Block Party

Home Owners Association here, at Avent West neighborhood, is very different from what we had in Florida. First of all, it's 100% voluntery. The membership fee is $30.00 - a year! And noone tells you what to do and what not to do. Sure, there's no community pool or golf course or gym or some such thing. But there is a book club, a baby-sitting co-op, other special-interests groups. The side-walks are everywhere, yards are clean and houses - well-kept, playgrounds - safe; it seems that people live here for generations and all know each other. In short, it is a very pleasant older neighborhood that we live in. And they have an annual neighborhood party!

This year's party was a short walk from our house, at Valerie Drive cul-de-sac. The entire cul-de-sac was blocked off from traffic. There was a small band playing, some entertainment for kids, and a tent with all different foods. Most everyone brought either a dessert or a side dish and there were also hot-dogs and BBQ. More experienced neighbors brought chairs and coolers with wine and beer. As for Chris and I, we sat on a grass in one of the front-yards. But mostly we walked around since Mark didn't like standing still. We met my playdate pal Melanie and her husband, Will and their relatives and friends. They were wise in the ways of block parties and brought beer and wine that they shared with us (well, with Chris). And there were so many children there! Kids of all ages, from a few months to teenagers, vastly outnumbered adults. It seems that each family here has at least 2-3 kids!

And speaking of children... Mark is learning new things every day, it seems. He's a very talkative fellow now - says all his "hoooo, heeee, haaaa, neee, gaaa" and such very loudly and one after another. These are his happy sounds; he usually smiles right before or after saying them. His unhappy sound is still a loud cry, but now it is even higher-pitched and insistant than ever. He spends a lot of time in a semi-sitted position, proped on the pillows or on our knees. And he looks at pages of different books that we show him. Another thing that he's quite proficient now is rolling from his back to his side when properly motivated. It is funny to watch because he swings his legs to give him the momentum. Finally, Mark started waking up with a big stretch and an even bigger smile and he smiles before going to bed too. But it is very hard to catch him smiling for the camera. He usually pretends to be very serious when photographed.

Hooray-Hooray! It's my first Mother's Day!!!

How exciting - my very first Mother's Day when, instead of giving, I'm finally doing some getting! Chris is an absolute darling about it. He thought of two great gifts for me; but I'll talk about it a bit later.

This has actually been the most fun weekend in a very long time. Finally, we didn't have pressing engagements, finals, Army, etc, etc. We even skipped some of the housework; it can wait until later this week. Instead, last morning we braved a thunderstorm and went to the Farmers' Market. Finally, I had strawberries that not only looked good and were fully ripe, but actually tasted like a fresh-picked berry should - sweet and tart and very juicy and warm! We bought tons of strawberries, some spring onions and chard; Chris also bought goat chevre (it's a kind of soft cheese - yummy).

Then we came home to refuel. Some of us also needed to change (hint: neither myself nor Chris). The rain stopped and it got very hot. So we decided to get out of our immediate neighborhood, explore a bit of Raleigh, and do our shopping - at the Briar Creek Plaza. We drove and drove and drove and then we shopped a bit. And then, just as I thought nothing exciting would happen, we stumbled upon the HomeGoods store! What a find! Tons of goodies and cheap, too! So I shopped to my heart's content, something I practically never do. I bought a couple of good cutting boards, a ceramic baking dish, and a very pretty utensils holder for my kitchen, all for just over $30.00 We had to hurry back to the car because a huge and scary thunder storm was moving in; so I didn't have time to look at home decor and bed and bath section... will have to go back soon

And in the evening I got my first gift - a beautiful painting that Mark painted for me with my and Chris's help. You see, Chris got this smashing idea of getting some finger-paint and some crafts paper so Mark could make his own little gift for me. His favorite giraffe agreed to be the model. The technique chosen by my son was abstract expressionism, somewhat along the lines of Pollock and Kandinsky. My other gift, this one from Chris, was of a hot-pink iPod Nano. I named it "Mama-Bear", if you want to know.

Today we did some shopping and went on a little stroll on the grounds of the Meredith College. And then we grabbed some Ben&Jerry ice-cream. And now we're back home. I'm going to cook a dinner of veggies and eggs and a rubarb and strawberry crisp - dishes that lifted from Barbara Kingslover's book - and then we'll watch a movie. Happy Mother's Day to y'all!

