Swimming Lesson

Today was Mark's first swimming lesson. As I already said many times, we are really centrally located and close to everything. This everything includes 2 swimming pools - an outdoor one at Lake Johnson and an indoor one at Pullen Park. These are public pools and better yet, they host all sorts of swim programs, including a program for very little kids. Last week Melanie and I signed our little ones up for an 8-session Parent & Child class. This class is for kids 6-18 months.

Today's lesson almost didn't happen since it was raining. But fortunately, strong rain passed quickly leaving just some sprinkles behind. So the pool stayed open. Oh, when getting Mark ready for the pool, we realized that the swimming diapers that we bought for him were girl diapers, the pink Dora the Explorer creation. Oops! Didn't matter much anyway since he was wearing cool sports trunks over the diaper. Other than Olivia and Mark, there were 3 more kids there - a 6-month old girl, a 10-month old boy Justin, and another boy that looked like he was about a year old. Chris was taking pictures and I got to go into the water and swim with Mark.

Of course, the entire lesson was held at the shallow end of the pool. We all got into the water and played some games with kids - twirling them around, jumping up and down, letting them swim a bit on their backs, and even practicing some passes. It was great fun, at least for me. I don't think that Mark was enjoying it all that much - usually very smily and giggly, he stayed dead-serious and pouty. But then he never likes anything on the first try. And he wasn't crying or trying to get out either. 30 minutes was plenty because the day was not very warm and the sun was hidden behind the dark heavy clouds all the time.

Tomorrow is the 2nd lesson, weather permitting. Hopefully it'll be warmer and Mark will enjoy the whole experience a bit more.

Two Weeks

What can happen in just two short weeks? It seems that today is very much the same as yesterday, yet so many things happen... We're continuing renovating our house. This time it's Mark's room and the living room that are being taken care of. Mark's room had a window that was overlooking the living room, actually, mostly just the popcorn on the living room ceiling. Very stupid idea... Well, the window is no longer there, replaced with a wall. And by the way, there's no popcorn on the ceilings either. Good riddance! Also, the living room is painted, including the fireplace. It's a lot brighter now. I'll post the pictures as soon as the furniture is put in proper places. For now, there's still some minor painting to do, also - hanging ceiling fans, updating furniture, getting some kind of rug, etc, etc.

Last weekend we went to the Yates Mill. It's a historic mill about 15-minute drive from our house. There used to be dozens of mills in the area just like this one, water-powered, milling corn and wheat. But this one is the only one left. So now they have a small park and an excellent museum. And you can go on a very interesting tour of the mill. Better yet, once in a while they actually get the water-wheel cranking and mill some corn! That's what we went to see. I wish I didn't forget to take my camera - the day was excellent and I would had snapped plenty of pix of the mill and the water-snakes.

What else? Of course, Mark is doing a lot of growing up. He's 5 and 1/2 months old already! Last week he learned a lot of new things. For example, when Chris or I hold him with one hand and try to get a drink of water or juice with another, he reaches for a cup, grabs it, and tries to drink out of it. Same thing with food - gotta watch him now. He also rolls from his back to his side, pulls his feet to his mouth, and does tons of other little adorable things. When laying on his tummy, Mark now doesn't just look straight, but turns his head sideway to look at me and Chris. I think, he also started noticing Xander. Also, Mark is really getting a hang of this jumper toy - he can stay in it for quite a while and jumps up and down. When we go out, look out all you girls and old ladies. Mark is a horrible flirt! He can be hungry, tired, cranky, but the moment he catches you paying attention to him, he'll give you the most charming big smile! Oh, all the cooing and admiring he gets from everyone! If I only had a dollar for each time he was caled cute and adorable or complemented on his eyes (still blue) or his smile (still toothless)! Finally, today we had the most exciting thing happen - when I pulled Mark to sitting, he continued sitting for several seconds practically with no help from me! And he seems to like it! Next thing we know, he'll be sitting by himself.

Oh, and also two more things. I bought and read the last Harry Potter book. It was great; too bad there will be no more of HP. And Xander is going through is annual craze - he walks around the house, mewing and trying to escape. He actually ran out a couple of times, but then came back. When he escapes, he stays in the yard. We tried to lure him back once or twice, but he hisses, yells, and even tries to attack us - very scary! So we just let him get over it and then he comes to the front door quite subdued and waits to be let in. Can someone explain this cat to me? It's not even spring-time!

