Nana and Opa Visit/The Sparks Meet Dinara

Sorry about the lack of posting...getting ready to move to Calgary has taken up most of our time. I think we are pretty close to done on that front though. Boy do I have a lot of clothing. I decided while I was packing to cull my closet and give some of it to charity. I love to buy clothes (as many of you know and have witnessed first hand) so I decided anything I don't need to keep was going bye bye. I got rid of two green garbage bags. My closet looks quite bare but I am sure by the end of my four months in Calgary I'll have replaced a good deal of it. I also got most of Dinara's stuff packed and boy does she have a lot of clothes too. I need to not buy so much...it is just so hard when all the kids clothes look so cute.

Back to the actual title of this post...Nana and Opa visited Dinara last week. I think they had a great time...well I know they did. We took them to Fudrucker's for breakfast (yes they ate a greasy spoon and I have photographic evidence). Dinara got many new toys and DVDs from them too. They spoil her but oh well...isn't that a grandparents job. Her favorite gift from them is a set of wooden blocks. You all know these blocks they are the old fashioned ones with the alphabet, numbers and pictures on them. I am sure we all had these at one time. Nana only did one really bad thing for the whole trip...she rocked Dinara to sleep and let her sleep on her. This is a BIG no, no as for the next week we had a hard time putting her to sleep in the normal routine. We have stressed to her this faux paux and I think she won't do it again...well I hope she doesn't. We now have her back to her routine and she goes to sleep fine again. Whew!

On Friday Dinara had her booster shots...five of them!!! She had one in each arm, one in one leg and two in another. She now only needs a pneumonia booster in 8 weeks and then she is caught up until she is 4 years old. Good because she really didn't like to have all those shots done. On a good note that day though she got to go over to Grama Gail and Grampa Gord's house and play in the pool and hot tub. She loved this! She barely noticed that she had been given shots at all. The exercise in the pool helped a tonne. While at the Sparks house she also got to meet Aunty Terri, Aunty Jenny and her little cousins Kiki, Alex, Jack and Thomas. They all fell in love with her. In fact the two Aunts got teary eyed when they met her. I can understand that. So we all had a good time in the pool and Terri's two boys kept wanting to hold Dinara. I have pictures that I will post of all of this.

Well that's really all that has been going on these last few days. I leave tomorrow with a SUV full of stuff and Andrew and Dinara follow on Tuesday. Imperial paid for both of them to have seats on a Westjet flight to Calgary. Very nice! Now Dinara will only have to travel for two hours to Canmore instead of eight. Mommy likes this too! I get to set up the Condos and get groceries and stuff for the place. Well that's all for now. I'll try and post later this week from Canmore. We don't know what our connection is going to be like initially so be patient with us. Lots of love from us in Saskatchewan...soon to be Alberta.


Nana and Opa in the Fudruckers. Nana is feeding Dinara her pancakes.


Dinara sitting all cute in her highchair at Fudruckers. This is her favorite restaurant so far.


Dinara in her highchair at home eating her cookie. I just thought it was a cute picture so I added it to the blog.


Ok this is the one and only time you all will see me in a bathing suit. Mommy and Dinara enjoying the pool.


Dinara on Daddy's lap. She is just so cute in her little Winnie the Pooh bathing suit.


Dinara playing peeka-boo with Mommy.


Thomas holding Dinara in the warm tub.


Jack holding Dinara in the warm tub.


Dinara playing with the boys in the warm tub.


AquaDinara. Diver extrodinaire!

Hope you all like the photos. More to come. TTFN.

Our American Visitor...aka Dermal Pigmentation Sibling

Well it has been eight days and our days are still very busy. We were lucky this last weekend and Aunty Bridget from Seattle came to visit. She brought lots of fun things from her March trip to Disneyland. Dinara now has her first set of Mickey ears, and her first stuffed Minnie Mouse. She also brought Dinara a wooden puzzle. Dinara hasn't quite figured out how to put the pieces in but she likes to take them out and chew on them. We had quite a good time with Aunty Bridget...we played together, got tatoo'd together, had an amazing pistachio oregano tarragon pesto pasta (Bridget made for us), and many other treats. It is sad that Aunty Bridget lives so far away because when she is gone we miss her a tonne. I have some cute pictures of Dinara pre- and post Aunty visit...enjoy.








We put Dinara in a Stitch costume that I bought a year ago. It was only $10US on the Disney website. I love it!!! We let Dinara run around the house in it before picking up Bridget. I hope you like the photos.


Dinara and Aunty Bridget meet for the first time. We thought she would like the Stitch version of Dinara...and we were correct! "I LIKE FLUFFY!"






Some photos of Daddy and Dinara in Gabriela and Luis' swimming pool. She had a great time with Daddy. She did get a little cold after we took her out of the swimming pool.


