Happy Halloween!

Some of the Halloween decorations at our house


Kids helping Daddy to carve the pumpkins

This Halloween, rather than going trick-or-treating & then fighting to pry candy out of our kids' hands, we've decided to take them to the Pumpkin Bash at the Woodland Park Zoo. The Zoo offered a special discount - 1 child in a Halloween costume could enter for free with a paying adult. Weather cooperated with us again as there was not a drop of rain all day & the sun was shining brightly. We arrived to the Zoo at around 11 am & stayed until 3 pm. Sophia slept in her stroller for at least 1.5 hours (she always sleeps longer outdoors) & Gerritt did not mind one bit delaying his afternoon nap by a couple of hours.


Gerritt & Sophia posing for photos


Happy girl Sophiichka (Софиичка) (the endearing version of Sophia in Russian - that's how I like to call her)


Gerritt & Daddy


Gerritt, Sophia & Mommy

It was our 5th trip to the Zoo this year, however, this outing was different. The Zoo was overflowing with parents & children all dressed up in various costumes. Gerritt was dressed as a monkey while Sophia wore a pink butterfly costume. Their costumes were made out of fleece & doubled greatly as outdoor clothes, keeping the kids warm. The Old Navy costumes usually run at $22.50 a piece, however, I bought both of Gerritt & Sophia's outfits for $5.47 (!) each a week after last year's Halloween.
We've attended multiple pumpkin "animal enrichment" activities to observe a repertoire of animal behavior as various zoo animals crunched, smashed or stomped on pumpkins. Gerritt announced that he wanted to see only cranes & pinguins since they were his favorite. I could not convince him to see any other animals without him crying even though we were almost inches away from an elephant. No amount of persuasion could get Gerritt out of his stroller so I had to suffice with admiring the elephant on my own & taking photos to share with Gerritt later, when he would be in a better mood.


We took a little detour on our way to visit Gerritt's favorite animals & happened to observe hippos & sun bears snacking on pumpkins as well as a variety of other animals out & about. When we finally reached the penguins they looked busy trying to pry little fish carefully inserted into the small holes in a pumpkin.


A hippo crunching a pumpkin


Gerritt's favorite - pinguins!


A bear enjoying a pumpkin as well - who knew?


Beautiful flamingos

The highlight of the day was watching a performance of high school kids wearing zombie costumes & dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Of course, Gerritt & I had to ride the Carousel again while Daddy watched sleeping Sophia & also stop by the balloon animal maker to buy Gerritt a yellow balloon giraffe.
Gerritt played the monkey role perfectly running & climbing all over the Zoo.


Our little monkey!


Sophia loved being chased by Gerritt, "Catch me...


... if you can!"

Upon returning home he took his biggest nap EVER - from 4 pm on Sunday to 8 am on Monday (16 hours straight)! Gerritt slept through all of the trick-or-treaters who visited our house later that night & even Spike's barking. He fell asleep while holding onto his balloon giraffe, & I could not help but smile when I carefully took the giraffe out of his hands when getting into bed later that night.
We might have outdone ourselves this year with the house Halloween decorations, pumpkin carving & the kids costumes. Prior to having kids our Halloween consisted of buying candy so we could give something to the dressed up trick-or-treaters stopping by. The outdoor lights were turned off as soon as the candy ran out. This year it's a different story... My perception of this holiday's importance has certainly changed since becoming a Mom & I have Gerritt & Sophia to thank! :-)

Halloween Arts&Crafts/ The Pumpkin Patch

Preparing a pumpkin pie (yes, I let Gerritt crack the eggs!)


Coloring the train


Gerritt & Kate goofing around


Gerritt painting a pumpkin


Gerritt's & Mommy's project together - a spooky Halloween house

My trip to the Jo-Ann Fabrics store for some beads on Monday evening unexpectedly lead to the idea of dedicating this week to crafts & fun/creative home projects. The week started with Gerritt & girls helping me to bake a pumpkin pie. During the following days Gerritt created a necklace, painted a wooden pumpkin using paint & brushes, & colored a wooden train & an airplane using markers. Gerritt & I spent one of the evenings building a spooky Halloween house using the included kit materials. It took longer than an hour, however, just like me Gerritt didn't want to leave a project unfinished. We finally finished the house, long after Sophia & Daddy went to bed, all complete with pumpkins, gosts, bats, a witch & sparkly roof.
The week was finished nicely with a trip to the Pumpkin Patch at the South 47 Farm. Sophia laid down for her nap just as we were all ready to go, so it was decided for Daddy to stay home with her, while Gerritt & I ventured out to the Pumpkin Patch. It was sprinkling when we headed out, however, it stopped raining & the sun came out just as we arrived to the farm. We listened to a banjo player, petted beautiful & soft alpacas, had fun selecting the biggest pumpkins (that I would be able to lift) & even took a hay ride around the farm. Gerritt was 2 hours late for his afternoon nap, but it was worth it!


Gerritt feeding an alpaca


"Do you like this pumpkin, Mommy?"


Taking in the view


The hay ride


Gerritt & Mommy

On Friday I had a conference with Gerritt's teacher at the Spectrum Academy. Ms. Heidi is in love with Gerritt & said many wonderful things about him. Some of the areas he needs to improve on are handling scissors properly, tracing & cutting simple patterns, painting & pasting neatly, speaking to inform & entertain, telling a story & using drawings to express meaning. Good to know! The teacher's exact comments were:

"Gerritt is a pleasure to have in my classroom! His learning ability is very age appropriate. He is opening up to everyone. He is very kind to all of his friends. Always behaves perfect in class. Thank you for sharing him with us."

Ms. Heidi surprised me by revealing she was an attachment parent herself. When I told her that Gerritt & I share bed & like to hold hands, snuggle & talk about our day prior to falling asleep, she didn't roll her eyes or lectured me about "saving my marriage." She just understood & told me to enjoy every moment of it. She shared bed with both of her children & it went by "too fast." I know. And every time I hear, "Can you hold me, Mommy?" or "Can you sleep with me, Mommy?", I drop whatever I am doing in order to enjoy these precious moments. To me that's what mothering is about.

I Was Tagged

Thanks to my blogging friend & fellow former exchange student from Tynda, Russia Yulya for tagging me & giving me an opportunity to complete this fun exercise!

4 things that are always in my purse (besides the obvious):

1) 800 mg of Ibuprofen
2) Disposable wet wipes
3) Grocery store coupons
4) Various shopping guides from the Environmental Working Group (mercury content of various fish; the "dirty dosen" - fruits & vegatables with the highest pesticide load; "Plastics by Numbers" - from safest plastics to ones to avoid)

4 things in the drawer of my desk (that one wouldn't expect to find there):

1) My Fertility Awareness calendar
2) The Goddess Guidance Oracle cards by Doreen Virtue
3) A photo of my American parents in their 30s (I would love to have such photo of my parents - some day!)
4) The Obstetrical pregnancy wheel/"due date" calculator

4 favorite things in my bedroom:

1) My jewelry box (I love to pick out a matching jewelry set on the evening prior to my work day)
2) The Ikea king size bed (enough space to cosleep with my son & even a dog)
3) My electronic alarm clock which projects the current time onto the ceiling
4) The white noise machine which runs all night (preventing Gerritt & I from hearing Sophia & Daddy's awakenings in the middle of the night & allowing me to get ready for work in the mornings quietly & without waking up Gerritt)

4 things I always wanted to do:

1) Have more than 1 child (I don't like being an only child)
2) Open my own private women's health clinic
3) Visit Forks, WA (You have to be the Twilight fan to understand)
4) Become a writer

4 things I like at the moment:

1) Having an evening all to myself (thanks to my husband taking Gerritt & Sophia for another overnight visit at grandma's house)
2) Being able to watch multiple episodes of the old TV series Heroes uninterrupted via my Roku box from Netflix
3) The sound of the raindrops on the roof (it's raining heavily)
4) Blogging - I find it therapeutic

4 things no one knows about me:

1) I moved to the US at the age of 18 speaking minimal English & have been back to Russia only once for the past 15 years
2) I make a horrible patient & would not take most of the meds I am prescribing to others (I believe in natural/restorative/holistic medicine & that less is more)
3) I am very comfortable discussing bodily functions & embarrassing health topics due to the nature of my work
4) I can play piano & accordion (although it has been a while)

Zoo Trip - Take 4

Playing with the hippo


With the lion


The orangutan - a new discovery on this trip!


"Show your teeth!" Gerritt has mastered the standard American smile (but not keeping eyes open at the same time)

Yesterday we spent another day at the Woodland Park Zoo. The forecast predicted rain, but we've decided to take a risk & head out of the house anyways. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny & warm fall day & we were not disappointed in spending another day outdoors. In the morning, my friend dropped off her 2 girls for an entire day, so my nanny & I were confident in being able to handle 4 kids on a field trip.
This was my 4th Zoo trip this year. I don't know for sure why I enjoy our Zoo so much. I never leave fully satisfied (like "I've seen everything there is to see") & there is almost a gravitational pull to bring me back for yet another visit. Maybe it's being outdoors & feeling one with nature due to the proximity of wild animals all around me? Or maybe it's the fact that I never get tired of seeing happiness on Gerritt's face when he meets a new animal for the first time? Maybe it's the several hours I have to spend walking & exploring? Or the knowledge of winter's proximity & the anticipation of many days I have to spend indoors? It's probably a little bit of everything.


Snack time!