Mark is 5 Months Old!

To celebrate, Mom and Dad had some ice-cream and then took the birthday boy to the beach. The ride was longer than we expected which meant a lot of crying and screaming from Mark. So many firsts - touching the sand, washing off little tootsies in the warm ocean, flying over the beach like a seagull... Mom and Dad stuffed their faces (don't they always?...) on BBQ, shrimp sandwich, hush puppies, and fresh fried zuccinies. Yumm!

And on the way home, taking the long road, we saw lots of farms, corn and tobacco fields, and big cows.

4th of July

This 4th of July we stayed home and celebrated 1 year anniversary of discovering that I was pregnant. Yes, the Independence Day 2006 was very memorable indeed!

We do not have a grill and our yard is a mess this year. So instead of a traditional hamburgers and hotdogs, we decided to get a bit sophisticated. Ok, so it was my decision and Chris had to once again get over his dream of a big juicy steak... Instead, I made a seafood boil. It sounded very Cape Cod and fancy, but turned out to be simple and quick and absolutely delicious. Here it is on the picture. For seafood I used shrimp and clams, but all kinds of seafood and fish can be used in it. The more, the merrier (also, more expensive).

I also made cole-slaw (with a mix of napa, red, and savoy cabbage and red onion and dressing made with Italian dressing, pickled jalapenos, and Dijon mustard). It was lots better than gooey mayo-bloated cole-slaw and it got even better after chilling in the fridge overnight. Then I made a Key Lime pie and an upside-down peach pie. And to round up a meal, I made real lemonade, squeezing lemons and adding slices of orange and some cherries (that's how they make it at our Farmers' Market).

In the afternoon we went to the State Fairgrounds for the 4th of July celebration. We got there early and just walked around. NC State Agricultural Commission was giving out slices of cold, juicy and perfectly ripe watermelons (free, while supplies last). Watermelon and soft-served ice-cream! Later that night we (and the rest of Raleigh citizens) drove to the fireworks which were very good.

Duke Gardens

Saturday was uneventful - shopping, shopping, house chores, some more shopping. The bright spot was going to the Farmers' Market and to the Quail Ridge bookstore. Today we decided to get outside and explore. And so we went to Durham to see Duke Gardens.

It is a very beautiful place (not Durham, which is mostly a dump). The university campus looks very dignified, stately, expensive. I suspect that all the buildings there are actually pretty new. Or maybe the new buildings are carefully matched to the old architecture. Either way, it is very impressive. But back to the gardens. They are very large, with plenty of twisting paths and walkways running in all directions. We actually got a bit lost there after a while. Parking is free on Sundays and there are a lot of children, dogs, and adults that looks prosperous, well-educated, and happy. But the gardens are big enough and have enough benches, lawns, and secret little benches here and there that even with all the picnicking-running-playing-picture-snapping-sunning activity there is a sense of privacy, if not detachment.

We strolled through the rose garden, under the gazebo at the entrance to the terrace garden, up and down the terrace garden itself, around its beautiful water-lilly covered pond. Then we walked around the big lawn and found a nice wooden bench in the shade of a still-blooming magnolia tree. There we sat quietly, people watching while listening to the music and bells from the Duke Cathedral. Then we walked slowly out of the gardens and to the cathedral itself. Returning to the gardens, we got a bit lost. Some of the smaller paths, the most intriguing-looking ones, we could not take - they are not stroller-friendly. But we passed by many such detours, past a small pond and a creek, and into the Asian Collection. Finally we walked through a small wooden gate and found ourselves back in the Rose Garden. It was unexpected - passing by a Japanese stone lantern hidden in a grove of bamboo, past a pagoda-like wooden pavilion, and emerging almost in the center of a fragrant rose circle. It was a bit like Alice-in-Wonderland.

The rest of the day was a lot less exciting - just cooking, cleaning, laundry, diapers, getting last-minute groceries, a couple of new toys for Mark, looking for a high-chair... And tomorrow is Monday again - back to work. What a shame, really!!! Where's my winning lottery ticket?!

New Things that Mark Can Do

1. Mark LOVES carrots. Here he is, enjoying a big mouthful of sweet carrots. So now he eats rice cereal, peas, carrots and drinks milk and water (out of a sippy cup).

