Friday, December 24, 2010
Dec. 11 - Gotcha Day
it's been a year since we got custody of Vanie. I can't believe it... and yet it feels as if we've been a family since he was born.
I honestly don't want to relive that day - i was so stressed and afraid i felt sick the entire day. After a long questioning session (me more than Jason), we were given the rights to become the parents of Yvan Alexander... we got him that night from the orphanage (after a long 4 ½ hours drive through the snowed in mountains).
We didn’t necessarily celebrate the day but we will start doing so soon. I think, Vanie will understand and appreciate it much more once he is 3 or 4 years old. Right now, it’s all about Santa…
I honestly don't want to relive that day - i was so stressed and afraid i felt sick the entire day. After a long questioning session (me more than Jason), we were given the rights to become the parents of Yvan Alexander... we got him that night from the orphanage (after a long 4 ½ hours drive through the snowed in mountains).
We didn’t necessarily celebrate the day but we will start doing so soon. I think, Vanie will understand and appreciate it much more once he is 3 or 4 years old. Right now, it’s all about Santa…
Vanie's 2nd B-Day Party - Video
We had to do the candle spiel several times b/c some of Vanie's older friends just didn't want to wait for Vanie to blow out the candles... :-)
can you tell why all the boys are glued to the cake? ... They all wanted the train which , of course, was all Vanie's!
I still have to send out the "thank you" cards to everyone that brought Vanie wonderful presents.
can you tell why all the boys are glued to the cake? ... They all wanted the train which , of course, was all Vanie's!
I still have to send out the "thank you" cards to everyone that brought Vanie wonderful presents.
Vanie's 2nd B-Day Party
Here are a few pictures of Vanie's b-day party in the 1st week of December…
The event itself was great but there was a lot of stress before we actually got to have the party. You'd think that living in So Cal (even better, OC), you would get to enjoy the constant sunny So Cal weather that goes along with the heavy real estate prices.... think again. We almost canceled the park party and moved it to out club house. I think i visited weather.com than yahoo new the week before the party. Anyway, we reserved the club house, as well, just in case but were really lucky that in didn't rain for the party (it drizzled just a few hours before that).
The kids had tons of fun (even though not all of Vanie’s friends could join) - more playing at the slides and swings than anything else.
I can’t wait for his 3rd b-day part… who know’s what he will be into then.
The event itself was great but there was a lot of stress before we actually got to have the party. You'd think that living in So Cal (even better, OC), you would get to enjoy the constant sunny So Cal weather that goes along with the heavy real estate prices.... think again. We almost canceled the park party and moved it to out club house. I think i visited weather.com than yahoo new the week before the party. Anyway, we reserved the club house, as well, just in case but were really lucky that in didn't rain for the party (it drizzled just a few hours before that).
The kids had tons of fun (even though not all of Vanie’s friends could join) - more playing at the slides and swings than anything else.
I can’t wait for his 3rd b-day part… who know’s what he will be into then.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Growing up - Take 2
It’s been 2 months since Vanie started daycare and I have to say, it’s been the best thing we could have done for him. Yes, it’s expensive (“Kinder Care” is probably one of the most expensive ones we’ve come across so far) but they are flexible (6:30AM to 6:30PM although you can only leave your child for up to 10 hours) and they truly are professionals.
Vanie has been officially moved from the infant group to the “Two’s” group where he is the youngest one – I hope the older kids are a good influence. I am most excited about the potty training classes they have. The director told me they won’t start training him until she and I decide he is ready and let me tell you, he is not ready L!
His vocabulary has exploded over the last month and his speech is improving by the day!
“fis” has slowly turned into “fish” (fish)
“Nanie” into “Vanie” (Vanie)
“I au ah” into “I lau yah” (I love you)
“Panie” into “Pider” (Spider)
“Tolly” into “Solly” (Sorry)
“Vava” into “voda” (voda = water in Bulgarian) (needless to say that it does come out as “vodka” sometimes)
Not to mention that most of his new vocabulary is now in English and not in Bulgarian. He is also repeating pretty much everything he hears from us so we have to be really careful what we say (especially, in the car being mad at other drivers…). It’s so funny to see even my grandma who is 75 trying to say English words to him via Skype (if a great grandson isn’t a motivation to learn a new language, I don’t know what is).
Vanie has finally learned to ride his bike (our friends Stilian and Jeni gave it to him when they 1st met him) – this was a challenge for quite a while, he would go backwards but would not be able to actually ride the bike forward so I am very happy that he’s finally learned how to do it.
We are in the “sorry” phase. I make him say sorry and hug to anything and everything he throws or hits. So there’s a lot of “sorry’s flying around the house and a lot of sippycup, toys, books and Zorro hugging going on. He still can’t control some of his impulse manners but he is slowly getting there.
