Week 23- September 22-28th: Hi Baby! You are so much fun for Papa and me to be around. You make us laugh in ways we didn't know we could. We have started you on a strict bedtime routine and it has been working! You take a bath every day at 6:00. Then at 6:30, we read one or two books and have lights out. You are usually asleep right around 7:00. This has been great for the both of us. My next goal is to get you to sleep through most of the night. I think being sick really messed up your sleep routine because you are now up almost every hour wanting to nurse.

When you nurse you hum. It is very sweet. I love listening to you. It slows down after you have nursed and become drowsy and if I don't get to you in time, you hum frantically. Your little nails grow so quickly. I need to file them almost daily. They are so sharp, it is easy for you to scratch your little face and my back and breasts have scratches on them too. It hurts! Your new activity this week is sticking your tongue out and blowing so saliva goes everywhere! I try to catch it on videotape but each time I turn it on, you stop and just stare at the camera! Late last week, we went to lunch with my mom. At the restaurant the server, took your toe and squeezed it. You were facing my mom and just looked at her. And then came the lip, and tears! Oh baby, you didn't like that at all. The server felt so badly. My mom cheered you up though and you were soon smiling smiling smiling again. You have really begun to notice Zed too, this week. Your eyes follow him whenever he is near you, which is quite often. You also have begun to grab his face. We watch the two of you very closely. He has been known to not be patient with little ones, but we think he understands that you are different because you are ours!

Ok baby, after the fuss and chaos of the past several weeks, this week feels as though it was slower, a welcome change for the both of us! Although, my father did mention that he was concerned about the bones in your head fusing too quickly and that a neurosurgeon would have to saw open your scalp. UGH! So dramatic, especially after all we have been through together. So you and I went to Dr. Schramm to have your head checked. It was actually funny. She gave you a pretty thorough head massage and each time she tried to look at the side of your head, you would turn your head to watch what she was doing! I had to hold you looking over my shoulder so she could finish the exam. Turns out, you're normal! But we knew that, just went to appease my folks. And you weigh 14.6 pounds.

Papa said something interesting the other day. You are almost six months old. Where did the time go? In another six months, you will already be a year. Time is flying by, a moment ago, you were five pounds and could only move your legs and arms and now you are so mobile and independent! You play by yourself for longer periods of time, you are eating solid foods, you stand when we hold you! My folks have an excersaucer in which the seat rotates around the activity center. When you are in it, you walk around in circles! It is so funny to see you walking and you love it! You were born ready to move; just waiting for your body to catch up with your will. We try to appreciate every moment we have, but time still passes us by. You change constantly. We love you so much! You are my heart and my soul!

Week 22-September 15-September 21-Hi baby girl! You are five and a half months!!! I am so behind in your blog. I have been busy and exhausted and you have been doing so many new things. I have tons of orange post it notes on which all of your accomplishments are scribbled. In order to catch up, I will write about this past week and then just jot down in note form the rest. This week you, papa and I were in Atlanta, Georgia visiting Babulia and Dadulia. Your great-grandmother, Zsilia was very ill and papa wanted to go to visit her. We also wanted to get some pictures of you with her. Four generations is something to take notice of! We actually left on September 11th. It was your first plane ride! You were marvelous. You slept through the entire flight pretty much. At one point I needed to change your diaper and that is when I realized, I have never seen a changing table on an airplane. Sure enough, some planes have them, but most do not, and ours was one of those. The flight attendant gave me some blankets and I draped them over the toilet and changed you there. Talk about tight quarters! And germs, YUCK. But you did great, kicking and talking the whole while.

This is the first time that papa's parents got to see you in their own home, in their own comfort zone. For the last week, you have been in their arms. They just adore you. They bathed you, sang, read, you name it, they did it. You bring so much light into their lives; you represent hope and the future. It is amazing. They bought you all these chewing toys and an incredible swing which you liked to sleep in, but also would stay in for long periods of time just zoning out. It was a little off putting since you are usually so alert, so we made sure not to keep you in it for more that 10 or 15 minutes at a time while awake. We took you to the nursing home where your great-grandmother was and we took some nice pictures.

