Pizza!

11/19/02

Dear family,
 
Two stories I just have to tell you...

These few days, Vakho is staying home alone taking care of Lily... And they always have a great time playing with each other.

The night before, we ordered a Pizza for dinner, since we wanted to watch a movie together and didn't want to spend time cooking.

I intended to give Lily some rice that I already made, with some beans and beef.  She always liked that.  So I warmed up her food and got ready to feed her.  At the same time, the Pizza delivery guy came.  Vakho came to the kitchen, took a slice of Pizza and went away... I took out Lily's food, got a spoonful and sending it towards her mouth.  Suddenly, instead of opening her mouth, Lily burst out in tears, looking at me with great sorrow and cried bitterly.  I was quite shocked and didn't know what to do.  I asked her if she wanted to eat rice.  She shook her head still crying... Then I asked her if she wanted to have Pizza.  She nodded and stopped crying.

Sure, she can have Pizza for dinner! (though it is not the best form of food for her.) But I definitely didn’t expect her to react in such a way.  I would expect her reaching out her hand and ask for it.

Well, she is getting sensitive… Ha-Ha!

Diaper

Another funny thing happened yesterday.

Though Vakho is a very fun and loving father, he does get absentminded sometimes, and most of the time, it is no big deal.
 
Monday night when I got home, I noticed that he forgot to change Lily’s diaper for some time.  So I changed the diaper and told him about it.

But on Tuesday, he seems to forget again… And when I called home at noon to talk to him for some other things, he told me that Lily took off her old diaper and handed it to him… Ha ha ha !!!

I just wonder if Lily would come and bite his fingers if he forgets to feed her. :-) !!!

So much for today. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do writing it.

Yan

1 yr 9.5 m

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Lily’s First Sentence

10/14/02

Dear Benito, Mama and Inna,

How are you all?

Thank you for sharing with us Mama's beautiful dream. :-) It is something very special to us, especially for the unborn baby.  I even consider giving her a name meaning "Dream"-- So far I couldn't find anything nice from the name dictionary ( I got Aisling and Svajone, But I am not crazy about the sound of it).  That's why I asked Benito to tell me how to say "Dream " in Georgian.  "Mtsvane" sounds better, or maybe we can alter it a bit to make it a name.  Anyway, the new baby is doing very well, and being quite active from time to time.  Sometimes, when Lily sits on my lap and playing... the baby would also move and push from inside, trying to be part of the fun.  I am sure, since she is hearing a lot of Lily's voice now, she will connect with Lily very well after she is born.

Lily is doing well these days also.  Two weeks ago, one day when I went to pick her up, the teacher told me Lily scratched 3 kids' faces.  Each time it was because someone trying to take the toy away from her while she was playing. :-(  I felt sorry for those kids, but I don't blame Lily.  After all, she was only acted on her self-defense.  I would be more upset if she was the one trying to take away other children's toy.  The teacher told me that Lily never do that.  Thank God!!!
       
I have known that Lily is able to defend herself since few months ago.  When we went to the playground after work, sometimes some older kids, many months even a year older, would come and try to take things away from her (it might be his toy, which he left on the ground, and Lily was just playing with it.) or even push her aside.  I never run to help her.  Instead, I would watch from a distance and see how she would react.  She always fights back, either holding on to the toy... or push back.  Sometimes, when she cannot win, she might cry and hit the older kid.  It often ends up with the older kid looking for help from his mother, while the mother trying to tell him to let Lily play together.  The teacher said that Lily is a tough kid and that's why all kids like her, because she doesn’t cry for little things.  Also, she is very sympathetic.  She would often go and give her friend a hug or kiss if he/she seems to be upset.

Two weeks ago, when my mother came to visit us for two day, she kept Lily home for one day because it was raining in the morning.  After work, I went to the daycare center to pick up Lily's linen for washing, and the teacher told me that they all missed Lily, and that for the whole day few of her friends were asking for her.  To show me she was telling me the truth, the teacher called one of the boys and told him "Ilan, Lily's mother is here". Guess what happened?  The little boy ran out from the corner... pass by where I was standing... ran to the door and call "Ni-Ni, Ni-Ni...".  And when he couldn't find Lily, he got mad and threw the toy truck he had in his hand to the floor... The teacher had to pick him up and comfort him after that.  I was laughing so hard... Not a bit surprised that "Lily's mother" was simply not as good as "Lily". :-)  And everyday when I take her to daycare, there are often 3-5 kids coming over to greet her, kissing and hugging her as she goes in the class room.

*********** ******
Last Wednesday, 10/9/02, in the morning, we were waiting for Vakho to come and take care of Lily that day, since she had to stay home that day due to mild eye infection.  Lily had her breakfast, and I was just about to change her diaper when Vakho called from the street to tell us that he will arrive in 5 minutes.  Lily heard me talking on the phone, and I told her "Daddy is coming".  She refused to let me change diaper, ran to the door, twisting the door knob and kept saying "Vakho Daddy coming!"  And this is the FIRST time she can make a whole sentence!!!

