Mark's first parade

Even though we had some bad weather Friday evening and Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon was great. So we went to the downtown for a Raleigh Wide Open festival. Besides, it was the weekend of official opening of a new convention center with its uber-cool shimmering wall (thousands of pieces of moving metal forming an ever-changing picture of an oak tree; and it's lit at night too!). Fayetville St was closed to traffic and instead had vendors set up selling food and trinkets and advertising their businesses. There were several concert stages as well. In the convention center itself we got a short tour of the place and then went downstairs to the exhibit floor because they had a huge International Festival going on. I lost count of how many countries were represented through little food kiosks, information booths as well as dance and music groups, but definitely a couple of dozens. City and state services were there as well. So Mark got to check out a police car and a fire engine (of course he LOVED both). And at the end of the day there was even a parade, a short one though.

Museum of Life and Science

Mark and Monkeys at the Zoo

Hooray-hooray, we are going to the zoo today! Actually, we just got back. It was Mark's first trip to the zoo. Frankly, I understand why kids under 2 get in for free - otherwise it would be a total waste of money. Mark wasn't much interested in the animals. I think it was because most of the animals were a) behind the glass, like the pythons or b) far away, like the elephants or c) sleeping, like the lions. The only ones he really liked and paid attention to for a little while were meerkats (ok, so they were super-cute). He did like the zoo overall - ran around for a while, was interested in trees, flowers, water fountains... In fact, he was so engaged that he forgot to take his nap and started getting very cranky. So after about 2 hours at the zoo we got back to the car and headed home. Mark fell asleep 1 minute into the car ride...

And he stayed asleep for about 25 minutes, until we stopped at the apple orchard. Our plan was to drive up to the store, I would go in and get the apples and then we would continue on our way, without waking up Mark. Sure thing... it didn't work as planned. The babe woke up the second we turned off the road into the parking lot and he was ready for action. So we all got out of the car, grabbed a couple of baskets and wandered off into the orchard to pick some apples. And then we sat in the shade of the huge trees cooling off (it was a very hot day today), swang on a tire swing and tried (unsuccessfully) to climb up the tree. Best of all, after paying for all the apples ($1/lb - a bargain worth driving for), we even bought some fresh apple cider slushie (the best idea ever). And it was tons of fun for Mark since now he drinks out of the straw.

So Mark spent most of the rest of the day running around, climbing up and down the furniture, screaming his head off, saying things like "aisee-yaisee", "woooooow", and "trheeeh" (we don't know what he means, but it sounds very important and fun).

Busy Summer

Ok, so I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. But that's because, as usual, we're very busy here. I can't really think of any particular project we're busy with, just lots of small daily stuff. Although we did go to a Mediterranean-themed BBQ party at Sean & Stephanie's and then had a little cook-out of our own the following weekend.

Mark's got a couple of new toys, quite a few new scratches and bruises, and he's kissed a girl! He finally weights more than 20lbs, but just barely - 20.48lbs to be exact. And he grew a bit taller and is now full 31 inches. He tries to run, climbs stairs whenever I'm not watching, and absolutely loves sliding down the big slides (ok, I have to go with him). No talking, but a lot of pointing, tagging at clothes, and babbling. Favorite games include chase, peek-a-boo (he actually hides now), and a game where Mark is a bull and Chris is a bull-fighter.

A couple of weeks ago I took Mark to the Russian school. It's only a part-time school - once a week for half a day. Most kids in the youngest age group are still much older than him - 3-4 year-olds. He didn't care much for learning new things mostly because he didn't want to sit down even for a second. So I had to take him out of the classroom and to the playground. Still it was a good experience because he got to be around kids and adults who spoke Russian. So we'll try to go again every Saturday, if only for an hour.

Back from NY

Sorry for a long dry spell... We're finally back from visiting Mark's grandparents in NY. Tons of things happened and most of them were very good (even though the trip began with us getting locked out of the house, me getting sick, everyone else getting sick, Mark cutting a new tooth, etc, etc). Anyway, Mark had tons of fun. He spent most of the days outside - on the deck, in the splash pool, walking up and down the stairs, in the garden. And he hardly sat down at all! I mean, from about 6am to 8pm with only one short - 30 min - nap, he kept walking, climbing, crawling, standing, and running. He was so busy exploring the surroundings and enjoying himself that he didn't bother to play with any of the toys I brought with us from home! Here's a video of a little game he came up with while in NY.

