Yes. We’re still alive.
We haven’t had much time to blog because of a number of factors.
First, jet-lag is a big challenge for us right now. We’re trying not to nap very much during the day, but that’s proving to be difficult. That’s because Alexey disagrees with the medical literature about trying to sleep through the night to reduce jet-lag. So, he wakes up sometime between 2 and 4 AM every morning and is ready to go for the day. So, one of us has to get up with him and entertain him for up to an hour.
“One of us” in the last sentence really means Monika. Not because John is deliberately avoiding his duties. He has been afflicted with a very nasty stomach condition since we got home. High fever, a bit of nausea, and many, many, er… you get the picture. Since we don’t want Alexey to catch this bug, especially because he is quite small for his age, Monika has assumed about 95% of the parenting duties. Plus she has had to look after John, too.
The resulting drain on our resources (sorry) means that our house is a disaster. Suitcases are strewn across the living room. Two months worth of mail sits unread on our dining room table. Packages of baby food are taking over the kitchen. That being said, we’re still progressing.
Shiraz (our beagle) and Alexey are now getting along well together. They each try to play with the other’s toys. Shiraz has been rebuked several times for playing with the lovely caterpillar toy Alexey got from Kazik, Natalie, and, Gabriel. In the early going, Alexey was severely reprimanded for tugging on Shiraz’s ears, gouging her eyes, and pounding on her head. He has since learned to pet Shiraz nicely, though. Shiraz has been great. If she is unhappy with something that Alexey is doing, she just walks away.
That’s not completely true. She comes over to supervise when Alexey starts to play with her food dish. She frowns and snorts a bit, trying to figure out what to do. We intervene before the situation escalates, though. Alexey also likes to play with Shiraz’s water bowl. Splashing is always great fun! We tried not to laugh and became as stern as we could when he bent over and started to drink from the bowl, without ever having seen her use it.
We will soon post some pictures and some more information. Time to go. Have to feed Alexey.
2 comments:
Sounds like you guys are having fun, well, everyone but John! :) Laughed at Alexy drinking the dogs water, funny!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jill (Colin & Lilah)
Glad Alexey and Shiraz like the caterpillar! LOL - hilarious about the water dish. I remember Gabriel always trying to play with Max's dish when he was that age. Lots of spills, but it's only water! Hope you feel better soon!
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