Parents' Visit - May

Another month brings another visit from my parents. Idiosyncratic as they are, they are always welcome here, invitation or not. As a matter of fact, I would prefer for them to move down here altogether and not because they'd make a babysitting search unnecessary.

How cool would it be to live close enough to them to have a weekly family gathering like the one we had last weekend? Ok-ok, so maybe a whole weekend would be too much, but 2-3 hours on a nice spring Sunday afternoon would be perfect. Plus they'd provide a much-needed Russian-speaking environment to develop Mark's bilingualism. Of course, Chris and I won't be without benefits - a child-free date once a week would be almost guaranteed.

So I spend better part of each visit enticing them to move. I casually flip through the Real Estate and Job Classifieds sections of our local News&Observer. I take Mom on long walks in the neighborhood carefully planned to showcase our most picturesque front yards and the houses with vegetable gardens in the back. I talk to Dad about beautiful weather in the mountains. And of course, I even had a perfect location picked out for their future move - a small house in one of the newer developments. It'd be small and new enough for the two of them to maintain. It would have a small yard for Mom's tomatoes. And it would be in a community with all the wonderful amenities such as a golf course and a swimming pool.

But for now, they are still residents of Rockland County, NY. And they try their hardest to make it here for a day or two about once a month. This time they arrived on Saturday afternoon. I had my digital camera fully charged - Mom is a total shutterbug when it comes to taking pictures of Mark or neighborhood flowers. As usual, Dad felt very nervous at first about holding Mark. He would freak out every time Mark would even attempt to cry. But quickly enough things settled down - Mark got used to his grandparents, they got used to his kvetching, Xander got his share of attention (finally), Mom started taking over the kitchen, and Dad - taking over Chris' laptop.

On Sunday, Mom and I went to the JC Raulston Arboretum. I'd never been there before even though it's just minutes away from the house. It's a wonderful place - small enough to not feel rushed or overwhelmed and loaded with various plants and theme gardens. After a short stay there Mark got hungry and cranky and we went back home. In the evening, I cooked my gourmet meal (see one of the posts) and we all spent the rest of the day taking turns holding Mark and taking his pictures (he must've felt like a big celebrity).

Making Children Books

One day I read something on the news about this guy that climbed a 30-foot tall tree to retrieve his very expensive parrot. I didn't say he retrieved it, just tried. Instead, he fell down and had to be treated for bumps and bruises. Almost immediately, I came up with a little story that I told Mark. Since he's too little to understand or remember it, I wanted to write it down. Then I decided that if I make it into a scrapbook-style storyboard and somehow introduce my parents and Mark as main (and really the only) characters, it'd make a fine gift for Dad. That was back in late March. I just finished the project this weekend and only because Mom and Dad were visiting and spending enough time with their grandson to allow some spare time for me. The book is entirely in Russian. But here are the snap-shots of each page along with the translation.

Once upon a time there lived Grandpa and Grandma. They were having a good life and getting on each other's nerves just a little bit, but not too much. Grandpa had a parrot, named Kesha; this parrot was Grandpa's best friend. Kesha lived in a birdcage and spent time munching on nuts. And Grandma had a little kitty-cat, Tyoma. Tyoma was red and very furry.

One day Grandpa and Grandma forgot to close one of the windows in their house and Kesha flew away. He perched on top of the highest branch of the tallest pine tree that grew near the house. Cat Tyoma started chasing Kesha and climbed up the pine tree. He sat on a branch just under the parrot, but couldn't climb down because he was so afraid of heights. "Mew-mew", - cries Tyoma...

Grandma heard Tyoma and ran outside to check on him. She climbed up the pine tree to rescue Tyoma. She climbed so high, almost up to the branch where Tyoma was sitting. But she couldn't climb down because she also got scared. "Help! Help! Save us!", cries Grandma. Grandpa heard the noise and ran outside: "What's going on?! What's all the rukus?". Grandpa set up to save Grandma and started climbing up the pine tree. He almost reached her, but got scared of heights and couldn't even climb down. It was a good thing that Grandpa had a cell phone with him. He called "911" and cried for help.

