tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13279841814651438892011-04-21T22:40:23.551-07:00Follow the day to day adventures of our little superhero adopted in November 2007 from Novosibirsk, Russia.yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.comBlogger641100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-54498346131524291662008-12-23T13:50:00.000-08:002008-12-23T13:53:07.843-08:00

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-27993208693088296282008-12-01T10:53:00.000-08:002008-12-01T11:51:33.363-08:00

Just one short year ago yesterday in a court room on the other side of the world, Steve and I were named Andrei's parents. Looking back it is hard to believe he's only been part of our family for a year yet so much has happened in that year it's hard to believe it's only been a year. We didn't initially believe everyone when the said that the pain of the wait would go away with time but it does

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-10383266065230378842008-11-25T10:28:00.000-08:002008-11-25T11:03:56.114-08:00

Remember a few months ago - we put the toddler rail on Andrei's crib - not because he was wanting to climb out, but because we felt he was ready for the next step in his move to a big boy bed.Andrei's been adjusting well and loves his new found freedom and ability to get in and out of bed as he wishes. This has been working pretty well except for a few nights when he gets out of bed and wants to

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-57958545542889409832008-11-14T22:26:00.001-08:002008-11-14T22:26:04.126-08:00

IMG_1029.JPGOriginally uploaded by yorkiemomSasha the kitten - We got Sasha last weekend from a rescue organization and he's a 16 week old kitten who is an absolute delight. What's best is he and Andrei occupy each other for hours playing games like hide and seek or chase. Ever since we brought Andrei home, we've noticed that he is extremely gentle with animals including Chianti and our old

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-42816539654551375562008-11-06T13:14:00.000-08:002008-11-06T13:20:36.945-08:00

A couple of weekends ago, we took Andrei to a local pumpking patch for his first visit. The story is best told in pictures:First we started out with his first pony ride. When we saw the ponies, he really wanted to ride one, but once I paid for the ride and we were waiting in line, Andrei wasn't so sure. From the look on his face, it looks like he enjoyed himself.Next we picked out our

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-32368058210519809612008-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:002008-10-08T20:49:35.239-07:00

I’ve been tagged by Dede to post 6 random things about myself, so here they are: 1. My first major in college was pre-pharmacy. I quickly changed majors once I realized it would probably result in a job where I would have to work weekends at a discount store. 2. I went to high school with the best man at our wedding but Steve met him when he was working at that big department store. When

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-15912758975818671422008-10-01T14:40:00.001-07:002008-10-01T14:41:18.468-07:00

Now that my life is somewhat under control (Ha!) Here's a quick synopsis on what's been going on:- Last week I was at a huge conference in San Francisco which was fun. Not only did I get a night out at the "appreciation event" which included a concert including Psychedelic Furs, Seal, and Elvis Costello (the other choice was Gin Blossoms, Alan Jackson, and UB40). But, my best friend from grade

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-17716990404407192512008-09-15T19:22:00.000-07:002008-09-16T13:21:44.561-07:00

Debbie B. setup a secret blog pal exchange. These are great fun with the secret blog pals supporting each other.I just want to say thanks to my great SBP who sent a cute card from Shutterfly. When I get back home I'll take a post a picture.

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-48800529580041135042008-09-11T12:55:00.000-07:002008-09-11T12:59:55.905-07:00

Oh No applies in so many ways right now...Andrei has learned the phrase "Oh No" so whenever unfortunate things happen, he's trying to use the phrase appropriately. Like this morning when my alarm went off. The little guy next to me says "Oh No". I think he knows that this means I'm up and off to get ready for work. On a side note, since we got the toddler rail for his crib he's fairly good

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-78055620798642776372008-08-29T11:59:00.000-07:002008-08-29T12:22:36.247-07:00

Andrei is in full swing of the terrible two's and with it brings a few trips to the corner (actually our front door which is the official Time Out spot). For awhile Andrei didn't seem to mind being in Time Out because the place we originally used allowed for visibility of the rest of the house. But now that he's truly isolated and doesn't have anything to do, he's recognizing that this Time Out

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-16943242044988524302008-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:002008-08-26T08:16:41.815-07:00

We had a little get together over the weekend to welcome yet another friend who just recently adopted their son from Russia. They just got back about a month ago and their little guy (I say that figuratively since he is going to be one big boy) is doing great.We did a little playing and some swimming and it was a really great day. First of course were some snacks, that's our other friend's

