Hi All!
Seriously, I do need to step up the blogging because our life is totally insane these days and I really feel like I am leaving so much out. I mean it. Sometimes I have to remind myself how crazy things have been since September. I wonder why I am tired and then I remember that in the last 6 months we have done a lot: We went to Kaz on a very stressful trip where we had no idea if we would come back empty handed or not. Then we came home for my sister-in-law’s wedding. Then we went back and spent a month. Then we came back and celebrated Christmas and New Years and got Rin back in the swing of school. Then I went back again and picked up our sweet little pumpkin. Then I came home, we got settled into family life, got to know our little Bekster, had some visitors. Then we bought a house….
Oh yeah- we closed on a new house last week. Out in the ‘burbs no less. It’s going to be a whole new way of life for us but we hope that it will be an easier one. Just the difference in cost of living will make a huge difference. We won’t move in for another month at least but I can start signing Rin up for camps (thank goodness- not another summer of trying to keep him entertained) and trying to figure out what to move and what to donate. And I have been busy touring preschools for next year too. So far, everyone that we have dealt with has been super nice and helpful so I am excited to get moving and Rin is excited to have a big basement to run around in again.
Aside from house business, we have just been busy with our every day life. There have been a whole lot of firsts in our little guy’s life and it is so fun to see everything with new eyes again. There have been first popsicles and milkshakes, first trips to the zoo and aquarium, first parks and playdates. One of the big important firsts was Mr Big Stuff’s first haircut. Rinat was really really worried that Bek was going to be scared and that he might cry. We went to our local barber shop- you know, the old school kind with cracked leather chairs and a drawer full of lollipops- where Peter and Rin have ‘boy day’ once a month. Rin climbed up as usual but the poor barber who was trying to cut his hair found it difficult because he spent the entire time with his head swiveled to the side to watch Bek. But our brave little guy sat on my lap for the whole time and didn’t say a word. I couldn’t believe how much they cut off- a couple inches probably. No more mullet and now my little baby is officially a boy. No one will mistake him for a girl any more. And speaking of big firsts, he has also taken a couple of steps here and there. It seems mostly to be to get to wherever Rinat is. I do sort of wish it were toward his Mama, but I can’t get jealous. He ADORES his brother. Many people have commented that he just can’t take his eyes off his brother and it is 100% true. He is Rinat obsessed. But he obviously loves me and Peter too since we are now the recipients of the sloppiest, drooliest kisses every morning when Peter gets him and tosses him into our bed at 6:30 for a few minutes while we try to pry our eyes open. And we also have had a not so fun first- we headed to the doctor for his first round of shots and I certainly hope he will not be looking at his brother as a role model in that regard.
I just want to get this down on virtual paper so that I can torture Rin with it later in life. Let me start by saying that I adore my son. I love his spunk and the fact that he is the anti me. I was a shy kid growing up. I remember peeing my pants in first grade because I was too afraid to raise my hand and ask if I could go to the bathroom. Rin is soooo opposite of that. He has an opinion and it is right on out there for the world to hear whether we want to or not. So here's a snippet from my life that might make you laugh. We scheduled Rin and Bek's doctor appointments together the other day. I knew Bek would have some shots and I figured Rin might too so I prepared myself for it. It started off with the nurse coming into the room and Rin blurting out "I don't want shots." Just wanted to get it on record I guess. Then all is good until the doctor wants to look at his wiener and he says 'no!' and crawls under the exam table. Doc says no prob as long as I don't think there are any issues. Nope, no issues as far as I know so we move on to Bek's appt. All is well (he's only 5% height and 15% weight which I didn't expect- how much is he supposed to weigh I wonder). Then the doc leaves and Rin wants to know why we are waiting around. And waiting and waiting and waiting and Bek is crying and crying because he's hungry and Rinat starts to think that there's something up (there is) and wants to know why the nurse needs to come back in after we tell him that's what we are waiting for. And she finally does with a tray FULL of shots. "Are those for Bek?" Rin asks. "Bek is getting shots," I respond (which is not a lie). So I hold him in my lap and hold his chunky little arms and he