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.

First Thanksgiving

1. "Yeah, we're just hanging out over here at Philip A's house"
2. Ana in outfit given by Baba
3. Ron and Margie's grandkids on Thanksgiving Day
4. Leaf pile!
5. Somersaulting with Spott

[Robin]
Ana had a terrific Thanksgiving. Not because she particularly liked turkey (she didn't) nor did the green bean casserole or cranberry relish tempt her. Instead, she had a great time playing at my parents' house with her cousins. In addition, she got to show off her new dress, courtesy of Baba. She pranced around in it like a little queen bee.

We felt a small measure of success when she mimicked her cousin Karsten by eating Cheerios. She wouldn't try them for us, but once she saw him eating them, she tried them and liked them. This and her acceptance of orange juice makes us sure that other items of regular "American" cuisine are just a matter of time. She will be bowed by the inevitability of peer pressure.

She also had a great time at the Williams' and showed off her ability to flip upside down-- over and over. She, Lee, and Isabel happily played outside on their "Indy 500" deck and inside with blocks.

She is adjusting to her preschool, little by little. She still cries when Phil drops her off in the morning (much to his dismay). But they tell us that it eventually stops and that she is actively engaging in their routine and games. She actually tried milk (maybe because it went along with cupcakes) at school. She came home from school today just talking, talking, talking about something (Phil could only understand a few words). We are now displaying the art work that she makes at school on our refrigerator. They really should just fashion holders to the front of these appliances--everyone seems to use this space the same way.

My Russian vocabulary continues to increase in odd ways-- I can now say "wet car" and "ear." Ana on the other hand, isn't really speaking much English, but she can understand "Do you want to feed Lola?" and "It's in your room" and "Papa is sleeping."

Ana got to have her first dim-sum at Alyson's birthday party. She didn't eat much of anything, but really liked the Lazy Susan and the baby doll that Carmen brought for her. She also had her first encounter with a cat that wasn't interested in being her friend (Philip A's cat Oscar). She seemed rather undaunted by the cat hissing and swiping at her. Maybe our "cats are nice" proclamations went a little too far.

Barney and Justin Timberlake?!

1. Ana playing her keyboard (a present from Kate, our next door neighbor).
2. Ana meets Bella the Beagle. Instant love.
3. Ana at a tea party at Kidzu, the Chapel Hill children's museum.
4. Papa with Ana and baby Catherine. Ana turned 4 around the same time that Catherine turned 1.
5. Riding the tricycle on Bill and Lia's deck. By the way, those giant running shoes are hand-me-downs from cousin Madigan. Ana wants to wear them every day.
6. It's hard to believe that Ana was scared to death of cats in Ukraine.

[Robin]
I had to laugh this weekend. Phil discovered that we have a channel called "Pre-school on demand." I flipped through various options with Ana, watching: Pingu, Thomas the Train, etc. Guess which one she got excited about---yes, that purple dinosaur strikes again. She jumped up and down and clapped her hands at Barney.

Our house is now filled with lots of repetitive music, as Ana's favorite activities involve two different "piano" keyboards, a leap frog alphabet learning program with sounds/music for each letter, and an electronic sing-a-long book of Disney characters. She does some hilarious dancing/kicking when the music plays. Phil says it looks like modern dance. I say it looks like some sort of Irish jig.

[Phil]
By the way, several people have asked how pre-school is going. The answer is: surprisingly well, all things considered. She usually cries when we drop her off there, but she seems to have bonded well with the teachers. They're great, incidentally. Today they asked for me to write down a few expressions in Russian (phonetically) that would be helpful in dealing with Ana. I wrote down 4 or 5 like "Bathroom?", etc., and then when I picked her up today they had a whole page of expressions they wanted to know. That's dedication.

[Robin]
Ana got to see her fairy room at her Baba's house this weekend. She thought it was really cool and spent a lot of time going back and forth to the room to "collect" new toys--fairy lantern, kaleidescope, etc. She also bonded with Helen's little dog, Bella. She played "mishka" (bear) with her granddaddy Baxter and would scream with delight when he would chase her.

The tea party at Kidzu was somewhat of a success for Ana. She got the opportunity to decorate her own wand and a picture frame. This interested her for about 5 minutes. She then jumped up from the activity table and ran out to get back to her obsession with this matching game that lights up and then "pops" out a dragon if you do the game in the correct order. She also helped Carmen take books off the bookshelves and then restock them. She didn't want to go back and engage in the other tea party games with the other kids until the food came out. Chocolate and pink lemonade were just the enticement her to get back to the group.

