A tricycle, a bike stroller and the zoo....what a weekend!

During Memorial Day weekend we got Nicholas his first Tricycle. It is a classic Red Radio Flyer complete with red and white streamers attached to the handle bars and bell....(picture to be posted later) So far he seems to enjoy being on it and being pushed while trying to keep his feet on the pedals....we think it may be a little too big for him right now, but he will grow into it soon enough.

We also got a Bicycle Stroller...(picture to be posted later) It is an enclosed stroller that is close to the ground with large bicycle looking wheels. The coolest part? It attaches to the back of one of our bicycles and we can take him with us on bike rides! He really loves being in there and going all over the neighborhood....he likes to say, "WOW," as we are going down the street! Lisa is planning to use this new mode of transportation when going to the pool or the playground during the day, and we plan on taking evening bike rides when it is less than 90 degrees out...

To end our wondefully wild weekend of wheelies and what-not....we decided to go the zoo for the first time as a family. Even though it was Memorial Day, very hot out and amazingly crowded, we still had a wonderful time. For those of you reading this that are NOT in Texas...The Fort Worth Zoo is one of the 5 best Zoos in the country....the next time you're in town we can go, just ask us.

Although Nicholas was not familiar with all the of the animals, we think he had a wonderful time. It was great to see his eyes open real wide when he saw an animal for the first time. He does know some animal names and he said them throughout the day: Bear, Monkey, Cat (lion, tigers, cougars, meerkat, prairie dog), Dog, (coyote)Fish and Bird (including both the African and European Swallow!

Here are some pictures!!

Seeing a gorilla for the first time, up close and personal

Getting to know his first meerkat...just wait until he sees The Lion King!

He was not quite sure what to make of the elephants...

He was calling for this "cat" to "come here.." like he does with our cat. I tried to explain that he really did NOT want this particular cat to "come here!"

Tired? Want to go home?

OK, but let me just take one more picture as you triumphantly exit the zoo for the first time!

One Month Down..........LOTS more to go!

May 18, 2009 was the 1 month mark since Nicholas left the Children's Home in Zaporizhzhia. We picked him up early in the morning on April 18, 2009 and our lives have not been the same since!! :-)

Nicholas appears to be getting more comfortable with us and the dogs. We know this because he is now seeing how much he can get away with....just like any 3 year-old. He is also saying new words nearly everyday and making us laugh or say, "Did he just do that??"

Today he said "cookie" as we were snacking on Nilla Wafers after we gave him his bath. Today we started the "bed time procedure" a little later.

Before we started we all played upstairs. We had some Bugs Bunny and Animaniac cartoons on and Lisa read him a story and we ran around with the dogs...all in the hopes of getting him tired out and ready for bed....well this strange combination of stimulating activities must have done the trick....we put him down for bed and he was asleep in less than 10 minutes.....a new "N.A.B.W.R." (Nicholas Aronin Bedtime World Record)

Here are some more pictures....some older ones from our trip that have never been seen!!

Bed Number 19 at the Children's Home

was the one Nicholas slept in each day. We took this picture the morning we got to take him to Kiev to start his new life.

These are some of the "Nannies" that took care of Nicholas. They posed for this picture after they said goodbye to him for the last time. One Nanny told us that she raised him from a baby....they seemed sad to see him go, but very happy he was being adopted. We owe these ladies a lot of gratitude for taking care of our son for over three years!

Daddy and Nicholas going for walk one of our last few days in Kiev. This was very close to our apartment.

Nicholas helping Grandpa Bruncke install the new ceiling fan in his room while Dad makes sure he doesn't fall off the step ladder!

Typical kid...more interested in playing with the box than all toys that used to be inside it...

What's going on??

Nicholas has been racking up the "first time I ever" moments...

Last week he got his first hair cut, went in his first swimming pool, played with Playdough for the first time, saw his Daddy play the drums for the first time and heard his first song by Wang Chung!

"They grow up so fast," is starting to make sense to me now. I can see changes in Nicholas nearly every day, especially on the weekends when I get to spend the whole day with him. During the past two weeks I have been back to work so I only get to see him for a few hours before he goes to bed Monday through Friday.

He seems to be picking up more and more English words. We recently were given some wonderful books (thank you to family and friends!) with wonderful pictures and words. This morning Nicholas got one of his books on his own, sat down on the couch and then motioned for me to sit next to him. We sat together for about 15 minutes looking at his book. I said the words aloud and he would try to repeat them...it was my first "real Dad" kind of moment.

Several times in the past week or so I have come home from work to have Lisa tell me the "word of the day." Lisa is doing a wonderful job in her new role as "Momma." She has been teaching him words each day when she is not chasing him around! He now says.....please, belly, turtle, monkey, outside, bicycle, truck, hot and peaches!!