Airplanes in my kitchen

Mark turned 17 months old this week. He's walking very well now! Plus he learned to stand up from crouching on the floor, pick up objects from the floor, and otherwise move around easily. Today Chris and Mark were playing an airplane game - running around the kitchen in big circles, hands outstretched, making the "ooooo" sound.

Mark is absolutely fascinated by cars. He can spend a very long time walking circles around our little Rio, pointing to the headlights, doors, wheels. The other day I was gardening and he took my keys, walked straight to the driver's door, and tried to stick the car key into the lock! He also now puts plastic "coins" into the piggy-bank and can put a little toy pyramid together. He loves watching me assemble a tall tower out of stacking cups - you can just see him giddy with anticipation. Then I tell him "ok, now you can go ahead and demolish it" and he pushes the 3-foot tall tower ever so gently with his little finger and watches it sway and then crash with a loud noise.

We don't feed him baby food any more. He now eats our regular food, except we don't put any pepper or spices in it. Surprisingly, he mostly loves it, even the veggies (especially the veggies, I should say). Tonight he even ate a salad with olives, artichokes, and capers and absolutely loved it.

The pictures here are from the 4th of July weekend. We didn't do much on the 4th - went to the Fairgrounds for some ice-cream and music. But we got there way too early for the music. So we had to settle for just ice-cream, some root beer, and a few minutes in the misting tent for Mark. The next day we went to Durham for the 27th annual Festival for the Eno. It was very nice - we walked around, listened to a lot of great music, ate fair food, played games and dipped Mark in the river.

One Giant Step...

Mark is walking! I mean, he's finally walking and standing un-assisted (on his own, without using any kind of support). This is very exciting. I mean, he's been cruising since he was about 12 months old. So we've waited for this for a while. But it's great so far. Our phys. therapist, Tom, worked with Mark and finally got him confident and strong enough to step out on his own. Thank you, Tom!!! We'll post a video and some pictures later this week.

Here is the video (actuall, two videos).

Fiscal Fast is Over

Day 5 of our first Fiscal Fast was hot and sunny... Ok, ok, so it went just fine without any accidents. We didn't go to any stores, didn't spend any money, didn't even think about spending money. The refrigerator was getting emptier and we ran out of fresh fruits (I know, I know - not quite the Donner Party story, but YOU WEREN'T THERE!). I took Mark to the lake to feed the ducks and then to the pool in the morning. Then in the afternoon, after Chris came home from work, he took Mark to our neighbor's pool, which is actually better than the Lake Johnson pool because it has a real spring board, hehe.

Day 6 was a Saturday. As usual, I was going to sleep in while Chris was supposed to entertain Mark for a couple of hours, until 8-9am. Through my sleep I heard them leaving the house... Did they go to a playground? Did they go to a park? Or maybe they went to a post-office to mail a letter? No, no, no! They went to a coffee house (guess who's idea that was). And so our Fiscal Fast was interrupted. But just like any successful dieter would know, it's important not to regard these occasional slip ups as an all-or-nothing deal. That's where the cheat-day concept comes in. And so we cheated just a little bit - Chris had his morning coffee and later that afternoon we bought a big $3-dollar snow-cone at a Moore Square concert. In our defence, it was VERY hot out there and we did split the snow-cone between the 3 of us (yes, Mark loves snow-cones).

Day 7 was supposed to be the last day of our Fiscal Fast. Well, turns out, while asleep, we made a joint decision to cancel Day 7 altogether and stick to a 6-day week. We decided to properly celebrate the end of the challenge by going to the Gypsy's Shiny Diner in Cary for some breakfast. And since our fridge was practically empty, right after breakfast we went to the Farmers Market and then to the Whole Foods. But that was it as far as day's spendings. In the afternoon we went on a stroll along one of the greenways. And in the evening we went to yet another free concert, this one at the Fletcher Park. And really, we could've done a lot worse and went to a mall or to a Target store instead.