In the boat


The closest I've been able to get to a giraffe

Intro to the Greek Mythology

I've been writing down the funny phrases Gerritt says before I forget them. This is what he came up with this week:

Gerritt: "Mommy, my tongue hurts!" (after biting it accidently while eating too fast). Me: "Do you want me to blow on it?" Gerritt: "No, I need vitamin D." (Funny, but no coincidence since I give him vitamin D3 drops once or twice a week)

"I am full, Mommy. My belly is so happy!" (satisfied after dinner)

"This one looks like poo poo!," pointing to the country of Madagascar on the wall map (the country just happened to be colored yellow & in the shape of you know what)

Sophia's 1st mollar on the right lower gum is out & the 2nd one on the left is on its way. Poor girl & poor Daddy who has to work full-time feeling constantly sleep deprived. We had to resort to some infant Ibuprofen to help Sophia get more restful sleep for a couple of nights, but there is just no way around it - molars hurt! We have not had a full night's sleep since Sophia has been born & I will throw a BIG celebration when she sleeps through the night for the 1st time.

This week Gerritt & I had a brief introduction to the Greek mythology accidentally. We took the beautifully illustrated book Blue Moon Mountain by Geraldine McCaughrean home from the library & were pleasantly surprised to discover that it was full of stories about such mystical creatures as unicorns, cyclops & mermaids, just to name a few. How many 3 year olds do you know who have such words in their vocabulary? I was certainly impressed with Gerritt's concept understanding & ease of pronounciation. I've always been fascinated with Greek mythology since so much of the fantasy literature is based on it (think of the Harry Potter series or One Thousand & One Nights, for example). Here is a review of the main creatures of the Greek mythology:

Harpy - a fearsome creature that lived in ancient Greece. It had the body & wings of a giant bird & the head of an ugly woman. These foul-smelling creatures were always hungry & snatched most of their food from humans causing some of them to eventually starve.


Hydra - a huge snake-like monster with several hideous heads. It was impossible to kill & one whiff of its poisonous breath caused death. When one of its fearsome heads was cut off, two grew in its place. The hero Heracles destroyed Hydra. Each time he cut off a head, he sealed the stump with a flame to stop new ones from growing.


Mermaids - creatures living in the seas, with the body of a beautiful woman from the waist up, & the lower body of a fish. Sailors told tails of mermaids sitting on rocks, combing their hair & singing, to lure the men away from their ships so they would drown. They had powers over the sea & if angry could make giant waves that sank ships & flooded villages.

Orc - was a medieval sea monster that was greatly feared by sailors. They told many tales of how this fearsome beast would pursue & devour any creatures that came within its reach. Today, people believe that the creature they described was probably the killer whale, or Orca, which is a very skilled hunter of fish & seals.


Dragons - Fire-breathing, winged reptiles, who had magical powers. In Norse myths, dragons were a symbol of war & guarded the burial mounds of warriors. Chinese dragons were the companions of the weather gods. In Europe dragons were regarded as evil creatures. Their name comes from the Greek word for serpent.


Cyclopes - a mythical race of giants who looked like hairy humans except they had only one eye in the center of their forehead. Wild, savage creatures, they kept herds of giant goats & sheep & lived in caves. Odysseus & his men were captured & imprisoned in a cave by the cyclop Polyphemus. They blinded the giant & escaped by clinging beneath the sheep as they left the cave.


Gorgons - 3 sisters who lived on a remote island in ancient Greece. They had the bodies of women, hideous faces, the teeth of hogs & brass claw fingernails. The most spectacular feature was their hair - a mass of live, hissing snakes. Any human who dared to look at them was instantly turned to stone. Two of the gorgons were immortal, but legend says that the third, Medusa, was killed by Perseus.


Gryphon (or Griffin) - a fierce beast with a lion's body, legs & tail & the wings & head of an eagle, but with pointed dog's ears. It's said that they were native to India & lived in wild mountainous countryside, building their nest, which were said to be lined with gold, on high cliff-tops. Gryphons served the gods as guardians, & were often used as symbols of wisdom & heroism.


Cockatrice (or Basilisk) - had the head & body of a cock, leathery, spiked wings, & a long, barbed serpent's tail. Its poisonous breath could scorch plants & split rocks & one glance from its scarlet eyes was enough to kill. Only 3 things could kill it: a weasel, a cock crowing, or the sight of its own image.


Sphinx - a monster with a woman's head & the body of a lion. Some Sphinx asked travelers riddles & if they could not answer, ate them. The city of Thebes was terrorized by a Sphinx, who asked travelers, "What animal goes on 4 feet in the morning, on 2 at noon, & 3 feet in the evening?" The hero Oedipus gave the right answer - man. The Sphinx was so angry she killed herself.


