Goodbye summer!

Gerritt, Anna & Kate making the most of the small pool in the back yard


Gerritt sharing his stuffed animals with the girls


Having fun at the swing

As usual, summer went by so quickly. It is hard to believe that fall weather is upon us, but is impossible to deny the air chill in early mornings & earlier sunsets. We've finally painted our office (both my Mom & I), finished the window & floor trim (my husband), & painted the outside of the house recently (no more orange). I have already accomplished one of my garden goals for this fall - I planted hundreds of tulip, daffodil, grape hyacinth, & hyacinth bulbs! I left a beautiful garden behind when we moved from our Mountlake Terrace house, so I've been meaning to plant spring flowers for almost 2 years now. Gerritt has even helped me with digging & putting the bulbs in the ground.
Sophia is walking, walking, walking! She loves to be independent & get around on her own. She'll check out every room in the house: bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, & even garage. It's easy to tell which room she visited, since its floor is usually littered with things she found interesting. I just had to repair my 1st set of ripped books recently thanks to her (Gerritt never found book ripping that exciting). Sophia is still always hungry & eats about anything you put in her mouth (pizza, banana, soup, yogurt, toast, tomatoes, etc., no matter the sequence). She is starting to learn about letters (our lessons take place in the tub while bathing) & already knows letters E, O, & K. She & Gerritt love to watch Dora the Explorer series (no more Caillou, Curious George, & Word World).


Sophia loves to play with flags & even fell asleep once while holding the flags of South Korea & Russia (What a coincidence!)


The kids with their nanny Irina

Gerritt has made big strides with the potty training & has been pooping exclusively in the potty for the past week (he even takes off his pants all by himself). We taught him to do the downward dog yoga pose right after pooping to make clean up more convenient. So funny to watch! Gerritt is so proud of his progress that after the deed we always have to find daddy to show him the "goods," even if he is in the back yard, shower or still sleeping. :-) The pee-pees are harder to catch, but Gerritt is starting to ask when he needs to go. He has perfected his Cars movie floor puzzles & can do 4 in a row with an amazing speed (they are for children 5+ years of age, by the way). If one of the puzzle pieces falls on the floor, he can, somehow, tell which of the 4 puzzle boxes it came from! Gerritt started the Spectrum Academy last week & fell in love with it. We've decided to take him there in the mornings only (9 am - 12 pm) 3 times a week (on my work days) to socialize & learn new things. He feels secure enough not to take his comfort toy (brown stuffed dog) with him to classes even though he still sleeps with it & a multitude of other stuffed animals (2 bears, rabbit, dalmatian, & his "old doggie").


Puzzle master at work

He is one of the oldest & biggest boys in the class again, but there isn't much we can do about it. He could go to the older group if only he was born 2 months later (the curse of October/December-born children). My friend is so determined for her daughter not to start school with a class of much younger children, she's doing everything she can to get her into the gifted child program & skip the 1st grade all together. Of course, her daughter can already read & write in English & Russian & do additions & subtractions at the age of 5. I want Gerritt to enjoy his childhood & be carefree for as long as possible, so I don't allow myself get obsessed with getting him into the best school & with the best teacher as well as busying him with a multitude of extracuriccular activites. This wise article "What should a 4 year old know?" sums it up perfectly:

- Your child is not a trophy & childhood is not a race.
- Every child will eventually learn everything he needs to know at his own pace.
- The most important things your child should know are that he is loved unconditionally; to trust his instincts about people & how to keep himself safe; not be afraid to follow his interests & imagination; & to laugh & act silly.
- Being the smartest or most accomplished kid in the class doesn't have any bearing on being the happiest.
- One of the biggest gifts we can give to our children is a simple, carefree childhood.
- The children need more of their parents (not toys, after school activities, lessons, play groups, etc.) & deserve to know they are a priority & we truly love being with them.

I totally agree! However, it's soooo difficult not to be competitive. Just recently, after watching a video of a 3-year-old girl pointing to various countries on a world map with such ease (a daughter of a Facebook friend), Gerritt & I made a trip to the store to buy a large world map. 3 evenings later he is able to find Russia, South Korea, Greenland, & USA. No pressure whatsoever! :-)

Sophia's Newly Mastered Skills

Sophia & Irina at the Bellevue Square


No more bottle-holding for Daddy!



