Adam's Birthday

Today is the first day of the long Labor Day weekend. It means, Zachary has a day off, and he is staying home all the way until Monday.

On the 30th, Adam, Michelle's son, turned 10. They came over yesterday, all of them, except for Alon, for pizza and cake (how healthy, haha). All three boys are so grown up! David and Jacob are turning 13 in March. They are great with Zachary. They play with him very gently, and they give him a lot of attention. It is, however, getting harder for them to actually "play" with Zac, as he now expresses a lot of desire to do everything by himself. For instance, when Zachary sat down inside his yellow Tonka truck and David tried pushing him around the room, Zac confidently declined David's hand and attempted to push himself. He used his feet to make the first push, but, of course, he rolled down the truck and fell on the floor. He immediately got up, and did it all over again. Once again, he say down inside the trick, pushed David's hand away, started moving on his own and fell on the floor. David did not make any more attempts to push Zac around, but Zac didn't even seem to notice it. He was sure they are all playing together.

I must note that Zac loves guests. Well, actually, he loves to be WITH guests. He laughed a lot, and generally behaved very well. He ran back and forth, didn't demand attention and his face was lit up with pleasure and joy. 

However, today in the morning, once again he was in a whining mood. In fact, by the time it was time for him to have breakfast, his behavior got so bad that he was crying out loud and even spit up his yogurt, a few times! This really pushed me out of my balance, and it was time for a time out. I carried him to his room and closed the door, explaining him what he did wrong and why he was punished. Of course, he was crying and screaming and calling me until I let him out. After I let him out and calmed him down, once again, I explained him what was wrong in his behavior and brought him back downstairs. I put him in his chair, and he started whining again. I asked him whether he wanted to go back to him room, and he shook his head no. He then ate all his breakfast properly. I praised him, and we moved on with our day.

Gabriel did not sleep last night... again. Something was bothering him, but not his belly. He was screaming like never before, woke up every few minutes and couldn't fall back asleep. He was awake all evening, and all night. He was obviously very tired, but couldn't fall deeply asleep. Today, he is still a bit uncomfortable. He sleeps very well in the stroller, and can stay asleep for up to 2.5 hours. In his sleep, he can produce different sounds and make funny faces, but overall, he stays asleep. He sleeps in the same manner in his crib -- with sounds and funny faces; however, outside, movement of the stroller and fresh air put him back to sleep. At home, he doesn't have either, so he wakes up tp the point where he cannot fall back asleep right away.

Another Sleepless Night

Every day is different, and so is every night. Yesterday, Gabi was sleeping all day long. Literally. As soon as he started to eat, he fell asleep: With his hands in a starfish position, mouth open, eyes shot closed... and there is no way to wake him up. But, unfortunately, at night, he woke up and was awake all night long. Once again, I did not get to sleep... oh well. 

Because he ate so little yesterday (just under 30oz), he also barely pooped. He did poop at night, but nothing too crazy. He didn't poop all the way until after his morning walk and a full bottle of milk. In fact, he pooped four times in a row, every time in a new diaper. That was one (four, actually!) pretty expensive poop! Still, every poop makes up so happy. It is very upsetting seeing him struggling to poop, fussing and getting all red.

Zachary continues to whine. It doesn't mean that whining is all he does, but because we see him so little during the day, it seems like he spends more time whining than being happy or neutral. According to BabyCenter, it is actually a good thing: 

Is your toddler a ray of sunshine at daycare but a thundercloud when you show up on the scene? These end-of-day meltdowns are actually signs of true love. Your child knows that it's safe to let out all of his pent-up feelings around you. While you may be tempted to run a few errands on your way home, you should probably put those tasks on hold until your child's more agreeable.

Not sure whether it is true or not.

Gabriel's Doctor Appointment

Yesterday, Gabriel had his doctor's appointment. Wow! He weights... 9 lb, he is 21 in in length, and his head in 2 cm larger! It looks like he grows 0.5cm a week, gains a pound a week, and his head grows 1 cm a week. He caught up in weight, a little behind in height, and everything else seems to be well. What a strong kid! We are so proud of him. 

Doctor gave him his first baby shots. Gabi was screaming his head off, but stopped as the shots were over. He fell asleep in the car going home, and he slept well. The weather was helping, as it was rainy and gray. 

In the evening, I gave him anti-gas drops. Either the drops helped, or it was a coincidence, but Gabi was sleeping well all night, waking up to eat a few times, but quickly falling back asleep.

He now really likes bathing! It looks like he understands the process and genuinely enjoys it... unless he is hungry. If he is hungry, he screams through the whole bathing process, and screams even louder while I am putting lotions on him. All he can think about it milk, milk, milk.

... He looks so funny after the bath! His hair is ling and very light, although much darker than Zachary's. If I don't brush his hair after the bath, it looks spiky and messy. And when he looks around with his big blue eyes, he looks like a baby bird. So cute!

'Arbuz!'

Luckily, Gabriel slept well last night. Perhaps, it is true that his sleepless behavior was caused by the change of weather, but in the end, because he barely slept all day, he finally was tired enough to go to sleep. Who knows? 

It looks like Zachary finally started sleeping through the nigh without waking up once. This time for real, not temporary. I still cannot say for sure. I will be more confident saying it in October, when a month of sleeping through the night will give some more assurance.