Unicorn - a beautiful white horse-like creature with a long, spiral horn in the center of its forehead. It lived in meadows & forests & its horn, or alicorn, could protect against poisons, fits & fevers. A symbol of purity, it could only be captured by a young unmarried maiden.


Roc (or Rukh) - a gigantic legendary bird who would blot out the sun when in flight, casting a huge shadow over the land below. The females fed their young on elephants. Marco Polo described the bird in his travels through Madagascar & Africa, & The Tales of the Arabian Nights tell how Sinbad the Sailor, cast ashore on a desert island, came upon a giant Roc egg.


Phoenix - the rarest & most beautiful of all mythical birds. There was only one Phoenix, which lived for at least 500 years. When its end approached, the bird would build a nest of sweet-smelling wood & herbs. At dawn, it would set fire to the nest & be consumed by the flames. As the flames died down, the Phoenix would rise again from its own ashes, young & strong, a symbol of immortality.


Wyvern - a mythical flying serpent, it looked like a two-legged dragon with enormous wings. Its tail was barbed & its claws were like an eagle's talons. Both winged & wingless Wyverns are important symbols in heraldry & have often been used in royal designs.


Pegasus - the winged horse who was the offspring of the Greek God Posidon & Medusa. Bellerophon, a Greek hero, captured Pegasus with a magical golden bridal & rode him to the cave of the two-headed monster Chimera in order to kill her.


It took me more than 2 hours to find all of the appropriate mystical creature photos. Time consuming, but like they say - a picture is worth a thousand words. So here you go - a short library trip for Gerritt evolved into a fascinating research project for Mommy. I had so much fun learning that I don't regret a single minute of it!
Other books that deserve honorable mentions this week are:

Freight Train by Donald Crews (Gerritt loves anything to do with trains!)
Three Feet Small by Michael Rosen (illustrated by our favorite Valeri Gorbachev)
The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt (an old Ukranian folktale)
Mr. Murry & Thumbkin by Karma Wilson

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gerritt!!!

Gerritt & his friend Kate (he is wearing a paper crown made for him by his teacher Ms. Heidi)


Gerritt loves his birthday present - a white teddy bear


A family outing to the Korean barbeque


Gerritt riding the train at the Crossroads Mall


Gerritt having fun trying to catch the rubber ball from the Old Navy


Riding the Merry-Go-Round

Gerritt turned 3 years old today, hard to believe! We've been preparing him for his birthday for a couple of weeks now. We taught him the date of his birthday, how old he was going to be, how old his sister was by comparison, how to show his age using fingers & the new responsibilities that come with being 3 (peeing in the potty, mainly). Gerritt summed it up perfectly, "I am a big boy now!"
Yesterday Gerritt & I made a trip to the Party Store to buy crayons & stickers for his classmates to give out in school tomorrow. Gerritt didn't quite get the reason behind giving out presents to his classmates when it was HIS birthday, "Where is my present, Mommy?" He felt much better after reassurance that his present was coming & it was going to be MUCH better than silly crayons & stickers. Gerritt had quite a nice celebration at school since he came home very happy & wearing a Happy Birthday paper crown that was made especially for him by his teacher, Ms. Heidi. He also got a plastic bag of presents including a chocolate bar, a car, a toy whistle, pencils & small sheets of paper.
My husband took the whole family out to a Korean restaurant for a Korean barbeque in honor of Gerritt's birthday. This was quite a step for the family that never goes out. By the end of the evening, I was all covered in bean sprouts & pieces of spinach (thanks to Sophia), but we had a good time nonetheless. After droppping my husband & Sophia at home (it was her bedtime), Gerritt & I went to the Crossroads Mall where he rode the Merry-Go-Round, red car & train; visited his favorite toy store, & the Old Navy where, as usual, he bought a rubber ball. Gerritt & I then played "catch" in the Mall for at least 30," & headed home tired & happy. Once home, Gerritt went to the garage & selected a soft white baby bear from the pile of Luly's toy & decided it was his birthday present from Mommy & Daddy (easy for us!).


Gerritt's birthday dinner with grandma Chris & grandpa Gerry


Gerritt blowing out candles on the chocolate cake - his favorite!


Pretty girl Sophia - all dressed up for Gerritt's birthday

We continued Gerritt's birthday celebration on Saturday, October 2nd. We had a nice dinner at home, & grandma Chris & grandpa Gerry arrived especially for this occasion. Gerritt received beautiful presents from them: the alphabet & number puzzle as well as the set of Thomas the Engine trains. He immediately layed out his plastic train tracks & connected all of the train cars together. He also did the puzzle twice in one evening with Shon's help. Despite having 2 pieces of his chocolate birthday cake, Gerritt was thoroughly tired by the end of the night. Happy 3rd birthday, my son! You make me so proud & I love you!!!


Birthdays can be tiring...