July 19 09 - Hi everyone - all is great here, hope it's the same with you! Funny weather in the Peg this week - cool and rainy until yesterday, then hot and sunny - tomorrow supposed to have a thunderstorm. Ahhh - summer ?!
We've had another busy month - we've gone to beaches, amusement parks, and had lots of fun at playgrounds! Angelique has learned how to get on and push herself on the swings, and how to swing hand-to-hand on the monkey bars! So exciting!
We've seen 2 of our nieces and nephews graduate from high school - congrats Megan and Sean, we're soooo proud of you both!
We've had great visits with extended family - my (N's) Auntie Dee came in from Thunder Bay, ON, my Uncle Jack/Aunt Terry in from Nova Scotia, and cousins Alan, Andrew and Jack in from Barrie ON.
We also had a fun visit with our friend Gretchen, in from Ottawa with her beautiful daughter Anna. We met Gretchen in Almaty last summer, as she was travelling to meet Anna same time as we were meeting our Angelique. It was great to catch up with them again!
Angelique lost another bottom tooth in June, and now the 2 bottom ones are coming in fast - what a difference it makes in a little girls face!
A has had a great month - lots of new experiences, and her language skills continue to amaze us! Her pronunciation is improving by leaps and bounds, and she remembers the little corrections we provide- such a smart little sweetie! One thing she self-corrected that makes us a little sad is that she now correctly says 'double-yoo' for the letter 'W', where before she had said 'double-woo'. We'll miss hearing 'double-woo'! :-)
I've had news on the job front - I'll be starting at another software company later in the summer, part-time. Yay! Now I can enjoy a bit of summer without the job-search looming over my head. And by working part-time we'll be able to take Angelique to some of the activities she had been enjoying, like preschool . We're really excited about this opportunity!
As I finish writing this post (July 16), it is the anniversary of when we had to leave Angelique in Almaty, to come home and wait for our 2nd trip. It was incredibly difficult to leave her but it was a necessary piece of the puzzle, and brought us a step closer to bringing her home with us for good. We are forever grateful.
Have a fantastic summer!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
July 1 2009 - with a whole lotta memories of July 1 2008
June 29 2009 - hi everyone! It is so hard to believe it has been a year since we left for trip # 1 to Almaty! We left Winnipeg June 24, spent a few days waiting for our travel visa to be fixed, then finally on July 1 - we met our beautiful, amazing, sweet Angelique!
We'll post more of an update soon, but we just wanted to mark this momentous anniversary! We will NEVER forget this day - what a lovely addition to our Canada Day celebrations!!!!
Here's a few photos of Angelique taken on July 1 2008 - so shy and unsure of us, but oh my goodness she captured our hearts!
Have a wonderful Canada Day!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
We'll post more of an update soon, but we just wanted to mark this momentous anniversary! We will NEVER forget this day - what a lovely addition to our Canada Day celebrations!!!!
Here's a few photos of Angelique taken on July 1 2008 - so shy and unsure of us, but oh my goodness she captured our hearts!
Have a wonderful Canada Day!
take care,
N&P&A
xox
Saturday, June 6, 2009
May 2009 photos
Here's a gorgeous smile - what a natural beauty!
This is Angelique enjoying a pony ride at her birthday party!
And this one is pretty self-explanatory..... :-)
This is Angelique enjoying a pony ride at her birthday party!
And this one is pretty self-explanatory..... :-)
June 2009 - 8 months home and wow what a month!
June 6 2009 - Hi everyone! It's been a busy, full and FUN month!
On May 9 Angelique lost her first tooth! (naturally, anyway, as the top front one had been removed surgically shortly after we arrived home) This was very exciting, and we welcomed the tooth fairy with open arms (and wallet)!
On May 10 we celebrated Angelique's 4th birthday (her first with us), and what a party it was! We were blessed with a picture-perfect May day, sunny and warm enough to sit outside, which was helpful as I wasn't sure where we'd put everyone if we'd had to come into the house! :-)
The kids all played outside, and as a special treat Angelique's Tante Monique arranged for a PONY to arrive and give rides up and down the street - what a fun surprise! The kids LOVED it!
The birthday princess took everything in stride, impressing us yet again - what a strong, special girl she is!
The rest of the month has also been fun - we made a spontaneous trip to Calgary to visit with Angelique's Tante Joanne, M'oncle Marc-Eric and the adorable bebe Ania (who, if you were following our journey last summer, you may remember was born during the same week we met our Angelique). We had fun visits with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends - we packed a lot into 6 days!
Angelique has had another remarkable leap in her language development this month - she expresses herself much more clearly, uses more 'filler' words (before it was just nouns and verbs) to make sentences, and has more of a musical lilt and tone in her voice, showing her growing confidence! Her sense of humour continues to amaze and delight us, and keeps cracking us up!
On May 9 Angelique lost her first tooth! (naturally, anyway, as the top front one had been removed surgically shortly after we arrived home) This was very exciting, and we welcomed the tooth fairy with open arms (and wallet)!
On May 10 we celebrated Angelique's 4th birthday (her first with us), and what a party it was! We were blessed with a picture-perfect May day, sunny and warm enough to sit outside, which was helpful as I wasn't sure where we'd put everyone if we'd had to come into the house! :-)
The kids all played outside, and as a special treat Angelique's Tante Monique arranged for a PONY to arrive and give rides up and down the street - what a fun surprise! The kids LOVED it!
The birthday princess took everything in stride, impressing us yet again - what a strong, special girl she is!
The rest of the month has also been fun - we made a spontaneous trip to Calgary to visit with Angelique's Tante Joanne, M'oncle Marc-Eric and the adorable bebe Ania (who, if you were following our journey last summer, you may remember was born during the same week we met our Angelique). We had fun visits with Aunts, Uncles, cousins and friends - we packed a lot into 6 days!
Angelique has had another remarkable leap in her language development this month - she expresses herself much more clearly, uses more 'filler' words (before it was just nouns and verbs) to make sentences, and has more of a musical lilt and tone in her voice, showing her growing confidence! Her sense of humour continues to amaze and delight us, and keeps cracking us up!
Speaking of music, this girl sings - a lot - and really well! She remembers words and music to songs she's only heard once or twice, and also makes up songs to amuse herself. Incredible!
Also, I'd mentionned in the last post that Angelique seemed to be at the point of stopping her afternoon naps - well since that time I think she has napped maybe twice! So our days are more full and busy, but most evenings she's asleep around 9 pm, sleeping until around 7:30 am. Until we're on a more rigid schedule (read: when I eventually start working and we have to get up earlier in the mornings), this is working well for all of us!
The latest favorite entertainments are her doctor kit, play kitchen, dressing her animals (gotta love build-a-bear!), and playing outside on the swings/slide. Angelique is almost always in motion! The sports class and swimming lessons have been wonderful; she enjoys any kind of physical activity! Those and her preschool classes all end this/next week so we'll be looking for new sources of fun!
That's it for now - hope everyone is well and happy. Thanks again for following our family journey!
Love N&P&A
Sunday, May 3, 2009
May 2009 - 7 months home and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELIQUE!!!
May 7 - Hi everyone! Another BIG month in our house, lots of fun! This coming weekend we're celebrating Angelique's 4th birthday! Her first with us, and on Mother's Day too! Very exciting!
It's impossible to put into words how I feel this Mother's Day - I am extremely thankful for our amazing, beautiful, sweet daughter, who has added so much love and joy to our life!
Angelique has passed many milestones in the last few weeks, from counting (now consistenly to 30) and ABC's (no more missing letters), to talking a bit/ socializing with other children, to being OK with our leaving her at pre-school and returning to pick her up later, to playing by herself for short periods of time in the house/yard, to figuring out how to swing on a swing and climb on monkey bars, and lots of other fun things! Our little miss independent - she says 'Ada Self!' when she wants us to let her do something herself - we're thrilled as it shows her growing confidence, in herself and in us!
A has started going to a dayhome one day/week, starting with staying for 2 hours, and most recently staying almost all day! We're very pleased with this dayhome so far, and will increase the # of days/ week over the summer to ease Angelique into it.
New fun activities: playing outside in her sandbox, on her bicycle, on swings/ slides/ monkey bars, decorating the driveway with chalk pictures, going for long walks, playing with our neighbours' kids, and taking her new pink unicorn 'Unibelle' out for walks in a stroller.
Angelique's sport class and swimming lessons are going beautifully, and the preschool class is sooo much fun! She talks about them all and says how much fun they are!
And in big news, Angelique has been 'skipping' some days of her afternoon naps for a while already, but this past month has seen them happening less and less frequently. As I write this it has been 7 days since her last nap, and especially combined with outside play, has resulted in a tired little pussycat by early evening! When she does nap in the afternoons, Angelique is still awake at 10:00-10:30 at night, so by taking away the nap she has been tucking in around 8:30, which is muuuuuuuch better, for all of us! This has been quite a learning experience, but it looks like we're almost in the home stretch!
I'll try to add some pics of her birthday party soon. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Happy birthday Peanut! We love you sooooooooooooooooo much!!!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
It's impossible to put into words how I feel this Mother's Day - I am extremely thankful for our amazing, beautiful, sweet daughter, who has added so much love and joy to our life!
Angelique has passed many milestones in the last few weeks, from counting (now consistenly to 30) and ABC's (no more missing letters), to talking a bit/ socializing with other children, to being OK with our leaving her at pre-school and returning to pick her up later, to playing by herself for short periods of time in the house/yard, to figuring out how to swing on a swing and climb on monkey bars, and lots of other fun things! Our little miss independent - she says 'Ada Self!' when she wants us to let her do something herself - we're thrilled as it shows her growing confidence, in herself and in us!
A has started going to a dayhome one day/week, starting with staying for 2 hours, and most recently staying almost all day! We're very pleased with this dayhome so far, and will increase the # of days/ week over the summer to ease Angelique into it.
New fun activities: playing outside in her sandbox, on her bicycle, on swings/ slides/ monkey bars, decorating the driveway with chalk pictures, going for long walks, playing with our neighbours' kids, and taking her new pink unicorn 'Unibelle' out for walks in a stroller.
Angelique's sport class and swimming lessons are going beautifully, and the preschool class is sooo much fun! She talks about them all and says how much fun they are!
And in big news, Angelique has been 'skipping' some days of her afternoon naps for a while already, but this past month has seen them happening less and less frequently. As I write this it has been 7 days since her last nap, and especially combined with outside play, has resulted in a tired little pussycat by early evening! When she does nap in the afternoons, Angelique is still awake at 10:00-10:30 at night, so by taking away the nap she has been tucking in around 8:30, which is muuuuuuuch better, for all of us! This has been quite a learning experience, but it looks like we're almost in the home stretch!
I'll try to add some pics of her birthday party soon. Happy Mother's Day everyone!
Happy birthday Peanut! We love you sooooooooooooooooo much!!!
Take care,
N&P&A
xox
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Apr 6 - six months home already - unbelievable!!
Apr 5 - Hi everyone! It is SO hard to believe it has been 6 months since we arrived home as a family of 3! At times it feels like only last week, but mostly we feel as we've been a family forever, and Angelique has always been with us!
Since our last update, Angelique has mastered counting to 20 (that pesky # 13 kept disappearing, but is now almost always playing along with the other numbers); and also the alphabet (same with the silly letter L - really, is it a necessary letter??) Her vocabulary is constantly growing, and with her amazing memory she can recall words we haven't used in days/weeks. She sings songs all the time, and has a definite ear for music!
Angelique has discovered that Mama and Papa can also be called Mommy/Daddy, or even Nicole/Paul on occasion - she thinks this is sooooo funny!
She is wonderfully affectionate, giving lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles - ahhhhh! A also has the BEST facial expressions - no hiding her feelings for this girl! She also still loves playing with her 'babies', as well as building forts, climbing on furniture (!), washing dishes, helping Mama clean the house (yay!), and looking at books. We play outside as much as we can, and Angelique loves climbing on play structures, going down slides and swinging on swings! She's also a big helper with a shovel - yay again! :-)
Paul got her up on skates once over the winter and she did really well, and of course she wants to 'play hockey with Papa' as soon as possible!!
We'd recently set up our basement as a new play area, but then had a VERY quick snow-melt and took a bit of water in the basement - no damage thankfully, and it turned into an excuse to clean up and organize the storage area a bit more - so now the play area is even bigger! Because of this newfound space, Angelique is now able to practice riding her bicycle so she'll be ready when we can finally take it outside - very exciting! She is a natural on her bike!
We've also had a couple of fun playdates with our neighbours who also have a 3.5 year old girl - Angelique and Audrey sized each other up for a while, then everything seemed to click into place and they started playing like they've been doing it all along - it was wonderful to see!
The April session of activities starts this coming week - this time we're doing a playgroup twice/week and also an 'intro to sports' - very excited to see how it goes!
We've lined up a day-care provider who is willing to take her part-time for a few months, starting with .5-1 day/week in April and transitioning up to full-time sometime in the fall. The woman and her family have also adopted internationally which is an added bonus; their youngest daughter is also 'almost 4' and was born in Ethiopia - she and Angelique have played together once already and it was so cute!
I'm still on the job-hunt (as I'd been laid off from my previous employer before we travelled to KZ), so I'll look for something part-time for over the summer.
And BEST of all - all of Angelique's grandparents get home from their 'winter homes' this week - YAY! We will have SO much fun playing with them and being spoiled !!
Next month we'll celebrate A's 4th birthday - it happens to be the same day as Mother's Day this year - so both Mama and Angelique get to be pampered allllllll day - right Papa?!?
That's all for now - have a great month!
Take care, love N&P&A
xox
Since our last update, Angelique has mastered counting to 20 (that pesky # 13 kept disappearing, but is now almost always playing along with the other numbers); and also the alphabet (same with the silly letter L - really, is it a necessary letter??) Her vocabulary is constantly growing, and with her amazing memory she can recall words we haven't used in days/weeks. She sings songs all the time, and has a definite ear for music!
Angelique has discovered that Mama and Papa can also be called Mommy/Daddy, or even Nicole/Paul on occasion - she thinks this is sooooo funny!
She is wonderfully affectionate, giving lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles - ahhhhh! A also has the BEST facial expressions - no hiding her feelings for this girl! She also still loves playing with her 'babies', as well as building forts, climbing on furniture (!), washing dishes, helping Mama clean the house (yay!), and looking at books. We play outside as much as we can, and Angelique loves climbing on play structures, going down slides and swinging on swings! She's also a big helper with a shovel - yay again! :-)
Paul got her up on skates once over the winter and she did really well, and of course she wants to 'play hockey with Papa' as soon as possible!!
We'd recently set up our basement as a new play area, but then had a VERY quick snow-melt and took a bit of water in the basement - no damage thankfully, and it turned into an excuse to clean up and organize the storage area a bit more - so now the play area is even bigger! Because of this newfound space, Angelique is now able to practice riding her bicycle so she'll be ready when we can finally take it outside - very exciting! She is a natural on her bike!
We've also had a couple of fun playdates with our neighbours who also have a 3.5 year old girl - Angelique and Audrey sized each other up for a while, then everything seemed to click into place and they started playing like they've been doing it all along - it was wonderful to see!
The April session of activities starts this coming week - this time we're doing a playgroup twice/week and also an 'intro to sports' - very excited to see how it goes!
We've lined up a day-care provider who is willing to take her part-time for a few months, starting with .5-1 day/week in April and transitioning up to full-time sometime in the fall. The woman and her family have also adopted internationally which is an added bonus; their youngest daughter is also 'almost 4' and was born in Ethiopia - she and Angelique have played together once already and it was so cute!
I'm still on the job-hunt (as I'd been laid off from my previous employer before we travelled to KZ), so I'll look for something part-time for over the summer.
And BEST of all - all of Angelique's grandparents get home from their 'winter homes' this week - YAY! We will have SO much fun playing with them and being spoiled !!
Next month we'll celebrate A's 4th birthday - it happens to be the same day as Mother's Day this year - so both Mama and Angelique get to be pampered allllllll day - right Papa?!?
That's all for now - have a great month!
Take care, love N&P&A
xox
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mar 14 - 5 1/2 months home!
March 11 2009 - hi everyone! We have been doing great and having fun, hoping the weather starts to turn soon!
Well let's see..... since last month's update, we have finished our weekly playgroup and swimming lessons; both went very well and we're looking forward to doing more of these, plus another class or sport, in the April session! We are so proud of Angelique and the progress she's making, playing with other kids! It has been a joy to see, and it warms our hearts to know she is getting past her anxiety about being bullied.
We've also noticed a huge change in her vocabulary this month - not only has she started using pronouns (I, you, me, etc) instead of referring to us and herself by name, she is stringing more words together to make thoughts and sentences, sometimes very detailed ones! Very exciting! A still has her amazing memory, and recalls details of events weeks or even months past, as well as details of books we haven't read in a long while.
Angelique has started writing some letters and numbers, and 'signs' her initial on most of her drawings - too cute! She also really likes sticker books - any kind of book really - and playing with her kitchen set and her 'babies'.
Well let's see..... since last month's update, we have finished our weekly playgroup and swimming lessons; both went very well and we're looking forward to doing more of these, plus another class or sport, in the April session! We are so proud of Angelique and the progress she's making, playing with other kids! It has been a joy to see, and it warms our hearts to know she is getting past her anxiety about being bullied.
We've also noticed a huge change in her vocabulary this month - not only has she started using pronouns (I, you, me, etc) instead of referring to us and herself by name, she is stringing more words together to make thoughts and sentences, sometimes very detailed ones! Very exciting! A still has her amazing memory, and recalls details of events weeks or even months past, as well as details of books we haven't read in a long while.
Angelique has started writing some letters and numbers, and 'signs' her initial on most of her drawings - too cute! She also really likes sticker books - any kind of book really - and playing with her kitchen set and her 'babies'.
We had our first babysitter experience at the house and it went really well! A huge thanks to our wonderful niece Amy - Angelique had a blast, and we got to see The Eagles in concert, which was a FANTASTIC show! Leaving her for the evening was hard (I'm sure more for us than for her, the big sucks that we are), but everyone did great!
Angelique talks and sings all the time now; she's happy most of the time while still showing her her ever-stronger personality! She certainly lets us know when something is not to her liking (!), and repeats back to us many of the words we say to her - the hardest part for us is not laughing when she tells us what to do! :-)
Hope everyone is well - we'll send another update soon!
Take care,
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
xox
Monday, February 9, 2009
Feb 9 - wow I forgot one HUGE thing A is up to!
Feb 9 - Hi again - I forgot to add in the last 'update' post that Angelique is doing AMAZINGLY well with her ABC's !!
We do the alphabet song a LOT - it's her fave song to sing, she reaches for the learn-to-read books before all others, and even recognizes some of the letters out of order, such as A 'for Angelique', P 'for Papa' and M 'for Mama'! (with a big smile!) We are so proud and impressed!
We do the alphabet song a LOT - it's her fave song to sing, she reaches for the learn-to-read books before all others, and even recognizes some of the letters out of order, such as A 'for Angelique', P 'for Papa' and M 'for Mama'! (with a big smile!) We are so proud and impressed!
Feb 9 - while we're talking about talking...
Feb 9 - hi everyone! A weird day here in Winnipeg, as it's RAINING! The roads are sheer ice, the airport and even some schools are closed! Should stay above freezing all day today, then the rain will turn to snow overnight - so we'll see how tomorrow looks! Needless to say Angelique and I are having a 'stay-home' day....
We've been keeping lists of 'words we don't hear anymore', to help us remember the Russian and Kazakh words we had been using with Angelique during our visits and for the first few months of custody - you always think you'll remember these but even now we're struggling to recall some of them, so better jot them down now!
Here's the list we have so far (in no order), with meaning and the new English replacement word for each:
1 - Masak - Kazakh for 'cat' - Angelique now says 'pussycat'
2 - Tamak - Kazakh for 'food' - Angelique now says 'supper' (for all 3 meals, which is adorable)
3 - Quaida - Kazakh for 'where?' - Angelique now says 'horsey', which we believe is how she hears the words 'where is?'
4 - Kittap and Koitup - Kazakh (we think) for going to the bathroom - Angelique now says 'pee pee' and 'kaka' and recognizes when we say the word 'bathroom'
5 - Artanda - Kazakh for 'later' - Angelique now says 'later', 'not today', or 'another day' (but often objects with a 'no - right NOW!' :-)
6 - Ooh-itka - Kazakh for 'bed' - Angelique now says 'Angelique's bed'
7 - Paka - Russian for 'bye bye' - A now says 'bye byyyyyyyye!'
8 - Kokoga - Russian for 'hairclip' - actually we decided to keep this one as it's so darn cute!
9 - Alma - Russian for 'apple' - Angelique loooooooves apple juice, so this one changed quickly!
10- Applesin - Russian for 'orange' - if you note the similarity to the word 'apple', you'll understand why this one was so confusing we had to get her saying 'orange' right away!
11- Soo - Kazakh for 'water' - this became 'waaadaaa' back during our babyhouse visits and was Angelique's first real English word!
That's it for now - we'll add more as we think of them! Have a great day!
take care
N&P&A
We've been keeping lists of 'words we don't hear anymore', to help us remember the Russian and Kazakh words we had been using with Angelique during our visits and for the first few months of custody - you always think you'll remember these but even now we're struggling to recall some of them, so better jot them down now!
Here's the list we have so far (in no order), with meaning and the new English replacement word for each:
1 - Masak - Kazakh for 'cat' - Angelique now says 'pussycat'
2 - Tamak - Kazakh for 'food' - Angelique now says 'supper' (for all 3 meals, which is adorable)
3 - Quaida - Kazakh for 'where?' - Angelique now says 'horsey', which we believe is how she hears the words 'where is?'
4 - Kittap and Koitup - Kazakh (we think) for going to the bathroom - Angelique now says 'pee pee' and 'kaka' and recognizes when we say the word 'bathroom'
5 - Artanda - Kazakh for 'later' - Angelique now says 'later', 'not today', or 'another day' (but often objects with a 'no - right NOW!' :-)
6 - Ooh-itka - Kazakh for 'bed' - Angelique now says 'Angelique's bed'
7 - Paka - Russian for 'bye bye' - A now says 'bye byyyyyyyye!'
8 - Kokoga - Russian for 'hairclip' - actually we decided to keep this one as it's so darn cute!
9 - Alma - Russian for 'apple' - Angelique loooooooves apple juice, so this one changed quickly!
10- Applesin - Russian for 'orange' - if you note the similarity to the word 'apple', you'll understand why this one was so confusing we had to get her saying 'orange' right away!
11- Soo - Kazakh for 'water' - this became 'waaadaaa' back during our babyhouse visits and was Angelique's first real English word!
That's it for now - we'll add more as we think of them! Have a great day!
take care
N&P&A
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Feb 6 - 4 months home!
Feb 4 8:30 am - started this post. Finished on Feb 6 2:30 pm. Hi everyone! Hope all is well and you're staying 'warm' in this ridiculously long and cold winter! We're enjoying a small break in the weather this week, getting outside more and LOVING it!!
All is good here, Angelique continues to amaze us with how much she has learned, and how much she has changed in just 4 months! She talks more clearly all the time, and is starting to put more words together to make sentences with nouns and verbs - and she does really well with please and thankyou!
The current fave activities are play-doh, having tea parties, and singing - lots of singing! Yay! A also likes Dora and The Wiggles on tv, plus of course taking care of her 'babies'.
We've started a couple of activities on weekday mornings - a playgroup on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Thursdays - both are going great! A has taken to the water like, well - a fish! The level she started in is called 'sea turtles', reserved for 3 year olds to get them comfortable in the water - well she is now the only one in her class who will put her face in and even her whole head under the water - so I guess she's comfortable! :-) She jumps off the side and goes down the slide with no assistance, which is amazing to see!
And the playgroup is going well too - we were a little worried that Angelique would have 'babyhouse flashback' as that's what the room looks like, even to us! But it seems to be a bit easier each week, and I've managed to leave the group for a little bit longer each time - it'll be good for both of us to have a break from each other for a couple of hours! There are 9 kids there plus the teacher - they do crafts, sing songs and have a snack - looks like fun to me!
All is good here, Angelique continues to amaze us with how much she has learned, and how much she has changed in just 4 months! She talks more clearly all the time, and is starting to put more words together to make sentences with nouns and verbs - and she does really well with please and thankyou!
The current fave activities are play-doh, having tea parties, and singing - lots of singing! Yay! A also likes Dora and The Wiggles on tv, plus of course taking care of her 'babies'.
We've started a couple of activities on weekday mornings - a playgroup on Tuesdays and swimming lessons on Thursdays - both are going great! A has taken to the water like, well - a fish! The level she started in is called 'sea turtles', reserved for 3 year olds to get them comfortable in the water - well she is now the only one in her class who will put her face in and even her whole head under the water - so I guess she's comfortable! :-) She jumps off the side and goes down the slide with no assistance, which is amazing to see!
And the playgroup is going well too - we were a little worried that Angelique would have 'babyhouse flashback' as that's what the room looks like, even to us! But it seems to be a bit easier each week, and I've managed to leave the group for a little bit longer each time - it'll be good for both of us to have a break from each other for a couple of hours! There are 9 kids there plus the teacher - they do crafts, sing songs and have a snack - looks like fun to me!
We're starting to cut back on Angelique's afternoon naps, in an effort to get her to bed a little earlier in the evenings - it's hit-and-miss so far but we'll get there!
Better run - hope this finds you well and happy!
Take care,
Angelique, Nic and Paul
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Jan 6 09 - 3 months home and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Jan 6 2009 - 8 pm - Hi everyone! Happy New Year and we hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a blast of course, the way only a 3 year old can add fun and wonder to an already magical time of year!
December started out with prepping the house with decorations - Angelique thought it was soooo funny to have a tree 'in the house?' especially with the pretty lights! Every day she waited until it got dark outside then we made a big deal of turning on the outside lights that Papa put on the house - too funny!
We also did lots of shopping during the month, for presents and regular stuff like groceries - A has such an amazing memory and often helps Mama remember what it was we're supposed to get at the store -'what are we forgetting?' 'Ummm - bananas and bread, Mama!' You're right!
Also in December Angelique got her ears pierced as a gift from her Auntie Lise - she was sooo excited! We wouldn't have done it so young but she's actually been asking for them! She has had lots of fun showing them off, to anyone and everyone!
And we went for our first visit to Santa Claus! I was anticipating that A would be a little afraid of the big guy, but nope - she laughed at the kids who were crying ahead of us in line, and when it was her turn she marched right up, sat on his lap, told him she'd like a bicycle for Christmas and even gave him a kiss! What an amazing kid!
We talked about Santa Claus coming to the house to bring her presents and she got very excited about that too - asking every day if Santa was coming tonight? When Christmas Eve finally came, she couldn't wait - actually she thought he'd still be there when she got up - are we supposed to invite him for breakfast? And Christmas morning she had lots of fun, opening her stocking and presents - wow Santa's a good guy!
We had many family gatherings over the holidays, and Angelique is completely comfortable with her many Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and cousins - she knows everyone by name and definitely seems to know this group of people are special to her. As she is to them and to us!
On New Years Eve we stayed home and had a nice quiet night - and the next day she said 'Happy New Year' to everyone we saw!
She talks and sings all the time now- so hard to believe this is the same child who only 3 months ago barely said a word! Actually it's impossible to believe only 3 months have passed since we came home from Almaty - it feels like Angelique has been part of our family forever!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009! (and no travelling - yay!!!)
take care
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
December started out with prepping the house with decorations - Angelique thought it was soooo funny to have a tree 'in the house?' especially with the pretty lights! Every day she waited until it got dark outside then we made a big deal of turning on the outside lights that Papa put on the house - too funny!
We also did lots of shopping during the month, for presents and regular stuff like groceries - A has such an amazing memory and often helps Mama remember what it was we're supposed to get at the store -'what are we forgetting?' 'Ummm - bananas and bread, Mama!' You're right!
Also in December Angelique got her ears pierced as a gift from her Auntie Lise - she was sooo excited! We wouldn't have done it so young but she's actually been asking for them! She has had lots of fun showing them off, to anyone and everyone!
And we went for our first visit to Santa Claus! I was anticipating that A would be a little afraid of the big guy, but nope - she laughed at the kids who were crying ahead of us in line, and when it was her turn she marched right up, sat on his lap, told him she'd like a bicycle for Christmas and even gave him a kiss! What an amazing kid!
We talked about Santa Claus coming to the house to bring her presents and she got very excited about that too - asking every day if Santa was coming tonight? When Christmas Eve finally came, she couldn't wait - actually she thought he'd still be there when she got up - are we supposed to invite him for breakfast? And Christmas morning she had lots of fun, opening her stocking and presents - wow Santa's a good guy!
We had many family gatherings over the holidays, and Angelique is completely comfortable with her many Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and cousins - she knows everyone by name and definitely seems to know this group of people are special to her. As she is to them and to us!
On New Years Eve we stayed home and had a nice quiet night - and the next day she said 'Happy New Year' to everyone we saw!
She talks and sings all the time now- so hard to believe this is the same child who only 3 months ago barely said a word! Actually it's impossible to believe only 3 months have passed since we came home from Almaty - it feels like Angelique has been part of our family forever!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009! (and no travelling - yay!!!)
take care
Angelique, Nicole and Paul
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dec 12 - 2 month home update
Dec 12 - hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in adding an update but life with a 3 year old is busy busy busy! We are having a blast and Angelique continues to amaze us every day. She is speaking more and more all the time and now understands everything we say, we're sure of it.
We've decided not to put any more pics on the blog page, but if you're interested in seeing how she's doing please send us an email!
She sleeps great (9-ish hours at night and 1-1.5 hours in the afternoons), and is willing to try new foods, new activities etc. We've just started leaving her with family members for short periods of time - much easier and faster for me to do Christmas shopping by myself - and she has done great with these too!
A continues to enjoy her new surroundings - she's happy to go out and has fun wherever we go, but then gets in the car and says 'Okaaaaaaaaaaay - home!', which we of course think is adorable!
We have a slideshow of this year's photos on our computer monitor which is in the living room - Angelique enjoys looking at the pictures and has such an amazing memory - when pics come up from the babyhouse or at our Kaz apartment, she says 'other house' or 'Kazakhstan' - pretty impressive!
In Nov we had some (expected) dental work done, poor thing - Angelique did awesome and enjoys telling people 'one tooth off, rest all better!' We decided to do it under general anaesthetic as there was so much to be done. So glad it's over and all went really well!
That's all for now - just wanted to say Hi from all of us! Hope you're well and staying warm!
take care
Nicole, Paul and Angelique
We've decided not to put any more pics on the blog page, but if you're interested in seeing how she's doing please send us an email!
She sleeps great (9-ish hours at night and 1-1.5 hours in the afternoons), and is willing to try new foods, new activities etc. We've just started leaving her with family members for short periods of time - much easier and faster for me to do Christmas shopping by myself - and she has done great with these too!
A continues to enjoy her new surroundings - she's happy to go out and has fun wherever we go, but then gets in the car and says 'Okaaaaaaaaaaay - home!', which we of course think is adorable!
We have a slideshow of this year's photos on our computer monitor which is in the living room - Angelique enjoys looking at the pictures and has such an amazing memory - when pics come up from the babyhouse or at our Kaz apartment, she says 'other house' or 'Kazakhstan' - pretty impressive!
In Nov we had some (expected) dental work done, poor thing - Angelique did awesome and enjoys telling people 'one tooth off, rest all better!' We decided to do it under general anaesthetic as there was so much to be done. So glad it's over and all went really well!
That's all for now - just wanted to say Hi from all of us! Hope you're well and staying warm!
take care
Nicole, Paul and Angelique
Friday, October 31, 2008
Oct 31- Happy Halloween! 1:00 pm Friday... hi everyone - not much of an update, we're doing great and settling into more of a routine. Angelique is an amazing child - she's affectionate and happy, she rolls well with all the changes and has lots of fun in her new surroundings. We're beyond thrilled being with her!
I thought I'd take this opportunity to post a few new photos from trip #2- The war memorial in Panfilov park:
I thought I'd take this opportunity to post a few new photos from trip #2- The war memorial in Panfilov park:
And here's our apartment:
We'll put more pics up another time, including some since we've been home!
take care and have a spooooooooky Halloween!
N&P&A
Monday, October 20, 2008
Oct 20- one month custody, 2 weeks at home........ahhh
Oct 20- Monday 2:30 pm - hi everyone! It's unbelievable to me that this is the one-month anniversary that we've had Angelique with us full-time. It seems both like it just happened yesterday, and also that she's been with us forever, it just feels so right!
We've had a fantastic first 2 weeks at home - ok well the 2nd week was fantastic, but the first week was very good too- we were so preoccupied with getting a sleeping and eating routine going that we didn't notice much else going on (LOL). Once that got settled (it took a full 8-9 days to get over the jetlag), then all has been great! Angelique is doing wonderful and seems to enjoy and have fun with all the new things to see, do, smell, eat etc.
She LOVES seeing the family, which is such an amazing feeling. We had thanksgiving dinners with both families and she was happy, playful and friendly with everyone! We've also had visits with a couple of neighbours with young kids and that has been fun. We'll start to see more friends and their families in the next while, now that we're feeling more settled.