After that day, if she sees Vakho lying in bed, she would say: "Vakho Daddy sheeping (sleeping)". And if she doesn't see Vakho around, she would, from time to time, say: "Vakho Daddy coming."

Last night, when I was feeding her dinner in the kitchen, Vakho was working on his things in the living room.  After a while, Lily picked up a piece of food, pointing at the kitchen door and said : "Vakho Daddy eat, eat..." Well, it seems, all she does is think about her Daddy all the time.

Nowadays, if I take her to daycare, or leave her with someone, I have to sneak away, or she will get upset and cry "Mommy!!!" if she sees me walking away.  Only when she is with Vakho, I could formally say "Goodbye." and give her a kiss before I go.  She may even wave me a "bye-bye" in return, though she might not be happy to see me going away.  And sometimes when Vakho is leaving, she would wave him a "bye-bye", then she would try to follow him out of the door, or tell me to take her and go together.  Oh, our sweet Lily!!!

Dear Babua and Bebia, hope you enjoy my story.

Love,
Yan

1 yr 8.5 m

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New Shoes

8/9/02

Here are two other stories, I don't know how to make it short.

New Shoes

On Wednesday, Vakho got a pair of new shoes for Lily, dark red, soft leather.  Lily always has special affection about shoes.  But this time, she went a little too far.
 
That night, after dinner, she started playing with her new shoes. She put the shoes on her hands first, clapping a few times, took them off, and started trying to put them on her feet.  She did not have much difficulty with her right foot, but the left foot was giving her real trouble.  I was doing things in the kitchen and did not know all this until I heard some painful crying form the bedroom.  I came in and helped her a bit to put that shoe on.  She was happy and clapping her hands and laughed.  But soon, she took them off, and tried to put them on again.  I was happy something can keep her busy so that I didn't have to be around, so I went back to kitchen.

Twenty minutes later, some painful and desperate crying made me went in the bedroom again. This time she put the right shoe on her left foot, and sat there kicking!  I took it off from her, and tried to tell her she should use the other shoe, or try this shoe on the other foot.  Can you imagine how useless my effort was?  She insisted on trying the right shoe on left foot (and I believe she would insist that it has to be comfortable, too! :-). I had to trick her, pretending to drop both shoes, picked up the left shoe and quickly put it on her left foot...

The whole matter was worse the second night.  After dinner, I put her to bed to sleep.  As she was getting on bed, she saw her new shoes on top of the shelf.  She asked for them, and started to play with them again.  This time she had more success, and did not make much sound at all.  After I finished all the work in the kitchen an hour later, she was still playing.

I came into the bedroom to sleep, so I told her to switch off the light.  She stood up from bed, switched off the light, and lied down to sleep.  I thought she might lay on top of the shoes and it could be uncomfortable.  So I got up and tried to take them away.  It was then I realize that she had them both on her feet!

It was my mistake that I tried to take them off her feet.  The moment I took them off, she got up crying, trying to switch on the light, and started to play with them again! This time, she wouldn't switch off the light, and wouldn't let me switch off the light either.  And she put them on and took them off at least for another twenty times.

I showed her that I was upset.  She came and kissed my leg, turned her head and looked at me..., Mommy was still upset... Kiss me again, turn and look at me... Mom was still upset. So she kissed me for the third time, and looked again.  I couldn't hold back and gave her a smile.  Then she was happy... and went BACK playing with her shoes again!!!

By now, it was pass 11:30 pm.  I just had to give up.  I turned my body facing outside and tried to sleep.  About 10 minutes later, she switched off the light and lied down quietly.  This time I did nothing.  Two minutes later, she got up, took off the shoes, gave them to me, and lied down again.  That's how the evening ended  :-)     

Mommy Coughing

Story number two. 

These days I'm coughing.  Sometimes I would cough for a minute or so.
 
Tuesday night after we went to bed, I coughed a bit.  I felt Lily got up, came to me, and pat me on my back three times.  I was wondering what she was doing, so I turned around.  She went back to sleep.  I didn't think much of it then.

The next day, when we were on the bus, I started coughing again.  She leaned over and kept patting on my back and chest many times.  Now I remember!  Whenever she coughs, I would pat her back or chest to help her feel better!  Amazing how kids understand and learn things!!!

****************     

Some notes for these stories: Though she can put her shoes on and off many times, she still can not buckle them up right.  Though she would not stop playing with her shoes and go to sleep, she would stop playing with them and come to pat my back if I cough.  What a child!  

1 yr 6 m

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Here's my shoes, Mommy

Here's my shoes, Mommy

8/1/02

Dear Benito,    

Thank you for your loving words. :-)
 
I am glad that you all liked my story about Lily.  It gives me great pleasure to share these moments with you, knowing how much pleasure it will give you all. I always imagine how you or Inna read and translate the letter to Mama.  And how you all would laugh so loud.  While writing the letter, I could almost hear your laughs and see how you all say some sweet things about her.

Vakhtang is here with us since Tuesday evening.  That night, I left Lily with him on the bed, and went to do something in the kitchen.  A while later, I heard a little footstep coming through the living room.  I can tell she was barefoot.  The moment she got into the kitchen, I gave her a rather cold look and said: ”Lily, how come you are barefoot? Where are your shoes?” (Though she does not talk much, I always suspect that she knows exactly what I am talking about.  I can usually understand what she is saying.)  At that moment, she immediately turned around and walked out.  A moment later, she came back, still walking like a duck, with two shoes dangling from her fingertips.  I knew she understood me!!!  I was hoping for something like this to happen, though it is the first time she responds so precisely.  She proudly gave me the shoes. I  gave her a hug and a kiss, set her on my laps and put the shoes on her feet.  She seemed to be very happy, clapping her hands and said:” Yeah…”

Oh, she started learning to say “nose, eyes and ears”. When we ask her “where is Lily's nose?” She would use a finger pressing on her nose and say ”Noooo…” She can say and point out “eye” nicely. But if we ask her for ears, she would hold on both of her ears and pulled them pretty hard.  I was afraid that she might pull them off.  Ha ha…

By the way, you don’t have to worry about writing back to me right away.  I don’t usually wait for your response unless I have a question.  So, just sit back and enjoy.  I will keep writing whenever I have a story.  It is my way of making a diary before I forget the details. 

So much for today.     



Love,
Yan
P.S. I will give Vakhtang your short letter. He has a cold and coughing these few days.  He may call you these days, if he is lucky to reach you.

1 yr 6 m

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Self-Service

Self-Service

7/26/02

These few days, Lily is trying to do things for herself... Trying to feed herself with a spoon, and trying to dress herself.  She usually would eat few spoonful from my hand.  Maybe she think that she has learn it all, she would then refuse to eat any more, insisted on taking spoon from my hand. Then she would try to scoop some food, bring it towards her mouth, turn the spoon upside down first, and then put in her mouth... So you see, the food would get on the table or her belly before get into her mouth!  But she would try to improve the skill next time... so she would turn the spoon a bit less, and get a little bit of food left for her mouth. Thank God she would let me put some food in her mouth at the same time using another spoon.

Now can you imagine how she does with drinking from a cup? She would do the same thing, holding the cup with both hands, turn it upside down first, then put it to her mouth... So the first cup was usually on her dress, then she would manage to drink some from the second cup... Somehow, she always like to put her hand into the cup, dip some water, and wipe it on her face and chest.  I have no idea what kind of ritual that is.

Oh, since few months ago, she would try to put all kinds of things over her head: my scarf, Vakhtang's shirt, etc. These few days, she would try to put her pants over her head.  It was not always hard to have some degree of satisfaction. Yet, it is not always easy to figure out where to put her hands. So she usually wore it on her neck for few seconds before taking it off.

What she does with her dress is another story.  She tried to put her legs into her sleeve - both legs in the same sleeve. Then she tried to stand up, only to find out that she was not able to get up or not able to walk.  She would then scream very loud, got mad and tried to rip the dress off her legs. The bad news for her was that it would not come off easily.  Oh, my poor baby!!!  I tried to show her that she should try to put her dress over her head and pants for her legs.  But she insisted in doing things HER way, and never make a mistake of that.  Maybe one day I will take a picture while she is working on her clothing.
:-)

Oh, another thing she found out that she was not quite able to do was to kiss her own belly, no matter how 'Bucky" it was.  But she usually tries her best, and satisfied with a distant kiss.

1 yr 5.5 m

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Bucky!

Bucky!

07/22/02

Hello our dear family,
 
Maybe you remember one of my previous letter about how Lily tryed to share her sense of beauty with me by using " Chi-Chi", " Chi-Ki", "Ki-Ki" until "Puity" came out.  But now, she has finally decided and insists that all things which pleases her should be called "Bucky!".

And after all this time of kindly expending her "Bucky" list, Mom and Dad finally get included into it.  But still it would not be the entire us to be included at the same time.  Sometimes, it would be our cheeks, sometimes it would be our legs or hands or lips.  Anyway, she is the true master of her Bucky list.  No one can interfere with her decision.  I can not even bribe her to put me onto her list.  So you all would understand how flattered we feel when she pointed at some part of us and said "Bucky!"  And that, often followed with a soft kiss at the appointed spot.  Bet you can almost see how those lucky spots would just start glowing.  ;-) 

Yesterday, as she was pointing at me and saying "Bucky", I pointed at her belly and said "Bucky!" To my surprise, she took a hold of my finger, bent it towards me, pressing it on my chest and said "Bucky!!!"  We were doing this back and forth few times until I gave in and accepting my new title. Ha, ha...

