We drove to NY for a short trip to see relatives.

Maybe next trip will be longer & we can visit with more people. We did get in a little bit of shopping at FAO Shwartz!

And Howie’s mom, Marge made the kids these great sweaters!

While we were there, their grandparents gave them Furbies & we finnally found out what language the kids have been speaking… Furbish!!! That 1st nigh we spent more time putting those toys to bed then the kids!

Chanukah was nice but it really screwed up the kids. We only gave them 1 present every other night but they got so much from other people (mostly my parents, surprise, surprise) that now, everytime they see wrapping paper they yell “present! More present, more present!” open it, throw it on the floor, then they yell for more! We have also discovered that when a toy says ages 3 & up, it doesn’t mean they will choke on it, it means 2 year olds will break it within 48 hours! One of my favorite gifts is a bracelet with 4 little shoes on it. The kids point to each shoe & tell me who they are for “Ana, Ala, Lala & Mantha”. Mitch’s favorite was an autographed bikini calendar of 1 of my moms customers… a former Playboy centerfold. We are sooooooo different sometimes!

And whenever we got in the car this month, the kids say “ooooh, lights, pretty lights! More lights?” over & over again! Now that everyone is taking them down they say “more lights? Um, no.” It’s cute for about 2 minutes, then we start to pray for sleep or some other distraction! Also, we went out without them for the first time. It was the first time they had been apart from me (while awake) in 7 months! I called from the car & was told (by Dad & Megan) that they were fine & didn’t miss us at all. I cried the rest of the way to the party! When I called again at bedtime Alek was hysterical! Apparently, he started crying when he realized I was gone & wouldn’t stop until 40 minutes later when he fell asleep! I had tried to talk to him on the phone but it made him worse. I didn’t realize until later that he had never heard my voice or Russian on the phone before! Oops! He’s starting to get better, but for awhile afterwards he was very clingy & forgot he was potty trained!!!

New Years Eve was a nice quiet dinner with friends. We did the countdown early and put the Ukrainian kids to sleep while the adults & Kelsey stayed up to throw bags of confetti for the real thing (I didn’t want to make a big mess so I wouldn’t let everyone open the bags… It was pretty funny).

The house is really coming along! The first picture is from 12-13 & the others are from 1-7! The kids like to walk around going “WOW!” As if they know what they are looking at!

ANA

She makes faces all the time! It’s so funny to see her doing Mitch or me. She is such a little commedian and she must have at least 5 or 6 different laughs! She repeats everything we say and for some reason, yells at her food! She demands “cock-ee” (cookies) & “More cheese” on a regular basis. She is definitely all girl too. She insists on wearing her hair bow, bracelet & purse everyday as well as her pretties (nailpolish). And has started calling her dolls “babydoll”. Her molars are starting to come in so she isn’t always happy but when she is she tells us “Ana cute”! And she started calling me “mommy”! I don’t know where she got it from but it’s so sweet! I tried to get her to say daddy but Mitch said no, his name is Papa! Ana also gave us our first experience with projectile vomiting. Poor baby was sitting at the dinner table crying with throwup all over her hands, our food, Alek, & the floor behind him… & we couldn’t stop laughing. Here’s a picture of her with all the stuff she insists on sleeping with (that is, when she’s not tiptoeing around the room playing when we think she’s asleep!

ALEK

He loves immating Ana. Everytime that Ana makes us laugh, he tries to do it to. And he blames her for everything! “Ana did it!” is his new favorite phrase. That and “Ana pooped”, as if we could be fooled, especially when he had an accident & it’s in HIS diaper!!! He undresses all of Ana’s dolls and occasionally, people! He got hold of the zipper on my top the other day in public & gave some people quite a show! When you yell at him he gives you such a cute face and when you ask him if he’s sorry, he puckers up to give you a kiss. He’s going to be such a ladies man someday! His hair is growing so fast that Mitch bought an instructial video & clippers. I’m scarred! Speaking of power tools, We had gotten Alek a bunch of toy tools & he goes around thinking he’s fixing everything! It’s so adorable but I don’t know how he learned to use a chain saw! And whenever we go to Home Depot or Lowes, he gets so excited and starts yelling “Alek tractor” (we’ve been looking at riding lawn mowers & he loves to sit on them)! He also will eat the strangest things! He will make a face from a piece of lettuce but pour tobasco on his food and he won’t even flinch! Here are pictures from the last time he took Papa’s plate without asking!

BOTH We’ve taught them all kinds of good things lately. Like when you say “Who’s the best Papa in the world?” and they say “My Papa!” or we say “How much do I love you?” and they say “This much!” or we say “Who do you love?” and they say “Mama!”. Also, if you ask Ana “Do you know that you’re cute?” she says “I know!” then they both tell us “Mama cute, Papa cute, Grandma cute…” and the list goes on! The funny thing is when Mitch does something really goofy, they shake their heads and say “Papa stuka!” (our word for really silly in a stupid sort of way). And sometimes Ana even rolls her eyes!

BACK TO UPDATES