Sophia is growing up! This week she has mastered 4 new skills. She can now drink from a bottle all by herself (while holding it at a right angle with both hands). She just started drinking diluted apple juice one day, & I was so shocked I immediately took the photo above. Sophia can also wave bye-bye, & it is so adorable to see her chubby hands waving in the air when I leave for work in the mornings. She has been waving bye-bye for a couple of months, but it's consistent now (that's why I consider this skill mastered). She also takes a great delight in feeding me things. The blueberries happen to be her favorite snack, so we had this feeding session when one blueberry went into her mouth & the next one into my mouth & so on. Then she began feeding me everything on the plate laughing happily every time I opened my mouth & ate a blueberry. It appears Sophia enjoys her newly found mothering trait. :-) She can also get on & off the mattress safely. She used to fall off the mattress all the time. Now she turns herself in proper position (feet facing the mattress's edge) & then gets off the mattress slowly. No more accidents for Sophia! I feel compelled to write everything down (I wish my parents did). These first few childraring years are hard work, but they go by so fast. Before we know it, we'll be looking back at our kids' first baby steps with nostalgia (I know I will). :-)

Gerritt's Favorite Books. Sophia Can Stand!

Sophia standing up all by herself


Gerritt is riding his car while going commando (don't ask me why). His likes to play the game of getting stuck on the bricks & yelling, "Help, help, help!" Our neighbors were concerned hearing his screams until they realized it was a game.


Another visit & a sling ride at Korean grandma's house


Sophia practicing her standing skills with Gerritt's bike


Proud Gerritt "driving" his sister Sophia

Our first 2 weeks with our new Russian nanny Irina went well. Sophia likes her & even allows Irina to hold her in my presence. Irina is a hard worker, organized, very cleanly, & loves children. She is pretty strict & reminds me of my Mom & former teachers in Russia. I usually find the house the same way I left it in the morning (often cleaner) despite 3 kids under age of 4 being there all day. My house is the cleanest it has ever been, mostly because I pick things up before Irina comes & at the end of each day. It is too embarrassing to leave a messy house for her. I love not having to drive in the mornings in order to drop Sophia off at the daycare & enjoy coming home for lunch (another chance to snuggle with my little chub muffin). Irina is a wonderful cook & the whole family has been enjoying her delicious meals!
My job Nurse Practitioner job is going well. I referred a patient to the ER this week due to abdominal guarding & positive rebound tenderness (signs of peritoneal inflammation, which indicate possible appendicitis). It turned out she had an ovarian cyst, which ruptured later that day. Better safe than sorry... Last week I also had Implanon insertion & removal training. Implanon is an implantable (under the skin of an inner side of the non-dominant arm) progestin-only contraceptive device. It is similar to Norplant we had on the market a few years ago, but much simpler (1 instead of 5 rods). The next step is one supervised Implanon insertion, & then I am on my own!
It is getting harder & harder to work as a nurse at the hospital. I don't really want to be there since my mind is elsewhere. Thankfully, it has been pretty easy since as a per diem RN I am the first to float to other departments. For example, last weekend I was a one-to-one caregiver to a suicidal patient, & after a few hours took care of a confused elderly man. Most nurses love the fact that I am a nurse, so I end up doing many nursing tasks (dressing changes, medication administration, tube feeding, peripheral IV starts, etc.). It is not easy to say goodbye to almost $45/hour, so I'll continue working as a nurse for now. Nursing got me through the tough times (like when the economy took a downturn & there were no Nurse Practitioner jobs for a while) & is my "bread & butter," so to speak.
Gerritt, Sophia & I continue our weekly library visits. Gerritt loves to play the educational games on the library computer & enjoys selecting a few new books to read every week. The list of his favorite books includes:

The Bouncing, Dancing, Galloping ABC by Charlotte Doyle
Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood
I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle
Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

