Here are a few pix for our trip:
Sunday, May 30, 2010
1st trip to the Zoo
Aaah, it was so much fun going to the zoo for the 1at time. We decided do a test zoo visit earlier this month as we weren't sure how well Vanie will take it - so we went to the Santa Ana Zoo. It's a fairly small and inexpensive zoo. The trip was a hit and the biggest surprise was an elephant ride. Vanie got on the elephant with Jason but I think Jason was more excited than Vanie ( you can judge for yourself by your pictures). Of course, Vanie thought he was on a horse and apparently kept saying “dee” to the elephant while on here which is the Bulgarian word for “giddyup”. He is bing on pretending to ride a horse. Next trip will be the big San Diego Zoo.
Here are a few pix for our trip:
Here are a few pix for our trip:
Sunday, May 2, 2010
17 Mo's old and 4 Mo's home
Time flies when you are having fun. Our little boy is not so little any more - he is growing and becoming smarter and prettier (at least, that's what we think :-) by the day. He just turned 17 months last week the pictures to show that he is not the little baby we brought home 4 months ago (not to mention all the stuff he knows and does now, including tricks he tries to play on us).
He is doing great with his grandma at home. They have a really good schedule of eating, sleeping and going to the park every day.
We can’t wait for the hot Californian summer so we can start going to the beach with him (right now we only go to the dog beach and Vanie is totally bundled up b/c of the still windy and somewhat chilly ocean mornings).
We will have his 18 month checkup before Memorial Day and will know more about his growth. One thing I know - he eats and sleeps well but also uses up A LOT of energy walking and running around a lot all day long (we never really use a stroller when we go to the mall, park or just anywhere) so I don’t think it’s even possible for him to gain a lot of weight.
Enjoy the most recent shots.
Corona Del Mar Botanical Garden
Not much to say here except - enjoying another beautiful day in So Cal and a few nice pictures...
1st Post Placement Visit 4/24/10
Yes, it’s been that long. Well, it hasn’t been 6 months yet but the report and visit have to be completed
Almost a month earlier so that everything is flies on time with Russia. We had to fill out the 5 report (which is nothing compared to any pre-adoption paperwork) and our assigned social worker visited us on a Saturday which worked out great and we didn’t have to take time off from work. Surprisingly, Vanie was very shy around her and was either trying to cling on one of us or to hide behind the laptop or coffee table. He tried to play peek-a-boo with her after he realized that she is not there to hurt take him. But I have to say he was so shy, he didn’t really even want to show her how he dances. Other than that, all went well.
Almost a month earlier so that everything is flies on time with Russia. We had to fill out the 5 report (which is nothing compared to any pre-adoption paperwork) and our assigned social worker visited us on a Saturday which worked out great and we didn’t have to take time off from work. Surprisingly, Vanie was very shy around her and was either trying to cling on one of us or to hide behind the laptop or coffee table. He tried to play peek-a-boo with her after he realized that she is not there to hurt take him. But I have to say he was so shy, he didn’t really even want to show her how he dances. Other than that, all went well.
Easter
We had our first Easter with Vanie and it was so much fun. For those of you who don’t know, the Bulgarian Orthodox Easter is usually 2 weeks after the Catholic Easter and we tend to celebrate the Bulgarian holiday. This year, both Easters were on the same Sunday and it worked out perfectly. I have to figure out what we’ll do in the upcoming years but my guess is that we will celebrate both holidays with Vanie ( a lot of Bulgarian families do that for their kids). Our neighbors organized the usual Easter egg hunt for all the local kids and Vanie participated. He didn’t know what to do first but it didn’t take him long to go after all the hidden egg and flying balloons. He loved it and we enjoyed it as well.
We also had Easter lunch with close friends on that Sunday which was great. Vanie met our fiend’s dog, Ben for the 1st time. At first, Vanie was somewhat scared of him but it didn’t take long to become friends with him and “steal” all his toys.
Our little guy always has time to stop and smell the flowers :-) !!!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
16 Months Old and 3 Months Home - Pix
Am I supposed to walk in this...?
Ok, maybe it is fun to walk in the sand!
Yes, the sand needs to come off, what were you thinking, mom!!!
Being good a mom's and dad's restaurant
Last minutes of being good at the restaurant...
Fun at the mall - getting back to the origins of Temujin - hehehe
Finally, enjoying a meal... with a spoon...
16 months old and 3 months home update
We have been absent for a few weeks now but only b/c I started work and haven’t really had much time to post updates. Let me tell you – it is not easy at all. In a way, I am glad to be back but I miss having my little boy around me. Everyone was asking me if I cried on the first day driving to work – I didn’t. It took almost a month before I got to that point. I ended up going to an IBM Forum one of the evenings after work and I didn’t see my son for almost two days. Driving home, it hit me that I will end up missing so much of his life and before I know it he will be a teenager. How do other working moms/ parents do it? I leave the house around 6-6:30AM before he wakes up and don’t get home until 7PM (or sometimes later) and it’s killing me that I only get to see him for just about 45 minutes every day during the week. Our weekends as a fimily are really amazing but still… is this how it is supposed to be... just weekends???
Anyway, here are some of this month’s highlights:
March 1st
Baba Marta – All Bulgarians celebrate the tradition of carrying a white and red martenici. We do it out of tradition and for health and happiness. Given that our families still live in Bulgaria, we have strong connections to certain Bulgarian traditions, including this one.