The rescue squad arrived very quickly. And with them the youngest, most handsome, most bravest of all the rescuers - firefighter Mark. "Don't be scared, Grandpa! Don't be scared Grandma! I'll rescue you!", said Mark. He took the tallest ladder, leaned it against the pine tree and started climbing. He climbed higher than the roof and saved Grandpa. Climbed again, higher than the chimney, and saved Grandma. Then he climbed again, high above all the other trees, and saved cat Tyoma. Finally, he climbed so high, straight through the clouds, and saved parrot Kesha.

He saved them all! Kesha was very happy. He sat on Mark's shoulder and kept saying: "Good Marrrk! Brrrave Marrrk!". Tyoma walked circles around Mark, purring: "Purrrfect rrescuerr!". Grandma baked an apple pie just for Mark. And Grandpa invited Mark to sit in the most comfortable chair and brought him a bottle of ice-cold...lemonade.

THE END

What's new with Mark

This has been a busy week for Mark as well. Tons of important little thing happened. For example, he finally and irrevocably outgrew his newborn clothes. Yes, I retired his first outfit a couple of months ago. But it was an exception rather than a rule. Most other clothes fit him just fine. That is, until last week. All of a sudden, onesies became difficult to button or zip up and Mark's arms and legs were poking out of too-short sleeves and pant-legs. It was clearly time to move him into size 3-6 months outfits which we got plenty of.

Mark already knows how to suck his fist. For some reason he really doesn't take to a pacifier and frankly, we don't insist. But sometime last week Mark made a very important discovery - he learned that he can grab a toy and pull it to his mouth as well. He is not eager to grab things yet, but rather does it on and off. So far, he purposefully grabbed his toy giraffe, a hand-held rattle and a stroller rattle. He is strong enough now to hold these things a while and in case of a rattle, even shake it (he doesn't pay any attention to the resulting sound though). Thanks to his mobile, he follows objects really well with his eyes and can follow even smaller things, such as a little bell, in a 180-degree arc.

His old mobile broke yesterday. It was so unfair! It still hangs above the changing table and Mark loves looking at it. But now the mobile doesn't move and doesn't make any sounds. So Mark tries his hardest to entice the mobile to action - flashes it his cutest smiles, cooes and nees, waves arms and legs, stretches his hands to the giraffe - all to no avail. I feel terrible! Maybe the mobile is still salvageable?! It's a simple mechanical one so it just might be. The new TinyLove mobile that I bought at half-price on eBay (gotta brag, right?!) has arrived and is great. But maybe because of its newness or because so much is going on in this new mobile, Mark gets overwhelmed too quickly and starts crying.

What else... Well, the rest is kind of an old news, just more of it - more of staying awake and VERY alert throughout the day, more of strange bird-like noises, more sqeals of delight, more smiles, more of all the fun baby stuff.

Overwhelmed...

And absolutely no time to even catch my breath...pant-pant... Last week was a blur of little happenings that while not adding up to anything significant, fill the achievements void.

I registered on Facebook.com and will upload more pictures as time goes by. For now, I'm acquiring a network of friends, relatives, and such, virtually bridging a "social contact" gap. Work is overwhelming with several tantalising promises - large important projects, new software, new work flow, etc. One is tied to another, so if and when things start happening, it's going to be a snowball of improvements and professional development which in turn will lead to a raise and possibly even a much-needed bonus for me.

I'm also kicking around some business ideas and continuing education possibilities that don't include hand-crafting gift-baskets or receiving an MBA degree. For now I'm going to try not to spill the beans thus jinxing the entire enterprise.

Among my more tangible accomplishments is almost reaching a much-coveted status of a domestic diva. A couple of weeks ago I set to achieve it with my Big Spring Cleaning event. It got downsized (the reality of having a very small and very demanding baby) to just 2 rooms and a kitchen. This week, I approached diva-hood from a different angle by trying to cook a gourmet meal.

Last week I accidentally bought Barbara Kingslover's new book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". I bought it because a) I wanted a non-fiction easy-reading that would not be about children or saving money and b) had a Barnes&Noble coupon for this book (a total 40% in savings!). I am very happy that I did buy it. The book is a fun read and is hard to put down. Yes, it is a bit heavy on preaching about locally and sustainably grown foods. But such are the times we live in - we're urged to pick a side by the most unexpected advocates.

