You better grab a cup of joe if you're planning to read this entire posting. It's long. Andrej and I often say after something interesting happens that we should blog about it, but unfortunately neither of us do until so many things have happened that we can't even remember them all. Here are some of the highlights…

  • Kaiya has graduated from the "belly slide" (see Videos) to a full-on crawl! We are so proud…well, at least we were for about a day and now that we have entered into the world of "No, No Kaiya! Danger!" we are wondering why we ever encouraged the whole crawling thing. As frustrating as it can be (for both parents and baby as she is removed from the fireplace screen for the hundredth time) it really is amazing to watch her move about and discover her world.
  • As of tomorrow Kaiya will graduate to yet another new level. We are official resigning her infant car seat. She has been pushing the weight and height limit for a while now so for safety's sake we've got to make the change. It will be hard for us because we've gotten used to hauling her around in that seat, awake and asleep. It is so easy to transfer her from the car to the stroller to the grocery cart and everywhere in between. I'm sure we will all get used to it soon and will probably be a lot happier.
  • Last but definitely not least our little rolly poly (see Rollover posting) has pretty much given up rolling over in her crib and screaming. She still rolls over, but we stopped flipping her because as soon as her back hit the mattress she would roll right back to her tummy, climb up on the bumper and wail. Mom grew tired of the flipping game and Kaiya found out that she can sleep just fine on her tummy. We've even found her a few times sound asleep pulled up on the bumper. It hurts my neck just looking at her. Although this sounds like a rather happy ending to a frustrating few weeks, life with a baby couldn't be that easy. Her new thing is pulling up to standing and of course wailing when she is ready to get down and go to sleep. However, if we help her down and put her on her back she gets frustrated and rolls back over and pulls right back up on the crib rail. If left alone, she desperately tries to sleep standing up. She will eventually flop down on her bottom and then try desperately to sleep sitting up. We know this because we purchased our favorite baby item thus far, a video monitor. It really helps dissipate our frustration at 3:30 am after an hour of trying to get her to stay horizontal and sleep when we can watch her try to balance herself in a sitting position, suck her fingers, rub her ear and sleep all the while bobbing back and forth. Oh the joys of parenthood! I'm trying to follow my friend Cristy's comment (from Rollover) and keep in mind that this first year will go by fast and I won't even remember these few nights of missed sleep as she practices her tricks, but I must admit Ryan's comment of using duct tape is starting to sound better and better. :)

Just to prove that Andrej and I do still exist and things do happen that do not revolve around our little one, here are some of our own updates…

  • Andrej is currently studying for his second clep test and will take the 3-credit exam on Personal Finance on Tuesday. Please pray for him as her learns all of this material and for me as he is spilling over with ideas for our own personal finances. After this exam he has two more (both on computers so he has saved the easiest for last) and then the countdown to graduation is on. May 6 will be here before we know it!
  • Andrej's parents and sister have booked their plane tickets and will be arriving in the US on May 5!!! We are so excited to spend two weeks with them and introduce Kaiya to her stari rodicia and teta Marina.
  • My parents were recently in GR for a visit. Maybe this should be under Kaiya's section since they really came to visit her, but nevertheless we all truly enjoyed the time together. Kaiya had so much fun with her grandparents and Andrej and I enjoyed a break from all the day-to-day baby responsibilities. Thanks Mom & Dad! Grandparents are a great thing and it's hard to live so far away from both of our families.
  • While my parents were here, dad and Andrej fixed our truck and we are officially back to being a two car family after a really long time. Kaiya and I are enjoying our new found freedom and with the snow melting I'm sure we will find ourselves out and about more often.
  • Starting next week Kaiya and I will have some company three days a week. A co-worker of Andrej's needed a babysitter for her 18-month-old daughter after her daycare option fell through. It's only for a few weeks but we are happy to oblige. I think Kaiya will enjoy having entertainment in the form of a little person.

Whew…if you've actually read this far then you really must love the Cihos! Sorry that this posting was so long and we will try to do better about updating more frequently. Thanks for journeying with us.