My parents sent us a whole bag of martenici and of course, it only made sense for Vanie to wear his 1st one as soon as he woke up on March 1st. Needless to say, he didn’t leave it pinned on his cloths for even a minute so I can take a picture.
March 8th
International Women’s Day
It is not necessarily celebrated here but March 8th is big in Bulgaria and Russia. This is also the official Mother’s day in Bulgaria so it meant making phone calls and greeting our moms.
We will have to see how we treat this one along with the official American Mother’s day once Vanie is older. I am thinking I should get both. :-)
March 11th
3 Months since our court date and since we officially become the parents of the sweetest, most cheerful and adorable little boy we have ever met. We plan on celebrating this day as an official anniversary once Vanie starts comprehending the amazing story of our family.
Another miracle on this date - Vanie decided that in honor of his “Gotcha Day” he should man up and finally stop crying eveerytime we try to feed him with a spoon. Yes, he no longer cries and actually likes being fed with the spoon ( I can even say that he prefers it to the bottle).
March 21st
That weekend Vanie had his first real beach experience. No, we didn’t go sunbathing but it was warm enough for us to walk in the sand and get Vanie’s feet in the water. He cried at first, not knowing how to react to the ocean waives or the warm and soft sand but he got pretty comfortable very soon. So comfortable that when we went to the beach a week later, he screamed his lungs out when we didn’t let him in the water b/c it was way too cold.
Overall, our son is doing great, developing by the minute and just making us happy every second of our lives. He is enjoying his daily walks to the park with his grandma and just all the freedom she gives him. He’s also gotten a nice Californian tan from being outside so much (catching up on vitamin D).
I keep hearing funny stories from their daily routine that always make our days:
• My mother-in-law once found him hiding and playing in Zorro’s house,
• He keeps begging for snacks so he can feed Zorro with them
• He has “lost” at least two sippy cups somewhere in the house which are still missing to this day
• Grandma’s glasses are missing now, too (not a trace of them)
• We constantly find either our underwear out of the designated drawers or all the books he can reach off the book shelves in our bedroom
• He keeps going on the scale in our room (mimicking us). He loves it and keeps doing it but doesn’t really know what it means
• His new thing is to stop and look at and “smell” every flower he sees. “Smells” is in quotes b/c he knows he is supposed to lean towards the flowers but doesn’t know to use his nose to smell them yet. He is just so artistic and I really hope he keeps that as he is growing up.
I can make this post endless because there have been so many little things and precious moments I wish I could record and memorize but it’s just impossible. I might just start doing so on twitter b/c it’s hard to remember everything once you are out of the moment.
I will post more pictures in the following post.
Anyway, here are some of this month’s highlights:
March 1st
Baba Marta – All Bulgarians celebrate the tradition of carrying a white and red martenici. We do it out of tradition and for health and happiness. Given that our families still live in Bulgaria, we have strong connections to certain Bulgarian traditions, including this one.
My parents sent us a whole bag of martenici and of course, it only made sense for Vanie to wear his 1st one as soon as he woke up on March 1st. Needless to say, he didn’t leave it pinned on his cloths for even a minute so I can take a picture.
March 8th
International Women’s Day
It is not necessarily celebrated here but March 8th is big in Bulgaria and Russia. This is also the official Mother’s day in Bulgaria so it meant making phone calls and greeting our moms.
We will have to see how we treat this one along with the official American Mother’s day once Vanie is older. I am thinking I should get both. :-)
March 11th
3 Months since our court date and since we officially become the parents of the sweetest, most cheerful and adorable little boy we have ever met. We plan on celebrating this day as an official anniversary once Vanie starts comprehending the amazing story of our family.
Another miracle on this date - Vanie decided that in honor of his “Gotcha Day” he should man up and finally stop crying eveerytime we try to feed him with a spoon. Yes, he no longer cries and actually likes being fed with the spoon ( I can even say that he prefers it to the bottle).
March 21st
That weekend Vanie had his first real beach experience. No, we didn’t go sunbathing but it was warm enough for us to walk in the sand and get Vanie’s feet in the water. He cried at first, not knowing how to react to the ocean waives or the warm and soft sand but he got pretty comfortable very soon. So comfortable that when we went to the beach a week later, he screamed his lungs out when we didn’t let him in the water b/c it was way too cold.
Overall, our son is doing great, developing by the minute and just making us happy every second of our lives. He is enjoying his daily walks to the park with his grandma and just all the freedom she gives him. He’s also gotten a nice Californian tan from being outside so much (catching up on vitamin D).
I keep hearing funny stories from their daily routine that always make our days:
• My mother-in-law once found him hiding and playing in Zorro’s house,
• He keeps begging for snacks so he can feed Zorro with them
• He has “lost” at least two sippy cups somewhere in the house which are still missing to this day
• Grandma’s glasses are missing now, too (not a trace of them)
• We constantly find either our underwear out of the designated drawers or all the books he can reach off the book shelves in our bedroom
• He keeps going on the scale in our room (mimicking us). He loves it and keeps doing it but doesn’t really know what it means
• His new thing is to stop and look at and “smell” every flower he sees. “Smells” is in quotes b/c he knows he is supposed to lean towards the flowers but doesn’t know to use his nose to smell them yet. He is just so artistic and I really hope he keeps that as he is growing up.
I can make this post endless because there have been so many little things and precious moments I wish I could record and memorize but it’s just impossible. I might just start doing so on twitter b/c it’s hard to remember everything once you are out of the moment.
I will post more pictures in the following post.
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