Later that night she got to play with Lia and Bill's kids. She had an absolute blast. She has now mastered the tricycle and spent most of her time cruising back and forth on their deck area. She really interacted well with Isabel, much to our delight. Nothing makes Mama happier than a play date with wine in one hand and being able to hang out and just watch her have fun with other kids.

[Phil]
Speaking of Ana's dancing, I forgot to mention that the first American song she ever sang along to in the car was "Damn, Girl" by Justin Timberlake. I was hoping it would be something cool like Superchunk or The Lucksmiths, but alas it was JTimms. Actually, I don't blame her -- it's a great song. Still, this proves that Ana is indeed her mother's daughter.

Also, I would like to pass on the good news that our friend Colleen is spending her last night in Kramatorsk as I write this. Tomorrow she picks up Lily and heads to Kiev to get Vika, her other daughter. Hopefully they'll be in the US by this weekend. Keep them in your thoughts.

First Day of Preschool

1. Ana with ID photo in front of her preschool
2. Ana wearing one of the aprons that we bought from an old woman at the Kramatorsk market
3. Ana reading to Lola in the closet
4. Ana in her dress that Grandmommy and Grandpa brought back from Mexico
5. [Late Addition] One of Colleen's photos of Kramatorsk in the snow. That's the plaza/park that we used to walk through every day to visit the orphanage

[Phil]
So today was Ana's first day of preschool, although it wasn't a full day. They like for the children to come in for a few hours the first 2 days before starting full-time on Day 3. I waited in the lobby while working on a translation, worried that the teachers might come and tell me that Ana was throwing a fit, but she reportedly did just fine. To me, it was a little eerie how much preschool is like the orphanage: the kids have their own closets; they have musical exercises in a multipurpose room; they have snacks; they have an afternoon rest period; they have very specific procedures every day; etc. I'm sure it was very familiar to her.

After preschool, Robin's parents (Grandmommy and Grandpa) took Ana for the afternoon so that I could get some work done. They've been a huge help since they got back here. I don't know what we would do without all of our family helpers.

[Robin]
She's such a little (jumping) bean. Besides her grandparents, she has also captivated our neighbors, who are now letting her use their playhouse and swing set. She has Carmen dancing with her in our kitchen. She had Aunt Helen helping her to pick a vegetable patch at Kidzu. She had Aunt Suzi and Cousin Julia gathering acorns so she could feed the baby goats. She has done remarkably well getting to know our family and friends.

She has begun to know (or at least mimic) English words. Today she said "Bye, Bye" and "Help" and "Teeth". We think she is brilliant.

She loves music and yesterday played the flute with Grandpa. Tonight she spent the evening playing her player piano, dancing and singing around our living room.

Right now our only challenge is getting her to eat. Oh, I should say--getting her to eat a proper diet. If a proper diet consisted of chips, hot dogs, bananas and apple juice, we would be set for life. She did end up liking hard boiled eggs (Colleen--yes! This worked after the failed attempts at omelets, scrambled eggs and fried eggs) much to my delight this morning. She still refuses to drink any dairy products. Phil tried to get her to drink milk by pouring her chocolate milk (yes, this was our pediatrician's advice)--and saying it was chocolate. She took one look at the glass and told him 'This isn't chocolate." She also refuses to try ice cream (this actually might be a good plan for life--no freshman "10"!).

She made it through her doctor's appointment on Friday with flying colors. She managed to get a thumbs up in the heart health department. She's really tiny on the growth chart, but we hope this will come around in time. She had to get two shots and I had to hold her....not great, but I came prepared with chocolate in the pocket to hand her as soon as it was over. This actually worked like a charm and stopped her crying almost immediately.

We talked to Colleen this weekend, and for those of you following our blog....you will know how happy it made us to hear that she had been awarded both girls. She is now weathering the 10 days post the court date. She is a champ and deserved a medal for her resolve! It snowed in Kramatorsk just recently. To think that she has now almost experienced all the seasons in Ukraine. The pictures of the town being snow-covered were really pretty.

Konstantin, our facilitator is now looking for American families to host children this winter. If anyone is interested, let us know so we can relay the information to him!