80's dancing

Great Aunt Susie's Visit

Our little boy is quickly approaching his 2 year old mark! I wish I could say "terrific twos" but the reality is, this period is challenging for us. As Aaron is testing his limits, house rules and authorities, we're praying for wisdom and patience to steer him in the right direction. Still love every moment with him and enjoy seeing him grow and mature.
Last Friday was Aaron's last day at the day care. Since I am not working any more, we decided he can stay home a little longer before starting preschool at around 3. I was sad to say good-bye to the day care as it was a wonderful place. Aaron, however, was ready to turn this page over:)Lately, he's been very hesitant going to the day care, but always happy when I picked him up.
On Friday night we had a nice visit from Great Aunt Susie. Aaron was so excited about her coming that the first thing he said after he woke up from his day nap was: Aunt Susie is at the metro! As you can see from the pictures below he extended a warm welcome to his Great Aunt. We went out to a mexican restaurant not far away from our house Uncle Julio's and Aaron was so good, eating his food and watching everyone. I could enjoy my meal too:)
I should say that the day care was a positive influence on Aaron's eating habits. The only thing he still needs to be fed is soups, though, the day care teachers told me that he always ate soups there and most of the time asked for a second helping or even pitched in to the other kids' plates:) They must have some secret soup recipes because that's not the situation at home.
The weather has been great here, though a little bit colder the past couple days, but we're taking advantage of it and spending the weekend outside, on the playground.
Looking forward to grandparents Cislaks' visit!

Hugging Chloe Junior, a present from Great Aunt Susie

Brushing his teeth before bed. It's not a magic brush and it does not brush teeth on its own:)
Here, Aaron insisted on sleeping in the closet. So, he took his book and his pillow and made a bed in our closet:)

Cars, numbers and more... (in Russian)

My King is Risen!

What Easter is Really about...

It should have been me and you, and our children in His place....

Special book

Cliff ordered this book for Aaron along with a bunch of other truck and train books, long time ago. However, not until recently it became Aaron's special book. Nothing is done without it: going for a walk, taking a nap or going to bed (he even wakes up in the middle of the night asking for it), going to the day care, going potty or even taking a bath.
He calls it "traka buka maka"=My first truck borad book
Sorry, I can't upload the picture here as the Blog tells me I exceeded my quota, so check for it in Aaron's album.

On another note, after a thourough discussion we decided that it would be better for me to go back to being a full-time mother and wife. So, as of Monday I quit my job and I never felt so right about it. The decision did not come easy, not at all. The job was great. The Children's National Medical Center is the place to work for new nurses, with great training and nurturing environment. And if I were in different circumstances and different time in my life I would enjoy every bit of it. But I could not. I terribly missed Aaron and grieved over the moments I miss with him while he is growing up so fast. If I were ever to regret anything in life, then that would be it. There were also multiple of other reasons why we made this decision.

Our brave little firefighter

Aaron has been sick lately with respiratory infections and an ear infection. The Dr. started him on a nebulizer. The only way to have him keep the mask on his face during the treatments was to tell him that "Real firefighters wear masks"
Worked magic!