Who's our cool little girl? I bought a pair of sunglasses for my girl that have a velcro band...sadly they are a little big but oh well they'll fit eventually.




Dinara was in a kissy face mood today. Daddy is very happy that Mommy taught our girl to give out kisses...he is just worried in the future what this means (he keeps threatening to buy a tazor).

I know we don't have a lot of things to say right now but I hope the pictures make up for this. I'll try and post later this week after Sharon and Diet (Nana and Opa) come for their visit.

Lapsed in Blogging But Here is An Update

Well many things have occurred in the last few days so I will provide a run down for you all...if in fact you are still looking at our blog. We travelled to Edmonton this weekend. We got to see Nerissa and Shah get married, Dinara met her grandma and grandpa...as well as her many, many, many aunts and uncles. Well I'm going to post some pics and think about what to write.


This is the best family picture of the three of us (thanks Karmen). Doesn't our little girl look precious in her fancy outfit. She wore this outfit for about an hour and then we changed her into more comfy clothes.


Daddy and Dinara playing outside Grama and Grampa's place. She was enthralled by the cottage cheese container. She just kept trying to get the lid off.


Dinara with the cottage cheese container again. We also bought this hat in Edmonton...isn't it cute?


Daddy was dangling the cottage cheese container. She is so cute with her tongue hanging out.


Grampa feeding Dinara some of his Orange Mocha Frappichino from Starbucks. Grandparents get away with soooo much. She did love it though. Good thing too as she didn't get an afternoon nap that day.


What do you think Mom...are they me? Dinara trying on sunglasses at Toys R Us with Grama and Grampa.


Daddy being silly with Dinara's little pool. He tried scaring her but she just laughed at him. Funny Daddy!


Dinara in her little pool. She is just sooooo cute. I love taking photos of her.


Dinara having some water poured over her by Mommy. She loves this...many babies usually hate having water poured over their heads. Our girl has such a darling smile...admit it your hearts are melting right now. Aren't they?

Well that's enough for today. Andrew told me to do two posts. I'll have more text in the next one but my brain needs sleep. Talk soon. We swear we are going to keep up the blogging...just really not as often. We are trying for once a week now. Talk soon.

Dinara and the Play Pen Attack

When it rains it pours...now Dinara not only has a small cut on her nose but also has a cut on her lip. Today Andrew and I set up her new play yard (play pen) and she was having a good old time in it. This evening, however, the good times halted when she tried to climb out of it (unsuccessfully) and fell...biting her lip. She was definitely not happy about this. The play yard is upstairs...this allows us now to put her in a secure place and do some house work. Our floors have all been cleaned upstairs. It is wonderful...we are no longer stepping on food or sticky substances.

On a better note Dinara has learned a new skill...she can now climb stairs (supervised of course). She is quite the explorer. We didn't even try to teach her about the stairs but she learned none the less. We took down the blockade and she just started crawling up them in front of us. She surprises us every day. We went shopping today at our downtown mall (Midtown). We finally used one of the baby shower gifts we received...$100 gift certificate. We went to Children's Palace and purchased three tank tops, a pair of jeans, a jean skirt and a sundress (this tranforms into a skirt and a tunic). They are soooo cute. I think Grandpa is going to love the shirts we bought her. We also received presents in the mail today. Andrew's Aunt Joy sent us some very cute summer outfits for her. They are just darling and we can't wait to put them on her. Aunty Bridget sent us a memories album that she made with some pics of Dinara from the blog and some spaces for us to put more photos in. She also included a gift for Andrew and I...Champagne flute with skulls on them. They are from the Disneyland Vintage Store. We love them!! I have put them on display already. Thank you Joy and Bridget for your gifts we really love them.

Here are some pictures of Dinara today...

Dinara and Daddy hugging.


Daddy and Dinara playing the 1, 2, Up game.


Dinara toddling around.


The best smile in the world!


Dinara playing with the newly purchased clothing! She likes her clothes already.


Silly photo Mommy wanted to include. She is such a silly little girl. You gotta love it!

Well that's all for today. Keep up the comments and ask any questions you like (I may or may not answer them though...hee hee). Talk soon.

Food Intolerances...She Really is My Daughter

Well as the post title states Dinara seems to have one if not two different food intolerances. She has most definitely reacted to the Yams we fed her last night and this afternoon. Boy did she ever react...two bathtimes in one day type of explosions (graphic enough for you?). So she is definitely my daughter. I really wouldn't have wished food allergies on anyone but oh well. Those two things are mostly easy to keep out of her diet (yams especially).