So all in all, even though we didn't last the entire week, we didn't do too bad either. We didn't perish nor did we go through hardship. We didn't stay at home getting bored. As a matter of fact, we found one of the nicest parks in Raleigh (Fletcher Park) and re-visited possibly the best playground in the Triangle area (Kids Together) and we went to more concerts (3) this week than many people go in a year. We haven't been to any store, except for Whole Foods and a couple of book stores. And best of all, we only drove 134 miles - half-tank of gas.

Fiscal Fast - Day 4

The week is almost over... I can't wait for the weekend and a chance to get some decent sleep. Mark keeps waking up at 6am, but now that he's teething AGAIN, he wakes up more often at night and stays awake longer... I'm really thinking about starting drinking coffee in the mornings.

Anyway, today I had to go to the store to buy some fresh milk for Mark. Even though we're not buying any groceries for ourselves this week, we agreed that I'll have a $10 budget for Mark - milk, fruits, etc. So I bought him some goat milk, a couple of bananas, and a small thing of raspberries for a grand total of $6.30. I still have $3.70 left over to spent - I'll buy a pint of blueberries at the Farmer's market. One thing though - I had to really restraint myself from buying items that were on sale or from buying more than what was absolutely necessary.

Usually on Thursdays we drive to the North Hills shopping center for a free concert. Also usually we get a bite to eat and some ice-cream. And on the way back from the concert we usually stop by Target to pick up whatever we have on our "wanted" list. Today we just went to the concert. How much money did we save? Well, let's say $8 or so for ice-cream and around $50 at the Target store (it just seems like every time I step into a Target, I walk out at least $50 lighter). We had a good time at the concert, except it was very hot and I kept thinking about cold drinks and ice-cream!

Fiscal Fast - Day 3

Still doing ok... Not much happened today. The main challenge I have every day is to come up with entertainment for Mark. Usually I have a small schedule of recuring weekly activities for mornings and afternoons. So on a typical Wednesday we might go to Pullen Park to play, feed ducks, and ride on a carousel and on a train. And in the afternoon we might go to the Monkey Joe's. Well, this week both options are unavailable to us - each ride at Pullen Park costs $1 per person and Monkey Joe's price is $5. So instead we went to the Kids Together playground in Cary - absolutely free, with lots of play areas, huge sand boxes, and plenty of shade. And in the afternoon we went on a long stroll.

In case you're wandering, we're ok on food, even though last time I went grocery shopping was over a week ago. As a matter of fact, I finally cleaned up the crisper and made vegetable soup. And for main course I made a simple salad - home-made bread (baked by Chris), tomatoes (the last of the ones I bought at the Farmers' Market) and home-grown basil. And we even had a dessert - fresh sticky buns baked by Chris!

Fiscal Fast - Day 2

We're still on track. Chris even left his wallet at home this morning. He said that since he wasn't going to spend any money, his wallet was essentially useless. Personally, I think he was just trying to put some distance between himself and his credit cards. And it worked - he did not spend $3.60 on a Tuesday lunch special - mac'n'cheese and a Coke. It was more difficult for me since I kept my wallet with me. I took Mark to the playground, then - to the library for toddler story-time, and finally to the Tookie Toys toy store for a playdate (they let kids play with almost all their toys). This was all accomplished without any breaks. Naturally, by the time we were done, I was starving (Mark had some snacks and juice). And I kept seeing food places everywhere - a Subway, a grocery store, a pizza place, etc - all running these great specials. But I managed to get home without wipping out my wallet.

In the evening we all went to the Barnes&Noble for our regular Tuesday night. Except we couldn't buy anything, of course. Honestly, it was just not the same! Going to B&N was always as much about sipping on a double-chocolate chip frapp as it was about looking through books and magazines. It is especially important now that we're stuck in the children's section because that's where Mark stays busy and quiet. Still, we didn't spend our regular $7 or so. And I didn't buy any of the cookbooks - a savings of at least $20.

Fiscal Fast - Day 1

Ok, so 1 down, 6 more to go! It wasn't so bad after all, this first day of the Fiscal Fast. The most challenging part for me was to keep Mark busy during the day without doing too much driving (since I don't want to run out of gas before the week is over). So we ended up mostly staying in the house, playing with the toys. He gets really bored with the same old toys, but fortunately he's easily entertained with even the simplest new ones. For example, today I took some of my business cards (for lack of a better option) and an empty shoebox, cut a slit the width of the card in the box top, and we played the "mailbox" game. Surprisingly, Mark really liked putting cards into the box (ok, so I had to help him a lot) and then taking the lid off and collecting the "mail". We also played some water games!

