Suit Shopping

E took off a half a day so we could go suit shopping. We started off by having lunch at one of our favorite restaurants--and running into Kurt, his dad and sister! Cool Beans! Tennisfiend chose a yummy sandwich as I agonized over which salad would be more South Beach. I sure hope it works better than Atkins.

After hugs and handshakes with Brotherkurt, we took off to the mall. At Dillard's, we found only one suit that fit well. We raced over to the Men's Wearhouse where we were greeted by a short , young fellow with Zoolander hair. When did this come into style?! I am such an out of touch old fart. Anyway, they had 10,000 suits all crammed together and not a one was a proper fit. Back to Dillard's and our happy-to-see-you-again salesperson.

Tennisfiend received a shock when he was measured for alterations--one of his arms is slightly longer than the other! Turns out that this is a common occurrence. Who knew? I received a shock when I realized that two hours without seeing my baby made me miss him terribly. All the way home we talked about him. How will I ever cope in California?!

Frog Invasion!

Egor wrote to me to say:

I found a little froggy in my office this morning and there was another one even smaller in the lab. I have no idea where they came from or how they got in. It took all my courage to put it in a plastic cup and take it outside. 

Awww! He hates slimy things and reptiles to the point of phobia.  My brave husband, the Frog Conqueror!

More Teeth

Well, Tyoma's getting in his lower molars and canines. Boy is he hurting. I'm grateful that he had a nice birthday. Our trip to California was changed to the beginning of October. We decided to leave a bit earlier to have more of a "vacation." I am excited and already thinking of what to wear. Mom and Dad will Tyoma-sit, with Ewbliette as a back up. Her Dad's B-day is on the third, so I hope that we won't interfer with any of her family plans.

Hell Week, Day Two...

Sooo...

I've managed to put all the pics related to Tyoma's birthday party online for Tennisfiend's family in Russia. Whew. Most are backdated, natch. Heck, most of my journal is backdated!

Tennisfiend's interview is finally scheduled in California. Babysitting for us, my folks are ready to take Tyoma for three days since I'm going to Cali, too. We're looking for houses/condos/apartments/shacks. This is happening so quickly. And da-yumn, real estate in California is expensive!

Tennisfiend's business may or may not get sold. We are praying for a sale, but fear that the other board members will be foolishly greedy. How will a company buyout affect the job search? All depends on what California is like. We could love it. Or not. We'll know more about the buyout as the week progresses. Meanwhile, TF is putting together a seminar for his interview in California. Meanwhile, I'm still prowling the net, looking for new jobs.

A new car seems like a distant dream. Actually, a September paycheck could be a distant dream.

Nooooo!

The Weekly World News has breathed its last! As cheesy as it was, I really loved this odd little tabloid. I'm hoping that it will remain online. The Onion is hilarious, but WWNis sweet and goofy. Awww! Visit with them!

Birthday Party

All Dressed up and Ready to Party!




Yep. We went all out and got him a little suit for his special day. If you notice, the little tie is floating around his neck and the top button of his shirt is undone. Also notice the tears drying on his face. I bet I don't even need to tell you that story! The rest of his pics are behind the cut. Warning! Image intensive. We are posting for a host of photo-hungry relatives in Moscow.





Naturally, Tyoma has the same love of ties as his Papa.



"What! All these presents for me!"



"Oh, my! I couldn't! It's simply too much!"



Our twin cakes. The little one is for Tyoma to demolish.



Waiting for the cake, he takes off his party hat for the twentieth time.



Intrigued by the candle.



The candle is extinguished.



I'm showing him that he can eat the cake.



"Wow! This is delicious!!!



Heavens! He ate the whole thing!



And now he's eating the decorative balloons.



Awww.

We had no idea how gluey icing could be until we tried to clean up Tyoma. I contemplated using Orange Blast, but Ivory, warm water and patience worked fine. Opening presents on and off took up most of the afternoon (there were three). Tyoma had a tiny sip of grape juice while we toasted with champagne, since he clearly didn't have enough sugar with his cake.
We do have more photos, but I'm a bit to exhausted to post the rest.

Thank You Olya!

Our friend Olya, sent lovely birthday greetings for Tyoma: She handmade this quilted pillow for our squirmy baby! It's soft, sweet and very pretty! Thank you so much for the precious, thoughtful present!

What is especially lovely is the Paul Klee design going on!

Cakewalk

I spent most of today getting ready for Tyoma's party. Please help me understand why I obsess over cleaning so much! My folks wanted to select Tyoma's birthday cake so I met them at our favorite Albertson's. Mom and Dad took turns chaperoning Tyoma around the store as my eyes glazed over looking at Shrek and Cars cakes. He returned from his second tour of the store with a cute fuzzy gorilla and a big smile. My folks are so going to spoil him! Anyway,after fifteen minutes of leafing through the Monster Cake Book of Tackiness, we wound up choosing a simple "Happy Birthday" cake. Screw you, Walt Disney!