gets get three and starts wailing on the third one which the nurse had warned me would hurt. I give him some loves and then I hand him over to Peter. Rin sees that there are still three syringes on the tray and goes running into the corner "No! No! NOOOOOO!!!!" For anyone who has never heard the volume level that Rinat is capable of, let me just tell you that it is above and beyond any noise that should be made by a child of only 4. This boy can scream. I explain that it'll just take a minute and then she'll be done and he starts screaming at the absolute top of his lungs (yup, the Kazakh war cry) and starts kicking his legs as I try to pull him pants down so they can shoot him in the thigh. I am trying to hold him still with one hand and pull the pants down with the other which is not working so then I lay him down on the bench and try to pull them down and he screams and screams and SCREAMS like someone is trying to kill him, his legs as far apart as he can get them and his hands holding the pants as tight as he can to keep them on. I am embarrassed and keep apologizing, the nurse is laughing, finally I start laughing at the ridiculousness of it. Rin gets pissed off that we are laughing. Finally Peter hands Bek over to the nurse and I hold Rin’s hands and Peter pulls down the pants and he is flailing around and screaming as loudly as he can. I finally wrestle him onto my lap and the nurse does the shots as he screams and screams and screams some more. It was horrible. Absolutely completely horrible. He calms down and we finally leave the exam room. Every single nurse's head turns our way as we exit which is, of course, humiliating. Absolutely humiliating. And as we exit the building, it's like a switch has flipped and the holy terror is once again smiling and happy. I, however, am a mess. I am embarrassed and still sweating from trying to basically wrestle a wild animal to the ground. And the kicker? We go back in two months for more- 2 for Rin and 3 for Bek. Kill me now. We’re doing separate appointments next time. And I don’t know, bribe him or something. Any suggestions? This photo is his payback until I think of something better. According to him, this is the 'straw king.' And just so you know, he's wearing my espadrilles too. Take THAT, Rin!
But I can’t talk too badly about my eldest. Because it seems that the honeymoon period continues. Aside from a short stint of jealously (I think it must’ve been that) when my mom was in town, he gets the award for the best big brother ever. He lets us know when Bek wakes in the morning, when he needs a tissue, makes sure the basement door is closed so he won’t fall down the stairs, that he doesn’t put stuff in his mouth to choke on, tells him ‘maladietz!’ (good boy in Russian) when he pushes the walker across the room, makes sure Daddy doesn’t let the stroller roll away when we’re at the zoo, is upset when I don’t have Bek with me when I pick him up from school, wants to play his music box for him at night, shares with him, loves on him and just generally adores him all around. As do we all.
Little Beks is developing quite a personality too. He is no longer the quiet little guy we met way back in October. He spends most of the day yelling “DADADADADADADADADADA” at the top of his lungs and crawling around like a he just downed a 40 ounce of Mountain Dew. One of the funniest things is that he is starting to understand the world a little better now. He does things like look at me and shake his head ‘no’ as he reaches toward my computer or coffee cup- it’s the cutest little head shake I’ve ever seen. He knows not to mess with Mama’s stuff. And he finally realized that when he cries, I pick him up. It makes for a whole lot more crying but oh the cuddles I get. They make me almost look forward to him getting a little bump. And when I am not holding his plump little body in my arms, he is usually planted squarely between my feet, little hands pulling himself up my pant legs and face planted between my knees. And any time I sit down on the floor, he somehow manages to back his little self up into my lap. I’m not complaining at all. And strangely neither is Rinat. I am really very impressed at how well he has taken to his brother. I was worried that I had shown Rinat too much attention, too much love, and that he would feel replaced but that couldn’t be farther than the truth. He knows he is loved. As a matter of fact, at dinner tonight he told me “Mommy, I am going to make a list of all of the people who love me.” And he paused for a few seconds. “It’s going to be a whole lot of people. I’m gonna have to staple it.” I couldn’t ask for anything more than for my boys to feel like their lives are so filled with love that it won’t even fit on one page.
I hope you all feel so loved. If you make a list of your own, be sure to add my name to it! Much love, -m
ps- I can't get enough of that big boy haircut! And, yes, I cried on the way home from the barber shop. Big suprise.
