizzard!!

The conditions are like a hurricane, but with snow.  If I walked outside I would be blown away.  I cannot get out the door, so someone will have to dig us out eventually.  Elena and Matt are stuck in town; Charlotte and I are stuck here.  Since Debbie wanted photos, here's what I've got.

My view out the back door.

Usually that pile isn't there and you can see clearly above it. 

Snow between the screen and panes. 

My non-view out the windows.

Once the crazy is over I'll try to get out...and then maybe I'll have more photos!

We're All Breathing...

...a sigh of relief over here.  Charlotte has been attempting the roll-over for a few months now.  And by attempting I mean giving it her all whenever she thinks of it.  Which is not very often.  Unlike her sister, who tackled one milestone at a time, as if she had a check-list, Miss C practices everything at once.  She is a multi-tasker, which is fascinating to watch, frustrating for her to experience and irritating as all get-out (for both of us) when she wakes herself up mid-roll all night (and nap) long.

She has been so very close for ages.  So close that all I have to do is poke her one time with a finger and she'll plop on over.  The culprit seems to be the left arm...it just gets stuck under there and rather than move it she is bound and determined to roll over despite that despicable thing.  Oh, and she refuses to get her head into the action.  Oh, no.  The head must remain. on. the. floor. where. it. belongs.

Woe is she.

Today, I put her down on her play mat and away she went.  First there was some playing, then some talking, then some let's-see-if-I-can-get-my-whole-hand-in-my-mouth-ing, and eventually some grunting followed by extremely-irritatied-baby-ing.  She gets so incredibly ticked off that she is not all the way on her belly already and man does she let us know it.  I have decided the best approach for that is to ignore her and let her figure it out for herself.

Most days that has just provided me with an upset and tired baby, but today, oh, today, the extremely irritated baby-ing was followed pretty quickly by some quiet-ish hand sucking.  I walked over to see what was going on and found the following:

Baby on her tummy...with left arm completely stuck and right hand completely in her mouth.

"What's that Mom?  Hold on...

...let me turn so I can see you.

I'm so big.  Heh.

Holy cow, what IS that thing?!??

Oh, wait.  It's you.

Did you see?  I'm so proud!

Can you believe it?!?"

Men's Day; Women's Day

Here in Russia we've been having a few holidays.  February 23rd was Men's Day.  It is actually Defender Day, but is commonly referred to as Men's Day and compares to Father's Day in the United States.  Elena made a card at school:

I managed to make a yummy breakfast of eggs with cheese and toast...and Matt managed to work all day long.  It was a great "day off" for him, eh?

March 8th is Women's Day.  Back in the 1940s this was all about women wanting equal rights.  These days it is more of a combination of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day...and really not even the romance part of it factors in.  It is simply about honoring women.  For example, Matt gives gifts to all of the women who work for him.

Since he left for Houston this morning, he will miss Women's Day.  When he explained this to his admin and told her I would come with the girls to give gifts for him, she first said "Oh, no, don't worry.  It is okay; you will not be here; you can do it later."  He then asked her if it is really okay to do that and she smiled and told him nope.

Therefore, I, the woman, have made gifts for the women.  Elena calls them "Daddy's Ladies".  Yes, I realize how this sounds.  Her Papa Jim has some wonderful ladies who work in his office and Elena calls them Papa Jim's Ladies, so it is only natural that she would refer to the women who work with her Daddy as Daddy's Ladies.

I have made Zucchini Bread, Snickerdoodles, and Chocolate-Chocolate chip cookies:

Then I have managed to come up with some creative packaging:

Tomorrow we shall deliver them and Elena will tell each of them "Congratulations" in Russian, which is what you say to someone on a holiday here.  Let's hope they like them.

And now, for your viewing enjoyment, Big Sister and Little Sister: