Velka Voda 2006

"Big Water 2006" continues to get bigger as we have more and more rain this week. With the sudden rise in temperatures, causing the snow and ice to melt, and the influx of rain we've had the past few days, Prague and the whole Czech Republic are worrying over floods. On the left you can see how much the Vltava River has risen in the Center. On the right you can see the river from Most Zavodu Miru (the Bridge of the Race for Peace) just a 10min walk from where I used to live in Zbraslav. My old street was evacuated evening before last! Not to worry folks, this isn't a 100years flood, just a 10years. : )

Samuel Lincoln is here!

Samuel arrived on Monday at 6:06pm Georgia time and I got the announcing phone call at 1:39am Prague time (just 33minutes after his birth). Isn't he a doll baby!? I can't wait for him and Magdalena to play together! Of course that'll be a while, but fun to think about.

Being an aunt is so wonderful...even if I can't hold the little guy for several months. Petr's brother and sister-in-law, David and Marketa, have a little girl, Adelka, and it's great having a niece on his side. But, having a flesh and blood nephew is a whole new feeling. Ah, I love him already without seeing him in person...Petr said that he can see a family resemblance between Samuel and Magdalena. What do you think?

Swinging in the rain!

Well, she's not actually in the rain, but she is swinging during the rain. And we did walk in the rain to pick up my salary from the magazine. Magdalena is really enjoying this swing that the Stones lent us. She has made particular friends with this yellow cat. After one glance at the red dog on the other side, she's never looked his way again -- literally! Dr. Dostal said that it is common for babies to favor looking in one direction...what a coincidence that it is in the direction of her mommy's favorite animal and color. Can favorites be genetically inherited? Hmm, I think not, but it's cute anyway!

Where is Thumbkin?

In Magdalena's mouth again! We woke up this morning to the sound of "smack, smack" as she sucked her thumb. It's not so clear in this picture, but the little guy is in there. : )

Spring!

Hooray!! We had spring weather today. Well, spring for Georgia; for the Czech Republic, it's not unusual for a summer day to feel like today. It was 21C/70F and absolutely beautiful! Magdalena and I went out with her stroller for a walk around our "sidliste" (apartment complex) for about 45mins. Ah, so refreshing!

My little nephew is on his way being born! We are excitedly awaiting his birth. Magdalena is so excited that she didn't nap today after finding out Samuel would arrive soon. By evening, when he still hadn't been born she got grumpy. I tried giving her a pacifier and she looked at me very confused but she didn't cry or refuse it. Granted, it didn't stay in her mouth more than about 3 or 4 seconds because she doesn't know how to hold it in! Tonight after Petr put her to bed, I heard a slurping sound from the bedroom and quickly went to investigate, thinking perhaps she had spit up and it was preventing her from breathing properly. No, it wasn't spit-up. It was her thumb! Magdalena has discovered that thumbs are much better than silicone pacies. Sorry, no picture...by the time she was fully asleep and I got the camera, she'd already removed her thumb from her mouth.

We had three visitors today! Aunt Sunny arrived a little before 5 and ate dinner with us then washed the dishes (what a great friend!) while I bathed Magdalena and Petr searched for an internet provider who services Sunny's building. A little after 6 Carrie and Marketa arrived. It was lovely to see pictures of their visit to the States in the summer. But, it was even better just talking with them because it's been nearly a year since we've seen each other! They brought an adorable Pooh t-shirt and cute little socks to match for Magdalena. I can't wait for her to wear them! : )

Sleeping like a baby

After going to bed late last night and the time changing, today has been a perfect napping day. Magdalena has slept so well that Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy a 3 hour nap and a good lunch! Too bad that her naps fell right smack in the middle of both Project Antioch events today. Oh, well. There is always Tuesday.

My mom said that babies sleep a lot when they're growing. Well, maybe this marks a growth spurt because even though she only napped yesterday in 45min to 1hr sessions, she slept for 8hrs straight last night and has been sleeping a lot during the day since Thursday...