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-10144539185639212922008-08-24T19:29:00.000-07:002008-08-24T19:32:58.280-07:00

Andrei has a very happy Mommy. Stef was buying some wine at Beverages and More (one of my favorite stores) and she was carded. Now, let me say that Stef does look very young for her age, although I'm not quite sure that young. But for whatever reason my wife born very late in the decade of the 1960's was in fact carded.And yes, she is still beaming from ear to ear.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-51420876228026619682008-08-17T19:53:00.000-07:002008-08-17T20:19:47.848-07:00

We took a little vacation down to LA so Andrei got a chance to visit both sets of grandparents as well as seeing some more aunts and uncles and cousins. On Saturday my sister thru a very nice pool party so Andrei got to play with all the cousins at the same time. We were so busy having a good time I completely forgot to take pictures but did manage to remember just as the party was wrapping up

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-38903981498590989182008-08-07T09:27:00.000-07:002008-08-07T21:33:15.034-07:00

We installed a crib rail last night onto Andrei's bed. The ordeal of buying the darn thing is a story in itself, but I'll let Stef tell that one as a follow up. We have been thinking about the move from a crib almost as soon as we had brought Andrei home (remember we're big on planning). The debate for us was centered around the three options we determined we had: A crib rail using his crib A

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-73935964767809800402008-08-03T16:19:00.000-07:002008-08-03T16:49:05.033-07:00

So there is funny part about Andrei's growing language skills. Currently he is beginning to put together two and three word sentences (usually just a noun and verb). But the funny part is the choices of the words and how they sound when he says them.The first major one he did was at bedtime. His current bedtime ritual (he seems to replace new things for old in the ritual every now and then)

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-21583850551283863702008-08-02T13:18:00.001-07:002008-08-02T13:40:01.609-07:00

Of course I'm biased, but Andrei is a wonderful person. He is so helpful and even courteous and great at sharing (at an age when kids are not suppose to have learned that yet). But he is also getting into the full swing of the Terrible Twos. And I find them pretty difficult to handle sometimes. I think mainly because he is such a nice person that when he goes off and acts bad (or really just

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-47196293522626466682008-07-26T21:01:00.000-07:002008-07-26T21:12:44.283-07:00

A year ago today, Steve and I let our agency know that we were okay with switching regions to Novosibirsk. A few hours after we let them know our decision, I got the call from Steve... Mazel tov it's a BOY! Yes, we received the referral of a sweet 14 month old baby boy in Novosibirk named Andrei. This latest news started another flurry of activity including updating paperwork, correcting my

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-27352531292973768122008-07-20T23:41:00.000-07:002008-07-21T01:03:21.519-07:00

A few months ago I asked our friends with little ones when they started the whole potty training experience and how they approached it. One of our good friends, who adopted their little girl from Russia, gave us some great info (as usual) and we decided to do a lot of what they did (btw, thanks again Nina). They also have a two-story home and made sure they had seats both upstairs and

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-85310857879152380862008-07-14T15:24:00.001-07:002008-07-14T15:26:32.414-07:00

IMG_0683.jpgOriginally uploaded by yorkiemomOne of Andrei's favorite books is Doctor Dan the Bandage Man which isn't the most politically correct book, but he loves it. It's a story about a boy, Dan, who manages his family's health care through the use of bandages.Andrei feels he needs to channel Dan, so has started managing our family's health care based on the use of bandages. One key area

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-17416486704583623412008-07-11T14:02:00.001-07:002008-07-11T15:10:12.319-07:00

Andrei is really get to be a big boy in many many ways. First his physical growth is really becoming apparent. It's kind of hard to measure him with our growth chart that we put up outside his room. He either doesn't stand flat-footed, instead he stands on his tip-toes (maybe he wants to be taller), or he hunches over a bit or bends his head down.So the way we actually measure him is similar

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-89530399005658572162008-07-08T21:04:00.001-07:002008-07-08T21:04:48.274-07:00

IMG_0662.jpgOriginally uploaded by yorkiemomWhy it is safety glasses with the Hawaiian print shirt (thanks again Uncle Jon)...

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-19084156724741531652008-07-07T15:53:00.001-07:002008-07-07T15:53:13.558-07:00

IMG_0568.jpgOriginally uploaded by yorkiemomCondiment boy truly wanted to test the differences, not only between the taste of ketchup and barbecue sauce, but on their effectiveness as a skin care product. No answers yet as the test was stopped short by evil mommy and the baby wipes.

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-81353905894267718142008-07-05T15:56:00.000-07:002008-07-05T16:08:02.887-07:00

Yesterday was Andrei's first Fourth of July. I don't particularly care for the holiday (fireworks scare the bejeezers out of me and Chianti) so we usually just stay at home and relax, comforting the dog.Since it was Andrei's first Fourth, we felt there should be some celebration so he got a real American toy as a special gift, a tricycle. I must say that tricycles have come a long way, this one

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-58767774393728924602008-06-30T13:14:00.000-07:002008-06-30T13:24:02.919-07:00

So I was in my office the other day and Andrei is playing with some of his Mega Bloks and then all of the sudden I look over and....This is fabric box that we store his toys (in this case his Mega Blocks) in which is then put into a big bookcase kind of thing in his room.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-45783422641214250782008-06-27T11:51:00.000-07:002008-06-27T12:05:29.385-07:00

Like most little kids Andrei likes talking on the phone. When we first introduced him to the phone he didn't realize you actually needed to talk back when someone said something to you. He thought they could see you. So someone would ask him a question and he'd shake his head "yes" or "no" instead of saying the word. However after a couple of times he got the hang of it, although until

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-32997674949498970392008-06-26T22:03:00.000-07:002008-06-26T22:13:13.466-07:00

If you haven't figured it out yet, our child is brilliant. He now recognizes his first few letters with the letter "O" appearing to be the favorite. He's been playing with his new Fridge Phonics toy (Thanks Kelly, Stephany, and Taylor) and is already learning the letters. Our first exposure to him knowing his letters came last night. Andrei is playing with the toy, says O, picks up the O

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-41924524472639433242008-06-25T10:28:00.000-07:002008-06-25T11:02:41.422-07:00

We have lots of great "Russia" stories to tell so in this one, I'll tell you the story of the Russian passport photo of our little guy.The day after court, we were scrambling with our translator to try and get the paperwork done so we could leave for Moscow about a week early. One of the items was to get the kid's passport pictures taken. We arrive at the baby home and wait downstairs for all

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-32646719956216204452008-06-18T12:56:00.000-07:002008-06-18T13:03:48.180-07:00

Warning - this post is really just rambling thoughts, I'll try to put some organization around it, but I have to do this while I'm also trying to eat my lunch.Yes, it has been more than two weeks since my last blog post, and there really isn't any good excuse. I've both had blogger's block and can't believe how much we had going on in May and so far in June. Andrei has quite the social

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-28520382901936518492008-06-03T11:17:00.000-07:002008-06-03T11:27:29.743-07:00

For the past week we've made huge strides in Andrei's eating habits. As we've mentioned before, the boy won't eat green vegetables except for avocados/guacamole. In fact, he would thoroughly inspect his food before putting it in his mouth. We finally got some spinach into him via ravioli, but other green vegetables were a no go. The other day, when we were eating Chinese (not real Chinese but

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-18030825226949642082008-05-30T08:54:00.000-07:002008-05-30T10:31:06.542-07:00

in a land far far away (Novosibirsk, Russia) Steve and I became the official parents of Andrei Nikolas. It doesn't seem like it's already been six months, but looking back on our pictures and video from both our first and second trips we can see how much all of us have grown. We've also got our routine down and it really feels like little Andrei has always been a part of our family. I don't

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-90344325973549607622008-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:002008-05-26T13:19:12.127-07:00

The bane of every parent, Toys that make sound are the ones parents hope or pray will break as fast as possible. Some parents even concoct the story that (once the batteries are dead) the toy is broken.We found a brilliant suggestion from one of our most favorite websites Parent Hacks to use something to quiet the toys. The woman came up with, without a doubt, one of the best ideas ever.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-30712387228580833182008-05-24T21:27:00.000-07:002008-05-24T21:29:17.714-07:00

Boy, it seems like just about everyone is listening to an iPod.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-26605780136044884992008-05-22T10:29:00.000-07:002008-05-22T10:47:06.972-07:00

Here's a picture from Andrei's party on Saturday. Like Steve mentioned this was a little get together for a few friends and family to celebrate his birthday and coming home. It's amazing how much he's changed since we first met him and then brought him home.

