The Next Olga Korbut?

1. Trying out the trampoline
2. Learning to tumble
3. "Fall of the beam, and there will be no lunch for you today!"


[Phil]
Ana and I just started parent-child gymnastics classes this week at Sport Art Gymnastics in Chapel Hill. It was great fun. This little girl definitely needs an outlet for her boundless energy! We also bought her a kiddie tennis racket yesterday. Swim lessons are next on the list! A bored Ana is not a happy Ana, as we have learned too well!

Photos from Ana's Christening

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1. Ana puttering around with "Rebyonok" ("Baby") in our house an hour before the service. We had her wear the "Ana" dress since Christening represents a child's being awarded his or her Christian name.
2. Ana, Robin, and the Godparents.
3. The Dutch side of the family! Can you tell???
4. The Hammonds (minus Aunt Helen - I I think she was helping set up for the post-baptism dinner at that point).
5. Isabel, Keegan, and Ana playing during the post-baptism party.
6. Grandpapa Philip and Ana.
7. Aunt Helen and Ana.

[Robin]

Ana was very excited about the Christening. We think this is because Phil told her that we were having a party for her. When she got to the church, she just squealed with excitement to see all her cousins, friends, and family members. She stood up on the pew and pointed at everyone. Nevertheless, she (to our great relief) was on her best behavior during the service (minimal squirming!). This was accomplished by sandwiching her between Isabel (our Goddaughter and a very mature six year old) and Godfather Spott. They kept her entertained and "shushed" her appropriately. And, Linda gave Ana the sweetest lace gloves and pearly handbag for the Christening, so she spent a good deal of time trying these on and off during the service. When we got back to the house we had a great time enjoying one another's company. The grown-ups in the upstairs with drinks in hand; the kids downstairs with juice. Ana was thrilled to see everyone there--the Williams family (Godparents), Aunt Helen, Godmother Carmen, Godfather Spott, Phil's Dad and Linda (Grandpapa and Memama), Phil's Mom and Baxter (Baba and Papa Baxter), Phil's Aunt Beth and Uncle Skip (B & Skip), my Mom and Dad (Grandma and Grandpa), and my sister Tina and her kids. Phil's mom made "rebirth" cookies with butterflies that were all the rage at the event.

[Phil]
Basically, the adults stayed upstairs, ate Time Out fried chicken, had some cocktails, and watched football. The kids were sort of a dim roar from the basement rec room. At one point they were playing some game that seemed to be "Run Away from the Toy Mop!"

It was a great time overall, and Tammy at Chapel of the Cross did a great job making all of us feel relaxed. And thanks to the Waters and Brown families for coming to the service. We're sad that you couldn't make the after-party. Believe me, there were a lot of biscuits left!

A World Away from Kramatorsk

1. Dancing with Papa
2. At the indoor pool
3. Watching the skiers and snowboarders at the Mountain Lodge
4. Relaxing with a cookie in the Great Hall

Last weekend we had the great pleasure of taking Ana to our favorite vacation destination, The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. The trip was our collective Christmas present to one another. We arrived Friday afternoon and immediately took Ana to the Homestead's bowling alley, which is in the basement of the spa, next to the indoor, spring-fed swimming pool. The lightest ball they had was 8 pounds, so we helped her roll it toward the pins. There's no way she could lift it by herself! Interestingly, she was only excited about the rolling of the ball and not at all concerned about how many pins she knocked over.

During the evenings, The Homestead offers dinner and dancing in the main ballroom. Mama and Papa had grilled duck breast and a "tuna parfait", while Ana had spaghetti and french fries. At first she was intimidated by the live band that was playing, but we did manage to get her out on the floor for a little dancing.

Probably her favorite activity was swimming in the indoor pool. As I mentioned before, it's fed by a natural hot spring, so the water is very warm and smells great. Ana was hesitant at first (I'm not sure she's ever been in a pool), but then got in Mama's arms with some coaxing. After that, she totally loved the pool. The only bad part was when Papa succumbed to Ana's cries of "Ya sama!" ("I can do it myself") and let go of her briefly. She promptly sank like a stone and I quickly retrieved my shocked and sputtering daughter. But she's a trouper and very quickly got over the scare.

This Sunday will be Ana's Christening at our church. We're having it during the 5:15 service, since that's the one we usually attend. We took Ana there for a trial run when we got back on Sunday, and it was a total disaster! She still doesn't understand the concept of being quiet at certain times. We left the church during the second hymn, much to the relief of our fellow parishioners! This Sunday we plan to keep her out on the playground until the appointed time. Wish us luck!

-Phil

Ana's Favorite YouTube Videos

One thing Ana loves is watching YouTube with me. I was hoping to find some Russian songs or cartoons that would be familiar to her. She loved the clips of the Russian Children's Choir immediately, and even knocks my hand away if I try to touch the mouse when one of the videos is playing. As for cartoons, the only one she really likes is "Nu, Pogodi", which we also have on DVD from one of the markets in Ukraine. The seller told me that I HAD to buy it, because it was the greatest Russian cartoon of all time. Ana agrees, and now we have to watch the DVD every morning before school. In any case here's 3 of her favorites from youtube:

I actually learned this song in Russian school. "Let there always be the sun, let there always be the sky, let there always be Mama, let there always be me." Aw.


This one's about a lost dog. I like how the audience passes a toy dog down the aisles to the little girl singer.


This is the first episode of "Nu, Pogodi!" ("Just you wait!"). It's like Tom and Jerry but much funnier.

Ana Dancing

I finally figured out how to post videos. Here's one of Ana dancing around the living room.

Christmas Parade

1. Ana on Franklin Street waiting for the parade to start
2. Ana and the Caribou Coffee reindeer (or caribou?)
3. Stacy and Ana in front of Kidzu
4. Ana in a tutu that she got from her neighbor Kate

[Robin]
The Christmas season has officially started. We have tried to engage her by getting her to open the advent calendar with chocolate pieces behind doors each day. And this weekend Ana and I went to our area's Christmas parade. Ana was supposed to ride on the Kidzu Museum float with her cousins, but wanted nothing to do with it when we arrived at the float. So we walked down the street and took a seat in front of Kidzu and watched the parade from there with Stacy and Carmen. Ana was so cute when the Caribou character came by us. She went up and took his hand. She also was quite taken with the marching bands and a kids "rock" group that came by on a float.

We also went to a neighbor's yard sale and picked up a number of things for Ana. Their daughter is about four years older, so there were some great hand-me-downs including the pink tutu. As soon as she got up this morning she wanted to put it on. She is a really girlie-girl.

We went to a neighbor's tree/yard X-mas lighting tonight. We stood in the pitch dark street and did a countdown with about 30 of our neighbors and their kids. When the lights came on their whole yard and house were filled with snowman, blinking lights and reindeer. There was a round of applause for the festive look. They had a large blow-up snowglobe with snowman that rotated inside and this received oohs and aahs from the kids. Ana thought this was marvelous. She also went with Carmen to "pet" the reindeer. It was super cute seeing her reach her hand out to touch the lighted animal.

The Bean

1. Ana insisted on getting this Santa hat at the grocery store.
2. Ana in new outfit from Grandpapa and Memama
3. Memama and Robin helping Ana try on her new PJ's
4. The keyboard duo of Ana and cousin Karsten
5. [Late addition from Colleen's blog] Nikolai the driver (one of our favorite people in Ukraine) in Borispol Airport with Colleen's daughters, Lilly and Vivian.