The next day the three of us drove to Savannah, Georgia, a place I have wanted to visit for years. It was a very hot, humid five hour car ride. It was difficult for you, you were tired of being strapped down for so long, sweaty and you began to get angry. Once in Savannah, you were fine, but then we had the ride back two days later. Fifteen minutes from Savannah, is Tybee Beach, a little island that is wonderful. We actually stayed there. We took you into the Atlantic Ocean, your first water experience! It is so much warmer than what I am used to. And although you are a little young, we put sunscreen on you because the sun was so strong, While we were there, we learned that Zsilia had passed away on September 14, a Tuesday. We came back on Wednesday and Thursday was the funeral.

Papa and I left you with your grandparents a lot, so they could really get to know your personality. I saw my first movie in almost a year. The longest we left you was about 2 and a half hours and that was pushing it for me. They fawned over you so much, papa noted that he hadn't really seen you and I told him that I missed you. We came back to Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 21st. Again, you were an angel on the plane. You are my heart and my soul little girl. I love you.

I stopped giving you the antibiotic around the 19th of September. Enough is enough! It has been about two months that you have been taking it. You now were grabbing a hold of the syringe and feeding yourself the meds. Putting it in your mouth and taking it out. Sweet and cute, but unnerving as well. We see Dr. Bellack tomorrow and hear what he has to say.

The day before we came back to Los Angeles, we met an old friend of your Papa's. Brad, his wife, Maya and their year old son, Zane. Brad, Zane, Papa, you and me went to a neighborhood park and you sat in a swing for the very first time! Although, you were absolutely adorable, you weren't very happy about it. You and I also slid down a slide together. THAT was fun! We both enjoyed it.

Ok, here are the notes. I will resume my weekly blogging from this point on, but I just do not feel like I can catch up on the weeks I missed. But I did want to give you the highlights!!!

*You wear a size two in diapers. You love looking at yourself in mirrors. You love any and all attention. Papa and I sing a face song to you where we touch part of your face and say the name of it. It goes like this, but really there is no order, cheek, nose, cheek, cheek, nose, chin, lip, lip and forehead. Papa sings it in Russian. You could be fussy and if we sing this, you become very still and listen attentively with a smile. When I hold you in my arms, you tend to pitch forward so we are careful.

*One of the issues we had with your illness is that some doctors thought your salivary gland was infected and others thought it was your lymph node. It wasn't until we saw a cat scan that we found it was actually the lymph node.

*You prefer the antibiotic when it tastes like strawberry, not orange, but usually you make a face regardless.
*August 13-You weigh 12.8 pounds.
*August 15th-You now hold your own feet. Your manual dexterity is developing. You rest your feet on me when you nurse and we are laying down. You smile all the time. Your hand movements are very feminine. When you wake from sleeping, your little legs and feet stick up in the air. When you were on your changing table, I handed you your orange rattle and you reached for it! When you nurse, you look at me now and will smile. Sometimes you smile so widely that you let go of the nipple and we begin to talk.

* August 24th- you rolled over for the very first time from your back to your belly. I left you in the room in one position, came back and you were in another! Imagine my surprise! Now when you cry, Zed goes to you to see what the matter is.

You love to stand now with us holding onto you. You get the largest smile on your face. We also pull you from a laying position to a sitting one. We lay on our backs and fly you like an airplane over our faces. That is fun for you!

You have been biting my nipples! OUCH!!

*You, my mom and I went to Target to get a few things. My mom showed you some musical toys, (a laptop and a car). This was the first time you had seen or heard toys like these. You smiled so hard, your eyes crinkled. My mom got you the toys!!!

*You are really holding onto your toys and playing with them. You are interested in everything. So alert. Lots of lip smacking. Very oral, everything goes into your mouth, or at least you try to get it in there.

*1:00 on Sept 1, Wednesday you rolled from back to belly at my folk's house. You are starting to hug, wrap your little arms around our neck and snuggle your head into our necks. You are experimenting with your voice emitting little, loud shrieks.

*September 3-your feet have made it into your mouth!

*September 7th- your first full laugh. I was kissing your face all over and you laughed. Your sound left a mark on my soul that is indelible. You have been incredibly oral since August 17th. The week of September 9th, you snuggle, snuggle, snuggle.

*You have stopped biting my nipples. Thank G-D!

*you began grabbing your feet a few days before you went into the hospital. You grabbed more with your right hand because your left was bandaged due to the IV. I thought that everything would take you a little more time because you were so sick for so long, but as soon as you left the hospital, you flew with all of the developmental milestones. I am so proud of you. You are very motivated!