Fun day with grandparents today

Today, we went to Y's parents' house to celebrate Chanukkah. Sasha had such a wonderful time running around, playing, reading, and being silly with her grandparents. It was very sweet to watch!

Reading with grandma A.


Dancing with grandma L.


Silly face!


She wanted to share her tangerine with grandpa L.


I just thought this was a silly shot: she was obsessed with that fruit tray and kept stealing fruit from it and bringing it to somebody!

Happy Chanukkah!

Today we celebrated Sasha's second Chanukkah by lighting our brand new menorah (the old one that I loved so much broke a couple of months ago). Tomorrow's we're heading to Y's parents' for some more celebration.



Sasha was very curious about the candles, so naturally she wanted to touch them. Her hand was promptly pulled back....


See how she's pushing Y's hand away in this shot so that she can attempt to touch the candles again? Love it!

Some pro-pictures

We got our pro-pictures back yesterday and I just wanted to share some with you. We thought they turned out ok, but I think the photographer overdid it with the backgrounds. Next time we're definitely going to try to do an outdoors photoshoot, so that we can capture more natural and candid photos. But here are some of our favorites:








And some "birthday" (though slightly belated) photos:

15 months old

Sasha is 15 months old today! It seems like this month has gone by much faster than the last few, not even sure why. She's such a big girl already. She babbles a lot, seemingly saying full sentences, still in baby-talk, then waits for a reply to say another long sentence. She's figured out that she can walk backwards and is having a blast with that: she can take sometimes up to 10 steps that way, then walks forward and backwards again!
She now says 7 words (papa; mama; am - when she wants to eat; tapochka - shoe - to anything that goes on your feet, be it a shoe, a boot, or a slipper, and tries to constantly put shoes on her feet; pupok - belly button - which, in her interpretation, of course, sounds something like "kapuka" - but she means it and points to it every time; glaz - eye - it sounds like gaah; and dai - give me - stretching her arms out for the desired object). She "barks", when she sees a dog. We're working on body parts and other animal sounds with her now too.
She looves dancing and comes up to me throughout the day, points at my computer and does her "dance" - that's how she asks for music! She loves sitting and playing with papa in the evenings while I prepare dinner and clean up. She's cutting at least 3 (that I can see anyway) molars right now, so it's not fun for anyone involved; hopefully they'll be all out soon and we can get back to normally eating and overall happy kiddo!
Here are some pictures from today's "photoshoot" - didn't get too many, she was very very grumpy in the morning.

Kisses for Tobey


Looking for her "kapuka"



And here she is exactly a year ago today for comparison:

The sweetest thing!

For the last couple of nights, when Y and I put Sasha to bed and give her lots and lots of kisses and hugs, she has been doing the absolute sweetest thing in the world: while I was holding her, she pushed mine and Y's faces together for a kiss. It first made us giggle, but I guess our kid likes to see some affection. Seriously, the cutest thing ever!

Playing dress up? Or torturing the kiddo? You decide!

This morning started entirely too early for my taste, so I let Sasha wander about a little while I made myself a biiig cup of coffee. She found her new boots, brought them into the living room, sat down near me and attempted to put them on. So of course, I had to help her. This is what she looked like (she grabbed a metrocard on the way over too)



Then I pulled out a bathing suit and wanted to see how it fit. Not sure why I didn't take Sasha's t-shirt off first, but here ya go:





Yup, she took my purse too. She's a little lady, that's for sure!

The Bronx Zoo today

We had our family pictures done today (combination of Sasha's 1st birthday pictures and holiday pictures). After that we headed to the Bronx Zoo, since Y was home for the day. We had such a great time, even though it was a bit chilly out. Sasha seemed really into the animals, she especially enjoyed watching the seals swim around and did not want to leave the bug carousel we went on! Here are some pictures from our fun day:

Entering the Madagascar exhibit - see it's right there on the map


Sasha with papa


Sasha and I watching the seals


A cool-looking frog


The giraffes!


Mountain goat


At some point, Sasha demanded to get out of the stroller and walk holding our hands.


"Be careful. Tigers are nearby!" - love it!


This is how Sasha chose to ride at some point today


Enjoying the bug carousel - the kiddo loved it so much, she refused to put on her jacket, kept saying "nah-un" and shaking her head, and then ran back to the entrance!!

10 years in the States!

I cannot believe I haven't posted about this yet, but this month (on the 15th to be exact), we celebrated 10 years since we came to the US. On November 15, 1999, my sister, my mom, and I landed in JFK airport (my dad actually moved here almost 2 years before that, because my grandpa - his dad - was very very sick). It was in no way an easy transition for any of us, but my sister and I (being 13 and 15, respectively) got over it a lot better than my mom: it's no easy task starting from 0 at the age of 40, with no English, no friends, and away from family (all of mom's side of the family is still in Russia!). I'm certainly proud o what I've achieved in the 10 years here, but I'm unspeakably more proud of my parents and of how far they've come in this time. Big shout-out to my mama and papa and a big thanks for bringing us here!
Here are some fun pictures from the day (I say, better late than never!):

My sister and I ice skating


Anna, mom, and I


There was some dancing too!


Silly girl playing with uncle Andrey


This is what she did when I ask her to smell the clementine... and she doesn't have a shirt on because it was getting really messy eating strawberries and she REFUSES to keep a bib on for even a minute (we're working on finding better bibs and aren't easy to yank off)

Thanksgiving '09 in pictures

I finally went through all the pictures and edited them. Here are some from our dinner on Thursday (and when I say "some", I often mean "a lot", as the case may be with this post).

Hanging out with great-grandma


There were a lot o people at my aunt and uncle's so Sasha was being very very shy in the beginning and holding onto my legs, but auntie Anna is one of the people she agreed to go to!


A family picture... with two people looking at the camera, this is quite an achievement for us ;)


Drinking out of a cup like a big girl (we've been working on it, on good days she spills a little bit on herself, on bad days... all the water ends up on her shirt, not in her mouth)


Yum, turkey - see here for last year's (lack of) excitement with turkey leg...




Little miss Sasha is quite fond of her uncle Andrey


Meeting my cousin's bearded dragon - not quite as happy as when it was sitting in its aquarium though!

We had a lovely time at Thanksgiving this year (my parents and Y's parents missed it though, they went to Cleveland to hang out with their friends instead). The food was good, the company was amazing, the kiddo behaved wonderfully (after the initial shock of a new place and too many people). Have I mentioned how much I love Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, as we prepare to go to NJ for our annual Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle's house, I am thankful for so many things in my life.

I am thankful for my beautiful daughter, who is healthy and happy and smart and so funny.
I am thankful for my wonderful husband, who loves both me and our girl so much (not to mention putting up with me and my craziness all these years).
I am thankful for Y's job that allows me to stay home with Sasha and enjoy all her big milestones and little moments.
I am thankful for our family who are so incredibly caring and loving; I could not imagine better grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-aunts, great-uncles for my little girl!
I am thankful for my friends who put up with me talking about Sasha close to 24/7 and always being there for me (not to mention throwing fabulous parties that I would never have the time to plan).
I am especially thankful for my aunt and uncle who have been hosting Thanksgiving dinner for years now, because that means that I don't have to cook an entire meal for 20+ people (not to mention the turkey, I would probably ruin the turkey)

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!