Okay...Sorry, I've been working on this post for a while now, in the little bit of spare time I have. I've been waiting for a video to upload, so I can post it. That's one of the things that has taken me so long, but it's finally ready to post, so... for those of you who check my blog 50 times a day , waiting for an update (*wink* you know who you are!), here you go!

I found a jogging stroller at Target (thanks to the girls @ work who gave me gift cards!!) and every morning, Iliya and I take a walk through the neighborhood. He loves the rides, and I love the opportunity to just get out of the house for a bit, without having to load up in the car.

A new friend of mine told me (before we ever left for Russia) that she, like her mom, is prone to mild depression and so to keep herself out of the "blues," she has to have a bit of sunshine everyday, as well as some activity. Not long after she told me that, I read something similar somewhere else (Elle's blog, I think?). I am prone to cabin fever, and I do get the blues, which causes everything to seem very big to me. So I'm going to try to use our morning walks as a way to see if I can handle everyday life without getting too stressed.

Getting outside in our triple-digit-no-rain heat is really difficult (I can't wait until the Fall, when we can get outside more and play in the yard), so once Iliya gets up in the mornings, we eat breakfast and hop in the stroller for a stroll through the neighborhood. Not only is this good for our moods, but hopefully it will be good for my physical health, also! Lots of benefits!

So far, so good, it seems! Over the past couple days, Iliya has seemed even happier than he was before...and I feel better, too! We walked Heathcliff this morning. I thought I was probably an idiot for trying to walk my crazy dog - while pushing a stroller - but it worked out fine! In fact, I think having the stroller as a sort of "barrier" helped Heathcliff to behave oh-so-well. Of course, every barking dog in the neighborhood was being walked also...AND someone had let their dogs out of the house with no leash on. That is NOT a good combination with my Heathcliff. But we made it through without incident, thank goodness!! I think Heathcliff is as tired as I am!

Anyway, what else? Iliya's digestive tract seems to be back on track...I am thinking that the stress of traveling + the new environment caused him to have a rough go of it for a little while...but now, all seems to be better.

Also...sleeping. The past week has consisted of me rocking Iliya to sleep (which takes all of about 2 minutes, average), putting him in his crib, and then him waking up around 1 or 2 a.m. to come to bed with us, where he will sleep till around 8:00 (without us for the last couple hours of that). We thought we were REALLY doing well, night-before-last, when he woke up at FIVE a.m. and came to bed with us, and slept till about 7:00.

But then last night, he slept ALL the way through the night, in his own bed! He got up about 6:45 this morning - boy, we are making progress!! I hope it sticks! Of course, it's not even lunchtime (which means, not naptime quite yet) and he's already a walking zombie - because he's used to getting a little more sleep than he got last night. Oh well...maybe this means he'll have a good nap!

And one last thing...someone asked how we taught him to sign. It's really easy...and yet, not so easy. The easy part is that all you (pretty much) have to do is sign the word whenever you say it, whenever you use it. So whenever he wants more food, we ask "More?" while signing more. Occasionally (if 2 of us are here), we would help him a little bit, to make the motions (he picked up the handshape immediately, which surprised me...but haven't I talked incessantly about his great fine motor skills? but I digress...). They key is consistency. Oh, yeah, and THAT is the hard part. Doing it every time, till he picks it up. Fortunately, he's a pretty quick learner - and picked it up despite our lack of 100% consistency. And he has used it several times, not only in "food" situations. Yesterday, he asked to play some "more"...and asked me to do it again, by signing "more." So yeah, he's a pretty smart cookie! I just need to get down to business & do better about teaching him more than that one sign. (He created his own sign for "sing" - it's really cute)

And now, before I close, someone also commented (a couple posts ago, I think?), asking to see referral/1st trip pictures. So last night, I stayed up way past my bedtime, trying to put this video together. Remember, let it start playing...then click "pause" and let it load. That way, you'll get an uninterrupted playtime. Also, if you are so inclined, turn up your volume; I set it to a song. I hope you enjoy it. It still gets me teary.