This book is very inspirational and both Chris and I are looking forward to next year when we start our little vegetable garden (we are not up to raising chickens yet though). It's only early May now. So to satisfy my urge for action, I decided to cook some dishes from recipes in Barbara's book. On Saturday, I started off by cautiously making an "Eggs in the Nest" dish (poached eggs over sauteed onion, carrots, canned tomatoes and chard over rice). Yummy! Then on Sunday, I kicked it up a notch and made an asparagus and mushroom pudding (I used white 'shrooms instead of recommended morels on the account of the latter price - $49.99/lb; Barbara gets free morels in her backyard) and a strawberry-apple crisp (couldn't find ruhbarb). To finish it of, I even made my first ever muffins the recipe for which I took straight from the back of the cornmeal package. Voila! Last night I modestly assumed a crown of The Kitchen Goddess. Even my Mom was suprised at such display of my cooking skills. Dad remained unmoved however since none of the dishes had any meat in them.

By the way, all the recipes can be found on the book's official website. But don't be cheap, buy a book as well - it's a good read.

Southern Women's Show

As I probably mentioned previously, we live only a couple of miles away from the NC State Fairgrounds. It is actually a great thing because there's so much happening there every weekend. There's always a large flea market, both indoors and outdoors. And of course there are plenty of special events as well. The most exciting is probably the NC State Fair itself, but that's not until October. But they have smaller events too - all sorts of boat shows, car shows, medival times shows, etc. Just a couple of weekends ago we went to one such fair. This weekend I went to the Southern Women's Show while Chris and Mark strolled around the flea market.

Of course, I tried to look my most Southern by wearing a sun dress and pretty sandals and not looking too thin. And of course, I failed miserably, except in the looking not too thin part. Noone mistook me for a native. Oh well... I guess I better work on my accent. The show actually wasn't all that. Apparently, Southern women are predominantly interested in beauty treatments, make-up, bags, and cooking with highly processed mixes. Most of the freebies were in the categories of food samples, useless promo items, and registering for give-aways. Of course I registered for some of these. Now I'm waiting to be informed that I won one or all of these - $1,500 gift certificate towards a plastic surgery of my choice, a free LASIK surgery, or a free iPod. Oh, and I scored a free pair of Haines panties by filling out some silly survey!

In the mean time, Chris and Mark made rounds of the surrounding area (a flea market). Mark was busy attracting "oohings" and "aahings" from old ladies. And Chris was busy munching on roasted pecans. And then we all went home.

News? What News?

Things are as usual here, in Raleigh. We stay busy with work and the house and the baby. And Mark stays busy just growing up, which takes a lot of energy and determination on his part. I'm trying to create some sort of a daily schedule, which takes a lot of determination on my part. Mark still sleeps with us. Occasionally, we try to put him in his crib for the night, but the most he stays there is an hour or so. It's probably better that he sleeps with us for now anyway. This way, we all get enough sleep and Mark gets his night-time feeding.

What does he do so far (other than eat, sleep, and poop)? Actually, quite a lot. He loves any kind of bright moving things (a mobile, a ceiling fan) and follows them really well. He also likes laying on his TinyLove playmat and watching the toys. Occassionally he swats them with his hands, mostly by accident. Sometimes he also grabs them and pulls. He doesn't like pacifiers. Instead, Mark has figured out how to put bring his fist to his mouth and suck on it. It's a big deal for such a little baby. And of course he makes lot of different faces, interesting noises (aghh and coo and such), etc. He holds his head very well and recently learned to dig his heels down and raise and arch his lower back and butt. This comes in handy at bath time - we don't need to flip him over any more.

The big news around is that Mark had a first date. And yes, it was with a little girl, named Olivia. Actually, the playdate was arranged by myself and Olivia's mom, Melanie. We met on-line through TriangleMommies.com. Melanie lives only minutes away. Turns out, Olivia is only 3 days younger than Mark. It's great because they have the same interests during the walks - sleeping. That allows Melanie and myself a much-needed chatting time. The first playdate was a huge success and we decided to make it a weekly thing.

