Apples and new words

I have abandoned the blog for quite a while, and there are so many things happening! Every day is a small discovery.

This morning, for example, we were in a rush to get Alina ready to go to nanny. John was trying to persuade her to put the shoes on, but she didnt want to sit on her seat. Then he asked her what's wrong, and she said "poo". He checked, and indeed there was a poo :) So it's nice that she started to understand, and tell without prompting. The next step would be to tell us in advance, so we can put her on the potty.

I was away for a week, and it's amazing how many new words Alina have learned. All in english unfortunately, but at least she is making a progress. Yesterday nanny asked her "what is it on your top", and Alina said very quietly "flower". When she is not confident with the word yet, she sais things very quietly and in a shy manner. She also can say "Upsy Daisy", which sounds so sweet when she said it. She also learned "tea" and "cheese", and she knows the tea is hot, she sais "ho". The favourite word is "No", whatever you ask her the answer is "no-no-no-no"

Apples.... Alina loves apples, she can eat the whole apple without even being peeled. She eats all of it, she doesnt go around the centre, she goes through it... we went to the apple day at the farm, and I picked a large apple for Alina from the tree. She ate 3/4 of it before dropping it on the floor accidently. Otherwise she would have eaten it all! She then picked up another apple straight away, it took a bit of effort to persuade her to eat her lunch instead.

St. Valentine day

Today is the St.Valentine day! Alina dressed up in her new beautiful dress, she looks very nice in it!

We all went out for a meal at lunch time in the Indian restaurant. Alina loves naan bread! She is becoming more and more picky with food, today she refused to it her risotto as soon as she saw the bread.

Alina looking out the window

Alina loves to stand on the window, and look outside... she waves at people, points at cars, and generally gets very excited about things :)

New tooth

After a long wait a third tooth is finaly coming. It's the top right one, just started to show the edge today. We are so releaved as the first teeth came out at in October, and we we anctious she hasnt had any for a while.

Alina sleeps without a dummy!

Alina managed to sleep without a dummy for 4 days and nights now! It was our second attempt, and we are succeeding (fingers crossed). First nanny forgot to give her a dummy during the day sleep, but Alina managed to sleep alright. So nanny have continued to put her to sleep without a dummy for a few days. Then we bravely decided not to give her a dummy in the evening, but she woke up at 4am crying and I gave her dummy to get some sleep for myself. Next evening she insisted on a dummy....

We've tried again a week later, and this time it seem to be working. She is happy to go to bed just with her cuddly toys.

Such a big step for her and for us!

Alina started walking!

A day before the first Birthday Alina started walking. She made just a couple of steps in the morning, then a few more in the afternoon, and by the end of the day she could make 3-4 steps confidently on her own.
Today she walked all the way from living room to the kitchen, even turning around the corners. Same upstairs she walked quite a long distance between my dressing room and our bedroom.

Alina nachala hodit sama za den do svoyego dnya rozhdeniya. S utra ona sdelala vsego paru shazhkov, k vecheru uzhe mogla proyti sama 3-4 shazhka. Seychas, k kontsu nedeli uzhe dohodit iz zala na kuhnyu, dazhe za ugol mozhe povernut'.

Clever Alina

We have a toy box with the holes cut in different shapes, and small same shape blocks to fit in. When you fit in the block in the correct hole it plays the music. Alina now figured out that if you press fingers hard in the right place on the hole it will play sounds as if you are puting the block through it. She is now more interested in pressing fingers around the hole to find this spot :)

U nas yest igrshechniy kubik s otverstiyami raznoy formy, i malen'kiye bloki toy zhe formy. Yesli blok polozhit v pravilnoye otverstiye kubik igrayet muzyku. Alina teper dogadalas' chto muzyka igrayet potomu chto blok nazhimayet na malenkuyu pruzhinku v otverstii. Ona teper sama paltsem ischet pruzhinku chtoby muzyka zaigrala.

Alina loves Buffy

Alina loves Buffy, our cat, her first word was "Bu" for Buffy. Alina likes to cuddle & stroke Buffy, she gets very excited & talks to the cat, sometimes very loudly. She also tries to put her ears in her mouth when she can :)

Buffy is surprisingly tolerant of Alina, she doesnt run away & lets Alina come close & play.

Sometimes Buffy goes to sleep very high on top of sofa, so Alina cant reach her, or even hides in Alina's room under the sofa as it's normally the quietest room in the house.