Hope everyone's doing well and enjoying the fall weather!
take care
N&P&A
We've had a fantastic first 2 weeks at home - ok well the 2nd week was fantastic, but the first week was very good too- we were so preoccupied with getting a sleeping and eating routine going that we didn't notice much else going on (LOL). Once that got settled (it took a full 8-9 days to get over the jetlag), then all has been great! Angelique is doing wonderful and seems to enjoy and have fun with all the new things to see, do, smell, eat etc.
She LOVES seeing the family, which is such an amazing feeling. We had thanksgiving dinners with both families and she was happy, playful and friendly with everyone! We've also had visits with a couple of neighbours with young kids and that has been fun. We'll start to see more friends and their families in the next while, now that we're feeling more settled.
Hope everyone's doing well and enjoying the fall weather!
take care
N&P&A
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Oct 9 - home sweet home!
Oct 9 Thurs 11:00 pm Winnipeg time (yay!) Hi everyone! Well we made it home safe and sound! Angelique did great on the planes, sleeping a bit on each flight. She was restless during the Frankfurt to Toronto leg but we walked (ok she ran) up and down the aisles and it helped pass some of the time. She and Paul both fell asleep in Toronto airport (on the floor), and she barely woke up being carried onto the plane. She was completely out again before takeoff and we even had to wake her when we landed in Wpg.
Even being sleepy and disoriented, she did great with the wonderful welcoming party who greeted us at the airport, complete with signs and toys for her - thank you to everyone, we were very touched! Angelique continues to amaze us with how well she takes in all the changes - she looked at everyone in the face and smiled - we're so proud of her!
At home, Angelique looked around at everything and was talking a mile a minute as soon as everyone left - she wasn't sure about Farley at first but got over it pretty quickly and now wants to pet him all the time, saying 'Masack?' (cat?). He's doing better with her than expected, letting her pat him and not running away. We got her to sleep in our bed just after midnight and she got a good few hours, waking us at 4:30.
The last few days have been wonderful and sooo full - A sleeps in her own bed already, but only for a few hours at a time (which means so do we) and her schedule is still upside down from the jetlag (she wants to nap at night and have a long sleep during the day), but we're working on it and know it will take some time to get her caught up.
We've had lovely visits with small groups of our family at a time, and she recognizes everyone from the photos we brought with us on the trip, it's so cute! We pull out the photo album and she points to each person's picture, says their name then looks at them in person as if saying 'oh it's you, I get it now!'
Well that's all for now - off to bed........ have a great weekend, we know we have lots to be thankful for as we celebrate Thanksgiving!
take care
N&P&A
Even being sleepy and disoriented, she did great with the wonderful welcoming party who greeted us at the airport, complete with signs and toys for her - thank you to everyone, we were very touched! Angelique continues to amaze us with how well she takes in all the changes - she looked at everyone in the face and smiled - we're so proud of her!
At home, Angelique looked around at everything and was talking a mile a minute as soon as everyone left - she wasn't sure about Farley at first but got over it pretty quickly and now wants to pet him all the time, saying 'Masack?' (cat?). He's doing better with her than expected, letting her pat him and not running away. We got her to sleep in our bed just after midnight and she got a good few hours, waking us at 4:30.
The last few days have been wonderful and sooo full - A sleeps in her own bed already, but only for a few hours at a time (which means so do we) and her schedule is still upside down from the jetlag (she wants to nap at night and have a long sleep during the day), but we're working on it and know it will take some time to get her caught up.
We've had lovely visits with small groups of our family at a time, and she recognizes everyone from the photos we brought with us on the trip, it's so cute! We pull out the photo album and she points to each person's picture, says their name then looks at them in person as if saying 'oh it's you, I get it now!'
Well that's all for now - off to bed........ have a great weekend, we know we have lots to be thankful for as we celebrate Thanksgiving!
take care
N&P&A
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Oct 5 - one more before we leave for HOME!!!!!
Oct 5 – Sunday 2:30 pm – Still rainy and cool last few days – seems somehow fitting, feels like we’ve gone through almost every season during our 2 trips to KZ – I wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed today, just to complete the circle!
Hi everyone – we are ¾ packed and almost ready to go HOME!!! We’ll throw the last few things into the bags after Angelique goes to sleep tonight, before we’re picked up around 10 pm to go to the airport. Can’t TELL you how excited we are!!! Even Angelique is pointing to things with maple leafs on them and saying CA-NA-DA, like she knows she’s heading home too!
Too funny that you ran into Jen and Bert in Frankfurt, Kevin – we were so hoping to see you there ourselves and it sounds like we would have if we’d gotten onto the same flights they did. Oh well – next time we’re all world travelers (ya right, like I’m ever leaving home again)…..
Well as I type this Paul and Angelique are both sleeping – I’m too wound up to nap. Poor Paul was up most of the night keeping the power going (we’ll be very glad to be away from having one fuse for the whole place, and having that fuse be 100 years old). When everyone’s up we’ll go for a walk, and hope to meet up with a couple of newly arrived families from Winnipeg, for a quick hello/goodbye.
Thanks again for the comments emails and calls, they’ve really meant so much and helped us to stay strong. We are so lucky to have the family and friends that we do!
See you soon!
Take care
Lots of love
N&P&A
Hi everyone – we are ¾ packed and almost ready to go HOME!!! We’ll throw the last few things into the bags after Angelique goes to sleep tonight, before we’re picked up around 10 pm to go to the airport. Can’t TELL you how excited we are!!! Even Angelique is pointing to things with maple leafs on them and saying CA-NA-DA, like she knows she’s heading home too!
Too funny that you ran into Jen and Bert in Frankfurt, Kevin – we were so hoping to see you there ourselves and it sounds like we would have if we’d gotten onto the same flights they did. Oh well – next time we’re all world travelers (ya right, like I’m ever leaving home again)…..
Well as I type this Paul and Angelique are both sleeping – I’m too wound up to nap. Poor Paul was up most of the night keeping the power going (we’ll be very glad to be away from having one fuse for the whole place, and having that fuse be 100 years old). When everyone’s up we’ll go for a walk, and hope to meet up with a couple of newly arrived families from Winnipeg, for a quick hello/goodbye.
Thanks again for the comments emails and calls, they’ve really meant so much and helped us to stay strong. We are so lucky to have the family and friends that we do!
See you soon!
Take care
Lots of love
N&P&A
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Oct 2 - seriously, is it really October already???
Oct 2 – Thurs 2:30 pm. Rainy and cool last couple of days but the sun just came out in the last hour. Hi everyone – we’re still here and doing great. Angelique is getting more and more comfortable with us but certainly getting bored with the lack of space and variety. We’ve picked up a couple of new things for her for the plane ride home, which will hopefully help keep her entertained- thanks for the suggestions, please keep them coming if you know of something that works!