We watched Napoleon Dynamite during the afternoon nap time. Even though we've seen it several times before, it's just so funny! "Tina, eat the food" is Petr's favorite part. If you ever get a chance, ask him for an imitation of it -- Tina's line included! He's funnier than the movie. : )

Cinderella Man

Evidently, Petr woke up in a cleaning mood. First, he bathed himself and shaved then informed me that he'd decided to clean the whole bathroom. Well, buddy, did he clean! He moved everything (including the washing machine) and gave it a thorough scrub down. He didn't stop there either...no, he continued to wash the dishes, sweep, and wipe down the floors on his hands and knees! Only Petr could still be smiling at the end of a rigorous spring cleaning session! Oh, my, I sure do love my man!

Magdalena enjoys getting cleaned too! She loves her bath time. Don't ask about lotioning up after her bath though...you might get an unpleasant response from her. She protests every time! In this picture, she's in a bit of a daze because it was just before nap time. The hair style is compliments of Magdalena's daddy. : )

Play time

First thing each evening when Petr gets home, if she isn't eating, he plays with Magdalena. Since she started her social smiles a little over a week ago, her little personality is coming out! She is so fascinated with her daddy that I believe she is going to prefer Czech over English...could be good since we live here, but could be bad for me! Guess I'll have to intentionally learn more Czech. : )

This morning Magdalena woke up about 5:30. Her little coos and smiles made me actually happy to be up so early (never thought I'd say that in a million years!). Our early morning rising gave me and Petr time to enjoy playing with her at the same time before he had to prepare for work. She likes hearing the "10 Little Indians" song -- slightly modified to say "Indian girls" instead of boys -- with wiggling fingers representing the Indians. Oh, she is too cute!

Squirrel

To answer Auntie Bizbef's question from the last post's comment: no, it's not a costume. The squirrel outfit has a squirrel on it in pink. If you enlarge the picture the little animal is visible.

Animal fun

Here is Magdalena in her cute little squirrel outfit(appropriate since my babysitter when I was little gave me the nickname Squirrel) that Stana gave her a few weeks ago. The hat is already too small and she hasn't even worn it before. Because it's a 62 I thought she'd need to wait a while to wear it (she's wearing 56's now), but this outfit must be made differently.

Today she's been sleeping really well -- better than any other day since we've been teaching her to fall asleep alone. When she was awake, she was happy and content being in the bouncey seat or held; when she was sleeping it was soundly and for over an hour each time. Good restorative sleep for baby and mommy. : )

Our friend Jay Davis is over for dinner tonight. We finished off some leftovers -- lasagne and Thai chicken. Our church family at Project Antioch has been cooking very delicious meals for us the past couple of weeks and we had leftovers a plenty! He brought his cute dog, Niko, with him. She is a miniture pincher and is quite curious about Magdalena. Good thing Magdalena doesn't mind being sniffed (from a safe distance of course)!

Growing up

Yesterday was Magdalena's 6 week check up. She also had an ultrasound on her hips and an orthopedic exam. All of the doctors ooh-ed and awe-ed over her, saying how pretty she is. "Krasna" was the word of the day! The pediatrician said, "I can tell from just looking at her that she has grown. The scale isn't necessary!" She is now 11lbs, 22in with clear skin, good bones, and developing well socially.

She's developing socially so well that the little boys are noticing her already! One baby boy about 3months old literally lunged in his mother's arms to get a closer look at her. He just smiled at her and she stared him down. Good girl, you're too young to date. Another boy about 1year old watched her for several minutes. She kinda looked his way, but clearly, older men don't suit her either.

I really wanted to post a picture today of our healthy, growing girl...but, alas, she has been cranky most of today. Another napless day, but now she's gone to bed and I dare not disturb her slumber with a flash! Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day and you will all get to see her!

For crying out loud

Most of today was spent in either feeding or trying to get Magdalena to sleep. She once again refused to nap. According to Dr. Weissbluth, this is because she'd rather be in the company of her parents than in a quiet crib all alone and crying it out is sometimes neccesary. For Magdalena's age he says 5-20mins of crying is okay and if she doesn't go to sleep, pick her up and soothe her then try again later when you're comfortable with it. Well, that's what I did, but with only one semi-success -- a 20 minute silence which I thought was sleep, but as it was followed by howls, I doubt it truly was. Even if it were sleep, 20 minutes isn't enough to count as a nap. Dr. Weissbluth says that 45-60mins minimum is required for restorative purposes in a baby Magdalena's age. I agree. How can 20 mins restore Magdalena's mind when it doesn't even restore my adult brain's peace of mind?

