August & Early September 2007

Kurt, Grandma and Papa asked me if I was ever going to update the blog - apparently once a month isn't enough. Actually, it's not if we're trying to stay on top of all the things that are happening and changing with Serik. I try to take notes so that I'll be able to remember the things he does...

So -In July and August: We went up to Lake Winnipesaukee to see Grandpa (now called Pa pa) and Grandma Wachs. Auntie Caryn, Uncle Mike and Aunt Maggie. We also saw cousin David, Rebecca, little Lydia and Serik's Great Uncle Herb. We had a great time and Serik revelled in the attention that everyone gave him. First off we had visitors from Kazakhstan - Karina (who stayed with us last summer and we were with her family in Kaz), Gaha (Karina's cousin's daughter whom we met over there) and Alisher (their family friend). They spent five days with us cooking Kaz meals and doing traditional dances for my family. Everyone loved them! Then our friends Andy and Amanda Coelho came up to the lake for a long weekend. We hadn't seen them in five years (since their wedding). Andy and I spent a couple of weeks every year on joint family get-togethers growing up. A lot has changed since then - they have two kids and we have our precious little Serik.

We had a lot of fun introducing Serik to the lake. He loved to sit with Papa and look at the water, boats and the mountains. I don't think he was especially thrilled with his first boat ride - didn't help that it was hot out. He did however, love the water. Would walk out in the water up to his armpits and we'd be saying, ' hang on there Tonto - have to wait for mommy and daddy'.

While there he also learned another fun toddler activity - see right with Daddy and Uncle Mike.

So here's the latest for August and early September:

He is now signing and saying 'poo poo' (or some semblance there of ) when he is about to go and we've started taking advantage of that and introducing him to the toilet. Has his very own little toilet seat now. He was a bit freaked out by the fact that his poop went bye bye when we flushed the toilet but now he looks forward to sitting on the toilet (because we read a fun book) - saying all gone, and bye-bye. If only we can get him before he goes not after :).




*Note: Since I started this draft we have had a successful poop in the toilet. Kurt managed to 'read the signs' (i.e. notice the squinting and contorting of face starting) and got him on the toilet - where we had success. So 9/2/07 was a bit monumental.

So now he's also figured out that after we go to the bathroom we wash our hands. Needless to say he wants to 'wee wee' (that would be wash folks) his hands twenty times a day. Glad that he wants to be clean but maybe we've created an OCD case in the making.

He has also discovered that his mother has breasts - or bubbles (Kurt agrees that they are bubbles - nice - tmi) as he refers to them half the time the other half they're bras. Bras seem to be interesting. Every piece of undergarment is called a bra and he likes to bring me my bra when he sees one laying around.

We've been on a lot of outings:

We went to the Minnesota Zoo - he loved the aquarium section and oohed and aahed about the fish. There is also a dairy farm at the zoo and he loved the cows, pigs, horses and baby animals.




We took in the MN State Fair and got there early to avoid the massive crowds. Kurt took Serik down the giant slide and as soon as they got to the bottom he signed for more. I was glad that Kurt took him on it as I would have been scared that I would have lost my grip on him. I took him on the carousel - a bit more low-key. Then it was off to the tractors and animal barns interrupted only by a few pit stops for food. Serik had his first pronto pup, roasted corn on a stick and a strawberry shake.












Ahhh the animal barns - we were excited to show Serik the winner of the largest boar contest - 1220 lbs. Huge. Well, its weight wasn't the only thing that was huge....










We came around the corner of the pen to see this.... nice huh.

Needless to say after all that excitement he crashed hard as soon as we got to the car. We've had many play dates and our boy likes to run around non-stop. Mommy and Daddy have become horses - Serik comes up behind us and says 'neigh neigh' and grabs our shoulders for a ride (this is of course when we're kneeling on the ground as he's not 5 ft. tall yet).

He has at least 60 words and animal/car sounds (although it mainly seems to be 'mommy and dada' right now) and is beginning to mimic like crazy -for instance: the other day we were in the car going to pick up Kurt from the airport and in MN we have those metered lights that you have to sit at during rush hour before you can merge on the highway. Basically it's merging for dummies - guess they don't think the citizens of the great state of MN can do that. Anyway - the car in front of me kept sitting there through the green and I watched as it went back to yellow and red. Of course, I yelled 'go already' (have really cut down on my swearing thankfully) and Serik immediately said 'go'. Every time I beep the horn he now yells 'go'. Maybe he'll be a northeastern driver like his mama and grandpa.

He loves to give kisses - especially to other little kids and babies - even if we have no clue who they are. The other day at the Galleria he accosted a little girl and gave her a big kiss and hug. Her daddy was very accomodating - thankfully. He's also very fond of grabbing your hand and leading you to where he wants you to go - or pushing you legs to make you get up from your seat and follow him. Lastly, he's getting the hang of the fork and spoon and learning more every day. All for now - it's been an amazing month.