2. Mark can TOUCH HIS TOES. Hooray, he's noticing his feet now and grabs and holds his toes. He doesn't chew on them yet. I guess it's because he's so busy with carrots, peas and other foodstuff.

3. Mark learned to MANIPULATE his parents. In the evenings we sometimes go on a walk, all three of us. He knows exactly how to cry to make us take him out of the stroller and carry just the way he likes it.

Little Cousins

Last weekend we had tons of guests over -my brother, my cousin Pavel, and his daughter Alisa. So Pavel and Alisa saw Mark for the first time. I think we all had good time here. Too bad it was only for two days - Sunday and Monday - and I worked on Monday.

On Sunday Alisa played with Mark and generally ran around the house looking at things. She is tons of fun - talks a lot, asks A LOT of questions, bounces around like a little Energizer bunny, and it seems like she never ever gets tired. Well, maybe if you take her on a long-long walk. We did just that when we all went to Lake Lynn in the afternoon. And on Monday Chris made a big pizza! And we also had cake!! And that's why I still can't loose weight!!! (Plus I have like no will-power).

I think we all had a lot of fun. The only casualty of the visit was our cat, Xander. For some reason he really hates guests, especially children. He doesn't mind Mark and seems to like my parents. But he took a deep dislike of my brother almost from the moment they met and tried to sneakily attack him a couple of times. As for Alisa (and other small children), Xan gets scared, mews, growls like a dog, makes all sorts of threatening noises, and eventually tries to attack their feet. Alisa is a very generous girl and she seemed to like Xan even after all his rudeness. But for her safety and for Xan's sanity and life protection, we locked him up in a spare room for most of the time.

In other news, I feed Mark some sweet peas now. Gotta make sure that he likes the veggies, right? He is puzzled by the texture since it's a lot more "solid" than milk or liquid-y rice cereal. I don't know if he likes the tast that much or if he just likes chewing on the spoon, but he eats 2-3 baby spoons of this stuff and then licks his fingers and bib. I eat the rest so it doesn't spoil - very fresh and yummy! Xan got a hold of one of Mark's spoons and chewed the heck out of it. Maybe he's hinting that he wants some peas?

Mark

This has been a pretty exciting week. Mark has learned a great deal. He communicates now mostly through grunts and squeals. Crying is reserved only for extreme situations - when he's hungry, frustrated, or scared. He makes two different kinds of grunts. One is a good ol' "pooping" grunt - haha. The other one sounds like a low humming sound and he uses it sometimes when he's trying to fall asleep. His squeals are very loud now and serve not just to express delight and joy, but also to attract attention. If not properly attended to, these squeals degenerate into a loud protesting cry.

Yesterday we fed him new food - sweet peas. He was mostly surprised and didn't seem to like it too much. But at the same time he kept opening his mouth for another spoonful. We'll see if he likes it more today.

Also, he started expressing mild interest in his legs and toes. Sometimes he straightens his leg and grabs his knee. Other times he just watches his toes wiggle.

Most exciting of all, for half the night he sleeps in his basinet. Yes, we brought the basinet back into our room since I feel very uneasy about letting him sleep in a separate room yet. So after he goes to sleep, Chris moves him to the basinet. Mark is really big now so he touches the sides of the basinet with his feet and hands. But he seems to like the snuggness. Anyway, he sleeps there until about 2:30am when he wakes up to eat. After he eats, I just let him sleep in our bed for the rest of the night since both Chris and I are totally exhausted.

Father's Day Weekend

It felt like a long and very fun weekend. My parents visited. They got here on Friday afternoon, just as we finished all the preparation work - baking healthy organic muffins and very unhealthy cookies, cleaning up, etc. As usual, when parents arrived, they brought so much stuff with them, that it looked like they were moving in. And of course, they brought tons of food stuff, enough to award their Toyota Corolla an "official hunger-relief car" status. After unpacking and settling down, they got busy spoiling Mark. And Chris and I were just too happy to have 4 more hands to cary Mark around all the time; so we didn't mind. On Friday evening we made a big pizza from scratch. Chris made dough and I - toppings. It turned out so great that we decided to make pizza every week now.

On Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market. When I say "we" I really mean Mom, myself, Chris, and Mark. Dad stayed in the house, smoked, browsed Internet, and tried to get over his back-pain. Mom was really impressed by our Farmer's Market. Now it really boasts a huge variety of fresh fruits, veggies, herbs, flowers, cheeses and all that stuff. Originally we didn't plan on buying anything. But how could we resist all the sights and the smells and the sounds. And so we bought some goat cheese, tomatoes, cukes, and freshly picked bluberries. Mom even bought some flowers, included a small rose plant, to plant in NY.

Back at the house we set to cooking - yummy cold beet soup, leftover pizza, and a very-berry layered dessert. And we had so much sweet stuff - Chris's oatmeal-raising cookies, muffins, chocolate-dipped apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and of course all the apricots, cherries, grapes, and peaches that Mom could haul from NY. Then we waited until it cooled off a bit outside and drove to Pullen Park for a little stroll. We chose Pullen Park mostly because we wanted plenty of benches for Dad to sit on since his leg was bothering him. But the evening was so nice and the park - so lovely! There were plenty of children there, as usual, but most of the BBQ shelters were empty. Carousel and other rides were open and paddleboats were gliding all around the little lake. We simply walked around snapping pictures of each other.

After eating dinner, we decided that it would be a good idea to feed Mark his first solid food in front of his grandparents. And so I quickly made some water-based Gerber Organic Rice cereal; we put Mark in his swing (haven't gotten him a high-chair yet); put a huge bib on him; and I approached him with a little spoon bought just for the occassion. Chris was at the ready with the camera and Dad - aiming at us with a camcoder. I was almost sure with all this commotion, Mark would simply ignore the food. But he was such a good boy - opened his mouth wide for the spoon, made cute surprised cooing noises, and covered his face and his bib with cereal in the most darling way. And after eating ONE WHOLE TEASPOON of cereal, I took him upstairs for some regular food. Then later on he even drew a picture for his grandparents under Chris's and Grandma's supervision.

So after the grandparents left early on Sunday, Chris and I went to the stores to get Chris his Father's Day gift. Since Chris didn't know what he wanted and I didn't want to get him a pair of socks, we went to a couple of stores and got him several bars of gourmet dark chocolate. And later in the evening we drove to yet another park - Lake Lynn - for a nice leisurely 2.2-mile stroll. Going back to work on Mondays is getting ever more difficult!!!

4 Months

Can you believe it - Mark is 4 months old already?! On Friday we went for a regular check-up and a second round of shots. The boy is growing - he's 13lbs 15oz and 24.5in long. His head grew bigger as well - 41.5cm. And he was such a happy and curious boy all through the visit. But then he had to get the shots. He liked the first shot, which was administered orally, because he could chew on the dispencer. But the other three he really hated and made it known to all around him. Finally, after the nurse withdrew, our Band-Aided little bug quieted down. But for the next could of days he didn't feel all that great and even had a bit of a fever going. Happy freaking birthday, Mom and Dad! (Note to ourselves - do not schedule shots before important dates)

Last week Mark learned a lot of new and useful things. He learned to put everything he can grab right into his mouth. Some, like a teether or Dad's hand, turn out to be pretty good; others, like giraffe's foot or a soft red cube, are not at all tasty or chewable. When Mark sees himself in the mirror, he now smiles wide and tries to get close. If we hold him, then he just stretches his hands towards the mirror and squirms and makes little needy sounds. If he happens to be laying on his tummy, he lifts his butt up, pulls his knees under, grabs a blanket with his little hands, and tries to crawl towards the mirror. Of course, he can't yet. But what he can do is to leapfrog. At first he could only do it when laying on his back. He would dig his heels into the floor, lift his butt and lower back, and push through heels and shoulders. It was amazing to see how quickly he could move and turn this way. And then it all got a bit funnier when he learned to leapfrog on his tummy. With his knees bent under the tummy and hands grabbing the blanket, Mark presses his little nogging to the floor, huffs and puffs and wiggles and leaps forward a couple of inches at a time. It must be really frustrating for him, since he always ends up crying. Then we pick him up and carry him around for a little bit and try to calm him down a bit which is a lot more difficult than it sounds.

It is extremely hot outside during the day. The temps reach lower 90ies by noon. So unless we walk with him early in the morning, we have to wait until late in the evening. This throws Mark's schedule out of the window. A couple of times we tried to go to different malls so we can walk around at regular time. There are a lot of big malls here, but oddly, all of them are exactly the same. I mean, the layouts are a bit different and most malls are the newer ones and very attractively built. But the stores are all the same. So it gets annoying and boring. Plus it's so crowded there since everyone has the same idea about escaping the heat. I'm telling you, stroller traffic is very heavy.