Other than that our girl has been an angel. She loves to play (by herself, with us, with her Aunty Fina), she loves to walk/toddle along, and well does everything else a little 16 month old should be doing. She is a delight to us...even when we get a little frustrated. Oh well...part of parenthood I'm sure. Not much else really to state today. Oh! Daddy did the bathing of out little one today...he did a bang up job too. She likes to bathe alone now so no issues there. Mommy is quite relieved about that...my skin couldn't take the abundance of baths.

Well here are some pics of Daddy and Dinara playing tonight. Sorry about the red eye but that's just what happens with the new camera (not nearly as good as my old one...pic quality better but it doesn't have as good a focus). Oh on a side note we got a call from Andrew's mom in St. Petersburg, Russia. She talked to us a bit and asked if I received my Mother's Day card...I had but I found out it was from Paris (fancy eh?). She also told us that friends of hers (and ours) from Van. Island are buying out Europe for Dinara. Just a quick note to you guys...it is appreciated but its too big and we don't have any place to store it. Thank you anyway Lee and Joe. Also, Andrew's Poppy (Grampa on his Mom's side) called today. He inquired after our girl, our trip, and well life so far. He has told us that all of Wally Joe's (Andrew's cousins son) old toys are being stored at Sharon and Diet's for our girl. That way when she visits she has activities (whew we won't have to pack so many toys this way) when we visit in Nanoose Bay.


Look at how our girl can walk on her own.


Daddy tickling his little girl. She is hating every minute of it.


Daddy and Dinara playing the Chase Me game.


Daddy jumping out from behind some foam pads (the blue one is mid-air) and stunning Dinara. She really wasn't scared just shocked. Daddy and her laughed loudly after this.


Daddy and Dinara watching Baby Einstein (Neighborhood Animals).


Lazing about with Dinara.

Just thought of this...we took Dinara to the Park today (Aunty Fina and Uncle Jordan came too). She had a good time. She liked the slide again and loved the swing. She found the swing only so, so until she leaned back. Then out came the large smile. She really just liked having Daddy, Mommy and Aunty Fina walking her around. Lots of sights and sounds for her today. Well that's all for now.

First Blood-Dinara's First Bad Fall

Hello everyone. Well yesterday was an event filled day...first we went to the University to get Dinara her first check up. Everything seems to be fine but the doctor is referring us to a pediatrician that he knows. She will check Dinara over more thoroughly. The doctor at the University did listen to her lungs and her "wheezing" isn't from there...it must just be nasal congestion. This is a bit of a relief. After the appointment we took her to the Geology Department to be introduced to everyone there. Jane (our departments office manager) just loved her...within minutes she offerred baby sitting services (that makes two individuals already vying for that position). Then we introduced her to one of my collegues Dr. Brian Pratt. We had a nice long conversation with him in the staff lounge...this allowed Dinara to run around while we talked. He was smittened too. While visiting in the lounge Dinara took a spill and need Mommy to comfort her. While being comforted she passed out cold. So we put her in the stroller and she managed to remain sleeping. We decided to take a break and have some Timmy's...we had donuts and coffee. It really is the simple pleasures you miss when you travel. We then ran into a couple of students (Fina, and Jenn) and visited a little longer outside the Tim Hortons. We finished our University visit by talking with the Cuggy's (the new parents of Nephertiti). They also told us how cute she is. We love showing off our precious little one. I can't believe how much she has added to our lives already. After the University it was off home to have some lunch. During the car trip I looked over and she was squirming and grunting...all the parents out there know what this means...yep she took a poo. So we were rushing home to make sure we could change her promptly. Nobody wants to stay sitting in that type of mess.

After lunch we were all downstairs playing. Dinara was playing with her peeka blocks and decided to walk with two of them in her hands. Well that was a big mistake...she took a spill and smacked her face into one of them. This particular block had some moving parts and it bit her. She now has a cut on her nose...boy did she not like this. Her parents didn't like it too much either. I didn't freak out too much though. I just got a kleenex and dabbed the blood up. Daddy doesn't like blood too much but did a good job not panicing. I then put a little vaseline on it and all was good. She went back to playing but the two blocks she was holding are being punished and are up on a shelf right now.

Not much else to say. Our friends Fina and Jordan visited last night and Aunty Fina is just in love with Dinara...and I think it is mutual. Dinara loves to play with her and even walks towards her when Aunty says her name. Dinara also tried a new food last night...Vietnamese Cashew Chicken without the Cashews. She loved it!! I think this might be her all time favorite right now.

Here are some more pics for you all. We will definitely be keeping up the blog so no more worries from our friends around the world.


Close up of our little sweetie.


Mommy I'm just soooooo cute.


Watch out Mommy I'm hungry enough to eat you.


Close up of Dinara' BOO BOO. It looks worse then it is. It actually is smaller now...I wonder if she is realted to Wolverine.


This is a pic for Grandma. This is a toy that both my sister and I played with. Dinara loves to play with it. I mounted it in her play pen.