Zachary's new word is "arbuz" (watermelon). He LOVES arbuz, and he says the word so clearly! It seems like he provenances Russian words better and clearer than English words, although it looks like he understands both languages equally well. Maybe I am just being bias because I ask him to repeat Russian words more often than English, haha.

Zachary does not yet know names of colors. Gabriel cannot yet concentrate his attention (eyes) on things, and he does not yet recognize familiar objects or faces. I am sure they both will master new skills soon!

Gabi Update

It looks like Gabi is undergoing another period of growth and development. He continued to fuss during morning feedings, morning exercises on a play mat and during morning walk in a stroller. It is 3PM right now. He is sleeping in front of me on his belly, on the changing table. He has just calm down.

Perhaps, it has something to do with the weather? I noticed that last time it rained, he, too, was fussy and sleepless. It is not raining now, though, but Mike says, it will rain tomorrow. And yet, I feel like the weather is changing right now. 

Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park & Coe Hall Historic House Museum

It's Gabriel's due date! If he followed the doctor's orders, he would have been born today. In honor of such a big day, I took some pretty pictures with him.

It is amazing to see how big our "newborn" is now. I can't stop thinking, how wonderful it is that he is already born! So many tough events are already behind: Feeling nervous, pain, labor, Bris, adjustment of our schedule... And it is so impressive how much Gabriel grew up in just one month!

After lunch, we made another attempt to go to the Coe museum. Neither I not my mom read anything about this park, so we drove into an unknown location. The park, on one hand, exceeded out expectations, and on the other hand, it was disappointing.

A few words about the park. Planting Fields Arboretum is a historic location. Mr. and Mrs. Coe purchased the land in the beginning of the 20th century (1910-s), where later, they hired architects and designers to build a Victorian-style mansion and a beautiful park. They lived in the house for a little while, until 1920-s, and after that, they sold the property to the state of New York for just one dollar. Did some charity work, that is. Currently, the park is a popular wedding and photography venue.

We were truly charmed by the beauty of the park. Coe's garden park made a big aesthetic impression on us. We loved walking along windy paths, surrounded by decorative trees. The mansion was very picturesque as well. It features giant columns, tall chimneys, giant windows and gray "antique" brick. It looks like in Spring, there are a lot of flowers here. Unfortunately, now, in late Summer, flowers are not blooming even in the green house.

This, the beauty of the place was not doubtful. The problem was that my children are not old enough to appreciate this beauty. At the same time, no matter how much we loved the look and feel of the paths, most of them were covered with gravel, which made it very hard to push strollers. The giant emerald green lawns were very inviting, but again, we cannot push strollers on grass. Therefore, Zac, who loved pushing his stroller, did not really have an opportunity to enjoy the process, and constantly needed my help.

Gabriel wasn't lucky, either. He woke up to eat at the time we started driving back home. He had to fall back asleep on the way home. It sounds like not such a bad thing, but it turned out that he slept through the whole day, and he had no choice but to be active and playful at night... another sleepless nigh: Check! 

Change of Plans

On weekends, I try to plan fun outings. My mom, the boys (Zac and Gabi) and I drive somewhere pretty or fun. We all like this idea as new impressions, new knowledge and new possibilities is good for both adults and children. Unfortunately, as of today, we cannot drive all together, and Mike stays home with Ralphie. It is not very convenient taking two cars, plus, in certain locations, dogs are not allowed. In addition, Ralph is pretty rough when he is exploring a new territory, and walks with him are not relaxing at all.

Today, I planned to go to Coe park in Long Island. I didn't really have a chance to read about it. I liked the pictures, and I learned that it was located 40 minutes from home, which is not that bad. Unfortunately, my plan did not come to the fruition. To plan something that includes to many people with different schedules is a tough job. As expected, I started having doubts about going when Zachary fell asleep one hour after I out him to bed. Obviously, this means, that he woke up one hour later than usual, too. The park closes at 5, and we only started driving at 4. From the beginning it was clear that the park will closes right after we arrive. Therefore, I made a decision to go to another park, this time, local.

(To tell the truth, I am terrible at changing plans on a spot. If I have already planned something, and was about to follow the plan, and then this plan suddenly falls apart, I feel disappointment and frustration. After I had children, honestly, this happens all the time. So I do work on myself in that regards. I try to learn how to be flexible without getting upset. This time, all worked out very well. As soon as we started driving to a new location, I felt better and happier.)  

The park we went to was Kissena Park in Fresh Meadows. It turned out to be very pleasant, shady and neat. We walked along smooth stroller-friendly paths and near a big man-made pond. We saw ducks, geese and... turtles! There were big adult turtles and their baby turtles. They swam together, and they swam separately. I have never seen so many turtles at once! Unfortunately, Zachary was not impressed with either geese, ducks, or turtles. He was happy about a playground we found there, where he went down the slide and enjoyed the swings. Gabriel stayed with my mom. He drank milk from the bottle and napped, so I want to believe, he enjoyed his walk as well.

I think Zac's top tooth popped out! There might be more than one, but he didn't let me look.

Before we went to the park, for fun, I put Zac's hair together in a tine ponytail. It looked very, very cute and silly!