Pooz Zorro is under strict discipline… from Vanie, not us. We noticed that when we are strict with Vanie and say no or not to do anything, he truns around and tries to do the same to Zorro.
Daycare has accomplished another wonder – Vanie now eats fruits. Not much but he would eat a few slices of banana or apple (food he would have spit out on the spot just a few months ago).
We are sloly growing, probably the same weight but getting taller almost every month (maybe ~ ½ inch last month) – he is still small compared to some other kids but I am not worried at all.
Vanie has been officially moved from the infant group to the “Two’s” group where he is the youngest one – I hope the older kids are a good influence. I am most excited about the potty training classes they have. The director told me they won’t start training him until she and I decide he is ready and let me tell you, he is not ready L!
His vocabulary has exploded over the last month and his speech is improving by the day!
“fis” has slowly turned into “fish” (fish)
“Nanie” into “Vanie” (Vanie)
“I au ah” into “I lau yah” (I love you)
“Panie” into “Pider” (Spider)
“Tolly” into “Solly” (Sorry)
“Vava” into “voda” (voda = water in Bulgarian) (needless to say that it does come out as “vodka” sometimes)
Not to mention that most of his new vocabulary is now in English and not in Bulgarian. He is also repeating pretty much everything he hears from us so we have to be really careful what we say (especially, in the car being mad at other drivers…). It’s so funny to see even my grandma who is 75 trying to say English words to him via Skype (if a great grandson isn’t a motivation to learn a new language, I don’t know what is).
Vanie has finally learned to ride his bike (our friends Stilian and Jeni gave it to him when they 1st met him) – this was a challenge for quite a while, he would go backwards but would not be able to actually ride the bike forward so I am very happy that he’s finally learned how to do it.
We are in the “sorry” phase. I make him say sorry and hug to anything and everything he throws or hits. So there’s a lot of “sorry’s flying around the house and a lot of sippycup, toys, books and Zorro hugging going on. He still can’t control some of his impulse manners but he is slowly getting there.
Pooz Zorro is under strict discipline… from Vanie, not us. We noticed that when we are strict with Vanie and say no or not to do anything, he truns around and tries to do the same to Zorro.
Daycare has accomplished another wonder – Vanie now eats fruits. Not much but he would eat a few slices of banana or apple (food he would have spit out on the spot just a few months ago).
We are sloly growing, probably the same weight but getting taller almost every month (maybe ~ ½ inch last month) – he is still small compared to some other kids but I am not worried at all.
Growing up ... Happy 2 Yrs Old!
Our little Vanie turned 2 this week!!! Jason and I can not express how much we love this sweet, happy, and genuinely good, and charming little man and how proud we are of what he has accomplished so far. The past year has been filled with yes, a lot of work and getting used to a very different life style for us, but at the same time the most exciting and happiest days of our lives.
We love you so much, Vanie! You are the sunshine of our lives and we can not imagine our lives without you and wish you the best of everything! Mommy, Daddy and Zorro!
Sooooo... how do you know your kid’s 2nd b-day is coming up? Here are a few clues Vanie has been dropping:
- He’s been singing “Appy beduh” for a month now
- He has been saying “two” and showing one index finger on each hand (for 2 years old) as soon as someone asks him how old he’ll be
- He starts singing “appy dudah” any time he sees a cake, wrapped present or we light a candle for dinner
- He asks “appy?” every time he sees his toy story fork b/c the last b-day we went to was in the soy story theme (so now toy story characters mean happy birthday)
You just got to love how little kids interpret things…just adorable!
Vanie’s b-day party will be this Saturday – nothing major just a few kids and friends at the local park. I will post pictures after the party.
In the mean time, it was a very exciting Tuesday. I bought all kinds of balloons, mini cake, wrapped his present and had them all on the coffee table in the living room waiting for him as a surprise.
He was stunned in the morning when he got up. And although we got him a train as a present he was most excited about one of the balloons with Spidernam (his new obsession, a story for a separate post).
We spent most of the morning with all the grandparents, aunts and cousins, my aunt/ uncle and great grandma on skype so they all can get some of the b-day boy. My parents even had a cake with candles for him on the other side (in Sofia, BG) and blew out the candles for him while video conferencing with us.
This all was way too much for Vanie, I think, and although he didn’t cry on the way to daycare, he started once we got in, he even tried to run out. Even bringing one of the balloons (the puppy) with him didn’t help. I left mini cupcakes for all the kids to enjoy on this special day.
I worked from the Newport Beach office that day (just 10 minutes drive from home) and left early in the afternoon to get Vanie from daycare so that we can do some of his favorite things. We went to the park, then off to the mall to ride the holiday carousel (we even saw Santa from far – Vanie is afraid of him), and we rode the mall escalators a few times (until I thought it would become suspicious to the security guards J) and spent time in a few toy stores. More picture posts to come very soon…
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