Singing together

Boris and His Football Skills

About a year and a half ago at Boris' kindergarten they told us that he is a bit delayed with his physical development. We agreed that this might be true but that it isn't more than several months. I secretly promised myself that I have to teach him to play football.

Now we are playing football very often in our living room and I notice with satisfaction that his skills are improving. The power of his shot is betting bigger and he occasionally hits the vase with the flowers but never mind. He has also been trying recently to kick the ball with his heel and he uses his hands less and less. Andrej also joins the games and even Jelica occasionally. I am also struck at how good Jelica is with the ball without having played football in her life. There is something inborn in the Serbians. Two weeks ago they beat Bulgaria 6-1 for some reason.

What should I say of my skills? Well, after injuring my ACL two years ago I have been trying to get used to the thought that I will not play football seriously any more. However, it is amazing how much I enjoy playing with my son and aiming at the open door of their bedroom instead of the goal.

Four candles on the cake

Boris is four

Four years ago on November 18 it was a beautiful, sunny day, although I couldn't appreciate it that much, being strapped to an intravenous drip and all kinds of measuring devices all day in the delivery room. I will always remember it as very long day, although it is fair to say that we spent a good chunk of it playing UNO cards (Todd's birthday gift), listening to radio and eating smelly pizza. At the end of it--literally, as it was three minutes to midnight--Boris finally appeared, to everyone's relief (especially mine).

Up until now he was pretty unexcited about his birthdays, not quite comprehending what the fuss is all about. This year he actually started asking about a good month before, inspired, no doubt, by his best friend Lance's special day in October: "When is my party going to be? Is there going to be cake?"

He is a real party guy, enjoying the hustle and bustle of big gatherings. It's not even about gifts--when grandma asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said "nothing." Although he did ask me for a teddy bear, to complete his collection of bed companions (currently consisting of a lion, a tiger, a dog, and a small cushion with stars on it).

And while his party is scheduled for the coming Saturday, last night we took him and Andrej to a farewell gathering at Isabelle's, Ruslan's colleague who is leaving REC. They totally enjoyed themselves and the birthday boy did some crazy dancing, in between eating all the snacks they could lay their hands on. When we left about 21:30 they were still full of energy and would have loved to go on (especially while the snacks last). So, all in all, a great day for Boris, and a good rehearsal for Saturday celebrations!

Andrej and Boris having lunch

Gender bending?

The other day I was putting my bra on when Boris spotted me, pointed to the bra and asked:

"Mummy, why are you wearing that?"

(Erm, because it's a done thing? To pretend I have boobs? No, I really had to come up with a better answer.)

"To keep me warm."

(Stop laughing. I had to say something.)

"So, will you buy one for me, too?"

(And now what?)

"I can't, because only girls wear these."

Which is not technically true. Some boys do, too. But he is four years old. How much does he need to know about gender roles and stereotypes and all that? He's already asked me to put some lipstick on his lips, too, and yesterday he wanted to know why he doesn't have shoes with high heels, like I do. Once he even painted his nails with a highlighter after seeing me put some nailpolish on mine.

Each time I had to say that boys don't do that, it's a girl-only thing and each time he would look at me a bit confused, and not quite happy with my answer. Luckily, he hasn't yet asked why it is that certain things are just for girls or just for boys, or I'd be in trouble fishing for a credible answer. Because, what do you say?

Nursery, days two and three

Thursday was Anrej's second day in the nursery and they allowed me to leave him for about 45 minutes while the kids were playing outside, in the garden. I took a walk in the neighborhood, did some grocery shopping and went back to find him playing in the sand, contended and oblivious to my absence. That was a good start--the teachers were impressed, so I managed to convince them to let him stay until after lunch the next day (the originally wanted me to take him before other kids start eating).

So, on Friday I dropped him off in the morning and went about my own business. To be on the safe side, I returned to the nursery about noon, just in case there are problems with lunch. It turned out the morning went quite smoothly, but when they sat him down for lunch he started crying.

He is a bit fussy about eating in places he doesn't know--usually he gets overexcited by the new environment that he refuses to eat. This time he was a bit tired, too, and he told me he wanted to play with cars. I had to explain that it is time to eat, and that other kids are eating, too. The sight of his new friend Dora eating right next to him was persuasive enough so he attacked his rice and meat.

I'm a little bit worried that he might fuss about food until he gets to know the place well and feels comfortable. That's one fear I never had with Boris--mealtimes were his favorite in the nursery and we often tempted him with the thought of food to come when he was reluctant to stay in the bölcsi.

I still remember one breakfast during Boris's first week in the nursery--the kids were all seated at their little table, eating some bread with butter and ham. We, the parents, sat behind because that was part of the introduction process. Boris sat next to Ami, a Japanese girl who would later become his best friend. He quickly finished his portion, while most other children were not even half way through. Ami was fussing about her food, clearly not hungry or not interested. At some point she turned to see where her Mum is and, without much ado, Boris grabbed her piece of bread and stuffed it in his mouth. He later become famous for always asking for a second or third helping. I even once saw him trying to scoop up some soup that fell into his bib while eating. No, definitely, food was never a concern with Boris, at home or anywhere else.

Weekend in Slovakia

We spent a lovely weekend in Slovakia, in the hilly region close to the quite unremarkable town of Nova Bana. The fresh mountain air did wonders to my (otherwise nonexistant) appetite, so I ate enormous quantities of Slovak food which would, under any other circumstances, leave me completely cold. I mean, there is only so much fried and breaded meat you can have in two days even if you are not exactly a veggie fan.

But it was great to see Laura, Claudiu and Mara again, in a little bit different settings. The kids had great fun playing with the goat outside of the panzio--a great entertainer, the little fellow, and for free, too.

I am waiting for Claudiu to post more photos from the trip so that I can steal them; in the meantime, a picture of sleepy Mara and just-kind-of-standing-there Andrej.

(H)inta

Andrej's first word ever was hinta (swing), or, in his pronunciation, inta. He first uttered it when he was a bit over a year old. Now he is a year and a half, and his vocabulary increased at an amazing pace in the last two months. He is learning lots of words in Hungarian and Serbian at the same time, so now he knows that, when he wants me to swing him, he should say ljulja (Serbian for swing) rather than hinta.

The other day he showed me a rabbit in his little picture book and said: "Nyuszi." "OK, that is how Erika calls it, but Mummy says zeka," I told him. A few days later I showed him the same rabbit and asked him what it was. Sure enough, he says: "Zeka...mmm...nyuszi." So, yes, he is getting the same linguistic confusion as Boris did, but he just absorbes everything that comes his way. It will never cease to fascinate me.

Big bro and Lil' bro

While Boris was busy in the kindergarten, Andrej stayed at home with his babysitter, Erika. He just kept growing quietly and reaching all the important milestones without too much fuss. He turned out to be much tougher and less timid than Boris--on occasion, he would even "attack" Lance or Lia (Boris's two close friends) to try to defend his big brother. And overall, the brotherly relations have improved by leaps and bounds over the last year; now most of the time they play together and seem to like each other. We'll see how long that lasts.