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-88387758253063073172008-05-16T23:49:00.000-07:002008-05-17T11:55:04.963-07:00

We're having just a small B-Day party for Andrei tomorrow. His birthday was last week but of course we were at Disneyland that week, not to mention it was Mother's Day on Sunday, etc. etc. etc.So tomorrow we'll have a little get together with some family and friends. Of course at 2, kids don't quite understand a real kids birthday party. At this age any party with people around and other kids

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-60971227516683992072008-05-11T20:15:00.000-07:002008-05-11T20:18:42.603-07:00

We had a very nice Mother's Day. It is of course Stef's first Mother's Day and naturally I felt we needed to make it extra special. In the morning Andrei brought Mommy her card and gift. It was actually in two separate boxes and he kept dropping them, but eventually they got to her. Later we (okay, actually it was I) prepared her elaborate meal. He even managed to eat some which was quite a

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-48942198622562171622008-05-09T20:19:00.000-07:002008-05-10T14:09:03.890-07:00

Which stands for Thank God We're Home. It was truly a magical time spending four days at Disneyland for Andrei's 2nd birthday. But as I mentioned, and I think most people feel this way, it always feels good to come home from even the best vacations.Our final day in Disneyland was spent with the approach we found that made him happiest: letting him running around and going on rides over and

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-47898441346612946412008-05-08T22:20:00.000-07:002008-05-09T07:42:38.769-07:00

Andrei continues to have fun and why not, it is the happiest place on earth. Well, as long as we don't try to get him into the stroller when we wants to do more rides. Holy cow, the temper tantrums he does made us change our approach which had been to convince him (and most often it was true) that we needed to get into the stroller to go to the next ride.But he kept getting more and more tired

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-11357133012311106412008-05-07T22:02:00.000-07:002008-05-07T22:37:10.165-07:00

We had our character breakfast today at Goofy's Kitchen. Andrei had a blast, but as you might expect with so much going on he didn't really eat very much. That was fine since we gave him some Cheerios later to make sure he at least had enough energy for the day. A nice thing about his age is that they don't charge you for the breakfast buffet. With everything else being expensive here at

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-75437959201340344632008-05-06T23:50:00.001-07:002008-05-07T00:18:34.877-07:00

Sorry to coin the Disney phrase but it has been a magical day. But of course we're with a 2-year old and he did his part to remind us that even magical days have a few temper tantrums.Even with the surprise of the event Stef got us well prepared the night before and so we actually left earlier in the morning than we had planned. As a result we made it to L.A. well before any rush hour traffic (

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-34331782005757145032008-05-05T22:30:00.000-07:002008-05-05T22:41:14.274-07:00

For Andrei's 2nd birthday we were thinking about having our first family vacation. You know, the "Are we there yet" kind, but thankfully his language skills aren't good enough to say that yet. We're still going to have a regular birthday party. Or at least a 2-year old's party which is really more of an adult party with some kids around. We don't think Andrei needs a full blown kids party yet

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-88394005644855136652008-05-05T07:52:00.000-07:002008-05-05T09:09:55.840-07:00

For those not familiar with international adoption most countries require the adopting families to provide periodic updates on how the child is doing after the adoption. For some strange reason some people get upset that they have to do this. Personally, we're more than happy to show anyone and everyone how well Andrei is doing. I mentioned in my blog the Russian government also uses these

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-46541837904310267132008-05-03T18:34:00.001-07:002008-05-03T18:50:29.934-07:00

So it's getting to be that Andrei will try to say just about any word you ask him to. You say "You say it" to just about anything and he'll give it a try. And depending on the word, it can come out with some pretty decent pronounciation. When I say pretty good I mean that we can understand it and be able to translate it to other adults. So it means that his vocabulary is skyrocketing to, and

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-62682403759658475022008-04-30T21:22:00.000-07:002008-04-30T22:05:14.777-07:00

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here when I say almost every kid brought home from an international adoption is going to be getting better nutrition, better physical activity, more 1 on 1 love, basically everything needed for growth. And I'm talking physical growth as in height and weight. And, again not too much of a stretch (pardon the pun), but most kids are smaller than their peers

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-81812046790363990252008-04-27T14:07:00.000-07:002008-04-27T16:30:41.635-07:00

Of course in the orphanage they regularly cut Andrei's hair. Otherwise this referral shot at 14 months wouldn't have shown such short hair.But we took Andrei for his first real haircut yesterday. One where the person who is cutting your hair actually cares about how you look and tries to make you look cool not like a...well...shaved sheep.We weren't sure how he would respond to the haircut.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-55095943369146923402008-04-25T18:17:00.000-07:002008-04-25T18:39:17.460-07:00

We've heard this from plenty of folks (and regrettably experienced it first hand) that the Terrible Two's actually start around 18 months. Andrei was a bit late in getting into those episodes where his new found independence (or semi-independence) leads to some pretty trying behaviors. But he's in it full swing right now and let me tell you they are trying times.He's actually so easy going and

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-68150457681202599152008-04-21T14:16:00.000-07:002008-04-21T18:31:09.915-07:00

As the title implies, one of Andrei's favorite activities is reading books, well actually listening to us read him books. As brilliant as he is, he can't read at 23 months - I know, you're all as shocked as I am (so, no he's not actually reading in this shot).But the boy loves his books. This weekend we got a great set of 10 books called Amazing Machines from Costco. Each book has a story

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-20739196560069685062008-04-18T12:37:00.000-07:002008-04-18T16:49:23.770-07:00

The sandbox is a huge hit!!Just one quick statement - Toddler, Sandbox, Yorkshire Terrier = not a good combo![Steve's comment]: So the picture is after we took Chianti (our dog) out of the sandbox. As Stef says he's a Yorkshire Terrier and thus has long hair. Well, Andrei thought it was cool to pour sand over him.

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-87434970239845481652008-04-16T10:51:00.000-07:002008-04-16T12:41:25.830-07:00

We've been able to "test" what happens when a lovey looses it's ability to make noise and the result wasn't pretty. The responses to Steve's post about noise making lovies mention letting the batteries die as a possibility to relieving ourselves of the noise. Well I'm here to tell you that this approach may not work as expected.Steve teaches his class on Monday nights so I was going through our

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-34991075446642331682008-04-14T13:29:00.000-07:002008-04-14T13:53:20.811-07:00

Andrei had another busy weekend but he had a blast and as a result didn't really do any "toddler testing" which meant both Stef and I had a great weekend as well. Saturday was non-stop action as he had his second swimming lesson and then went to his first children's birthday party.I attended the swimming lesson this week to take some pictures and as usual Andrei was the water king. All the

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-58663288421708814972008-04-10T08:17:00.000-07:002008-04-10T08:30:28.370-07:00

Andrei is helping me build a sandbox in the backyard. Stef and I had talked about it for the past couple of weeks since he seems to like the ones at the park. Then last week while I was putting away laundry I heard some silence for a few minutes (almost always a bad sign) and sure enough Andrei was playing in the cat box.We took this as his endorsement of the outside sandbox idea.So yesterday

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-9170765736348275722008-04-09T11:49:00.000-07:002008-04-09T11:49:02.697-07:00

Last weekend was the best! But, it didn't start out so great. On Saturday morning, Mom said we were going swimming so when we got in the car I threw a fit - We DO NOT go swimming in the car, we go swimming in the back yard. Eventually I got settled down and decided to wait and see where she was going with this "swimming in the car" idea.So we drive and drive for like FOREVER (Mom's edit: it

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-78816232246730545422008-04-07T22:41:00.000-07:002008-04-07T23:11:49.424-07:00

When we traveled to Russia to pick up Andrei we brought with us Playskool's GloWorm which plays these little lullabyes and has a soft glow. Andrei liked it and became very attached to, however it wasn't a full blown "lovie". I say this because he didn't really want it except at nap or bedtime. So he didn't really treat it as a real "lovie" (i.e., carrying it around constantly, etc.). So we

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-55379040658137268982008-04-03T15:17:00.001-07:002008-04-03T15:17:24.004-07:00

One of two things happened yesterday during nap time either:a - The boy successfully undressed himself except for his diaper, orb - The dog learned how to climb into the crib and undress the child except for his diaper.Since we didn't actually see it happen we're both inclined to believe option "a" since the dog isn't that ambitious and loves fully participating in nap time. Yesterday at the

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-80870125726194475752008-04-01T16:56:00.000-07:002008-04-01T17:16:37.225-07:00

Wow, it's been a week since I've posted and what a rough week it was.First, he's hitting the terrible twos with full force and asserting his independence at every opportunity. Apparently no one has told him that he won't be turning two for another six weeks.The testing, oh the testing. He's really testing both of us. One of Andrei's favorite activities is to throw balls, stuffed animals, shoes

