Our first week home!

And what a week it has been. Both Hannah and Ivan have adjusted perfectly to their new environment and mamma and Pappa have start to get in a routine.   The cats and Tessa, our st. Bernard, have gotten used to their new housemates  and especially Tessa has done very well by not running around and barking for each little thing. Both kids love to pet her and feed her apples and cereal, and neither one is scared of her anymore even when she barks.  They both sleep very well and seem very happy.

The weather has been perfect the whole week so we have been outside a lot.  I found a great little park that is too boring for big kids to come and terrorize and it all fenced in.  We went there 3 mornings this week and the second day Hannah started to make some contacts with 2 other little girls. They were all swinging and seeing who could go the highest and scream the loudest.  Unfortunately they were not there the 3rd day but that day we had sand toys and the sandbox was favorite anyway. 

It is funny how they can amuse themselves just with having the sand run through their fingers.  But filling pales up with sand and dumping them again is also a lot of fun.  Hannah can climb on about everything and get down any of the slides by herself. Ivan tries but we have to watch him a bit since he is quite adventurous but not as stable as he would like to be.

We also visited my work one morning.  Ivan did perfect. Hannah was a bit shy with all the people around her.  She did much better when the group became smaller when she started to venture out a bit.

They both have become experienced shoppers and so far I have only ended up with a pair of pink tights that I did not pick out!  We have gone to wallmart and Sam's and bought new shoes for both of them since Ivan only had one pair and Hannah needed tennis shoes.  Both got a pair of sandals as well which I am sure they'll get to wear soon.

So.... overall it really has been a fantastic week. Hannah is learning more and more english every day.  There are still some confusions here and there.  I am sure that the people at Walmart we wondering what she was thinking when we walked by the refidgerated section and she complained it was 'hot'. For her right now any unconfortable temperature is 'hot'.  Like everything was 'good morning' until today when she told 'good night' to her doll.  She says 'that's funny', silly, Hannah is coming, I am sleepy, can point out and name many body parts, starts to name some colors, can sing 'twinkle little star' and is starting 'when you happy and you know it.  And there is much more that I just can't think of right now.   She has also warmed up to her little baby doll that we had brought her on the first visit. She never was that interested until about 2-3 days ago.  It is funny to watch her mother her baby who is called Vanka while she is mama Hannah and I am still Mama.  She loves to eat tomatoes and several have mysteriously disappeared from the counter.

Ivan is starting to talk more too but he still doesn't say much.  Sometimes he is very clear but mostly he babbles away. He babbles a lot though and it is so funny to watch.  He is the lady charmer and gets a lot of attention in the stores just because he smiles so much.  We also started back on his potty training and it going in the right direction.   He loves to eat and it is so much fun to see him eat in his high chair.  He usually has food up to his hair because he wants to lick the plate.

They still love their baths more than anything. It is the highlight of every day even if they know that after bath comes bed (which they are not always pleased with).  We will see if we can take them swimming sometime this week since Marc is off from work the whole week.  The zoo and strawberry picking is also on the schedule depending on the weather.  

Next saturday we'll have a trial gym lesson to see how they will like that.  Especially Hannah needs to socialize with kids her age more.  Hopefully we can get together with my friend Olga and her little girl Masha, who is 4, tomorrow. 

Anyway, it has been a wonderful week and I find it hard to imagine a life without them now.