My Mom's visit

Our August has been very busy. My Mom has arrived from Russia on August 4th. After recovering from her long flight & a jet lag, she made ambitious plans to visit as many stores as possible: The Dollar World, Costco, Trader Joe's, Ross Dress for Less, Safeway, Walmart, Ikea, Origins - to name a few. She had a long list of client orders to fill including various types of cosmetics & facial creams, diabetic supplies, & clothes. If you work as a cosmetologist in Russia, do NOT tell your clients you are going for a visit to America.
After sleeping by herself for a couple of nights, my Mom took over Sophia's care completely, including nights, allowing me to sleep undisturbed for almost a month. I don't know how I got so lucky again. I have taken care of Sophia at night for only 2.5 weeks since she's been born. My Mom has such an abundance of energy that she washed all of the windows, painted our bedroom, weeded the garden, rearranged landscaping, painted flower beds, ironed a huge pile of laundry, & reorganized some of our kitchen shelves - all while tending to Sophia. I don't know how she does it! She is not showing any signs of slowing down at her age of 59.
One day my Mom, Sophia & I spent a whole day at Ikea buying furniture & accessories for Gerritt's bedroom remodeling project. It all started with me removing Gerritt's crib sheets for washing & finding several small black spots of mold on the mattress. I've decided right then & there that he needed a new mattress & after referencing a few resources in the Healthy Child, Healthy World, I've settled on the one by Vivetique. Here are some of its descriptives: pure natural latex core (naturally mold & dustmite resistant) wrapped in Pure Grow wool (naturally antibacterial) & organic cotton; no innersprings; a good choice for those who live in a damp climate; & a 10-year warranty! $320 plus tax was more than I expected to spend on a crib mattress, but after being reminded that we spend half of our life sleeping & noticing Gerritt's recent watery eyes & coughing spells, I've decided I wasn't going to save at a cost of my child's health. Plus Sophia is going to inherit the mattress in a few months! I removed the single adult bed from Gerritt's room & put natural wood shelves of various heights instead for Gerritt to arrange his toys & have his own place to play. The wall paint colors were inspired by the Ikea rug my Mom & I bought. I painted the whole room including the ceiling in just 1 day using the low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint. I felt unbelievably tired after I was finished, but I really wanted to minimize the number of paint-drying days.
On August 15th my Mom, Sophia & I have traveled to Wenatchee to visit Chris & Gerry. We stayed with them for 2 nights: had fabulous dinners, went swimming at the pool, visited our old friend Natalya & bought some fruit at a Farmer's Market.
On August 20th Gerritt had his surgery. There were some scheduling issues. Our surgery was scheduled for 9:30 am, but the surgery scheduling coordinator could not get a hold of us the night before the surgery (she apparently used our old Mountlake Terrace address), so they ended up working us in the OR schedule later that day. We've arrived to the Children's hospital about 11:30 am & did not have surgery until about 3 pm. Long wait! The hardest part was that Gerritt could not eat or drink anything. We kept him busy looking at aquariums (Gerritt loved watching the fish!), reading books, going outside & exploring the hallways. This surgery was pretty much the same as the last one in January, however, I've noticed 2 differences at Children's: The anesthesiologist took crying Gerritt away instead of allowing one of us to be present with him while he was drifting off to sleep, & we were not allowed to be in the 1st phase of the recovery. By the time we saw him, he has been awake for a while & probably cried longer than I would have liked. Also, the nurse did not allow Gerritt to eat crackers or apple sauce (for fear for post-operative nausea & vomiting), so he had to suffice with juice. Good thing I grabbed a handful of crackers from cafeteria. I fed those to Gerritt in the car on the way home. Again, Gerritt bounced back quickly. He was playing, laughing & eating the same evening. His legs were wabbly for a few hours until the caudal anesthesia has worn off. His penis was swollen for a couple of days, but nothing like the last time (probably because there was no constricting dressing). We did not need to use liquid Tylenol with codeine for pain relief since round-the-clock children's Ibuprofen worked so well. We were so relieved to be done with surgery & safe at home. Hopefully, this is the last surgery Gerritt will ever need as a child.
On August 30th we had a 100-day celebration for Sophia. We traveled to Tacoma to my husband's Mom's house & had a small family gathering with Korean dinner. We also took a few photos. We've decided to skip a large crowded party we've thrown for Gerritt's 100-day celebration remembering how stressed out we all were (including Gerritt). Sophia had a peaceful afternoon after finishing her milk bottle & taking a nice long nap. She'll thank us later for sparing her the "joy" of being handled by a dozen or so people in one afternoon.
At the end of August we found a new in-home Russian daycare for Gerritt. Even though the one he went to only charged $45/day, we weren't satisfied with it anymore. Gerritt seemed really bored, which was painful to see knowing how bright he is. He needed more intellectual stimulation in a fun, supportive, & caring environment. The new home daycare charges $60/day, however, serves organic food; the kids sleep in their own individual beds (not on thin mats on the floor); the teacher is very motivated & has many fun & stimulating projects lined up. It also helps that she is the owner of this business & not a hired substitute, which makes a huge difference in her motivation. We found this recently-opened daycare unexpectedly when talking to a Russian woman we met while visiting the playground at the Robinswood Community Park with Gerritt. She raved about it, so we've decided to give it a try. My husband, Gerritt, my Mom & I all met with the daycare's owner Tamara & liked her right away. Gerritt clung to me at first & wanted to be carried, however, relaxed after finding a large table with railways & trains as well as noticing 2 cats. We've settled on September 9th for Gerritt's first day there.