This weekend is my BIG SPRING CLEANING. So far Chris and I only managed to finish our bedroom and Mark's room. But we pretty much cleaned everything from ceiling to floor, including cleaning the windows and washing the curtains. Tomorrow we'll be working on finishing the kitchen (I'm keeping my fingers crossed). If it happens, I'll finally post kitchen pictures.

2 Months

Hooray! Mark is 2 months old! I wanted to post this on Monday (9 April), but decided to wait until after his check-up. So he's really 2 months and 1 day old now :)

We found out today that he's 11lbs 4oz (about 5 kg) and 22 inches (55 cm). I was looking through some of his old pictures and couldn't believe how tiny he was - all his clothes were too big for him. And now he actually outgrew several of his outfits.

He got his gift a bit early. It was a TinyLove SuperDelux playmat. He seems to enjoy it, although his mobile is still a clear favorite. Mark also holds his head very well (even though it accounts for almost 1/3 of his body weight - a big noggin'). When we hold him upright, he doesn't even care for us to support his head. And when we lay him on his stomach, he can hold it at about 45-degree angle for several seconds. He's as cranky as ever, but he also smiles when in a good mood. A couple of days ago we gave him a binky (pacifier) and it seemed to work - the crying stopped. However, he's not too fond of it. We don't mind it too much - fewer bad habits to break later on. We're still struggling with making him sleep in his crib at night.

Today he'll be sleeping with us though because he also got a series of shots today. One shot was actually given orally in form of drops. But the other three were for real and they probably hurt too. But Mark was a real trooper - he only cried a little bit on his last shot and then calmed down right away. Of course, he's crankier than normal tonight so we don't want to make him feel any more uncomfortable.

Oh, in other news, last Sunday we went to the Raneissance Fair at the Fairgrounds. It was Easter Sunday, so there weren't that many people. Still, it was a busy place. We spent 4 hours there walking around. So first we stopped by the Queen's court and watched her knight little boys and girls (beats shacking Easter Bunny's paw!). Then we watched a magician, a team of acrobats, a dulcimer player. Slowly we made it to the other side of the fair just in time to see some sword fighting. Chris really got into this one. It took some effort to lead him away and to a tent with different crafts and period costumes for sale. Of course, there was tons of different food there. At first I wanted a funnel cake, but they just didn't look right (couldn't compare with the ones sold in Daytona). So we settled for fish and chips. By the way, not a single vendor was selling turkey legs - a big mistake! At the end of the day we watched the most important show of them all - the jousting match. And that was really cool!

TGIF

Yes, it's Friday, finally!!! The week went by very quickly and wasn't as exhausting as the previous one. And yet we're all tired and looking forward to this weekend. A lot of small stuff happened this week:

Home improvements are moving along nicely. The shelves are up, although need a coat of poly to protect the paint. The fridge is connected to the water line; so we can stop buying all that bottled water now.

I continue my get-back-in-shape program (see my other blog). Today marks the end of 2nd week of consistent effort on my part to get back in shape. Yes, it takes 6 weeks to form a habit or so they say. Nevertheless, I'm treating myself to a dinner out at a local burger joint, The Five Guys.

Chris is splitting time between work, college (he is doing awesome, getting straight As), home improvement (see above) and helping me with Mark. Here they are working out together, doing push-ups.

And speaking of Mark... He's really grown and is about 10lbs. We'll find out his exact weight on Tuesday at his 2-month check-up. Occassionally he sleeps in his crib for several hours at night. Then he wakes up for a diaper change and a feeding and we bring him to bed with us. Since he sleeps a lot in his crib now, we put up an anti-cat net over it. So the mobile had to be moved. It is now over the changing table and Mark absolutely loves it. His favorite animal apparently is the giraffe. Mark's 2-month birthday gift arrived a bit early. It's a TinyLove SuperDelux playmat. It's totally cool and entertaining even for very young babies. Plus when done playing Mark just falls asleep on it.

April Fool's Day

Mazltov! Our kitchen is now ready and all are invited to check it out!

Did you fall for it? If yes, see the title of this post and check today's date. Nope, the kitchen is still being worked on. But the hour draws near when I can finally sigh with relief and post the before and after pictures on my blog.

But most of the work is done. The countertop is in and all the things that were wrong with it were fixed. The electrical work is done and so is plumbing. We might even put the refrigerator in its permanent place tonight. Most of the space is functional and we even cook. Today Chris is working on getting the shelves up. We ordered some from Lowe's, but they weren't the right kind. Oh well, we just went with a cheaper DIY version and I think it'll look even better in the end.

I'm totally excited about the dining area. The table and chairs are very sturdy and comfortable. They are large, but fit into the space very well. And once we put a bench under the window, it'll be absolutely awesome.

So the things that we have to finish got a bit shorter:

- paint the shelves and put them up

- assemble the bench and paint it

- hang the curtains

- put the last 3 switch plates up

- move the refrigerator and

- clean up!

But for now I'm posting a picture of the exterior of our house. It looks especially beautiful now with the crab-apples a-blooming. And they smell nice too!

Parents' Visit

It was a cold and dark morning when my parents got in their car and started driving south on I-95. Some 10 hours later, after getting lost and found a couple of times, they arrived right into the sunny and cheerful North Carolina spring.

What kind of stuff can one do when it's 80 degrees and sunny outside, flowers are a-blooming, birds - a-chirping, and everything around you is so bright and fresh, as if it all just sprang out of an Easter basket! Mom got right to cooking enormous quantities of steamed meatballs with vegetables and portobello mashrooms, creamy mashed potatoes, and spinach soup. And that's on top of various yummy home-made spreads and cheese-and-spinach pirogi she brought with her.

Dad stayed busy as well. He mostly concentrated to chilling with Mark with occasional breaks for calling friends and relatives to let them know that he was chilling with Mark. It was funny to see how nervous Dad would get every time Mark would make a sound, any sound. Convinced that Mark loved being serenaded, Dad stomped the grounds rocking him to sleep while singing old revolutionary marches mixed for full effect with old street ballads about Odessa, a girl named Murka, and the use of one's trousers as sails.

It was a surprise that with schedule this busy we managed to go on quite a few walks. Most of them were in the immediate neighborhood. But we also went to our favorite lake, Lake Johnson, on Saturday. As always, it was absolutely perfect there - plenty of people of all ages walking, running, biking, playing with their dogs, fishing. Only this time the boat house was open for business and there were plenty of paddle boats criss-crossing the lake.

The rest of the day (they really stayed only for one full day) was spent mostly at home, trying to eat as much of the fresh yummy food as possible, taking plenty of pictures, playing with Mark, playing with Xander when Mark was being changed or fed (quite often) or just relaxing. After all, everyone that comes here says it feels like a beautiful dacha here, only without all the hard gardening work.

1 Month

Mark is 1 month old today. Hooray! It's been a very short month for us. For the first 2 weeks I wasn't working, plus Mom was staying with us. That preserved my sanity.

Unfortunately, I had to start work when Mark turned 2 weeks. Some people say that it's ok since I work from home and that it's a lot better and easier than if I worked in a traditional office. These people obviously have not a clue. First of, if I worked in a normal office environment, I would stay at home for longer, at least 6 weeks - that's the earliest a child can be sent to a day-care. And then, I wouldn't have to multi-task the way I do now - raising a baby full-time (with all the feedings, diper changes, pacifing, etc) and working full-time (answering the phones, sending e-mails, handling projects, etc).

But let's talk about positive things for a change. So, Mark is 1 month old. Boy, did he change. He gained plenty of weight (our scale is not working, but I think he's about 8lbs now). And he grew too, by about an inch. So he's actually growing out of some of his cutest outfits. As a matter of fact, I'll be retiring a couple of his outfits tomorrow and yes, I will frame them and hang them on the wall in the baby's room. Mark's eyes are still blue, of course, but his hair is getting a bit lighter and looks like he just might take after his daddy and become a red-head.

All the physical changes are exciting. But the best thing is watch him develop new skills. It might seem that a little baby is nothing buy an eating-pooping-crying machine. Sure thing, he does a lot of these things. But he does other stuff as well. For example, he stays awake for quite a while now. And while awake, he looks around, lifts his head when on his tummy, cooes, pays attention to a rattle (if someone shakes it). In short, he's a busy bee.

To celebrate his first mini-birthday Chris and I got some cake (Red Velvet, if anyone's interested) and some Applebee's takeout. And of course, we drank to Mark's health - a glass of wine for Chris and a bottle of water for myself.