And we did go out - in the morning I took Mark to the lake for a walk and to feed the ducks. And in the evening Chris took Mark to the pool for a little while (we have pool passes, so no money exchanged hands today).

All in all, Mondays aren't our spending days. Ok, so if we could spend, we would've done it:

Chris said he would've spent $0.60 at a vending machine and
I would've definitely went to a coffee shop this morning for a much-needed pick-me-up - $1.75.

BTW, I found a couple of free events to keep us busy this weekend. So now I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds.

Fiscal Fast - Day 0

Chris and I started our first Fiscal Fast today. It consists of spending no money, $0.00, for one full week. We got this idea after reading Jeff Yeager's "The Ultimate Cheapskate". The whole thing sounded challenging, yet not extreme. Besides, we would have to stick to the plan for only one week. We felt we were mentally and financially ready. Fresh after the house-selling scare, with a very limited income and a cash-flow resembling the Murray River in extreme drought, we wanted to feel more in control of our finances. Besides, as I mentioned in one of the earlier posts, I started calling our neighborhood Target store my second home.



Now, to briefly go over the rules:



1) No spending money for 7 days (yes, this includes a weekend)

2) No stockpiling of groceries, gas, iTunes, etc beforehand

3) Keeping track of what we would've spent if not for the Fast



We did have to make a couple of exceptions (blame them on Mark):



1) I am allowed to buy 1 carton of milk and 1 pint of berries or peaches at the Farmer's Market so that Mark has fresh food

2) We did top the car off on Sunday (usually we do it on Thursdays)

3) My business expenses are exempt from the Fast

Cute as a Button

Mark's got his first real haircut last week. He did pretty well at first, better than we expected - sat in my laps for a while letting the hairdresser cut his hair. But then the novelty wore off... Still, the results are pretty cute, don't you think? Also, we moved him into the forward-facing car seat which he enjoys a lot because he can now see us.

More Crawling

The Father's Day this year got a bit screwed up because of the stupid flat tire. Yesterday, just as we were going on a grocery run for our little party (read below), Chris saw that we had a flat tire. So he replaced it with a donut and decided to take the car to the shop early Sunday morning. But on Sunday he found out that the donut got a flat as well! So he called AAA at 8:30am and they promised a tow-truck by 9:20am. Instead the truck showed up around 11am! So basically we couldn't do anything for the first half of the day. Well, actually, I ended up taking Mark to a brunch with Stephanie and Maeli. Then Mark decided to take a power nap that lasted over two hours - extraordinary! Long story short, by the time the car was fixed and Mark was awake, changed, fed, it was well past 3pm. The only thing we got to do was to go to Target (ughh, I feel like I live in that store now!) to buy a new car seat for Mark. Yep, the boy finally outgrew his little rear-facing seat.

Anyway, yesterday we had a little party for some of our friends - Sean and Stephanie and Bill and Georgia. We didn't make any definite plans and told them to stop by any time between 5 and 7 pm. And so they did - Sean and Steph at 5pm and just after they left, Bill and Georgia stopped by at 7pm. But it was cool anyway - we ended up having two very nice dinners. Chris made pizzas and I marinated some veggies and put them on scewers along with some home-made raviolies (yeah, I had to brag about this) and also made some artichoke crostinis and avocado sandwiches. Noone went home hungry, hehe.

Here's a video of Mark crawling around the house:

CRAWLING!!!!

Mark is CRAWLING!!! Can you believe this? I still can not. He just turned 16 months on Monday. And he finally started crawling on his own and totally enjoying it TODAY!!! It's so funny because he usually starts of scooting on his behind, then switches to a crawl, and finishes with a bunny hop-style crawl. I have to get it on video.

This past month was just full of achievements for him. He's got some new teeth. How many I can't tell. There are 2 new in the front, on the bottom. And I think he's got at least one big molar, maybe even two. But we can't confirm because we can't see them and we're smart enough to know not to stick our fingers in his mouth to check the gums. He's been a champion eater too and finally got over the magic 20lbs mark. I think he's about 21lbs now.