Outback With My Birth Partners

 Yesterday evening I took Momfiend and out for dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. If you'll notice, Momfiend has a can of bear-spray with her. Upon seeing the photo, a shocked exclaimed, "Was your mom worried about being mugged in the parking lot?!" No, actually, Mom said that she "brought the bearspray since we were going to the Outback." Hee! Mom, you so crazy!

The three us us had a marvelous time. We should meet every year to celebrate our work together in bringing Tyoma into the world. Ewbliette and I asked Mom to tell her birth story repeatedly, but we kept getting sidetracked. Maybe we'll keep meeting just so Mom can finish her story! I am so grateful to my girls for being there for me. Till those labor pains rock your bones, you don't realize just how much you need the ones you love! Much thanks to Mom's sturdy arms that held firm my flailing leg and much thanks to Ewbliette's indefatigable vocal cords that kept me pushing 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7-8-9! I love you guys!

Thanks Helen!

My friend and former colleague Helen sent Tyoma a birthday gift. Since he's been watching it since I brought it home, we let him open it first.






Tah-dah! Helen hand-made some special things for Tyoma: two hooded towels with cute decals and a plethora of decorated lap/burp pads. Very sweet and really useful!

Happy Birthday Tyoma!

According to Russian tradition, it's bad luck to celebrate before your birthday. Thus, we scheduled our weekend party for next Sunday. But! We had to give the birthday boy a little surprise!

 Whoa this thing is scary...   ....but sort of interesting.   Now how do I open this???   Twenty minutes and fourteen attemps later...   What on earth is this?!  



 Wow!!! My very own Gorilla! Cool! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Das Trench

I haven't posted "The Final Straw" yet, but we are taking steps to eradicate our "drainage problem." Check this out:
 
 We haven't figured out exactly how the finished project will look, but we are doing what should have been done looong ago. Ewbliette told us that we could have sued the former owners for not telling us about the sunroom problem. Since we might well be selling our house soon, we refuse to leave the next owners in the same bind. I dare it to rain now!

Little Animal

I slunk into Tyoma's room to nab the dirty laundry I forgot to pick up before I put him to sleep.  The light and my rummaging partially woke him. I hear little grunts and the crinkly rustling of the waterproof mattress pad.  Instantly I was transported to a different place.

His room became a grotto, filled with animal smells, heavy dark  and dampness. I looked at his crib as if it were a cage and he was some strange little zoo creature to be stared at. The alien-animal feel of my son was so strong, that it was simultaneously humorous and unnerving.  It is so easy to forget in our world of words, skyscrapers and sidewalks that we are still animals.

Copyright Frenzy

Some mentally derange woman has found my parent's website, stolen their pictures and started claiming them as her own and entering them in contests. Despite my parent's letter about copyright laws, discipline and removal of her photos from the contests and other blogs, she is still copying and publishing their photos.

She seems less about wanting to make money and more about being an unbalance attention seeker.

Mom is pretty freaked, concerned that the offending woman will board an airplane and molest them in person.  While I think that's totally unrealistic, some people are nuts and that can be pretty unpredictable.  I think the best that they can do is notify the sites where she post instead of having any contact with her.

Happy Birthday Moosh

It seems like I've spent most of this week scrambling to put together birthday surprises for my two guys.  Last year I ordered a heap of outdoor grill goodies for Egor, including an extensive range of esoteric accessories, that save for one, we have used regularly.  This year we are stone broke, so such luxury is an impossibility. I even speculate that we might need to either auction off our grill-ware or start catering out of our back yard.

So, to treat Egor, I focused on the pragmatic.  What does that mean? Pillows! Yep, I'm replacing the battered, pancaked pillow his mama sent him years ago with fresh springy marshmallowy pillows. 

E's one of those fellows who likes firm pillows. You know, the unyielding mattress-like pillows that jolt your spine into rectangular alignment.  They are the type that are either very expensive and feature the word "therapeutic" on them or are bargain priced and "made in China."  I guess the difference is how long-lived they are, but if they last for six months and don't smell like naphtha, they'll do.

So lucky me, I go to JCP and find, on sale, a pillow certain to contain several geese worth of feathers.  Actually, considering the price, it's probably Freebreezed chicken feathers, but it's lovely.  I splurged a tiny bit on some shower gel at Dillards, Ambre, pour Hommes.  Smells great!  It's nice to find a scent fresh and modern that doesn't smell insecticidal.

So, tonight we had a lovely home-cooked dinner, thanks to mom: scallops wrapped in thick, organic uncured bacon ( my mom rocks!), asparagus and corn on the cob with tons of melted butter.  I sent the birthday cake to work, since I am still watching my carbs, but wine doesn't count, does it? Sauvingon Blanc, ice cold.  We are sure to toast my folks, who have been so helpful to us!

Bath Time

A Cute Pic of Tyoma in the tub. Notice how he does an Austin Powers with his inflatable toy! He is so huge compared to the little tub! He becomes frightened it I put him in the big tub, so issy-pissy tub it is.

