2 months update

Brendan was 2 months on January 12th 2011. He had his 2nd pediatrician appointment which discovered that he added 6 cm to his height! No wonder he added only minimum weight. So he measures 65 cm and weighs 5.2 kg.

As far as his progress, he says "a-goo" all the time when he talks to himself, talks to us, cries and even yawns. He definitely recognizes our faces and smiles to us. The new thing that he started doing was touching his hands a lot, putting them together, batting at toys, reaching for toys and grasping them, loves putting his fists in his mouth trying to fit both at once and drools a lot!


His favorite toys are The Bee and Mr. Giraffe.


I went for my post-delivery appointment and spent about 5 or 6 hrs there and after I came back Brendan gave me the biggest smile ever when he saw me. He was very excited and happy to see me. That's precious!

Brendan smiles every time Chris talks to him. He loves his Daddy. Chris is a great Dad. He takes good care of him. I can always rely on Chris when I have to go somewhere or just rest. They have great time when they hang out together!

Believe it or not Brendan has got his American passport. We filed documents to the American Embassy here in Moscow confirming that he was born here and one of his parents is an American citizen. We also went to the Embassy with Brendan and swore that everything we said is true. Two weeks later we got his passport in the mail. Pretty awesome! He is our little Russian and American citizen :) Check out his passport photo! This face is something! We couldn't even look at his picture without cracking up :) Now two members of our family have US citizenship and I only have a green card which expires in April this year. I have already submitted papers for its extension, hopefully I'll get it.

I'm very exited about our April/May trip to the states. We plan on spending the whole month in Florida, seeing the family and hanging out at the beach and our favorite places. Chris also surprised me with a hotel reservation that we have for a few nights. It's a beach front. He also made a mani/pedicure reservation for me. I cannot wait!


At our favorite restaurant with my parents and brother. Chris was on his visa renewal in the states.

Bath time!
After his walk:

Our 1st Month

First of all, it took me almost one month to get back here. I cannot believe that Brendan is already 2.5 months old. I'll try to write two posts with updates of his first two months.

Highlights of Brendan's 1st month were visits of my parents and Chris' Mom. It was great to have them here and help with cooking and cleaning, also advice on the baby care. My parents taught us how to bathe Brendan and other things.


Chris and I had our date night while his Mom babysat Brendan for a couple of hours. It was our first date and the last for at least the next three months as we don't have any family or close friends here who can watch Brendan while we go out.

It's OK because we decided to go out once every week and we take Brendan with us.
His 1st night out was when he was three weeks old and he did great. He slept the whole time we were in the restaurant!



Brendan loves his daily baths, he is always very calm and quiet.


At first he was nervous about it and held Chris's wrist or my wrist with his hands but then he got very comfortable. He also loves his walks. I wish we could walk him more often.



The problem is that we have an awesome carriage which is like a jeep :) which makes it a little heavy. We live on the 4th floor and it doesn't fit in the elevator, so I'm dependent on Chris to take it upstairs. Going downstairs is also difficult but I can do it. Actually, last week I've done something nobody has done: I carried Brendan in one arm and wheeled the carriage downstairs with the other arm. It was HARD but I did it!

Anyway, Brendan's progress in his 1st month: he's got control of his head, he lifts his head, responds to sounds, stares at faces, follows objects, laughs and smiles a lot! He started holding his head the next day he turned 1 month. He started smiling when he was 10 days old and it wasn't the "gas smile", he also giggled when he was 14 days old. I've been teaching him to say "a-goo" for a week and he started saying it after the week. Now he says it all the time even when he is talking to himself which is very cute!
Brendan started watching the Baby Mozart video for a few minutes. So far he is only interested in moving object and not in pictures of animals or anything more complicated. He also loves his swing except it gives him hiccups after about 10 minutes of swinging, he enjoys his playmat and started paying attention to his toys but only for a few minutes and gets bored pretty quickly. Brendan loves his walks and falls asleep immediately every time we go outside. All of us LOVE the cradle!!!! It is the BEST purchase we've made for him. It is so mobile and you can rock it, so we don't have to carry him around trying to put to sleep, we just put him in his cradle and rock it until he falls asleep. Usually it takes from 15-30 minutes.



And this is his dramatic moment when he wants to eat and acts like he has never been fed before and will never be!








Brendan did not like everything we bought for him e.g.he hated swaddlemes I've got for him. The first night we tried to put him in it he cried a lot and let us know in every possible way that he is not a swaddle type of baby :) So we never tried again!
He is the greatest thing that happened in our lives and we love him a lot! He made me look at the world at a different angle.

Brendan's First Christmas

It was so great to have Brendan with us on Christmas this year. It was our dream and wish to celebrate Christmas with our first baby and we are beyond happy that it came true.

We had a very nice day. As usually we got up and had our coffees with Baileys and opened our gifts. It was fun to open Brendan's gifts.



