OMG

OK, I can't believe I haven't been posting for almost a month. This is totally getting out of hand! But we've been terribly busy getting the house ready for sale. And Mark is not making it any easier for us either. He's being a handful, an adorable handful.

So here's a quick update. Yes, we're still selling the house. We haven't put it up for sale yet (even though we originally planned on doing it on 16 April, right after the tax deadline). But we're still getting it ready - all the annoying little projects and trying to get rid of all the junk we've accumulated in less than 2 years. So we're very active and successful on Craigslist.com and donating stuff left and right. When the house is finished, I'll post pictures and maybe even a short clip.

Hey, guess what - we sold Mark's crib! Yes, it was simply not working out for us. And he hated it too. So long, crabby crib. Now we're trying the Montessori approach - we bought a twin mattress and put it on the floor in Mark's room. We only did it a couple of days ago. So he hasn't slept there yet, but we're working on it. At least he doesn't mind sitting there and playing unlike with the crib. We're down to 2 nursings a day and even down to 1 on good days. And he now naps a couple of times a day for about an hour each time; that's really nice!

We're working with the phys. therapist. So far we've only had 2 sessions, but Mark's already learned how to sit up from laying down on his back or on his tummy. That's huge! He also walks very well holding just 1 finger. He could totally stand and walk on his own, but he refuses to. That's ok, we'll work on his confidence too. He babbles all the time - very talkative. Most of it is nonsense to us, except for some very distinct ones - "eto", "mama", "dai", "da", "na" - all Russian and all appropriately used. He understands a lot of things now, especially "no" which he utterly ignores while grinning ear-to-ear.

New things he started doing now - holding 1 hand, he can bend over and pick up an object. He can dump objects out of a container and then put some of them back (he's been doing that for a while). He "reads" his picture book by pointing to different objects in it, saying "eto", and waiting for me to name it. And he tries to feed himself from the spoon. Actually, he absolutely insists on feeding himself, which is very funny to watch - he either stabs the food with the spoon or drags the spoon across the surface of the bowl and then puts it into his mouth. Feeding times get messier and messier.