My Day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

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 with water and Mommy wasn't too into it, but I thought it was awesome.


Then we went and had lunch at this cool restaurant right on the water. And I could look out over the whole bay. It was so sweet. That's me holding my new otter that Mommy got me. We saw lots of otters at the aquarium and some penguins too.


Then Daddy took me down to the beach and I went into the water. Jeez it was cold. It felt like I was back in Siberia or something. This whole sunny California thing is totally bogus.


By the way, this is my second post on my blog that Mommy is doing for me. I write pretty well for a 22 month old, don't ya think? I even got the correct diction for the whole good/well thing. On the way home I watched my favorite DVD: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mommy calls TV "baby crack" but I don't understand why.

My First Easter Egg Hunt by Andrei

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 at first. Cause most of them were bigger than me, but there were lots of cool toys to play with and they had some of my favorite food so pretty soon I was having a great time. I pigged out on ham (get it, that's a toddler joke).

The big kids got to look for eggs first, I think it was because they move so fast or something. Anyway, then it was our turn. After all that good food, I was ready to roll and tried to inch my way to the front of the line.



Mommy came with me and helped a lot. She pointed out where the eggs were and then gave me some really good ideas, like putting the eggs into my basket.

Oh yeah! Do you like my basket? I picked it out myself at Target. I picked that one over an Elmo basket. It was a really tough choice, but I just so love cars that I had to ditch the Elmo one and go with this bad boy. I really made the right choice because all the boys at the party were looking at MY basket. I bet you think it's cool too, huh?




Egg hunting is hard work and after getting my fill I decided to play on the outside toys they had. They have two boys so they had tons of cool things I could play with. Now we all know how much I enjoy pull toys. But they had this totally awesome type of pull toy. My Dad called it a wagon. Well, whatever you call it, it was sooooooo cool. It was really big but I was able to move it around all by myself. I kept pulling it around and around hoping my parents would figure out that I really want one. Cause you know my birthday is coming up.



It was a huge day and I had a great time. I can't thank Gillian and Keith enough, those are the parents who had the Easter Egg Hunt. You know this was my first official "party" and I have to say it was a blast. I couldn't stop talking about it all the way home. I was so excited I didn't even sleep in the car, but boy did I have a great nap when I got home!

Halfway thru a busy weekend

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 Easter basket and he got to play with some of his toys (sidewalk chalk). Of course he's a bit too young to understand holidays are really only on a specific day so cheating and giving him some toys or whatever early is cool.



Plus it allows us to stretch out the happy time. And he's been exhibiting some pretty solid terrible two's behavior lately so having a good weekend is something we're trying to achieve as regularly as possible. And having him in an attitude like this next picture is a whole lot better for all concerned.



And we're only halfway thru the Easter weekend. Tomorrow we're headed to a friend's house for his first Easter Egg Hunt. Stef was practicing with him today to show him that you put your Easter Eggs into your basket. We'll see if he gets it.

Lifebooks

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 weekend (Steve stop laughing).

A lifebook tells the story of your child's life and how they came to be a part of your family. It should start with their birth and contain the details of their story in an age-appropriate manner. A lifebook for a two year old will look very different than a lifebook for an older child.

A lifebook should not focus on the parent's journey through the adoption process although details should be included especially as they relate to your child. Your lifebook also does not need to be an elaborate scrapbook, remember it is a tool to tell your child their story.


Adoption Lifebook Resources:

Beth O'Malley's book LifeBooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child provides guidance on preparing a lifebook specifically for adopted children and you can sign up for lifebook tips via email through her website.

Scrap and Tell sells products to help with creating your lifebook including country specific items. They also have a great gallery of example layouts.

You can also buy pre-made lifebooks that let you just fill-in the blanks.

Do we have a potential food critic?

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 he could say certain words, car, ball, hi, bye, etc. and weren't getting any response. Certain he thought we were not providing enough of a challenge we asked "Can you say guacamole?". We still didn't get a response, but at the next opportunity at our favorite Mexican restaurant he had the chance to get a taste (after I forgot to tell the waiter - no guacamole for me - I hate the stuff). Now there's no stopping the boy, he LOVES guacamole. He won't even eat the chip, just eats the guacamole off and asks for more.

- Fish - I'm not talking fish sticks (more breading than fish), this is honest to goodness fish filets, mahi-mahi is his current fave. This is funny because when we were picking him up from the orphanage the director insisted that they tried to feed them fish twice a week, but the kids didn't like it. Apparently not this kid.

- Gnocchi - granted this is pasta so should be a slam dunk, but still not that common. Usually we'll share a bag from Trader Joe's and he'll eat his portion and keep asking for more.

Some of his dislikes:

- Jello - this was a huge surprise. How can a kid not like Jello?

- Ice Cream - even with chocolate sauce

- Peas and Corn - silly me thought these were the go-to vegetable for toddlers.