Time flies

We already 3 weeks later since my last post. Time just flies when you are having fun, and fun we are having!  A lot of first these last few weeks.

• Swimming in the big pool at a friend's house,
• a visit to the spray park,
• Vanya got a babysitter who has been helping out since my parents left (they are very much missed by all of us. They were wonderful and such a help taking care of our little boy in the mornings so Marc could actually get some work done while at home. Both kids include them in each and every family plan.  To them they are as much part of the family as marc and I are) and is doing very well with her,
• we took a road trip to Dallas last weekend to visit the Levitan part of the family and I really hope this was a preview of the long trip we'll be taking when we move to Maryland. Both kids behaved like angels the whole way both ways.
• A lot of big pool swimming in Dallas in the neighbourhood pool. Our kids will be fishes in no time if we get a chance to swim more often.  The loved it. Vanya jumped in the pool without any fear and Hannah did lots of 'wet hairs' (going under water).
• dimsum with the family in Dallas was a big success. They tried about anything we put on their plate and except for the chinese broccoli they ate everything.
• hibachi grill meal which was quite stressful for Vanya. He was not too pleased with the knife throwing and banging on the grill. he loved the food though!

Hannah is still going to day camp. this will be her last week and I am sure she'll miss it when we come back from the Netherlands the last week of August.  Luckily she'll go back there from mid August to mid september when we move to Rockville MD.   She loves her school as she calls it and she has made so much progress, both on an 'academic' level as a social level. She is alot more confident and is also a lot calmer.  She now can spend hours coloring and swinging is a favorite pastime.  She is also more interested in stories and movies.  Her English is amazing. the grammar still needs quite a bit of work but her vocabulary is fantastic.  She has a lot of her own inventions like doing a wet hair in the pool and 'mama did a lot of bless yous (sneezes!). 

Vanya is now having speech therapy and his therapist is very enthousiastic.  Ever since they cleared up his ears he has improved so much and is improving every day.   He is such a funny little boy and always in a good mood.  Except for when he has to go to bed. He does not like to go to sleep and gets out of bed several times before he finally falls asleep. Luckily, once he is alseep he is fine all through the night.  The trick is to wear him out so usually he plays in the little pool with Hannah when she comes home from camp. If it is not too hot, we'll go to the park and run around there. He loves to play with the dump trucks in the sand box.  No doubt he is a real boy! 

I finally have a last day at work in Baton Rouge and a start date in Bethesda.  We also have a house, a rental to start with, and a school for the children. Marc went to visit both last week and both got the seal of approval. We are very excited although, in spite of all the preparations, it still seems a bit surreal. I am sure I'll miss things in Baton Rouge, no matter how great of a city Washington DC is.

So.. next week we'll go to the Netherlands to visit my family. I'll have a few day in Stockholm in the middle of the trip but the rest of my family will finally be able to meet Hannah and Vanya.  They all are super excited.  I am sure we'll get some pictures then. I have been a bad mother and haven't taken much pictures lately. So.. the next update will be from European grounds!