Speaking of plane rides, we’ve confirmed that we’ll be home on Monday Oct 6 – yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! We leave here in the middle of the night (2:00 am) and after a couple of long layovers, we’ll arrive home Monday evening.
Our friends Carole/Bernard/Sasha and Jen/Bert/Ruslan all leave for Canada tonight/early tomorrow morning – we wish you safe and smooth flights guys, we’ll miss you! We definitely hope to keep in touch with the friends we’ve made here; there’s something indescribable about the bond that happens when you experience together something as life changing as what we’ve all done this summer.
Our daily routine has remained the same –Angelique wakes us up at such ungodly hours as 6-6:30 (it’s still dark!), then we play, have breakfast, have a bath, more playing, then a nap around 11:30-1:30. Then we have lunch, play some more, go for a walk, come back and play, have dinner, more play then go to bed – Paul and I have sometimes crashed right after A does! Living in a one-room apartment (with a separate bedroom, thank goodness) has given a whole new meaning to ‘togetherness’, and we can’t wait to see what Angelique does with the space in our house! Wow! Look – another room! :-)
A couple of times we’ve mixed it up and walked in the morning instead of /as well as the afternoon, but mostly this is how our day looks. It’s been working OK so we don’t want to mess with it too much! I’m nervous about the plane rides as it will throw such a wrench into this plan, and we’ll be travelling for approx 33 hours total, but we know she’s a trooper and we’ll all start a new plan when we’re home – ahhhhhhhhh home!
That’s all for now – hope you’re having a good week! Thanks for the comments and emails, we sooo appreciate it!
Take care, lotsa love
N&P&A
P.S. Kathryn – yes please book us for a pedicure ASAP!! My toes have held up pretty well but will certainly need attention soon!
Speaking of plane rides, we’ve confirmed that we’ll be home on Monday Oct 6 – yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! We leave here in the middle of the night (2:00 am) and after a couple of long layovers, we’ll arrive home Monday evening.
Our friends Carole/Bernard/Sasha and Jen/Bert/Ruslan all leave for Canada tonight/early tomorrow morning – we wish you safe and smooth flights guys, we’ll miss you! We definitely hope to keep in touch with the friends we’ve made here; there’s something indescribable about the bond that happens when you experience together something as life changing as what we’ve all done this summer.
Our daily routine has remained the same –Angelique wakes us up at such ungodly hours as 6-6:30 (it’s still dark!), then we play, have breakfast, have a bath, more playing, then a nap around 11:30-1:30. Then we have lunch, play some more, go for a walk, come back and play, have dinner, more play then go to bed – Paul and I have sometimes crashed right after A does! Living in a one-room apartment (with a separate bedroom, thank goodness) has given a whole new meaning to ‘togetherness’, and we can’t wait to see what Angelique does with the space in our house! Wow! Look – another room! :-)
A couple of times we’ve mixed it up and walked in the morning instead of /as well as the afternoon, but mostly this is how our day looks. It’s been working OK so we don’t want to mess with it too much! I’m nervous about the plane rides as it will throw such a wrench into this plan, and we’ll be travelling for approx 33 hours total, but we know she’s a trooper and we’ll all start a new plan when we’re home – ahhhhhhhhh home!
That’s all for now – hope you’re having a good week! Thanks for the comments and emails, we sooo appreciate it!
Take care, lotsa love
N&P&A
P.S. Kathryn – yes please book us for a pedicure ASAP!! My toes have held up pretty well but will certainly need attention soon!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sept 30 - still going and going.....
Sept 30 – Tues 9:30 pm – it has been cool but comfortable, rained overnight and during some of the day today. Hi everyone – we’re doing well and still having fun with Angelique, but we’re certainly looking forward to coming home! The days are getting repetitive and the poor little one is getting bored with the limited number of things we have for her to do. We’re seeing more and more of her personality as she gets more comfortable with us by the day.
We’ve discovered a few foods that she likes fairly consistently – perogies, eggs, sandwich meat and chicken always work, and she has bread after every meal which is part of her babyhouse routine – we’ve tried putting cheese or meat on the bread to make it more like a sandwich but she doesn’t like it that way. A little bit of butter is OK, or some jam, but eating it dry and walking around with it is still the preference….ummm ok!
Baths are also now a fave thing to do – such a change from last week! Unfortunately we discovered that plugging the drain to fill the bottom of the shower stall causes water to rain down into the apartment below us – oops! So we’re back to letting the water run from the tap and letting her play in that with some toys, cups, plastic bottles etc - she seems to like it just as much ... We’ll try again with a filled tub once we’re home.
A new game also started with us drawing pictures that she points to in a book – she can continue this game for hours, and it’s happened enough now that Paul and I have discovered that neither of us can draw AT ALL! Lol… We’re always trying to think of things to do to occupy her on the plane, and this could be a good one – we’ll pick up lots more paper….
We went to the local zoo a couple of days ago, at Central/ Gorky park. Just like at home, I like the idea of a zoo more than the reality – once I see the animals I just find it sad. They have some interesting ones here like giraffes, rhinos, elephants plus the regular lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). We pointed out the monkeys to Angelique and perhaps because of our game where she calls us ‘monkey’, she thought they were pretty funny. The park is very pretty, lots of open greenspace, beautiful flower gardens and statues.
Paul’s been working on changing our flights – it looks like we can't leave until the 6th, but we're still working on it - stay tuned. We’re looking forward to seeing y’all!
Take care
N&P&A
We’ve discovered a few foods that she likes fairly consistently – perogies, eggs, sandwich meat and chicken always work, and she has bread after every meal which is part of her babyhouse routine – we’ve tried putting cheese or meat on the bread to make it more like a sandwich but she doesn’t like it that way. A little bit of butter is OK, or some jam, but eating it dry and walking around with it is still the preference….ummm ok!
Baths are also now a fave thing to do – such a change from last week! Unfortunately we discovered that plugging the drain to fill the bottom of the shower stall causes water to rain down into the apartment below us – oops! So we’re back to letting the water run from the tap and letting her play in that with some toys, cups, plastic bottles etc - she seems to like it just as much ... We’ll try again with a filled tub once we’re home.
A new game also started with us drawing pictures that she points to in a book – she can continue this game for hours, and it’s happened enough now that Paul and I have discovered that neither of us can draw AT ALL! Lol… We’re always trying to think of things to do to occupy her on the plane, and this could be a good one – we’ll pick up lots more paper….
We went to the local zoo a couple of days ago, at Central/ Gorky park. Just like at home, I like the idea of a zoo more than the reality – once I see the animals I just find it sad. They have some interesting ones here like giraffes, rhinos, elephants plus the regular lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). We pointed out the monkeys to Angelique and perhaps because of our game where she calls us ‘monkey’, she thought they were pretty funny. The park is very pretty, lots of open greenspace, beautiful flower gardens and statues.
