Playdates Pictures

Marissa is trying to figure out why she can't understand that book. He he, I bet she can't tell the difference. But hey, Marissa, this is your first Romanian class! :-)

First Laptop(s)

This is Jonathan first laptop, but actually Big Sister uses it more, and she also uses the 'big' laptop, as she learned to play some games and is very excited about it. Jonathan often watches her and sometimes tells her where to click, not that she wouldn't know :-)
But we try not to do too much of this yet, as books are more important, and Emily loves them. But it is good to get some computer skills too (using the mouse, the keyboard...).

First thing in the morning and the last thing of the day, books, books...

Mama's B-day Present

Jonathan had the best birthday present for mama. He gave his pacifiers in exchange for a delicious icecream Sundae, after a tasty dinner at Outback. Nights have been harder for him since then, but it is getting better. In the first nights it took him about an hour to fall asleep, as he kept talking and talking (with himself)... But in general, it is better than we expected. You are a big boy now, Jonathan

home made

And I had a v. thoughtful present from Joyce, who gave me a babysitting "cupon". I redeamed it by calling Char, who came and babysat for us so that Gordon and me could have a date. Thank you, Joyce, and thank you Char, that was very nice.

How much we love, as parents, to hear a conversation like this between our little ones:
J: "I love you!" / E: "I love you too!"

Right when first people came in at meeting on Sunday morning (Fred and Hilda), Jonathan, who was standing by the stairs when they came through the door, just pointed to the seats where they usually sit, and said "there!" Well, no worries any more if Gordon can't be here on Sunday, somebody is ready to take his place :-))

Me to Jonathan: "Say sorry!" ... J: "Sorry!" ... (after a couple of seconds, with a big smile) "NO, I don't want sorry".

Emily is 3 years and 3 months old, and Jonathan is 2 years and 2 months old. How neat!

Misc

Talking with auntie Joyce (she is dressed with the outfit from auntie Angie).

One thing to mention about our thoughtful Emily. Auntie Joyce was talking with both Emily and Jonathan, as the phone was on 'speaker' and they both could hear her. And she says "Love you, Emily!", "Love you, Jonathan!", and Emily continues: "And love you, MAMA!", as I was there too, and she didn't want to leave me out :-)

Emily vorbind cu matusa Joyce la telefon. Joyce vorbea cu amandoi, cu Emily si Jonathan, telefonul era pe 'speaker'. La un moment dat, zice Joyce "Love you, Emily!", "Love you, Jonathan!", iar Emily continua: "And love you, MAMA!" Si eu eram acolo si trebuiam inclusa.

Mornings...

The school bus, one of the favorite toys.

This is where the sleep caught Jonathan, after coming home from a walk and a play at the play ground, while reading his book.

Aici l-a prins somnul pe Jonathan, dupe ce venise acasa de la joaca.

We can say what our kid's favorite activities are, for sure. Emily: books, Jonathan: cars. 50% of their play time, or even more. Yesterday, Sunday, for the time we were home, which was at least 2 hours, they both spent it 100% with their favorite activity, didn't need anything else. Amazing how Emily can spend an hour straight with books, and Jonathan with his cars, arranging them in parking lots or on streets. In this picture maybe it was a traffic jam, rush hour on the freeway. Yesterday it was his 'cars-letters' day, he made letters with cars.

Putem spune cu siguranta care sunt activitatile preferate ale copiilor nostri. Emily: cartile, Jonathan: masinile. Cel putin 50% din timpul lor de joaca. Incredibil cum Emily sta cate o ora neintrerupt cu cartile, iar Jonathan cu masinile, arajandu-le in parcare sau pe 'strada'. In poza de fata, cred ca este blocaj de circulatie, la o ora de varf. Ieri a fost ziua de masini-litere, a facut litere din masini.

Zoo

Here are the pictures from the Zoo, from our little hike and others, misc, click HERE

Daca doriti sa vedeti pozele de la Zoo si altele, dati click AICI

I want to mention one thing that touched me deeply: When we were at the Zoo, Emily saw Jonathan going a different direction than us (we were surely watching him, he wasn't far), but Emily bursts into a desperate cry, running to us, poiting to him and crying "Dashanan, Dashanan!!!" (this is how she calls him). .....I will never forget that, it really touched my heart to see her care about him and her fear that we might loose him.

Vreau sa mentionez un lucru care m-a impresionat foarte mult. Cand eram la Zoo, Jonathan o luase in alta directie fata de noi (noi il urmaream, si nu era departe), dar Emily izbucneste intr-un plans disperat, fugind spre noi si aratand spre Jonathan si strigand "Dashanan, Dashanan!!! (asa ii spune ea lui Jonathan). M-a impresionat foarte mult sa vad grija ei fata de el si frica sa nu il pierdem.

The Green Party

This is a picture of the group at the Green Party, sorry some of us had left and are not in the picture. It was a fun time, when everybody had to wear something with green and the food we brought for the potluck had to have something (natural) green in it. Thanks to the Zosel again for their effort to organize this.
To see more pictures, CLICK HERE

Poza de grup de la "petrecerea verde" organizata de Trevan & Jill, la care fiecare a trebuit sa poarte ceva verde, si mancarea adusa la 'potluck' a trebuit sa contina ceva verde (natural).
Puteti vedea si celelalte poze de la petrecere, dati click AICI.