We've actually had to order the Little Blue Truck book from amazon.com since Gerritt wants to read it every morning & night, sometimes several times in a row. He has it practically memorized. He likes this book so much he takes it to bed with him & even to the store when I need to pick up a few groceries!
I've started to read some Russian books to Gerritt as well. Surprisingly, he enjoys repeating the Russian words & rhymes. Our library at the Crossroads Mall has a nice collection of Russian children's books, so we've checked a few out.
For the past couple of weeks Sophia has been standing up more often. She used to stand for short periods of time with my support, however, has been standing longer on her own while holding on to a window sill, bench or chair. She also learned to lower herself from standing to sitting position without falling. I believe walking is not too far away!
Gerritt & Sophia have bonded really well. They love to play together. Sophia follows Gerritt everywhere so they often end up in the bathroom. Gerritt likes to shut the door & then play with flickering lights in the dark. Sophia laughs hysterically, & everyone is happy. Gerritt also runs around the house pretending he is the superman with the kitchen towel draped around his shoulders. I lift him up in the air & do "twirly, twirly" to simulate flying. Gerritt gets plenty of exercise jumping on our floor mattress. He usually gets a running start & then falls on top of it laughing. He then proclaims that it's "Mommy's turn," so I have to do the same.
When we go to the mall for a toy car ride, Gerritt often insists Sophia join him too. He has such a proud smile on his face pretending he is driving her around. I usually hear many comments from people walking by how adorable the two of them look together. :-) Every time I see Gerritt & Sophia playing together, I feel so happy that have each other & will not repeat my experience of being an only child. All of our hard work of having 2 kids so close together has been worth it!

Smooth Transition

I have now worked at my new job for 3 weeks, & can honestly say that I love it! I like my coworkers & the clinic manager. I love being at home with my family every night & having weekends off. I can't believe I get the whole hour to myself for lunch! I am also not exhausted physically & emotionally after getting home from work, probably because most of the patients I see are young & healthy. Instead of nurse's scrubs & Dansco shoes I can now dress up & wear my nice jewelry. It is a clean, pleasant, stress-free job for the most part, especially compared to bedside nursing.
It has its challenges, of course, otherwise they wouldn't call it work. For example, I referred my first patient with ectopic pregnancy to the ER & also managed a woman who came in for IUD removal & turned out to be pregnant. Other interesting clinical cases involved a young gay man with strange-looking sores all over his pubis (turned out to be a bad case of eczema since all of the STD tests came back negative), & a young Iranian woman asking me to explain to her what orgasm was like & ways to achieve it. It is certainly a privilege to share such intimate details of my patients' lives & to have the skills to make a difference. I am actually excited about going to work in the mornings, wondering what each new day will bring!
I haven't always felt this way about being a Nurse Practitioner. When I first started practicing in January of 2008, I had clinical confidence issues & felt like an imposter for half of the time (which is apparently common according to the Professional Issues class in my Master's program). It took time for me to get to where I am today & I feel like I have finally come home. I am actually thinking of dropping my per diem RN job all together (probably after we pay off our home equity line of credit). I am already dreaming of the next step in my career, perhaps opening my own Women's Health clinic (?).
Sophia's Russian daycare went out of business last week, so we are making new childcare arrangements AGAIN. I really liked one of the nannies working there, so I offered her a job. She will come & take care of Sophia in my home. My friend Nadira has also decided to join (since she has not made new childcare arrangements either), so she'll drop off her 2 girls here as well. Irina has just moved from Russia a couple of months ago, & with no English proficiency was grateful for this job opportunity. I really hope Irina & I get along, & this will be the start of a long-term, productive relationship.
Sophia is so mobile now that we put the bed mattress for sleeping on the floor to keep her safe. Sometimes my husband wakes up first & goes to take a shower leaving her alone. I've decided it was only a matter of time before she fell off the bed, so she now sleeps on the floor with Daddy. I am so fortunate to have a helpful & family-oriented husband! Part of the reason my new job transition went so smoothly & my leg healed up quickly was that he slept with Sophia for more than 2 weeks so I could be well rested & focused.
Last Tuesday Gerritt had professional photography session through the Yen Lui studio. It was organized by our Bellevue College's toddler class. We took a group photo with all of the Moms & toddlers, & then individual shots. Gerritt sat on my lap while holding his stuffed dog. I can't wait to see it!