Well bye for today. Dinara is fussing and needs to be put down for her nap. Hope you are still enjoying the posts.

Spider Senses Are Tingling

Hello all. I'm sure the number of people reading this has diminished now that we are home but here is an entry nonetheless. Dinara is doing swimmingly...other then the not wanting to sleep during her nap times. She sleeps solidly at night but it seems to be a battle to get her to nap. We think she is teething (very drooly, and always putting things in her mouth) so we gave her a small dose of gripe water (alcohol free) and it seems to be working. I put her in her crib at 2:26pm and she didn't scream at all. She is still out at 2:45pm...this is a good sign. We were so worried that something else was wrong. Oh well...new parent syndrome at its finest. We are taking her to the doctor (at the Student Health Center on Campus) on Friday to get an overall look over. She has had a wheeze since we met her in March so we think this should be looked at. I can't believe we have only known our girl for just over two months...and only been full-time parents for just over three weeks.

On a food note...she likes everything (except that chicken schnitzel in Moscow). She had pork tenderloin and roasted red pepper, mushroom and basil pasta (thanks again Trevor for teaching me how to make this). This dish had quite a bit of garlic, which I thought might be a problem...but it wasn't. She just kept making good noises while we were feeding her. It is amazing what liitle ones will eat. We have had tofu as well and she just gobbled it up. I am so happy she isn't a fussy eater (yet that is). We are hoping that if we show her now how good different foods are she might continue to eat a variety while in toddlerhood. Today was the first day we went to Tante Maria's for breakfast (a local favorite of ours) and the waitress (Elsa) just cooed over Dinara for the whole meal. She was so happy for us...she was telling all her favorite clients about our trip. She had wondered why we hadn't been in for breakfast recently.

Yesterday we took Dunkelzahn to the vet...he had a bump on his mouth and got to introduce all the vet hospital to our little girl. They were all entranced (or hypnotized, which ever you prefer). They just were amazed that this little girl wasn't even crawling when we met her but was walking around the clinic. Dinara had a great time there as she got to pet a kitty for an extended period of time...Dunkelzahn doesn't really let her do this. He is adjusting to her but is still a bit wary. However, last night she woke up with a very wet diaper so she was crying very loudly, and in comes Dunkelzahn and he starts meowing very loudly right along with her. He used to do this when Nephertiti was upset and meowing (when he still like her). I think he may be wary of her but this shows he is protective of her. He knows that she is another one of his humans...just a loud, excitable one (well just like Daddy I guess).

Well to the title of this post. Andrew and I were at Superstore earlier this week grocery shopping (one of the only places we can get organic veggies at in Sasktaoon) and we decided to go look in the baby clothes section for some pants for Dinara. We had an abundance of pink trousers but not much else. We were looking for jeans...and didn't find it. Well back to the point...we were looking in the boys section and Andrew squeels. I look at him and he has found a set of footed pj's that have a baby spiderman (complete with pacifier) on the front and what they call baby marvel on the back (baby spiderman, thor and captain america). It is very cute. I told him to put in the basket of the cart immediately. I will post pics of her in this. I love being back home! I can shop at a grocery store and not have to try and guess what things are. I can read everything here and people speak English. I didn't realize how much I missed understanding what people say.

Not much else has happened. Dinara can take up to 20 steps on her own now...I think she will be a competent walker by July. We have begun showing her how to feed herself with a spoon. We use things that won't be messy to show her...banana right now seems to be working well. We are going to do this slow. I have to keep reminding myself that we have only been home for 6 days and that I have lots of time to teach her to feed herself, talk and use the potty. We want to get her back on the potty as this was the main method they used at the baby house. We thought we would give her some time though to get used to the house. A couple of days ago Andrew looks at me and says "I think she knows she is staying with us now, and not going back to the baby house". I totally agree. She is such a wonder and we are very, very lucky to be her forever family.

Well enough mushy stuff...here are some pictures.


Daddy feeding Dinara.


Dinara taking a drink. It is hard to believe that 2 weeks ago she didn't know how to take a drink by herself.


Dinara feeding herself banana on her special spoon. It has a deeper reservoir.


Dinara warming up in front of the fire while watching Baby Einstein. Note Dunkelzahn is close by.


Spidergirl, Spidergirl does whatever a spider can. Spins a web any size, catches theives just flies...Look out! Here comes the Spidergirl.



Happy Spidergirl. Giggles aplenty.


Bathtime!


"Hey Daddy I'm not awake yet...put the camera away". Dinara in her play pen.

Well I hope that is good for the few of you still reading this. Feel free to still put comments up...we do still read them. For you all out of Canada I hope this helps keep you in the loop. I will try my best to keep posting. Talk soon.