First Haircut

I took Tyoma for his first haircut today. I intended to have an incredible photo shoot for the whole thing, but I wound up leaving the camera in the stroller while holding Tyoma in my lap. The haircut went incredibly well, Rodeyo is a genius with kids! It's always a treat to see him.
 
Later that afternoon, as I fed a hot and slighly cranky baby his dinner, Tennisfiend grabbed the camera and took these shots. I objected to the whole process since I wanted his "first haircut" pictures to be a monument to his babyhood. Afterall, he looks sorta goofy shirtless and with a tiny bib.
 

How dare you take my picture! 
Well, okay. Sometimes I'm too anal for my own good. Enjoy Tyoma's totally-realistic-and-reflects-our-real-life "first haircut" photos!

Get Out of Here!

About four weeks ago, Tyoma started his essential vocabulary list. The words are:
1. Mama
2. Bua (Papa)
3. Grrlll (gorilla/Misty)

He seems to think that our dog Misty is a gorilla. Why does he think Misty is a gorilla? Well, we read him "Goodnight, Gorilla" and show him fuzzy baby animal books with gorillas in them. Their black fur matches Misty's, plus, Misty's nickname is "Girlfriend." After weeks of "gggrrrll-aaah's" Mom has decided to make his birthday a Jungle Affair:


Can you believe this?Holy-Moley! Is this not the weirdest/coolest thing you've ever seen?! Little Tyoma will be the olny kid on the block with a gorilla rocker. Thanks folks!

Strolling

So the little one is now pushing his Issy Pissy Cart. See how suavely he shows off his new skill:
 
 

Naturally, such nonchalance results in a fall. What a precious startled expression!

 

And this was just cute:

Black Widow Invader

Well, we've had worse black widow situations.

About six weeks ago, I noticed a web at the foot of my bed! I freaked. Nightly, a vigil was kept. Flashlight in hand, I checked the web repeatedly over the next several days. No spider. I demolished the web and forgot about it. Until today. While making my bed, I discovered a sturdy new web, connecting the lower part of my mattress (which rests on the floor) to the bookshelves alongside it.

All day long I watched that web, as if the spider was going to pop up and shout "BOOGA-BOOGA-BOOGA!" I kept an eye on Tyoma lest he cruise too close to it. At 6:30, I closed the shades and put the AC on max. Twenty minutes later, faithful flashlight in hand, I spotted the evil black spider, fiddling in the space between bookshelves.

She was so large,ripe and sisnister that I could not bear to squash her. I left that to Tennisfiend. Brrr. I am disturbed that such a loathesome creature made her nest so close to my bed and baby play area. Yuck. E.T.A. I had nightmares all night about the spider creeping on my leg, getting entangled in Misty's fur (she sleeps at the foot of my bed), and biting Tyoma. Sometimes I want to bomb our house with pesticides.

Bangs Renewed

Dropped in on Rodeyo today with Tyoma in tow to have my bangs trimmed. The wait was less than a half an hour, but it felt longer with Tyoma along. fortunately, a little boy awaiting a hair cut played with him.

The waif was four years old and so slender that he looked breakable. Tyoma, by contrast, seemed almost as tall, but twice as heavy. I asked the little boy his name and he said "Juice" (Jesus). I was surprised how gently and intelligently Juice played with Tyoma. I made an appointment to have Tyoma's hair cut next week, before his birthday. I am supposed to wait till he is one before the hair cut, but this is close enough.

Farewell

We stopped by to wish A & I good luck before their departure on Monday. Flushed and sublimely happy, "I" greeted us at the door. the two of them looked as if they were still several hours from a final departure (we could see their beds and boxes strewn about). Irina fussed sweetly over Tyoma while "A" politely concealed his enthusiasm to contine loading the moving van.

When we left, I felt melancholy, recalling our own marriage and related milestones. How sweet is to be with the one you love! Mom emailed a progress report today; the pair arrived safely, despite double flat tires and sluggish roadside assistance. I understand that the humidity is near 98% and the temperature matches it. Whew!

Molars

Unbelievable! Our little guy just cut his lower first molars and I can see his canines ready to break through. Judging from the bumps on his upper gums, we'll be seeing four new teeth on top soon. This explains his exxxtreme fussiness for the last two weeks! And I thought his "six teeth in six weeks" was bad! Molars must really hurt.

Goodbye, A & I

And goodby to E's company. Alex has got a new job in Dallas and is moving. I don't think he even bothered with a final notice or the last two weeks of work since he decided to move. I think that he was just keeping quiet until he got a thumbs up from the old place.

We are a trifle shocked, he just got married and he is leaving, zap, like that. But I totally get the whys. We need to get out of here. What kind of company can you sell without the designing scientist and software guy? What can we do? I sadly fear this is all some nasty plot from rival stockholders. How foolish, really. Like shooting yourself in the foot.