Presents

Alina got loads of presens for her first Christmas... from granny she got baby straller so she can push the doll around the house. She enjoyes it very much! Here on the picture she is also showing how she can stand without holding much to something.

From Russian granny she got a rocking horse, it' still a bit too big, but we hope she grows into it one day :)

There were also plenty of toys from cousins, nanny, untie, and even great uncle. We are running out of space, hoping to move to a bigger place soon!

Alina likes to read

Alina & Xmas tree

Alina likes our Christmas tree decorations, she pickes them up very gently or pushes them to swing. Once she accidently removed the ball from the tree, and looked very guilty as couldnt put it back.

Alina chatting to dad

This weekend Alina was talking non-stop. Somehow she & John can make an intelligent conversation between them. She sais something like: "ble-ble-blaaa", and John with a serious face replies "bla-bla". Alina then continues to make even longer speach.
I've tried to do the same, but apparently its only daddy who can speak proper baby language in our family. With me she does not reply....

Alina likes to pose for the camera

Alina now likes to pose for the camera. She smiles when she is asked to, and likes the pictures being taken.

The first snow

It was snowing heavily last night, and the snow stayed till the morning. I took Alina our for a short walk, so she can see her first snow. Her cheeks went all red as it's cold outside, but think she enjoyed it. Dont think she realises what the snow is yet.

Alina is standing confidently

Alina is practicing her standing all the time now, she loves to stand, and shake her bum, and try to let go with the hands as well. She sometimes gets frustrated bacause she cant walk yet, she doesnt know how to step. Also she can't yet get up to standing herself, although she tries all the time.

She particularly likes to stand in her cot, she loves seeing what is going on in the room. It's also much softer compared to the carpet, so nicer to practice "let go with the hands" :)

We went to the 40th birthday party of my friend from NCT classes on Sunday. It was a dress up party, so everyone had some funny constumes on. The Birthday girl picked up Alina & put her in front of her little boy. Alina made a face and started crying... so from then onwards every time someone would come towards her at the party, or holds her hand she would start screaming. Not sure who was more scared Alina or the unfortunate guys who didnt expect her to burst in tears :)

Alina in the swimming pool

My s John'om is Alinkoy opyat hodili v basseyn. Alinke ochen nravitsya plavat na zhivote. My yeye pod grud' podderzhivayem, a ona rukami i nogami boltayet. Ona dazhe bryzg uzhe ne boitsya, tolko inogda vodu hlebayet.

V kontse my yeye dazhe pod vodu oputili, ona vyplylai dazhe ne zaplakala, hotya nadulas' konechno.

Alina learned to stand!

Alina is now confidently standing when she is holding to something. She has made such a good progress! She doesn't know what to do with this yet, so after about 5min she gets bored & sits down. She can even shake her bum pretending she is dancing.

Alinka nauchilas stoyat sama, yesli derzhitsya za chto-nibud'. Yey nravitsya, i dazhe popoy ona vertit vo vse storony. Pravda minut cherez 5 yey nadoyedayet, i togda ona soditsyana popu.

Update: nanny, new toys, eating, standing & swimming progress

Last week so many new events have happened:
Last Sunday we took Alina for a swim at the local swimming pool. As it was early morning (8:15) there wasn't many people at the swimming pool. Alina really enjoyed watching other babies swim!

We let her sit in the inflatable safety bubble, and then hold her in water so she could try to swim herself. She liked the experience, we will do it again! Just shame that forgot the camera.

Our new nanny started officially this week. She is great with Alina, they play & laugh together.

Nanny taught Alina how to drink on her own from the beaker, and how to stand by the sofa trying to reach Buffy.

Also Alina enjoys her new toy boat, she likes finding new things in it. She also likes all toys that make noises, or sounds when you press on them.

We started giving her food to hold & eat: carrots, cucumber, biscuits, cheese sticks. She doesnt particularly like it, but still east it after she had her main pure at lunch.

Alina is trying out her new push chair

We have bought a pushchair which is suitable for off-road for Alina. It's a bit too big for her, but it's very good for going for walks as it's got massive wheels!

My Alinke kupili kolyasku spetsialno dlya bezdorozhya. Ona na treh kolyesah i s ruchnym i nozhnim tormozom. Klass! Tolko ona Aline yesche nemnogo velika...

Babushka

Alina's grandmother came to see us from Russia. It was love at first sight, Alina accepted her granny the first day. They became good friends, and Alina's every wish was sutidried immidiately.