One thing good is that she is more generous in giving kisses than naming a "Bucky Spot".  We now could even get a kiss from her when she sees us getting upset and raising our voice.  Sure there would not be any more yelling after that!  God, how she understands the power of a kiss!  Her teacher told me that Lily would give her friend a kiss when a kid was scared and crying.  I often see her friends calling her name when she arrives to the class in the morning.  Too bad Lily doesn't usually reply with even one word.  She still refuses to say "Hello", "Bye, bye." and all that.  Sometimes, some of her friends even come to greet her at the door.  They often would hug each other right there.  And the teacher said no one ever taught them that.

1 yr 5.5 m

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First kiss!

First kiss!

6/12/02

I took Lily to see her doctor for a routine check up yesterday. At 16 month 1 week old, she is now 26 lb 8 oz, 32 inches tall and head circle 47 cm.

Last night, after dinner, I asked Lily to go to the living room to play piano while I finish my house work.  She went to the living room, switch on the keyboard, and played for a little while.

I was in the kitchen for about 15 minutes cleaning up. As I was washing the dishes, she came in and walked around me, in and out of the kitchen... Suddenly, she hold both of my legs from behind and kissed me three times.

You can only imagine how I felt at that moment.  Because, though I notice from last week, that she would sometimes hug and kiss her toy or a nice picture, I was not able to make her kiss me or anyone else by asking.  I was so touched and surprised by this action, I told her that I would finish working and go play with her in the bathtub in just a minute.  And that's what we did.  We had a wonderful time splashing water in the tub as always.

1 yr 4 m

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P u i t i... !

P u i t i... !

05/23/02

Dear Babua, Bebia and Mamida Inna,

So good to see your letter. We are all doing fine. I will send you those pictures soon, together with a short video of the trip to China. Sorry I have delayed the matter for so long.

Recently, since the weather is getting warmer, we often pick up Lily and go to Central Park after work. One day last week, Lily pointing at a dog, turned around and said to me "Ti-Ti".  She made it sound also like "Chi-Chi" or "Chi-Ki".  I had a hard time figuring out exactly which sound she was making.  Anyway, she was quite excited, and eager to share her findings with me.  I was wondering where she get the idea to call a dog "Chi-Ki".  Two days later, she pointed at a horse on TV and said to me "Chi-Ki" again ... So I believe that anything with four legs would be "Chi-Ki". (Vakho said it sounded more like "Ki-Ki").

This went on for 3 days, then last Friday, She pointed at a car and said the same thing. I was really amused. So now, the word means anything that moves on four... So you can imagine my surprise this morning, while we were walking across the Central Park, she pointed at grass and said "Chi-Ti".  I stopped, went in front of her, trying to see where exactly she was pointing at, and saying... To my REAL surprise, this time she said "P-u-i t-i"   PRETTY! That's what she was trying to say all this time!!!  I am also very happy that this is the first thing she wanted to share with us - her sense of beauty!        

Hope you enjoy my story.


Love,
Yan

1 yr 3.5 m

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Turn, turn, turn...

Turn, turn, turn...                 05/20/02

My dear family,

Here is something new about Lily:

Last night, when I was in the kitchen I called Lily to come over for food. She came to me, took a bite from me and turned around, getting ready to go away. At that moment, I called her again for more food, she turned around, and took another bite from me, and turned away again... This went on for another time or two. Then I notice she had a puzzling look on her face. Then I saw her started turning, around and around, looking on the floor, till she get dizzy, and landed on her butt. :-)

She must had found it funny, because right after she got up on her feet, guess what, she started turning again, and again… until landed on her butt again...

It was so much fun to watch her discover new sensations.  I just kept my eyes on her all the time, making sure that there was nothing she would hit when she fall.

So much for today!


Love,
Yan

1 yr 3.5 m

 

 

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My Children

For My Children

My first landlady in U.S. once told me:
"You think you are very happy now...
Just wait until you get your own kids.
It is the best part of life."
I thought I understood what she meant...
... till now, after I have you ...
    
Thank you, Jean!       Next >>>    

Foreword

It all started with ...
Trying to share my pleasure with those whom I love so much ...

Then,
Trying to give something to my children when they grow up...

In the end,
I got the most from all of this effort. . .
I got my life preserved.

Years ago, a question was asked:

"If you were offered a day of heavenly happiness, but then you won't remember anything of it, do you still care to take the offer? How about one week?

Or One year?"

It got me thinking . . . all these years.

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