Yesterday we got fed up with the mall crowd and instead waited until it cooled down some and went to Pullen Park. Pullen is a nice park and, as so many other cool places, is just minutes away from our house. It's a great park for kids - has a carousel, a lake with paddle boats, a big playground, and a toy train. There are also a dozen or so picnic shelters and gazebos. Can it get any better than that? And today we all went to the Farmers' Market (also only minutes away from us) and got some great stuff for a little picnic. We had to do the indoors picnic (read - lunch), but next year, when the deck is done and there's some landscaping and all, we'll do it outside.

Two New Games

Mark learned two new games this week. One is a good old peekaboo or, rather, its localized Russian version, a "koo-koo" game. He was getting restless and bored on Monday as I was foldign the laundry. So to distract him, I waved some of the towels, shirts, and receiving blankets in front of him. He didn't care too much. But when I added the magic "koo-koo" words, he was hooked and began smiling wide.

Another game that we discovered, quite by chance, is the "wind blows" game. That's when I blow wind gently on Mark's face. He always acts surprised and sort of catches his breath. And then he giggles very happily.

Other interesting things that he does include lots of drooling, attempting to put everything into his mouth (if it doesn't fit, he just licks it), munching on a teether, babbling (mostly "neee", "hooo", "heee", and "auuu" sounds), grabbing practically anything that is put in his hands, and smiling at his reflection in the toy mirror.

The Memorial Day Weekend

Two days off a week is definitely not enough! I want to have a 3-day weekend EVERY WEEK! Saturday would be an "ease into it" day; Monday - "get ready for work" day; and Sunday - a perfect "not a care in the world" day.

Since we don't have a grill and/or a bunch of friends and relatives that we could invite over for the official opening of a BBQ season and since Mark is too small for long car trips, we decided to spend the weekend exploring the neighborhood. On Saturday, armed with a camera and a guide-book, we drove to Chapel Hill for a walk around the UNC campus. The place is very beautiful and historic - the first public university in the country. And since the classes are over for the summer break, there's plenty of parking and traffic is very light. The down-town area looked very promising as well with its little cafes, boutiques, and independent bookstores. But it was getting very hot and Mark was getting very cranky. So we retreated to the arboretum that is almost right in the middle of the campus. We walked around a bit until we found a perfect little lawn. We rolled out a blanket for Mark in the shade of some very fragrant bush and spent half an hour simply laying on the grass , playing with Mark, watching the birds, and taking pictures. Then we walked some more around the historic neighborhood before heading back home.

On Sunday we stayed home and moved the furniture. We now have a furnished living room! Of course, our office became quite empty in complete accordance with the Principle of Furniture Conservation, itself an extension of the Principle of Mass Conservation. And we also got groceries. Completely exhausted, we spent the rest of the day watching movies.

On Monday I started my new work-put plan. It is based on the plan in the book "Bikini Bootcamp" except I alter some of their recepies (to save time and money) and spread all the work-outs throughout the day. The program calls for 15 minutes of yoga every morning followed by a 1-hour long walk and about half-hour long circuit training session. And then there's a core training session every other day that takes another 15 minutes or so. With a full-time job and a full-time baby, I can't do all this back-to-back. Anyway, for my walk on Monday we all went to Lake Shelley. It is a very nice lake with a paved road around it and connections to several of Raleigh's greenways. Just as other such parks in the area, this one has a boat house with rental boats, benches and grills for picnics, a nice big lawn, a playground and other cool things. And there are always plenty of kids of all ages there enjoying all these facilities.

Mark was very busy this weekend. He was very talkative, making all sorts of funny sounds. He also made some new discoveries on his playmat - he grabbed two of the toys (a giraffe and a monkey) at the same time and tried to introduce them to each other. He also spent a lot of time on his belly, holding his head up high and looking at his own reflection in the mirror. I don't think he realizes that it's just a reflection. But he smiles and cooes and tries his best to crawl towards it. Also, he spends a lot of time in his swing now. It is not a 0-3months swing, but the one for older kids. He doesn't fall asleep in it, but instead looks around and pays special attention to the plastic casing that hides the swing's motor.

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.