Reapply every two hours!

So you know how all us mommies worry about everything when it comes to our kids (well, ok, maybe some of us are just worrywarts like that, but we all tend to worry about certain things, right?) I worry about unnecessary sun exposure. I reapply sunblock religiously every two hours when we're outside for long periods of time (in fact, Sasha now asks me to put it on her when she sees the bottle). Well, apparently, I've been using the wrong kind of sunblock this whole time! Yes, I know this probably will not harm my kid in the long run, but I'm just aggravated that this information is not more readily available. Granted we try to stay in the shade and she wears a hat and sunglasses most of the time, I don't see why there are so many "wrong" products out there on the market. Especially when it comes to sensitive baby skin!
This site offers ratings of different sunscreens and  sunblocks and what do you know, the ones we've been using are in the "caution" category. Apparently, there's also a difference between sunscreen and sunblock:
sunscreen is not safe for infants under 6 months old, it is a chemical blocker that gets absorbed into the top of the skin thus reflecting the suns rays and not allowing them to penetrate; sunblock is a physical sunblocker which is safe from the day your child is born up to the very elderly, it is a product that creates a "shield" on the top of your skin and gets absorbed and blocks out the harmful rays.
Also the SPF factor only matters so much, according to this article. Protection of SPF 15 blocks about 93 percent of the UVB rays, while SPF 50 protects against about 98 percent. So anything higher than that just seems silly. So then, why, I ask again, are there these products that claim to block nearly all UVB rays?
Off to buy some California Baby sunblock this afternoon! And an extra-wide-rim sunhat for the kiddo.

Jumping baby and a picnic

Yesterday was one of those days where you just don't feel like going anywhere. It was dark and cloudy and just plain icky. We did go to the library in the morning for a sing-along which was really fun! In the afternoon, after Sasha's nap and lunch, we literally hung out on the balcony for close to an hour. Because I didn't feel like going out. Sasha had a blast though, she waved hi at squirrels and little girls in the building next to ours. And she jumped. With both feet. I only managed to get a half jump on camera though:

I just love her little dirty feet, she had such a great time running back and forth! This kinda made the whole day better too.

And then, to turn the day around completely, my wonderfully thoughtful husband came home with flowers and a jar of Nutella (he's been made aware of a sucky day I was having) I'm glad to report that there's still Nutella left in the fridge, but man, is it tempting me with its chocolatey nutty goodness (ah, but I digress). We ended up ordering Chinese food and going to a park for a picnic, it was so nice to just sit around and watch Sasha eat rice with a fork (she missed her mouth a few times, there was rice all over her pants and the blanket, she kept repeating "eww" as we were cleaning it up) and play ball with her and cuddle and watch the sun set over the trees. It was a perfect evening. Thank you, honey!

Sasha's new toy!

We got Sasha a fabulous new toy - a tricycle! It's fantastic. She loves it so much, she's now climbing onto the seat herself and asks for a ride. Too funny!

Yes, she got off and walked her trike instead of riding it.

Grandma

The past three days I have spent wording and rewording, writing and rewriting, posting and reposting this blog entry. It is about my grandma. And it was very hard to write. My beloved babushka Katya passed away on Saturday. I was in tears when my dad told me that, I was in tears for my grandma, I was in tears for my mom and aunt who lost their mom. I was in tears for our little Sasha who won't know her great-grandma.
Babushka Katya was such a wonderful, caring, loving person. We spent most of our summers growing up with her: my sister, my mom and I, and my aunt and two cousins. We all slept in the same room in her one-bedroom apartment, but we had the greatest time getting away from the city, playing with the kids in her small town and growing up. There were crushes and there were bicycle races. There were slides (in the winter) and there were beach outings (in the summer). There were scraped knees and there were crutches. There were countless books and there were early lunches. And most of all, there was endless love. My grandma spoiled us, but not always with things, although she would spend her last dime to buy a little treat for one of her four grandkids.
My grandma taught us hard work and dedication. She taught us how important family and community is. She taught us loyalty and friendship. If you were to talk to anyone in her town, you would not find a single soul who did not know or love her.
And now she is gone. The world became a little bit lonelier and sadder because of this. But my world is so much more wonderful and beautiful because I had her as my grandma. I don't know what else to write, there are so many things I want to say but the words escape me. Babushka Katya, you will be missed terribly! We love you so much!
There weren't too many pictures of her (in electronic form anyway) that I could find, but my parents have this beautiful photo of this beautiful, giving, and very loving woman

Playgrounds, slides, and magazines

This is what we've been up to the past few days: a lot of slides and playgrounds and some nose-picking (who on earth taught her that? But the pictures cracks me up!) while she helped me go through old magazines.

Another rainy day here

This weather is just tiring. I don't really like cold days, but really they're not that bad: you just put on an extra layer, bundle the kiddo up and go. So that's not my problem with days like today: it's the ickiness and dreariness and darkness. And let's be honest here: it's May, not October, not November. May! We've had a few very nice days and now this! And I'm running out of rainy day ideas for the kiddo (I mean, she helped me clean and throw out a bunch of old magazines this morning!) And my picasa is running out of space  for all our pictures (hence, no pictures for now, but will try to upgrade it tonight)
At least this weekend is supposed to be beautiful. Ahh, that'll be so nice!

Weekend recap and a few pictures

What a fun Mother's Day weekend we had! On Saturday, we took our moms, dads, and grandmothers out to dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. And of course, our memory card decided to have a hopefully minor glitch and wouldn't take any pictures. Thankfully, I had just uploaded all the pictures up to Friday onto my computer, so all that was lost were a few silly pictures in the restaurant (*pout* they were cute!) We also stopped by to see my husband's grandfather since on May 9th we celebrate the victory over the Nazis in the World War II, in which he fought (my grandfather also fought in WWII)
The actual Mother's Day couldn't have been more perfect (ok maybe if it weren't so windy it would have been a tiny teeny bit better): Sasha slept in until 8:30 - which was a nice treat to both my husband and me, then I woke up to my little silly girl bringing me a card and my husband - my breakfast! And I got roses and my new wonderful Nikon the day before. We spent most of the day in the city, visiting the American Museum of Natural History, which I love, and then stopping by Gymboree, which I also love, especially when they have sales! When we got home we did a little mommy-day craft, which we still need to finish. All in all, a wonderful day!

 

I was asking Sasha to point out my, her, and the dinosaur's teeth, I was not threatening my husband to give me the camera back, I promise!

20-months stats

Just a quick note: we went to see Sasha's pediatrician this morning for the last (!!!) shot until she's four, I'm so looking forward to our visits not involving any more needles or crying (although she has to have blood work done at our next visit when she's two - I'm making the appointment for a weekend, so that papa can come with us).
Today, Sasha did exceptionally well - she didn't make a sound when she got her shot; she was a little scared of the doctor and the needle and tried to hide from her when she saw the stethoscope, but other than that it was a very easy visit. She now weighs about 25lbs and is still 32" tall (both about 50 %-ile).

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mommies out there! I am so thankful to my own mom for always being there for me, for us, and for my husband's mom who also has. They mean the world to us and, as Yevgeny said at our dinner with them yesterday, we wouldn't even be here without them. That being said, I also realize that I wouldn't be a mom myself without my wonderful husband!
We celebrated today by spending the day at the American Museum of Natural History (and our Miss Sasha gave me a wonderful present by sleeping in until 8:30am!) I got new Nikon D3000 which I am in love with! Here, take a look at these pictures I took of Sasha this afternoon:

I will post a weekend recap (along with pictures) some time tomorrow (hopefully), but right now I am off to bed. Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day and weekend!

20 months old today

Sasha's really getting to be such a big girl. Granted she's still throwing numerous fits each day (and it's about every little thing too!), but there's no way to just pass by the terrible two's... unless of course there is, please please please let me in on the secret!
She is into everything these days, she's figured out how to climb into her stroller, which almost gave me a heart attack a couple of times. She attempted to climb into her crib the other day, but didn't quite succeed. She now says over 50 words and is trying to put two-word sentences together. She sings and dances along with her favorite songs, it's adorable! She does a very very funny fake sneeze after someone sneezes. And shakes her little finger repeating "nu, nu, nu" (no, no, no?) when she does something she clearly knows she shouldn't be. She is just so much fun!! She's starting to enjoy pretend play, like feeding and putting glasses on her dolls, and singing to them; I'm thinking we need to buy her things like a doll stroller, maybe a play kitchen (any recommendations?) She is also absolutely obsessed with buses, it just started a few days ago, it's hilarious to watch her point at one and yell "aboo!"
I'm working on prepping her for her stay with her grandparents when we're in Europe. I'm a little worried that since she's so much older than the last time we left her with our parents, she understands so much more and is so aware of what's going on. In the end, I'm sure it'll go just fine (I hope).
Here are some pictures from yesterday: we played with some colored water since it rained most of the afternoon:

This is Sasha from our walk this afternoon:

 

Fun rainy morning activity

It's been raining all morning here, so Sasha and I stayed in and made this fun tree using a whole puncher, construction paper and a brown marker (and, well, glue):

We started out with a tree trunk and glue...

...added colorful paper...

... made a pretty big mess...

...and ended up with a tree (on pink paper for some reason)

What a great weekend!

Most of these pictures really don't even need a caption - like the one where Sasha is doing some sort of baby gymnastics - we all do that when we're in a good mood, right? Right? Come on, folks, tell me we're not the only ones who do ;)

Fabulous weekend and so many pictures to prove it!

 

Yes, my kid likes making funny faces, and admit it, you like seeing my kid making funny faces - so it's a win-win (oh, and of course, I like sharing pictures of my kid making funny faces - so win-win-win then?)

In grandma and grandpa's backyard on Sunday morning. After which  Anna and I went to Macy's to get her a dress to an upcoming wedding, then Marina came over for sushi (of which I for some bizarre reason don't have any pictures)

FOUR months!?

We were driving to a park yesterday, just the three of us, and we got to talking about birthdays. Sasha's birthday came up when we suddenly realized that hers is in four months. FOUR MONTHS, people! Holy moly!Didn't she just turn one a few months ago? Eek!