Strawberries

Whooo-hooo! Strawberries!

We decided to have a little outing to pick strawberries with Tyoma. He didn't seem to quite get the point and somebody needed to be the "wait till it's washed" officer, but it was lovely to get out and see real fruit on a plant.

I think the thing that surprised me the most was the smell of the fruit. The whole field was fragrant, it seemed almost artificial, but there was some subtle tang that made it a natural fragrance.

We picked a basket of lovely fruits (below) that looked so delicious that it was slightly sinister. The strawberries themselves were not as sweet or flavorful as the scent would have you think. Tanya cooked up some preserves for E that he delighted in.

I was shocked since the jam was runny, but she did not dump chemicals on it so it was authentic Russian Jam. Along with the jam came some sort of foamy confection that Egor gobbled with relish. Personally, I was surprised how sweet it was, but in the old days you preserve with sugar. Half sweetened stuff just wouldn't last. I don't think that the jam will last either, E's really loving it!

Dr. Dobbins

I took Tyoma to meet his new pediatrician today.  He was pretty squirmy in the office as we waited, so I was glad to have brought books for him.  I chose Dr. Dobbins for her extended experience and pleasant face.  Does it make sense that she looked like a cross between Dr. Bass and my dear sweet Grandmam?

She was not a touchy feely doctor like Dr. Settles, she was a no-nonsense sorta gal. I liked her although she disparaged me calling her "Mam" all the time.  I will make it a point to call her "doctor" in the future.  It's odd what can get under a person's skin, I was nervous and trying to be polite.

Anyway, yes Tyoma has a speech delay, enough to be evaluated for speech therapy.  I was pretty shocked, actually.  she made it sound like no big deal.  She also said that the change in our living arrangements was what was causing the sleep problems.  She said to do what I always do, regardless of the mother-in-law.  He might scream, but he will feel more secure with a return to my way of doing things.  Boy, was I relieved to hear that. 

I was a bit surprised to hear of the self-care stuff that Tyoma should be doing. We still feed him, except for finger foods, and I'd only give him a real cup if I wanted to spend the day changing his clothes.  He can do many things, but some time he just won't and you can't force things on him.  Well, not easily.

Price Reduction

Well, we knocked some money off the price of our house again.  The pool is proving to be a pain in the ass, but I am glad that we have a handyman looking after things for us. Sigh.

OMG! Tyoma Counts!

This is the coolest!

Sprinkler!

Whee!!!!
 

I don't think I've ever seen him have so much fun!  He runs through the sprinkler, shakes, yells "whoo!" and does it again.  The amount of fun he is having is fearful.  After about twenty times I have to physically restrain him and pull him away from the sprinkler since he is so excited that I'm afraid he will run into the street. Well, definitely an awesome way to cool down!

Funny Book!

Tyoma with a cute book that mom and dad sent.  I've been doing lots of reading with him and he is fascinated by the page numbers.  He'll point and babble and I'll say the number.  I tried messing with him by saying the wrong numbers, but he knows better!!!

He'll pull books out of the shelves to look at page numbers.  An odd thing--he sorted his little foamy numbers into odd and even piles.  I don't think that he understands the concept of odd/even, rather he noticed that some page numbers appear on one side while the rest are on the other. Cool!

Russian Kettlebells

E has been talking about Russian Kettlebells for the past few weeks, actually since before Christmas in NM.  The 'bells are iron slugs with handles on them and you swing them to get into shape. 

TF's been agonizing over the purchase of a bell, specifically how heavy to buy it.  He wanted to get the 35 pound bell since it is closer to the type soviet athletes used to train with, but he was afraid that it might be too heavy.  The debate circled around for a few days and then he purchased the heavy one.

The exercises for this thing are crazy.  Basically you get fit by swinging the weight vigorously back and forth.  It's a wrecker-ball in motion. E really needs to be mindful of where he's swining his weight since Tyoma is silent around the house and I have horrid visions of a hospital visit and untimely funeral (for hubby if he hurts T).

Potty Training

Tanya expressed her ideas about toilet training.  I think she meant well, but it came out a bit snarky, anyway.  In Russia, she explained, a mother's first job is to toilet train her child.  She said it was very important, especially since blankets and sheets had to be washed.  Pampers changed all that she lamented, since it is so easy to let them go.  She even asked for a potty and to start training. 

Is it just me, or does that sound like a sly way of her saying that I don't know what I'm doing?  I don't want to think that way, but I feel it.  My own research tells me that you can "train" but that you will not be accident free until a certain internal milestone is reached.  I don't think that he's anywhere near ready and that putting him on the potty will freak him out. He won't sit for it.

So she wants to try. I don't care.  I talked to TF about it, he said get the potty, let her do it, and ignore her.  He also said that I should ignore her drama over Tyoma's crying, because it's not about me, it's about Tanya and how she feels.  This maybe true, but I can feel the tension and it makes me feel like a prisoner in my own home.  It's been less than two weeks and I am ready for her to go back to Moscow.

Quiet Afternoon

More spooky organizing.  Tyoma has been stacking letters on window sills all day.  They aren't arranged in any particular order, but he seems to take such joy in the process.  It's rainy and sweet smelling outside. I love our new home!

Naps

I am about to loose my mind. I feel angry, frustrated and a teeny bit hopeless. 

Tyoma is having trouble sleeping.  He won't nap during the day and he's waking up at night.  I remember sleep problems last time Tanya visited, but that was long ago.  He's older now.  But as soon as she visits, his behavior is whack.  It seems like he can't sleep because he gets too excited.  He needs calm and quiet, or just to be ignored until he cries it out.
It seems like sleep always gets messed up when Tanya's here.  I think it is because she does not respect my way of doing things.  When he was a baby, I'd have to shoo her out of his room at night and during the day. She disrupted everything. I dunno, it just seems like I need to be doing the same thing I always do for sleep and when she's here he cries more and he's upset more. But we must keep to our little schedule that he is used to, otherwise it makes it worse and he gets even more wound up.

She tells me that she raised two boys and that she knows.  Well, I've done a fine job raising Tyoma who slept just fine before you came, thankyouverymuch. I have little clouds of cartoon steam coming out of my ears now.  I hate drama in my home.  I hate that she makes a big deal of swishing out of her room on to the back porch so she can't hear him cry. Ugh.

If that was not bad enough, he's skipping his nap. So now he's not sleeping during the day and he's having trouble sleeping at night.  It's just getting worse. The move was easier on him than her visit.  I think because I was in control and I didn't change any rules to placate her.  I hate that she dramatizes his crying as if I am killing him. Its all about her and how she feels and not about how we do things  here and keep order. 

No one listens to me. TF stays uninvolved. I am making an appointment with a pediatrician to get some support. Grrr, grrr, grrr.