Professional Portraits

Swimming

About a month ago Andre learned how to swim with his cuffs on - by that I mean I put them on him for the first time and he swam. He just loves it - my Mr. Independent can now be just that in the water. :) He doesn't ever want to get out of the water and I think if it was up to him he would stay in all day long.

Blowing bubbles

Andre with his friend Spencer

(Even though it looks like Andre was swimming without supervision - there were 2 adults other than me, I just happened not to get them in the video.)

Cousins

Piper, Misty and Rick came to visit us a couple of times while they were in California. Andre loved playing with Piper, and it the morning would go up to our front door, knock on it and say "Piper, where are you?" We are excited to see them again up at Island park in a few weeks.

Would you say up to no good?

Doing "Ring aroung the rosies" (notice Andre is wearing Piper's hat and Misty's shoes - should I be worrried?)

Misty with Harper

Aren't they cute!

They say white men can't jump, but check this kid out

(we've moved the table since then)

What Does the Future Hold for Harper?

On the June 30th Harper had his 2-month check-up. He got 5!!! shots, and did great, crying for only about 20 seconds or so - he was such a trooper. Also the last visit to the doctor on May 21st the kid weighed 8 lbs 14 oz, and less than month and a half later he weighed in at whooping 12 lbs 4 oz (62nd percentile)!!! This boy is going to be a giant if he'll keep gaining weight at this rate! He was also 24 inches long (from 21.5 in on May 21st) - which puts him in the 79th percentile for height.

Harper's First 'Swimming' Bath

Besides crying due to the initial shock of touching the water, Harper seemed to have enjoyed it.

Beach Fun

This last Saturday we had a fun time at the beach. Ever since Andre conquered his fear of waves, he asks a few times a day whether we were going to the beach. He just loves it there, especially being in the water and every time we try to get him to get out a second later he asks "more ocean" - he is a true Californian. :)

Learning about nature
Andre found a shell in the ocean and was bringing it to me
Funny thing - when we got to the beach it was very hot and sunny, by the time we found parking and got down, the clouds came in so it wasn't all that warm - when we left, we were driving back on Sepulveda Blvd. (about a mile east of the shore) and there wasn't a cloud! Aren't we lucky :)


This is how Harper spends most of his time at the beach - chillin' in his car seat
Freezing Andre

Mother of two

Today, the brutal reality of being a mom of two kicked in - and the kids didn't help me ease into it - both of them woke up at 2:30 a.m. and refused to go back to sleep. Andre was woken up by Harper's whimpers signaling that it was time for him to eat. I thought Andre would go right back to sleep, but not so. While I was nursing Harper, he kept on calling out for me, while screaming 'no' and crying. I had to wake Jeff up, so he could take care of Andre since I obviously was in no position to do so. Upon failed attempts of Jeff to get him to go to sleep in his own bed, Jeff brought him into our bedroom. He wanted his Mom, not his Dad, and seeing me nurse Harper didn't sit too well with him either. Andre then started asking for milk, juice, monkey George and every other thing possible. When I finished nursing Harper and put him in his port-a-crib, the little stinker refused to go right back to sleep right away, but decided to stay up and have a little party with his brother. After about an hour of putting the binky in and covering Harper, and telling Andre it was not ok to watch Curious George, but it was time to sleep, I gave up and woke Jeff up once again (I wish I could sleep as deep as he does - what a blessing!). Since Andre wanted me, I had Jeff take Harper and go into the living room with him. Andre finally fell asleep around 4 am, upon which I went into the living room and found Jeff laying on the couch and Harper being propped upright by him - upon my entry Jeff announced "I guess Harper wanted to sit up!". Wow, surely I was hoping to find Harper asleep, but I guess as long as he didn't cry that satisfied Jeff. (Thanks honey for being a sport and waking up - I really do appreciate it - it is much better than trying to juggle both kids by myself in the middle of the night.) I had then Jeff go to bed and I stayed up with Harper and rocked him to sleep by 4:30. Just as I finally fell asleep, 5:30 rolled around and Andre was up ready for the new day!!! I sure hope that was just one night, and that we all can get on a better schedule...

Goodbye, Grandma

Sadly, my Mom had to fly back to Ukraine. I knew it was coming, but it seems like the 3 months she was here flew by like a week. It was so nice having her here helping me with the boys.

Thank you Mom for doing all the household chores, babysitting, staying up at night with Harper so I could get my rest, playing with Andre, and many other things you did. Thank you for everything - we love you and miss you already! At the airport - final good byes