a new week and new friends

Another week is over. Hard to believe but very true.  Hannah and Ivan are still doing wonderful and every day I am amazed by how well they are adjusting to a life that is so different from the life they had just 2 months ago.  They run around the house as if they have never lived anywhere else and we are more and more settling into a routine.  They also have adjusted very well to Marc and I being away for work and Hannah can tell us the entire schedule for the whole week (Tomollow papa work, tomollow mama work, tomollow papa work etc).  Her English has also improved enormously this week. She is starting to talk in sentences more and more.  Oh goodness!!! is the expression of the week mostly directed to 'baby Vanka' the baby doll my mother brought from the Netherlands.  Baby Vanka is well taken care off (most of the time), gets several baths per day (maybe Hannah wants to communicate her own wishes to us), gets rides int the new stroller Oma bought her, and in return baby Vanka is the model baby and sleeps most of the rest of the day.

Marc came back from Hawaii on Monday morning after a trip of almost a week. It is great to have him back.  It has been a while since he traveled for more than a day or 2 and especially the last 2 months we have spend so much time together that is was almost unimaginable not to have him around.

I survived very well with some help from my parents the last 3 days.  They have become a real part of the family now and each of them has a little routine with the kids.  Hannah picks up the paper with my mam and wakes up my dad in the morning and helps him count his pills and makes sure he doesn't forget one.  Ivan and my dad are best friends and my dad is the designated car seat operator.

Major events were a trip to the zoo with my parents and a visit to the new tiger exhibit.  This also included a very first soft serve ice cream cone and a shoe lost in the pen with the turtles. Luckily turtles are not that fast or agressive so it was not a big deal to get it back.  We also drove to Mandeville to bring back the snowsuits we borrowed from LEEAF for our trip to Russia and took advantage of the 'cafe du monde' for cafe au lait and beignets.

The kids have also become big buddies with Tessa by now. Especially Ivan has no fear and uses our puppy as pillow and step stool if needed. Hannah makes sure Tessa gets to lick all the plates and empty yogurt and pudding cups at the end of dinner.  She is not as fearless as Ivan, especially after Tessa decided to share a piece of turkey Hannah was just putting in her mouth! 

They are also getting more and more interested in books and stories. Ivan looks at a book in the evening while I get Hannah ready for bed and both ask for a story now (the cat in the hat is very popular at the moment but the 'pokey little puppy' is a close second). We have been reading them stories since day 1 but they never seemed to care for it except that it would keep us in the room longer.

A visit to the ophtalmologist is on the schedule for tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I am not that worried except that Hannah tends to close one eye a lot and not only when the light is bright. We'll see. I am sure we can deal with whatever it is.  No other big plans for the rest of the week. A visit to the park probaby since we haven't been there for a while.