He knows lots of body-parts and can point to them when asked - nose, eyes, ears, butt, wee-wee, arm, leg. He says a few words, all in Russian - cheese, booby, this, give, cookie (well, he tries hard with this one), papa, baba. He also started saying "moo" for a cow (when he sees a picture of one). He knows lots of objects and points to them if you ask him - lights, fans, cars, our cat, dogs, refrigerator, windows, flashlight, door, ball, stairs, etc. Most he knows in both Russian and English. He plays a lot of different games - loves throwing balls, doodling on a MagnetDoodle board, taking things in and out of containers, playing with stackers, pushing things across the room, doing gardening, digging sand in the sandbox, sliding down the slides (the bigger - the better, as long as Mommy is with him). A couple of days ago he learned how to put together one of the puzzles (a Melissa&Doug puzzle with geometric shapes).

He is a huge flirt - smiles, waves bye-bye, blows kisses. Even though he's still a Momma's boy, he is a lot more social and likes other babies. And most nights he gets to sleep through the entire night! Now we just have to work on his waking-up time - he always wakes up at 6am and that's too early for me.

Mark already feeds himself with spoon and fork, but when he gets tired and frustrated (which happens very quickly), he uses his hands. Anyway, his table manners are lacking and he always makes a HUGE mess.

At the Outer Banks

What a great weekend! Oh, wait, it wasn't a weekend yet, but it sure felt like one! Chris finished his temp job on Tuesday and we decided to go to the Outer Banks for a couple of days before his new job with the State starts on Monday. Even before moving to Raleigh we wanted to go to the Outer Banks, but things would always get in the way. Plus summer-time is crazy there - rooms are very expensive, require a minimum stay and are hard to book. This was not exactly off-season either, but still, the hotels were cheaper and plus we were going during the week.

We left home on Wednesday morning and arrived at Kill Devil Hills about 4 hours later. After dropping things off at our cheapie-hippie motel we decided not to waste time on unpacking and such. Instead we drove to the town of Manteo to see the Roanoke Island aquarium. It's a small aquarium, but they had about everything we needed - lots of fish, naturally, big sharks, divers cleaning the salt water tank and an outdoor space with the great view of the Roanoke Sound and a whale bone garden.

After checking out the fishes, we drove a bit further north - no more than 2 miles - to the Elizabethan Gardens. The admission price seemed a bit steep at $8/person, but we paid it and went it. And we weren't disappointed. The gardens are on the site of the first English Colony in America, the famous Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, right next to Fort Raleigh and the Lost Colony Theater. There is a beautiful rose garden, a great lawn, a terrace overlooking the Roanoke Sound, and a sunken garden with a fountain and statues of mythological figures. Overall, it's a great place to go hide from the afternoon heat, see beautiful flowers, enjoy fresh air, and relax.

After so much sight-seeing, we were very hungry. So we stopped at the Nags Head Pier for some fresh seafood. The setting was as good as it gets - a perfect view of the ocean and the fishermen on the pier, the sound of waves breaking on the sandy beach... But oh boy do you get to pay for the view and the sound and the ocean breeze! Even though the portions are on the smaller side, the food is fresh and local. Most everything is served with french fries and hush puppies. Mark made a HUGE mess out of his meal of fried fish! The fries and bits of fish were everywhere and what little apple sause did not make it on his T-shirt got smeared all over the table. Good thing we were the only diners on the terrace for most of the time.

Finally we made it back to the hotel and bathed Mark. The messy dinner left us feeling a bit upset, so we decided to do something relaxing yet fun before bed. And what can be more relaxing and fun than a round of mini-golf? So once again we drove down Virginia Dare Trail to the nearest putt-putt, which happened to be Galaxy Wars-themed. Even though it was not nearly as fancy as the mini-golfs in Daytona Beach, we had fun playing it. 18 holes later, Chris won - by 1 point! - and we headed back to our room.

The next morning it was time for me to go to my hang-gliding lesson. After a huge breakfast at Stack 'Em High (the place is actually much better than it sounds - big, bright, great food, fast service), we all drove to the Jockey Ridge State Park. There I had an hour of ground school instructions followed by a 2-hour dune flight session. How awesome was it? Well, first of all, even if you don't want to fly, the dunes are worth seeing - they are the tallest on the East Coast and are an amazing sight. Kite flying is excellent there because of the strong breezes. Chris and Mark joined me once I was on the dunes and ready to fly and Chris took some pictures (see my Gliding post).

