Happy October

Happy October everyone.

This week Ana and I have been visiting the baby room at the school where I work. My intention is to go every day this week. We took photos and we are going to make an album of all the kids and her caregivers at school. My hope is to be able to leave her there an hour and a half 3 times next week while I help my team in their classrooms. Yep, I am scared. I have been reading the blogs and posts of my fellow APs and it hasn't gone un-noticed all the issues people have had by going to work or that so many ended up quitting and then having a harder time undoing the damage done by trying the day care route than when they first got home. I know families have done it successfully. I am doing everything I can to be one of them. In the end, it is going to all be dictated by Ariana and her readiness. I know you are a praying bunch.. please add this one to your list. I adore the ladies in the babyroom. They raised Aidan and will forever be in my heart. I think of them as the 3 abuelas. Although only 1 is really old enough to be a grandmother, they all have the heart of a grandma. I am so lucky that they have taken direction so well with regards to what is best for Ana. They even call her Nadyushkah Ariana like I do (her Russian and English Names). When she walked in today and Yolanda greeted her with her Russian name Ariana beamed!! If anyone can love my baby through this, it is my 3 abuelas!

Check out the pink toes!!! I HAD to get a pedicure today. I haven't had one since July, right before I left for Moscow. Isn't that terrifying. Not that my fingernails have been done either, but the toes were starting to hurt. I took Ariana and she sat on my lap the entire time. There is absolutely NO WAY EVER that one of my boys would have sat still long enough for my toes to soak much less have an entire pedicure. She was treated to pink toes of her own! A first for my baby girl. She had no idea what was going on so she tried to peel the pink off like it was a sticker. She still looks at them puzzled. This was an unplanned event. I had hoped to wait and do it with Nana so we could have a 3 generation Pedi together.. we still can, it just won't be her first. Aidan is now asking for pink toes. If I had polish, I would paint them. But Ian is giving him the big NO. On my boys' behalf I will say that both Corbin and Collin will now willingly go with me to the salon. Of course it was first because they LOVED the massage chairs. Now they also like having their feet massaged too.

Don't you just love the Halloween smocked dress! That is from her Godmother Carolyn. You will see a lot of it this month as I adore the dress and have to get as much use out of it as I can before it is too late. It is going to be her October uniform.

Ariana has the most narrow feet ever. If I fit her shoes to the length, they are so wide they fall off. If I fit to the width, her toe is either at the end or curled under. I had gone with getting shoes with her toe going to the end, but I discovered them curling under today and now I am in crisis mode. I knew they would only work a couple of weeks, and hoped to have found a solution before she busted through them. She needs a size 5 narrow. Anyone have any suggestions? I can't find such a shoe.

Finally, Collin is gracing my blog with his presence. Collin is a bona fide genius in my book. He was amazingly good at chess even in kindergarten. Before he turned 6, I could no longer beat him at chess. (of course, he was also doing square roots in kindergarten with a someone they sent over from the middleschool for a few students to work with) Well, I found this logic game from my days teaching 4th grade. I never met anyone who solved one. I never solved one. I never had a student solve it... but in under an hour Collin has solved it twice. His brain works so fast I think Ian installed a microchip in it. He can plot out moves 10 steps ahead and then strategize. This gene did not come from me. Frankly it didn't come from Ian either. Ian is smart. But this kind of thinking is not Ian's kind of smart- spatial awareness is not Ian's gift. He still thinks left and right are the same thing... I do think it comes from his side though. Unfortunately for me I don't think MIT takes Florida Prepaid.

Ana update:

*She now blows kisses!! Isn't that adorable!

*She can find her nose if you ask her to, but if you ask her to point to her eye, she always points to her ear. Sometimes she gets her mouth right.

*She is regularly saying bye and waving. Sometimes she says Paka- it is a habit of mine I need to break and she picked it up.

*She is still arching her back when I want to rock before bed time. She does it to Ian too. I work with her for 5 min and then put her in bed and stroke her face and look into her eyes. Sometimes she calms enough for us to get a side snuggle in. She drinks great in the baby position now. She gives me wonderful eye contact. When she wakes up is a great time to rock and snuggle and get that attachment/PONS brain work in.

*I am still waiting for that REAL first hug. That "I love You so much" hug. I get hugs.. There is the monkey-clinging-to-the-mama-while-she-climbs-a-tree type hug that says "I am scared. Protect me". And the half-hug where her hands flex out and she uses her arms somewhat, but she won't-commit-to-it hug. She also has a pat on the back hug, which is a mimic hug akin to shaking hands. I have gotten a number of "I am exhausted. Can I lay my head on your shoulder?" hugs. They are very satisfying, but not the one I eagerly anticipate. I am lucky to have 3 boys who really know how to give hugs that say "I love you. You light up my life." They are wonderful role models for the hug I eagerly anticipate.

*Upa is her version of Up. She forgets to use it, but when cued, she will say it to get help stepping over something or she will use it to get picked up.

*Papa still means anything from the mailbox to Ian. No one here calls Ian Papa, so odds are she will get daddy or dad out instead.

*Still waiting on mama, mom, mommy... anything resembling me.

*Arf Arf is dog. She has said Dog and something close to Banjo before, but not consistently. She and Banjo are tight as two peas in a pod now. She enjoys getting food from the food canister and putting it in his bowl all day long. Now, Ana and Aidan are the only ones in the house not needed to go on an exercise program.

*She now eats just about anything. She ate tuna fish salad, chicken salad and hot dogs. She still won't drink milk or have yogurt, so I am sneaking it in whenever I can. She has the loosest stools and if they made a baby probiotic, she should be on it. Cheese is her main source for calcium. Lots and Lots of cheese.

I am sure I will think of 30 things I should have listed as soon as my head hits the pillow, but that is what I am going to have to resign myself to. I need some rest.

Happy October everyone. May it be full of good health, joy and abundant love.

Michelle