More about hair and our Saturday

Sonia gets a pair of shoes out of the closet. And starts her usual marching round.After twelve months of being a Mommy with a pony tail, I ventured out to get a hair cut in Park Slope this Saturday. I just walked into a place and agreed to a first available time. A Latvian hair master asked me if there was anything specific I wanted. I said my husband likes my hair long. While carefully taking of the length, he commented on my ash blond color and said that it is really rare. According to him, most people try to die their hair ash-blond but it turns out golden or reddish. I think he had fun cutting, blow-drying and giving finishing touches to my dew. I ended up giving away a fortune.... $60. Don't think I will ever go back there for a second try. It felt so good to have it done!!!!!!! I hurried to get home. It was weird to be on the street without Jeremy and Sonia in her stroller.

The money was well worth to see Jeremy when he opened the door and looked at me ;-) He took these pictures and then we headed to the kids' park.

Sonia has grown and changed since her papa saw her last time at the playground. She is fearlessly climbing up steep stairs and enjoying big slides. Jeremy was a bit uneasy at first but quickly got really good at synchronised sliding.

Woo-hoo! Safely going down...

Note: Jeremy's serious expression ;-) No kidding, serious business.

And Sonia is like, "This is easy with my papa!" Yeah! Snuggle time only Sonia is way too busy and wants to run to the next thing.

Here is Sonia's favorite way to go down, in mommy's lap.

Sonia is also very much into pushing little strollers, cars and anything with wheels. Today she pushed a car on her knees across the park for about an hour. Nothing could get her attention. I was afraid her jeans would wear down to nothing. Sonia is so funny about it. She is focused, determined and pays no attention to anything around her when she is learning something new.

Our hair saga

When we first met, Jeremy had a wild hair style. His hair was puffy and long. My roommate tried giving him a cut but Jeremy insisted on keeping the length. I had to wait until our wedding day to see Jeremy's sharp hair look. His natural curl makes it impossible to make his hair look nice unless it is short or has tonz of jell. Nowadays I keep up with it almost twice a month. I love cutting his hair and hope I do a fine job most of the time.

My hair is... straight. When I was single, I took about five minutes to get ready for my dates. The most fun I had was for my bride pictures when Susan's hair mistress, Kathy gave my hair a look with lots of curls. Plus on my second reception day when I had it down with funky curls. I love my hair plain. When it just naturally falls down.... it is a look that is easily achieved with a morning shower and ten minutes to let it dry. I might do something else some day when I turn gray.... maybe.

Sonia is another story. She inherited untamed hair style her father is so proud of. Only her hair is very fine like mine. She'll most likely have my color so she probably won't need to die it. But I still think she is a poor little creature who will have to spend hours shut in the bathroom trying to make anything out of it. I am not sure how to help her. My friend Lakshmi who has beautiful curly Indian hair suggested putting baby oil in it for now. She said I could even use olive oil. So that is what I tried today. Sonia enjoyed the experience. Her hair is much more manageable and doesn't get into her eyes as much.

Boots and shoes

A few days ago while I was cleaning and organizing my closet, Sonia got one of my boots out, put it on her arm and crawled with it back and forth for about fifteen minutes. She enjoyed the boot so much that now every morning she goes into a closet to find a boot. She walks with it across the room and I end up with shoes spread across all corners of our apartment.
Yesterday I put a little pair of shoes on her footsies for the first time or maybe a second time. Sonia finally liked them. Today she found her left shoe, tried putting it on the right foot, crawled to me and wanted my help with putting it on. We got right shoes on her feet. Then we went to a playground. There she was proudly walking without taking them of. It is amazing to think that just a few weeks ago she absolutely disliked wearing any shoes. She survived for one year with socks only even in public places. I feel good about it since shoes are expensive little things. The pair she is wearing now came to us from the downstairs neighbors. They are well worn and fit perfectly ;-)

Party Party Party

Somethings we just never know. Jeremy's job is quite unpredictable and with the buzz of a berry he sometimes has to go. This weekend was just like it.
We woke up early. Sonia got to play with her papa in the morning. We went out and got a cake from the neighboring bakery on 7th Ave, a dozen balloons from a copy store on Flatbush, and a few things from the grocery store for a fruit punch. I felt like we were a little family happily strolling up and down Park Slope. It was one of the first warm days around here. Jeremy decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt.
When Sonia got a glimpse of the balloons, she grabbed them and didn't want to let them go all the way home. Even when we got home she was still holding onto them. It took a bit of persuasion from her papa to get the balloons out of her tied grip.
Right at two o'clock in the afternoon when Sonia's guests were about to arrive at the door, a nasty berry started making lots and lots of noises. I knew right then that Jeremy might have to leave us. So far we have been quite lucky. He has been able to make time for us even with this tough job. This time he told his boss about the party and just stayed with us until he absolutely had to go. Sonia and I love him for that ;-)

We got to do a lot in four hours!

