Happy New Year to all! The word for December was sickness. For basically the whole month one or more of our family was sick. For most of the month we stayed around the house doing yard work and various housekeeping. Then we went to Tucson for the Russin clan Christmas. It was great to see everyone again and nice to let the cousins play. Unfortunately our sickness was a bit of a set back to the festivities but overall everyone had a good time.
2019 is upon us and as we leave 2018 it is amazing to reflect on all the changes that have occurred over this past year. At the beginning of 2018 we were preparing to move into our new home in Poway. Now at the end of the year we are mostly settled with a completely re-landscaped backyard, new furniture, two repainted bedrooms and fixed closets, and even pictures hung. We are involved in a church close to home and Tim regularly plays guitar on Sunday mornings. We have established good friendships with two of our neighbors and are starting to enjoy our new community.
At the beginning of 2018 Cordelia had finished her first Preschool experience, enjoyed coloring, and riding her bike. Now at the end of the year she has been in a new Preschool since March and has moved up to pre-K. She is getting good with her writing letters and writes some words. She also rode her bike so much that she broke her training wheels! So now she knows how to ride without training wheels and does a really good job. She has taken four months of ice skating classes and is now doing swim class. Pretty soon she will probably be swimming on her own. Corrie is doing AWANA and is really starting to enjoy it. Most of her free time is devoted to arts and crafts. Cordelia has also matured a lot this year, finally starting to master her emotions. No major yelling screaming fits during the last few months. In 2019 Cordelia will be turning 5 with a big quotFrozenquot party! It will be a new chapter as we prepare for kindergarten next school year.
At the beginning of 2018 Anthony was still wearing diapers, playing with toddler toys, and still needing lots of help. Now at the end of the year Anthony is potty trained, runs around playing with Cordelia all sorts of games, and knows how to ride his bike with training wheels. He can also get himself about halfway dressed and can put his shoes on all by himself. He also had his first day-care/preschool experience and moved up a class in June once he was potty trained. And now he’s getting ready to advance to the next class. He also started swim class and we look forward to watching his progress over the next year. It is hard to remember the slow transition and improvements in his speech. Now we’re working on his diction – especially quotLquot. He can be grumpy and disagreeable so we are teaching him that negative behavior results in negative consequences. We’re also working with him to use his words when frustrated and unhappy and to ask for help. Overall he is a mild mannered guy who enjoys the quietness of solitary play but also knows how to run around and have some fun group play.
At the beginning of 2018 Lydia was a little bump in Alicia’s belly and now she is five and half months old! It has certainly made things more busy adding this new one to our family. We made it through the infant stage and now are watching Lydia roll all over the carpet, grab toys. even sit in a bouncer. She also eats baby food and loves putting everything in her mouth (including the dog toys). Lydia has enjoyed lots of love and attention from so many family members. Cordelia and Anthony have both been great siblings, and it’s getting more fun to see the interaction and Lydia gets older. Over the next year it will be amazing to see all the big milestones Lydia achieves – crawling, standing, walking, talking, and so much more!
In 2018 we also added our dog, Strider, to our family. The first few months were rough dealing with potty training, teething and added constraints. Now at 8 months Strider had mellowed out of the major baby-puppy stage. We no longer are worrying about accidents in the house or our carpet getting chewed on. Now that he’s not so much of a puppy the kids are having a lot of fun playing with him. Cordelia has been playing fetch with him. Anthony likes running around with the ropes having Strider chase him. After the bumpy start, we are now starting to enjoy Strider as part of our family.
Alicia has been working out of the house a year and half now. Alicia has experienced lots of new responsibilities in several difference facets. She has now done some project engineering, firmware development, detailed electrical engineering, along with keeping up on her modeling and simulation skills. For the most part it has been a rewarding year of work. Alicia is learning to check herself in balancing work and home life. While there is always one more thing that could be done at the office, she is setting alarms and leaving the work behind for the next day. At home, adjustment to life with three kids and a dog has gone mostly well. Going back to having a baby has required more rigid timing and planning but being seasoned parents now this is less of a shock. Alicia really enjoys the weekends, spending quality time as a full family doing something fun. Alicia also has enjoyed her one-on-one time with Cordelia and Anthony.
Tim is back at work now, after an extended 6-week baby bonding leave. It was a bit of a rough transition back after being home with the kids; Tim was a bit surprised to learn how enjoyable he found it to be home with the kids. He has been getting back into the groove at work, finishing up some simulations and doing some modeling work to help the marketing guys plan the quotnext big thingquot. On the home front he’s been doing mainly maintenance this month; we will finish up the back yard work in early 2019 so he’s laying the ground work to get that done. Overall he is excited to see what the next year’s going to bring.
In January we are anticipating our new au pair Valéria who will be joining us on January 9th. She will help watch Lydia and the other two kids so the family can get a good balance of socialization and individual attention. We’re looking forward to meeting her and welcoming her into our family for the next year. We’re also looking to Anthony’s 3rd birthday and our first anniversary of living here in Poway. Please pray for all the changes that will be coming our way; we are excited to see what will happen.