After the gliding lesson we were ready to head home. But first we stopped by the Kitty Hawk Kites store to get some souveniers. We ended up buying a couple of small toys for Mark, some fudge for us, wine for Chris, and some lunch for all of us. And that was the end of our non-weekend weekend.

Gliders

Finally, after more than 2 years of planning, I got to fly a glider at the Kitty Hawk Kites in Nags Head, the Outer Banks. I took a beginner dunes lesson - an hour of ground instructions followed by 5 flights (instructor-supported) on a little Eaglet glider. The longest flight was probably 15 seconds and I flew no more than 100 yards at an altitude of 5-7 feet. It doesn't sound like much, but it was absolutely amazing! I'm ready to go for more lessons and maybe even a high-altitude tandem flight.

Memorial Day weekend

Before I talk about the Memorial Day weekend, I am going to brag about our foraging success. A while ago I found a couple of mulberry trees in the neighborhood, but they didn't have many berries. So I started paying better attention to the surroundings whenever I'd go on a walk with Mark. And finally I found a path, a greenway by the art museum, along which grow dozens of great mulberry trees. So one weekday morning, before Chris's job interview, we went on a walk together and picked a couple of pounds of mulberries in less than 30 minutes.

My friend Eleonora was here for the Memorial Day weekend. She finally got a plane ticket and came here all the way from Florida. We didn't do much though because, as luck would have it, I got sick. Still, it was great to see her and to spend even just a couple of days with her. What we did was going on walks in the park and at the mall, the Farmer's Market and the flea market. And we took her foraging - to pick mulberries and strawberries.

Mark is growing. I don't remember if I mentioned that he got 2 molars already. There might be more on the way because he is very cranky. He's turning out to be quite a character! Very strong-willed and stubborn! But he has a good sense of humor too. For example, when he tries to do something he's not supposed to, I tell him "Нет! Нет! Нет!" You'd think that would work, right? No way! Instead, he turns to me with a sly smile and says in the same stern tone "Да! Да! Да!" He also learned to kiss over the last week. Now he kisses his toys and me, not so much his daddy though. He finally sleeps through the night - 10 hours straight! And he is at the point where he knows when it's bed time and he insists (!) on being put to bed.

Still doesn't walk independently, but he spends a lot of time learning about his toys and everything else around him. I think he's more of a contemplative type and an observer. Although he enjoys roaming around and pushing and pulling large toys and pieces of furniture. Yesterday he walked clear across the shopping plaza and into a book store where he browsed for a bit before heading out. That was a long walk! He likes sorting toys and putting them into boxes and bags. He also now likes taking the lids off of containers and putting them back on. His latest toy is a noise-maker set (a drum and some rattles) and he REALLY enjoys it.

Artsplosure 2008

This was a busy weekend. I guess, everyone tried to get their events out before the Memorial Day weekend because there were tons of things happening around Raleigh. In addition to the chicken tour, there was a festival at the Yeats Mill, a tour of homes, a tour of gardens, and the Artsplosure 2008. Last year we missed the Artsplosure festival because Mark was too little. This year we went.

Artsplosure is a big arts and crafts festival held in the city center, on Moore's Square, every year. It takes place over the entire weekend. In addition to artists and craftsmen presenting their work for everyone to see and buy, there are concerts, events for kids and adults, etc. We walked around a little bit looking at the artwork. We liked a lot of it, but unfortunately couldn't afford most everything. We did splurge on a couple of things. One was the silhouette of Mark done by Keith Donaldson (http://www.icutyouout.com/). By the way, he can do silhouettes from profile photos and mail the finished artwork to you. We also watched a pottery demostration - amazing stuff!

The other item was a 8x10 photo, called "It's Time to Glaze the Donuts" by Lorri Honeycutt. She is a photographer from Austin, TX. She's a very pleasant lady, very creative, and with a great sense of humor. I'm not going to try to describe her work, but you can see for yourself at http://www.bigworldphoto.com/ . Hopefully, as our circumstances improve, I'll be able to buy some more of her very original work.

The last picture is of Mark asleep in the car on the way back from the Farmers' Market. As you can probably tell, he had one too many strawberries there :)