We were not sure what to get him as he doesn't get it yet. In the end we got him a few toys and the family sent him some new outfits. The winner was the recordable book with the Christmas story read by Chris' niece. It's precious! What a great gift to keep for years!

Brendan was so great on Christmas day, he was happy and did not cry. It was awesome!

We spent the rest of the day watching our favorite Christmas movies: Christmas Story, Polar Express, Bad Santa and some great cartoons. In the evening I made our traditional Christmas dinner: pasta with garlic shrimp. It was a great day!

Oh, I forgot to say that Chris got me a new cell phone which was a total surprise as I asked for gift certificates as I see lots of shopping for new clothes in 2011 :)

Brendan Christopher is Here!!!

Brendan Christopher was born on November 12th, 2010 at 7-14 p.m. in Perinatal Clinic in Moscow, Russia. His weight was 8 lbs., 2 oz., height 21.25 inches. He is a big boy! Chris and I are so happy and are so much in LOVE with him! He is the best!

I will post details about the delivery later. In short, it was the best labor experience you can get. The clinic we chose is definitely the best in Moscow and all the doctors are super professional. It all came down to my delivery being so well planned that it was easy and non-stressful at all!

Anyway, now we are learning to be the parents: changing diapers, bathing, feeding, figuring out problems etc. And we love it!

I will try to write more about The Day. For now, I have some pictures:

A few minutes after he was born:


November 14th


November 15th:
Finally home in his cradle, November 16th:

Today's pictures:

We are ready!

Come on, Son! We are ready to meet you :) The doctor will be back tomorrow, Chris' birthday was yesterday, so from now on any day is fine with us!
Yesterday we got through Chris' birthday without me going in labor. Of course, it would be fine if our boy decided to share his Dad's birthday but it was also cool that Chris and I had a nice dinner at home. I made Caesar salad with shrimp, rice and curry with duck breast and got Chris' favorite chocolate dessert. He also had some red wine. The dinner was very nice, we really enjoyed all the food and Chris was happy. I gave him a new cell phone and it was a total surprise for him. He uses a company's cell phone and it got so old that I thought it would be nice if he has something more modern. He will definitely use it on our or his trips when he needs to check his e-mails, for example. He said that he really liked his gift and now he is excited to set it up so he can use it to the full.

Yesterday on the way from the grocery store I felt some cramps a few times and thought that it's starting. Then I felt the same a couple of times at home, none of them were regular, so I just kept wondering if that was just the beginning or so called training contractions. Later they disappeared and I felt fine the rest of the day and night. Just in case I packed the rest of the things in my hospital bag, did the dishes and just put things in places. I had a long list of things to do before The Day and now there is almost nothing left which is great and makes me feel ready. Of course, I'm scared and sometimes when I think about it I have tears both from how hard it's going to be and how happy we will be to meet our son. Even typing it now brings tears to my eyes. It must be the happiest moment in people's lives and we are about to experience it. I'm also a little scared as I'm afraid to miss or not recognize contractions and not knowing when to call. I guess it's pretty normal to worry about such things especially when it's the first time.
Oh well, just a few days or maybe one day. Who knows :) The latest it should be November 17th and the earliest tomorrow November 10th.
Again, I'm ready and Chris is ready and all our family members, friends, acquaintances and colleagues are waiting for the good news from us. It's great to feel their support. I hope that everything goes well and I will help our baby boy to be born healthy and well.

40 weeks:

The carriage we bought, perfect for the coming winter in Russia!

The cradle in our bedroom is ready

Full term, taken today:

Happy 2nd Anniversary to us!

Chris and I got married two years ago on November 1st 2008! It seems like we know each other forever and at the same time it feels like we just met. I think that it's great! Our wedding was beautiful and perfect for us! In addition to usual wedding preparation we had to plan and do more things than other couples. As a US citizen Chris married a foreigner (Russian) and he had to apply for a fiance visa for me months in advance. We got really lucky with how fast my documents were processed and I was invited for the interview to the US Embassy in Moscow. The interview was easy for me as our story is simple and true. Although, it was necessary to provide proof of our relations such as pictures, letters from our friends and colleagues. After I got my visa, we started the process of helping my parents to get their visas to go to our wedding. In the end, everything worked out fine! It was great to have my parents, my brother and two of my friends at our wedding.

We are not doing anything special tonight, just a nice dinner. I'm going to make scallops with mashed potatoes and asparagus for dinner, get some awesome dessert and watch the video of our ceremony. And I'm very excited about a small glass of champagne! Last year for our 1st anniversary Chris bought us a trip to the Bahamas, Atlantis. It was one of the best trips we've ever had! Such a wonderful and fun place! This year we are celebrating our anniversary just a few days away from meeting our first child - our son! It's very exciting! Every day when Chris leaves for work he says: It could be today! :)


Two years ago:







With my parents and my brother: