Farewell to 2009

What a year it was...

We arrived back in the US on December 21, 2008 with Sasha and the past year has given us plenty of excitement as we've watched our family grow and change. Serik and Sasha love to play and laugh with each other. It's amazing to hear their laughter echoing through the house. We also get to hear the 'that's mine - mom - sasha took my toy' etc.

The kids have been growing by leaps and bounds - Serik is about 35lbs and 39 inches tall - while Sasha is 30lbs and 32 inches. Serik continues to be sweet and kind-hearted with other kiddos: inviting others to play and trying to console ones who are upset. His smile lights up the room and he is exerting more independence daily. He has learned to write his name and is working on sounding out words. He also tried out his bike without the training wheels in late fall. Did pretty well - but now it's too cold to do much biking outside so we'll have to put that on the back burner until Spring. He's also really taken to swimming, having gotten more used to the water at the lake this summer and we are taking lessons every week.

Sasha is 90mph unless she's asleep. Not only is she full of energy she is also loud, strong, independent, flexible and has a big personality. She is set to begin speech therapy in the next week or two - she's very vocal but is 'speaking' in a language that we can't understand - thankfully with a lot of gestures and sign language she gets her point across very well.She's finally up to 12 teeth 4 of which are almost all the way in. The combination of these two keeps us super busy....

Recent happenings:

We went to NH and the lake for almost 3 weeks in the summer to spend time with the Wachs side of the family. The kids had a great time tearing around the cottage and playing in the water. Serik would float in a tube without fear and Sasha had a tendency to run off the end of the dock or jump off the ladder - even if we weren't ready for her. Eek.

Our Kaz travel partners the Brabsons came to visit us at the lake. We hadn't seen them in over 2 years and it was great to see them and watch our kiddos (who are almost the exact ages of Serik and Sasha)play.

Summer ended with the MN State Fair - hot, fun and crowded..

This fall flew by with preschool for Serik, block play time for Sasha, trolley rides at the lake

apple picking,

pumpkin picking,

fall parties,

and visits from Mama and Papa for Halloween.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house and I made my first turkey successfully. We head east for Christmas and are excited to see the Wachs crew (especially to see my sis-in-law's tummy as she and my brother are expecting their first baby in late Spring) ans extended family.

Quotes from Serik:

We were talking about writing a letter to Santa

Serik: "I know what letter i want to write to Santa"

Me: "You do?"

Serik: "Yup - I'm going to write him a letter 's'." - this took me a minute and then I realized he thought a letter to Santa was an actually 'letter' to Santa - as in a,b,c,d...

M: 'Serik, where are you?'

S: ' Under the train table'

M: 'Why?'

S: 'Hiding from Elmo'

M: 'You're hiding from Elmo?'

S: 'Yeah, we're playing hide and seek'

S: ' Shhh, don't say anything mom. I have talking to do'

S: 'Mmmm that was delish' (and no, neither of us say that word so we're not sure where he picked it up)

S: 'Mom, here's a cough drop. If you can't open it call me and I'll come up and open it for you.

M: 'Where are you going?'

S: 'Downstairs'

S: 'When I'm a daddy I'm to going to chew gum and ride a motorcycle.'

After telling him that broccoli makes him strong (he has also been told that other foods cause other things so we got this)... S: 'What does kettle corn make me? Does it make me poopy, potty, strong'?

S: Do you like stinky things? Do you like spicy things?

S: 'Sash - I'm worried about you - don't ever, ever do that again.'

S: ' I love it all the time it's good, good, good for me.'