Carl Simons' 90th B-day

This last picture is my favorite, of the kids around the table, ready for another helping. Of dessert, of course.

To see more pictures, CLICK HERE

Poza aceasta ultima, e preferata mea, cu copiii in jurul mesii, gata sa se mai serveasca, cu desert, bine inteles.

Sunt si alte poze, dati click AICI

Gordon's Birthday

Here is a picture I just downloaded from my camera, of the cakes I made on Gordon's b-day, March 3rd.

Three Birthdays and no Pictures?

It seems kind of weird that I didn't take any picture today, but we did have a very nice evening, in which we celebrated 3 birthdays: Melisa's, which is today, and Gordon's and mine together, a late and an early one. And because it is March, we had corned beef and cabbage (...) and cake.

Jonathan's First Boggle Game

Here he played Boggle Jr for the first time, we choosed it when big sister wasn't home :-) He did great, as if he had played it every day before. He spent more than half an hour 'making words' by himself, and finally big sister came, so they had to share it.

Talking with our Family Overseas

We had a very nice video chat today with the grandparents from Romania, the kids in a very good mood! It ended up with tears from Jonathan when we had to hang up, who was crying "bunicuuu"(- grandpa; but I am sure he meant both of them), but we already kept them until after midnight there. Grandpa showed Emily an American flag, which she recognized, and even told him that "it has 50 stars". We talked about the cousins Tudor (who had just been there), and Alex and Raul. Oh, how much we miss them all. And every time grandpa would go farther from the webcam, she would call him back: "Closer!" or "I want to see you" , so both of them had to stay there close, so that Emily could see them all the time.

A couple of days ago we talked with auntie Joyce, who is in Alaska, and you should just see Emily how she was talking, holding the phone and walking around the house. She loved to tell her what she was doing, to tell her about her toys, about Jonathan etc. We have to make a video call some time too, the kids love it. And by the way, what about a baby sitting from the distance some time too , with grandparents or aunties :-))

Astazi am vorbit si ne-am vazut cu bunicii din Romania, si cu copiii intr-o dispozitie buna, asta conteaza! S-a terminat cu lacrimi din partea lui Jonathan, care plangea dupa ce am inchis "bunicuuu" (sunt sigura ca se referea la amandoi). Dar deja ii tinusem pana dupa miezul noptii, asa ca a trebuit sa ii lasam sa se duca la culcare. Am vorbit despre verisorii Tudor (care tocmai fusese pe la ei), Alex si Raul. Ce mult ne e dor de ei!!! Bunicu le-a aratat niste jucarii, si steagul american, la care Emily imediat i-a informat ca are 50 de stele (eu nu imi amintesc sa ii fi zis asta, nu stiu de unde stie). De fiecare data cand bunicu se departa sau disparea din ecran, Emily ii spunea sa vina mai aproape, sau ca vrea sa-l vada, asa ca amandoi bunicii a trebuit sa stea aproape de webcam, ca Emily sa ii vada de aproape.

Acum doua zile am vorbit la telefon cu auntie Joyce. Sa o fi vazut pe Emily cum vorbea si cum tinea telefonul, plimbandu-se prin casa, si "aratandu-i" jucariile ei, sau spunandu-i despre Jonathan. Trebuie sa vorbim si pe skype alta data si sa ne vedem. Sau ce ziceti, bunici si matusi, de "babysitting" de la distanta? :-))

Haiti Group

For those who don't know yet, some of our friends from this area (doctors, nurses), have gone to Haiti (for 10 days I think) with a group, to help in hospitals and have local clinics in the needed places. Here is a blog where you can see details about it and links to pictures from Haiti.

http://howardinhaiti.blogspot.com/


Pentru cei care nu stiu inca, unii prieteni din zona noastra (doctori, asistenti), au plecat in Haiti (pt 10 zile cred) cu un grup, sa ajute in spitale si sa deschida clinici locale in locurile unde este nevoie. Aici este blogul unia dintre ei, unde puteti vedea detalii si linkuri cu poze din Haiti.

http://howardinhaiti.blogspot.com/

Has it Already Started? :-(( /// Deja a inceput?

Emily and I were having a wonderful time giving each other hugs and kisses, and she loves it (when she is in the mood), but after a while, she said "That's enough, enough hugs and kisses!" Hmm, I haven't been looking forward to the stage when the kids like it less to be kissed, or later when they may even not like it at all besides a good morning kiss or a good night kiss. But let's hope this was just a one time thing now.
I am still getting plenty of these moments, fortunately, and the most precious are the ones in the morning of one of the kids and me, before the other one wakes up.

Aveam un timp deosebit cu Emily, de pupat si imbratisat, si deobicei ii place, mai ales cand e intr-o dispozitie buna. Dar dupa un timp mi-a zis: "Gata, ajunge cu pupicurile si imbratisarile!" Hmm... nu asteptam cu bucurie acest stadiu la care sa se plictiseasca de pupicuri, sau mai tarziu cand chiar nu o sa le mai placa, in afara de un pupic de noapte buna sau buna dimineata. Dar sa speram ca s-a intamplat doar o data :-)