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-6947896590984509342008-03-25T16:49:00.000-07:002008-03-25T16:51:54.859-07:00

Whoa, this has been some week for me.Mommy took the day off and we all went down to Monterey to the aquarium, that's a place where they keep fish and things. It was really cool. I got to look at all these fish and other stuff up close.We then went outside for a snack and saw some more stuff. This is a tide pool exhibit (that's a fancy name for a place for sea stuff). We kept getting splashed

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-40840044907432220842008-03-23T20:30:00.000-07:002008-03-23T20:43:40.831-07:00

Well this was my first Easter Egg Hunt and I was pretty excited. We had to travel pretty far in our car to get to the cool people's house where it was. But that's okay, I love my comfy car seat and Dad kept trying to make me laugh on the way there. Plus I had Elmo with me and that makes any ride okay as I'm sure you know.When we got to the house there were tons of kids around. I was a bit shy

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-77976386075624129342008-03-22T21:23:00.000-07:002008-03-22T21:42:18.340-07:00

This Easter weekend is already a busy one for Andrei. Today we took a bike ride in the morning. This shot might not convey it, but he loves riding around in his bike trailer. He doesn't like wearing the helmet but so enjoys the bike rides that he puts up with it. Today we gave him a special treat and took the dog with us.After the ride we played a bit in the pool. And then we broke into his

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-43347164450815836822008-03-21T11:00:00.000-07:002008-03-21T11:05:42.557-07:00

Back in October you may have remembered that I attended a lifebook event hosted by our local FRUA (Families for Russian and Ukranian Adoption) chapter. I was all ready to get Andrei's lifebook started and have it mostly done by the time we got him home. Of course that didn't happen, but my new goal is to have the first version of his lifebook done by his birthday and am going to start this

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-46484672868959202932008-03-18T16:55:00.000-07:002008-03-18T21:44:25.212-07:00

Ever since we've brought Andrei home, we've tried feeding him what we're eating for dinner or a close variation. This has led to some interesting eating habits. Not the usual issue of only eating a single food every day for a week and then change, but he really likes non-traditional toddler foods.Here are some of his favorites:- Guacamole - This all started as a joke. We kept asking Andrei if

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-60931158292997542552008-03-17T21:25:00.000-07:002008-03-18T08:43:26.682-07:00

One of our nightly routines is to look in on Andrei after he falls asleep. He likes to have his door closed to his room when he goes to bed but we like to open it up after he's asleep to be able to hear him if there's an issue (nightmare, etc.) and also to know when he wakes up.So we typically go in about an hour after bedtime and open the door and then take a look to see what interesting

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-27936154652769449672008-03-15T16:06:00.000-07:002008-03-15T16:33:32.916-07:00

Here's just a little sampling of a few of Andrei's favorite words. Currently "All Done" is one that is said no matter what the activity and no matter who is ending what (Mommy finishing her meal, daddy getting out of the shower, Andrei done with a toy, you name it).Enjoy.

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-80046913454365476152008-03-13T11:50:00.000-07:002008-03-13T13:18:57.789-07:00

Just a follow up to Stef's post about all the words Andrei uses currently. Most of them are not the best pronunciations and some are only spoken with just a consonant or two and perhaps a vowel. For example Jeans are said as "Jeezz".But what is really interesting right now is how much he wants to try to say new words. We may be having him say too many words and as a result he isn't refining

Steveghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15882273128137856294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-89391266169791048622008-03-11T12:47:00.000-07:002008-03-11T20:26:06.940-07:00

Unlike the shows affected by the Hollywood writer's strike, our life didn't stand still while our strike was going on which leaves lots of updates to deliver. I'll start with how things are going now that I'm back at work leaving my two guys at home.We are all adjusting well and getting settled into our daily routine. Andrei's easy going personality really is making the adjustment easier than

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1327984181465143889.post-54363188182319864332008-03-10T14:28:00.000-07:002008-03-10T16:08:57.150-07:00

Now that we've been home with WonderBoy* for three months, it's time to start a new chapter and a new blog.Steve's blog focused on our adoption journey from a dad's point of view and this blog will focus on stories and adventures of our day to day life which may or may not have to do with adoption. So pull up a chair as I have a lot of catching up to do.*Today he's WonderBoy but can take on

yorkiemomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12158067181444759785noreply@blogger.com5