First Sonia had four friends come, play and sing Happy Birthday to her. She has never had so many people over before but she did very well. She opened all her presents and tried on little outfit she got from Lena. She also loved how Isabella personalized her bag and read her card. She was excited about a little toy purse from Ellen.
Then she tried blowing off her one candle but it didn't work too well so papa had to help her. This was a perfect little party. We thank everyone for coming and celebrating with us.


When all guests left we decided to run to the Botanic garden and see first cherry blooms and magnolia blossoms. This is us at the Japanese garden while Sonia was taking a nap in the stroller. A lantern is quite old... it is from 1650s.

I couldn't help myself when I saw all these magnolia blossoms. Jeremy made a great model. I wish I could have all of us on this picture.

Here is one picture with Sonia and papa right after she woke up from her nap.

Soon after Jeremy had to catch a cab and run to work in his short sleeved shirt, shorts and sandals. We missed him for the rest of the day/night. There will be more cherry blooms this year but we would have to wait till the next year for magnolia family shot.
On Sunday I taught RS lesson for the first time ever. It was a bit scary but I got through it. I was so relieved when it was over... the only thing Jeremy had to go to work again. Right after RS was over he got in the car. He was the only one in a white shirt and a tie in his office. Dedication ;-)

Up and down big stairs

Developing walking skills has been hard for our Sonia. Her ankles, knees and hips were struggling and shaking. I could only watch her climbing challenging stairs in the park yesterday and help her when she got stuck in between or when her arms got so tired she tumbled head down. Even then she was determined to continue her pursuit. Soon we were surrounded by a good crowd of moms who couldn't believe what they saw. Sonia went up and down these challenging stairs a few dozen times. She also made a friend, Max who is two months younger and who was watching her efforts with big wonder in his eyes.

Here she is on her way up.

On the way down she wanted to do it her way... head went first, then hands, then somehow she would position her little body on the tiny stair. This was a though task.

the Blessing of laundry

The other day I came home from visiting teaching and saw this happening... Sonia and papa brought our clean laundry from the basement.

It is a challenging task even for a mom. We live on the fourth floor so we use a special Costco cart with wheels. The cart makes getting in and out of the elevator much easier. But you still have to navigate heavy elevator doors since they are not automatic. The laundry room is not child proof either. It is infested with roaches and once I saw a fearless rat marching across the floor. So Sonia usually helps me by sitting in her stroller, watching the dryers spin, opening and closing the washer doors.

Well, with papa it was all different. Jeremy held her in his arms. Sonia pulled the laundry cart to the elevator and then helped getting the laundry out of the dryers . He also discovered a new way of getting Sonia back to the apartment. Just put her in the cart! That was fun. They both were happy and enjoyed it ;-) What do you know? The laundry is a blessing.

First birthday ;-)

Our dear little girl is one year old and she is doing so well. Sonia does all that she should. Listening, learning and almost standing and walking. I can't wait until she starts speaking more.... she is already really good at talking in her own little way. We love her and we are very happy and blessed to be her parents. She received her birthday blessing yesterday and I think she listened very carefully ;-) Today she went to the park and was climbing up and down big stairs all by herself, yeah!
Nana, grandma Jones and aunt Heather were here to celebrate Sonia's birthday. We are grateful to have them come and hope they had good time and enjoyed their visit. Nana says she tried so hard to find something good for Sonia. She went to many places trying to find a peek-a-cube that would help Sonia learn how to stand up better. But she found something even better. A Noah's Arc with an extra set of animals. Sonia loved it right when she opened it.

She said little "Thank you." She plays and learns all about the little creatures, puts them in pairs and helps them to get back into the arch. We count them, tell their names in English and Russian and remember Susan. Sonia also got to hang out with her aunt Heather. Heather is so much fun. Sonia loved learning how to sort shapes and was able to do it herself for the first time.
Last Sunday after church we walked under big bare trees and had a picnic at the Central Park. All girls are here. I am planing a small birthday party for Sonia. Because of General Conference weekend, we will have to wait another week. We hope Sonia's friends can make it.