Paul’s been working on changing our flights – it looks like we can't leave until the 6th, but we're still working on it - stay tuned. We’re looking forward to seeing y’all!
Take care
N&P&A
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sept 28 - the good times just keep comin'...
Sept 28 Sunday 12 noon – it was back to being beautiful out yesterday but cloudy so far today – yesterday we got to high 20’s, then it rained overnight. Hi everyone! Just a quick note to say we’re doing great – Angelique is enjoying more new things, and keeping us very entertained!
She especially loves music, which is awesome as we have music playing all the time both here and at home. She’s figured out how to stop and start my Ipod (as only a 3 year old can), and bops her head or full-body dances (swings her arms over her head) to everything from Green Day to Brian Setzer, and always follows the beat, which is a hoot. We still sing along to Bob the Builder and she knows more of the words each day – the ‘Yes We Can’ is now ‘Yep wit ka’, said with much enthusiasm!
One new thing that started yesterday (Sat) is that Angelique really started enjoying a bath, even asking to go in! Up until now she has been scared of it, and was only letting us wash her from a basin of water. So this is very exciting! She also loves brushing her teeth, and asks to do this a few times each day.
Yesterday we did a bit more grocery shopping and this time we brought home a doll, which A really enjoys – she even wanted to come straight home to play with it instead of stopping at the playground! So the rest of the evening (other than the bath), part of the night and all this morning has been devoted to playing with her ‘bebe’. Too cute!
Today we tried an earlier naptime, then this afternoon we’re headed to the big park in the city (called Gorky park, like the movie), which apparently has a zoo, indoor/outdoor waterpark and lots of stuff to see. Yay we get to be touristy again!
Thanks for all the comments talking about the strange behaviours of other 3 year olds –makes us feel a lot better!
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Take care, lots of love
P&N&A
She especially loves music, which is awesome as we have music playing all the time both here and at home. She’s figured out how to stop and start my Ipod (as only a 3 year old can), and bops her head or full-body dances (swings her arms over her head) to everything from Green Day to Brian Setzer, and always follows the beat, which is a hoot. We still sing along to Bob the Builder and she knows more of the words each day – the ‘Yes We Can’ is now ‘Yep wit ka’, said with much enthusiasm!
One new thing that started yesterday (Sat) is that Angelique really started enjoying a bath, even asking to go in! Up until now she has been scared of it, and was only letting us wash her from a basin of water. So this is very exciting! She also loves brushing her teeth, and asks to do this a few times each day.
Yesterday we did a bit more grocery shopping and this time we brought home a doll, which A really enjoys – she even wanted to come straight home to play with it instead of stopping at the playground! So the rest of the evening (other than the bath), part of the night and all this morning has been devoted to playing with her ‘bebe’. Too cute!
Today we tried an earlier naptime, then this afternoon we’re headed to the big park in the city (called Gorky park, like the movie), which apparently has a zoo, indoor/outdoor waterpark and lots of stuff to see. Yay we get to be touristy again!
Thanks for all the comments talking about the strange behaviours of other 3 year olds –makes us feel a lot better!
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Take care, lots of love
P&N&A
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sept 26 - sorry for the delay......
Sept 26 Friday 8 pm – a little warmer than it has been, maybe low 20’s in the afternoon but still very cool at night, enough that we’re turning on the portable heater. Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay between posts- it’s hard to find time to write one up- but we’re doing great and Angelique is wonderful. She talks and sings and dances all the time, and is generally a cheerful, smart and happy girl.
We’re still working on getting some consistency with her food, as one day she’ll eat something but the next day she announces it’s now ‘yucky’ – ya we’re so happy she learned that word!
Sleeping has also been a bit more challenging than it was the first few days – we’re still learning her signals for when she’s gone past the time for sleep (both for her nap and at night), so we’ve left it a bit too long some days and get rewarded with tears/ resistance to sleeping. We stay with her and sing/talk and she always drifts off.
Her fave toys are still her hair accessories (putting them on herself and on us), a musical book, sticker books and puzzles. She also loves looking at the photo albums and saying everyone’s names. Lately she has been carrying around a tube of hand cream and/or a chapstick, which is very cute. She is also now a little camera hog, posing for pictures then running over to see them on the digital camera. All the photographers in our families will have a field day with her!
Wed and Thursday we did our regular afternoon walks – once again to the Silk Way City grocery store and Thurs back to Panfilov park – both went really well and we always stop at a play structure which A really enjoys. Today (Fri) we mixed it up and did a morning walk with Bernard, Carole and Sasha – they found a nice walkway along a small creek in their neighbourhood, so we joined them and enjoyed a stroll away from the traffic noise. When we came back we had a quick lunch and put Angelique down for a nap (no resistance this time). Unfortunately this nap was interrupted 30 minutes later by our pickup to go to the notary (more paperwork). So when we got home we had an early dinner and put her into bed early, so she can get caught up on her sleep.
We may potentially have good news about when we’re coming home – we’ll know more in the next couple of days – stay tuned!
Thanks again for the comments, emails and calls- we can’t wait to get home and see everyone!
Take care
Love N&P&A
We’re still working on getting some consistency with her food, as one day she’ll eat something but the next day she announces it’s now ‘yucky’ – ya we’re so happy she learned that word!
Sleeping has also been a bit more challenging than it was the first few days – we’re still learning her signals for when she’s gone past the time for sleep (both for her nap and at night), so we’ve left it a bit too long some days and get rewarded with tears/ resistance to sleeping. We stay with her and sing/talk and she always drifts off.
Her fave toys are still her hair accessories (putting them on herself and on us), a musical book, sticker books and puzzles. She also loves looking at the photo albums and saying everyone’s names. Lately she has been carrying around a tube of hand cream and/or a chapstick, which is very cute. She is also now a little camera hog, posing for pictures then running over to see them on the digital camera. All the photographers in our families will have a field day with her!
Wed and Thursday we did our regular afternoon walks – once again to the Silk Way City grocery store and Thurs back to Panfilov park – both went really well and we always stop at a play structure which A really enjoys. Today (Fri) we mixed it up and did a morning walk with Bernard, Carole and Sasha – they found a nice walkway along a small creek in their neighbourhood, so we joined them and enjoyed a stroll away from the traffic noise. When we came back we had a quick lunch and put Angelique down for a nap (no resistance this time). Unfortunately this nap was interrupted 30 minutes later by our pickup to go to the notary (more paperwork). So when we got home we had an early dinner and put her into bed early, so she can get caught up on her sleep.
We may potentially have good news about when we’re coming home – we’ll know more in the next couple of days – stay tuned!
Thanks again for the comments, emails and calls- we can’t wait to get home and see everyone!
Take care
Love N&P&A
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