Lisa and I have also been very blessed recently by family and friends. We continue to receive gifts! Lisa had a baby shower today with some friends in our neighborhood (while Nicholas and I did guy stuff like buying stuff at Lowe's), we received a wonderful array of gifts from my Aunt and Uncle in Connecticut, some gift cards from my siblings, a gift box from my parents, a large bag of hot wheel tracks from a woman I work with and diaper genie from another friend from work! Speaking of work.....my office is throwing us a baby shower at the end of this month and on Friday we received some clothes from another friend from work. He came by, while still on vacation, with his wife and daughter with two boxes of new "stylin" clothes....Lisa and I have quickly realized that Nicholas will be dressing much better than we do...... :-)

And now some photos!

First time at the pool....

First time with Playdough! I can't believe it still smells exactly the same as did when I was a kid...

Part of his new ensemble from Gymboreeeeee. Thanks to Alan and his family!

Part of the hot wheel tracks he got!

Thanks to the Kennard Boys!!

BONUS PHOTO....

This is a cool looking green snake on our back fence...we get lots of critters out here in Lantana....

First Haircut On U.S. Soil

Today we took Nicholas to get his first hair cut. Once inside the shop he immediately wanted to bypass the waiting area and explore! When he was told, "NO," he became quite upset and began to yell and scream and fall to the floor! Lisa decided to take him outside until it was our turn. I informed his hair stylist that this would be his first haircut and English was not quite yet his strong suit. She seemed to welcome the challenge. The barber chair was a small Taxi Cab, with a steering wheel and four wheels that spun! This was the perfect chair for Nicholas since he loves Machinas.....uh I mean, Cars....


Not much else to tell......he did wonderfully and we found out the lady cutting his hair lives in our neighborhood and also knows one our friends, that also lives in our neighborhood, who has two adopted kids from Russia. Then, the mother of the little girl getting her haircut next to Nicholas overheard us mentioning Ukraine and told us a friend of hers recently adopted from Russia. She gave us her info and told us we should contact her since she has a small group of friends who have also adopted from Russia!

All together now..."It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all.."



Please enjoy these historic pictures..







His double before picture...
Before his first hair cut and before
we got him some better fitting pants!









Curiously watching his
stylist getting ready....

















Let the cutting begin!














My hair! My beautiful hair!
What have you done????












I am NOT paying for this.....
I am going to text my lawyer...
















My name is Nicholas
and I approve this haircut!

Vocabulary Update

As we continue to talk, talk, talk and talk around Nicholas, he is beginning to repeat more and more English words! So far we have...





Banana---his first English word used in context!


Bye-Bye


Sink


Cat


Cup


Cartoon


Up


Down


Momma


Poppa


Gotcha


Bear

Ed and Laralynn came by to say "HELLO" and watch us eat Chipotle for lunch. They also brought Nicholas some wonderful wooden puzzles!! He told me to tell you "THANK YOU."

Welcome to Parenthood!

As the clock nears midnight here in Lantana, TX, Lisa and I have nearly completed our 12th day of being parents! (Longer than most Hollywood marriages!) We are not counting the 4 days we had Nicholas to ourselves in Kiev since we were merely trying to survive at that point and get home as soon as possible.

Just as we were settling into a routine, I had to go back to work. Today was my first day back in 6 weeks! I got there early to find my computer had missed me so much, it decided to initiate a permanent shut down! Welcome back!

Nicholas continues to be a handful! He is still very interested in exploring every nook and cranny of his new home. He knows full well where he can and cannot go and what he can and cannot touch, but of course he goes where he shouldn't and trys to grab what he shouldn't...I guess we are being tested? I hope we pass!

We are trying to speak as much as possible when he is awake so he can soak up all the English he can. At night Lisa and I have a VCR set up in his room that shows a continuous loop of television shows featuring actors with superior speaking abilities, featuring: Fran Drescher, Erkel, Carol Channing, Yul Brenner, Merv Griffin, Gilbert Godfried, Lorraine Braco, Jerry Stiller, Emo Phillips, Steven Wright, Rosie Perez, and Jay Leno, to name a few....

Yesterday Lisa's father came over to help us install some more baby gates. At last count we have 19 baby gates, a moat filled with multi-colored plastic balls and 38 yards of bubble wrap to help us keep Nicholas safe

While I was upstairs helping with the final baby gate......(helping means I hand stuff to Lisa's father when he asks) I saw one of our dogs (Schnapps) at the bottom of the stairs and she was covered in dirt....I thought to myself, "This can't be good." When I called out to Lisa asking her what had happened to Schnapps, she replied, "Wait till you see the bathroom." Again, I thought "this can't be good."

While Lisa was trying to place a giant ivy plant into a new hanging basket, our dear sweet boy with the amazing arm strength got a hold of one of the vines and decided NOT to let go until the plant capsized. Schnapps was just collateral damage. The bathroom floor got the worst of it. I helped clean up once Grandpa Bruncke went home...


Always an adventure!


Schnapps before "the incident."