Monday (May 28), I needed a few things, so I put Ilyusha in a car seat during his nap time and off we went. I managed to get everything that I needed and Ilyusha slept through the whole thing. He was still asleep when I left Walmart, so I decided to go for a ride. We went to Kleinburg and I checked out a park where I wanted to go for a walk … one day – as Yura doesn’t let me venture into a forest by myself (Ilyusha doesn’t count here).

 

 

Yura and I discussed a few times how the bassinet is getting a bit cramped for Ilyusha and that we wanted to transition him to his crib. In addition, his nursery is much darker than our bedroom as we have sunlight throughout morning and early afternoon. So, I prepared his crib and decided to try it out during a nap.  Well… Ilyusha was too interested with everything that was going on around him that he forgot that he wanted to nap and was moved back to our room. So, the crib was sitting all done up with no one to sleep in.

 

 

 

 

In the evening as we were bathing Ilyusha, he showed us some art – a fountain “писующий мальчик” For the first time we saw him actually peeing in his bathtub. The good thing was that we were almost done, but all three of us had a blast 🙂

Tuesday (May 29)

As Ilyusha is growing up very quickly, we decided to try a new bouncer that has been sitting in the play room since before Ilyusha was born.  Yurka assembled it and I told him to put it as low as possible to the ground. He said that he did, and here is the result. Ilyusha’s legs are far away from the floor and he is definitely not enjoying this toy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So mommy went at it, and look how it turned out:

         

His toes are touching the floor — exactly how the instructions say it should be!!!

Oh, and as you can see from all the pictures, Ilyusha is a very happy baby (most of the times), but there are a few times when my little one is getting cranky.  When mommy is doing her own stuff and leaving Ilyusha to play on his own, she gets this:

By the way, do you see the peakock? Love that toy, Ilyusha here is a bit indifferent, but I continue putting it in his bouncing chair.

This is already on Wednesday (May 30).

This one is taken in the morning, but the following two later in the afternoon. Ilyusha did start paying attention to the toy and actually take it into his mouth!

              

In the afternoon, a guy came to check out the problem with A/C so Ilyusha and I were left on our own. So we started taking a bath without daddy (who doesn’t let mommy wash Ilyusha by herself), and were having fun. Ilyusha does love water too. We had a bit of Niagara Falls situation going on in our bathroom 🙂

      I don’t know who is having more fun, mommy or Ilyusha 🙂

Thursday (May 31)

Thursday, was Julka’s birthday! She turned 18!!! (but I am not telling you for how many years in a row)  We love you tyotya Yulya and wishing you all the best!!!!

    

After a pretty regular day we were going to Julka’s house to celebrate her birthday with “the grown ups” (basically our parents, our aunt and her in-laws). Yurka & I also wanted to have some good food as Julie cooks almost as good as daddy 😀

  Here Yurka & Ilyusha at the dinner table (before the dinner).  Ilyusha stayed awake through most of the celebration. Good manners!!!

Oh, and the love of the peacock toy continues. Now, we are constantly eating its feathers!!! (I promise this will be the last pictures of Ilyusha & pavlin!! I just can’t help myself, those Lamaze toys are so attractive… even for someone in their early 30’s)

    

In the evening the plan was to go with Ilyusha to Julka’s party at Marlowe and stay there until close to his dream feed time of 11 p.m. so I can feed him and put him to sleep in his bassinet at home. But Mom offered to babysit as Daniel didn’t have to be at school the next day. So as soon as we got home from Julka’s home I pumped some milk – not enough for the full feeding, but just to tie him over until we get home in an emergency, although I did tell Mom that we will make it home by 11 p.m. and we did!  Everything went pretty smoothly. The problem was that we hit traffic on the way there so it actually cut our time at the party. It was great to mingle with our friends and acquaintances again.  Show Ilyusha’s pictures and generally brag about our handsome boy!  By the time we got home, he was stirring a bit, but didn’t wake up. So all was good.

Friday (June 1)

I decided to try the bouncer again.  Ilyusha’s toes are almost touching the ground and he seems to like this new bouncer more and more.

    concentrating on new toys!!!

When during the afternoon nap I found Ilyusha with his face against the wall of the bassinet, I’ve decided that this was it. He became just too big for it. Plus, his sleeping has gotten worse as he literally bounced off the walls. He used his feet (even swaddled in woombie) and propeled himself to the very top (not like there was too much room). So the decision was made that this night he will be sleeping in his crib. The problem was that I am still up a lot during the night to feed, to shush or hold him, or give him a pacifier, so I told Yurka that putting him in the nursery was out of question. I did have an earful about how difficult it was going to be to move the crib to our bedroom as it doesn’t fit into our doorways, but daddy did his trick and while mommy was feeding Ilyusha for the night, the crib was assembled and off he went to the dream land in his new crib 🙂

To tell you the truth, Ilyusha didn’t miss a beat! The night was relatively uneventful (apart from my usual getting ups 🙂 )

In the morning on Saturday (June 2) we did take Ilyusha to our bed when he woke up around 7 a.m. (his regular time). I know, I know what some parents say about taking kids to bed with parents, but we do it as an exception rather than a rule, and mostly on the weekends when both of us want to stay in bed for a bit longer. Anyways, I have his thicker receiving blanket that I put in between our pillows and he goes on top at our eye level so we can see him. As Yurka was still sleeping I was watching him as he was playing with his fists and with some toys.  I closed my eyes for a few seconds, when I could feel him touching my face (I thought it was unintentional as his hands usually flake around), but when I opened my eyes he was staring right at me. OMG! He was actually reaching for me – purposefully! I was surprised to say the least.

Ilyusha has had his fists in his mouth for some time, but he is starting to reach out and purposefully grab stuff.  Here Ilyusha is chewing on his blankets 🙂

    

During our play time, I decided to put him in his old swing (he used to love it when he was smaller, but now he doesn’t enjoy it so much), but as you can see from the pictures, this morning was trip down the memory lane for him.  He is getting big for this toy.

Ilyusha’s emotions up-close! My happy little man!

    I’ve tried to catch him smiling – don’t know if it worked.

After the old toy, it was time for a new one! Ilyusha realized that there are toys not only at the eye level, but also hanging from the top. He loves looking at this red bird moving as he bounces up and down.

Sunday, June 3 was an early rise for all of us as we were hosting breakfast at our house once again. It is just family, but our family is not that little, so hosting breakfast is a task. I had to feed Ilyusha before and he was actually having a nap when everyone gathered, but he did grace his family with his presence! How could he sleep when there was so much activities going on downstairs?!?

After having a pretty big breakfast, mommy and daddy decided to exercise for a bit in the basement. Of course, Ilyusha was with us. I opened up a present that (I believe Chanya & Sasha) got Ilyusha, and he was playing with it, while mommy and daddy were exercising. Hope this will become our habit – exercising together, getting and staying fit!!!