The Graduate

A lot of people tell me the first time they felt as a parent was when their child started either a kindergarten or a first grade. For me, it was when David started his school last year. There were a lot of firsts this past year ; David's first school day when he didn't even realize I was gone, his first holiday performance, his first teacher, Ms. Qiana, my first PT conference and a lot of new illnesses that David endured.

Today was another first for all of us. Our little boy had his first graduation day. Yes, he graduated his Primary class. He and his classmates performed for over 100 people. Seth and I had expected David to panic and throw a tantrum in front of all these strangers. But instead, we witnessed something that shocked us. David not only remained in his spot looking a little bit surprised seeing so many people, but he was the only one among dozen or so kids who was actually performing. While his teacher, Ms. Qiana was singing and dancing, he imitated her every movement. I can't even express how I felt when I heard people around me pointing at David and saying how adorable he was. Later his teacher said he did a superb job! Needless to say, I shed a few tears today.

If I sound like a very proud parent that's because I am. We were so proud of David today. If I had doubted my decision of placing him so early in the school, then all my doubts vanished after watching my son tonight.

Celebrating Daria's 1st Birthday -- Manhattan style !

This past Sunday we celebrated my adorable niece's 1st Birthday in Manhattan. (I told you a lot of our family's babies were born during the summer!)

Reluctantly, Daria opened her gifts, some of which were taller than she is!


After some snacking (while our kids might have only snacked, the adults enjoyed a full course meal ) we headed to the Central Park, which is a must if you are in the city on a nice day.

Right away our kids were drawn to a street performer who let them touch some of his instruments as well as play them. David danced a bit to the beat of music attracting even more passer-bys, while Julia kept clapping.

Julia couldn't stay still for minute. Just like her brother, she wouldn't have minded covering the entire park by foot.

Daria didn't even get a chance to blow out a candle as both boys rushed to it as soon as it was lid up. Once it was out, they rushed back to a playroom without even tasting the cake. Of course, I was relieved as it meant more cake for me. Happy Birthday, Daria!

Avid Readers

Lately, Julia and David have been able to entertain and amuse themselves for longer than a minute at a time. I think David started enjoying having a playmate in the house and they like playing together although it always ends up with either one of them crying or David going to his time out spot.



One of the activities they share is "reading" or as I call it -- looking through the pictures. Since Julia can't ask for a book yet, she gets her point across by doing this.



I thought I'd never get 15 minutes of peace in this house, but I might have been mistaken. Will it ever last longer than 15 minutes? Stay tuned.

This blog has been brought to you bythe number 1, andthe letter P(ee)

This is a pair of underwear that's been lying in David's dresser for a few months now. Yes, I was very naive and hopeful that my son will be potty trained by the time he turns 2 years old. And I tried, unsuccessfully I might add. I'd spend up to an hour entertaining him while he would adamantly sit on his potty. Once I took my eyes off him to take care of Julia and he'd be gone! So, I gave it a rest... for a month.

Last month I decided to put him on a potty as soon as he woke up in the morning and after his nap. Seth or I jump out of bed as soon as we hear him in the morning and while sleep walking we bring David to his potty. I am very happy to say it's been working. As soon as David is done, which takes him a min or two, I'll scream "yay!" and dance around. I look like a total fool, but David seems to be amused. He insists on pouring it down the toilet, flushing it and saying "bye, bye" to it.

We are far away from David asking to go to the toilet or him using that pair of underwear, but slowly - very slowly - we are moving in that direction. But for now, I am off to Costco for 2 more boxes of Huggies; one for Julia and one for David.

Who said that a museum can't be fun?

David woke up really late this morning, 9 am to be exact. Seth took him out for a walk last night and they got home late, so David went to bed around 10 pm. It rained this morning, so I wasn't in a hurry to take the kids out. As much as I was tempted to invite some of his friends over for a play date, I decided against it as David is still feeling under the weather. So, once he was up, we read, painted, played until David started playing roughly with Julia. At that point I knew it was time to get out of the house. Seth found a coupon on line for a free admission to the NJ Children Museum and that's where the three of us headed. I don't know what I was thinking by bringing David and Julia by myself, but I believe both of them had a good time.

As soon as they walked in, they were literally attached to the fence that separated the visitors from a moving train. It took a lot of convincing to get David to move along.

Lucky me, there were more trains. I soon realized I had to find a chair because we were not going anywhere for a long time.

We missed a puppet show because David wouldn't leave the train station. Twenty minutes later the kid finally moved to another room and was he rewarded for that! The entire room was filled up with musical instruments including some small rattles for Julia. Everyone was again happy for awhile.

But serenity didn't last for too long. David found a stroller in one of the rooms and off he went. I just rolled my eyes, picked up Julia and started following him. If the reason we came to the museum was for David to push a stroller for the remaining time, then I was out.

Fortunately, David's curiosity took over. He would rush through the rooms, something would catch his eye, he'd "park" the stroller, play at one of the stations and was off again. I lost him dozen of times since Julia wanted to walk and of course, she'd go in a different direction David was pushing the stroller.

I am going to refrain myself from making a sarcastic comment about this picture.

The kids had a blast, I... not so much. It's exhausting to take both of them to a public place by myself. Hopefully, we'll have a nicer weather tomorrow and can spend the day outside.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Seth, Taras and Michael!

On this father's day, our kids don't make any efforts to act any more appreciative towards their dad than on any other given day. They are still too young to express their gratitude to their daddy with a signed hallmark greeting card although David's been working on his own card.

These days it is my pleasure to honor Seth and thank him for being a wonderful father to our kids.

People say that being a stay at home mom is more difficult than going to work. But I feel so lucky being able to play in the park with the kids while their father is stuck in traffic on the way to work or splash in the pool while he is at the office missing on all the fun. Neither one's job ends at 5 o'clock. As soon as Seth walks in the house, the first words he utters are "Hi, I am home! What can I do?" and rushes to kiss the kids who are absolutely delighted to see him. After helping to feed David and giving bath to Julia, he takes David to see the train and plays with him in the park until it is too dark to see anything. He plans the activities for the weekend at least 3 days ahead and spends a lot of one-on-one time with David either taking him to the Central park, across G.W. Bridge or to the local parks. It's been an exhausting year for all of us, but Seth's managed to work harder to help me and spend more time with both kids. I truly believe, that it is quantity and not quality of time that's important for the children.

Thank you, Seth, for being such loving, caring and fun father to David and Julia. I am looking forward to watching your relationship with them grow and I am positive that soon you'll be receiving plenty of cards from them with the words of pride and love for you.

Happy Birthday, Marko!

We love summer and not just for the obvious reasons such as a warm weather and longer days, but also because a lot of babies were born into our family during this season. Today we celebrated my nephew's (Marko) 4th birthday. I can't believe it's already been four years since his birth. Time does go by fast. Marko didn't like the attention he got on this day, but he sure loved opening the presents.

In celebration of Marko's birthday, we gathered at the Liberty State park in Jersey City early in the morning to enjoy the bbq,

let the kids run wild

and have our share of junk food (although a lot of healthy choices were available, mmmm... homemade guacamole).

The youngsters caught up on the latest gossip.

Gravity couldn't hold down this kid

or even her brother.

Even though the day wasn't without any adventures (David hasn't been feeling well for the past week or for the past 6 months for that matter), we truly enjoyed the outdoor party and looking forward to many more!