Okay, so that was a long venting session for Mommy. I must say that even though today was rough, she's still adorable and it wasn't as bad as one day last week, so we are seeing some progress (slowly but surely). And her sweet smiles sure do help! As you can see, she looks cute when she's crying too. Emphasis on looks because she sure doesn't sound it! : ) Where is Gigi when you need her to calm the little grandbaby? Alas, far away in a foreign land...

Rock City in Czech Republic (Ruzdka)

Hey,
I was going to show you how your birdhouse live in Czech Republic. I don't have better picture but you can see that this birdhouse "almost" fit in this village. Every person which walk by trying to find out where came from. Not so many birds want to live there - maybe some neighbors :-)
Probably we have bigger birds and they don't fit in or they have some other problem. My dad tried putting there some meat or piece of food (probably didn't help).

So maybe next winter :-)

My favorite stuffed animal

Hello everybody!

You are witnesses of my first writing on our blog. Today when Magdalena got up I tried to put this bear which I gave to my wife for a present in her crib . You can see how she likes it from the picture. In this time I remember my little toy when I was a little boy. I had a small yellow dog with quite long ears. It was my toy number 1. I played with it and also slept with it like Radar from M.A.S.H. - never without my dog. I don't rememer how many years I played with him but it was a lot .
Nobody else could play with him even not my little brother. It was My precious - my dog!

So maybe my parent's put it in my crib when I was little tiny Petr and I start to really LOVE
my bear - yellow dog (even ears were falling apart or he was changing color "darker and darker" no washing machine).

We will see in several years which toy will be her favorite. I think that will be some kind of bear.

Missionary Mommy

I never imagined that motherhood would so radically change my schedule! Pre-baby I met with someone (or more) everyday and was involved in some sort of mission work. A big accomplishment, then, was praying over lunch with a non-believer or discussing my beliefs with a student. Post-baby I've basically been confined to my apartment with Magdalena since she eats and sleeps so often it doesn't allow for much else. Now a big accomplishment is getting all the laundry clean...and as you can see, I accomplished this feat just this afternoon!

Don't get me wrong, I am still involved in mission work. It's just in a different manner. Now, my mission work is based out of my apartment (having people over or making phone calls) and I have a whole new understanding of praying in the midnight hour! Those night feedings are very distraction-free and peaceful, allowing for good quality one-on-one time with God.

Last night, for the first time since Magdalena's birth, Petr and I had a date night. Well, sort of. She went to sleep about 7:30, so we decided to kick back, snuggle up on the couch, and watch a movie on the new work laptop while eating ice cream! If the movie Panska Jizda (Men's Show) is available in the foreign film section, I recommend renting it. It's about a widower and his son readjusting to life after his wife's death. Sounds like it'd be slow and sad, but it's neither! It is very cute, humorous, clean, and has 4 adorable little boys in it who are the neighbor's grandsons. If it's not available, too bad. That's just a tiny little reason for you to come visit me in Prague. : )

Roses are dead, not red

Curious that my "mystery" flowers (as we call them because no one seems to know what they are) are still alive over 5 weeks after I received them, but my roses are dead not 2 weeks later...the unknown type flowers were a thank you gift from my English students on the day I went into labor. The roses were from Magdalena's baby dedication on the 5th March. Good thing that my little Rose isn't really a flower!

Today Magdalena has been napping very well after sleeping 10 minutes shy of 12 hours last night! Her naps have allowed me to totally clean the house (bathroom included!) and read one of the greatest books on the planet, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (Marc Weissbluth, M.D.). Jessica and Casey, I've got a copy on the way for you! Trust me, you'll want it!

Sleeping date

As I have told a couple people recently in emails, Magdalena loves her daddy. He captivates her fascination any time he holds her...and he can get her to sleep! All day I've tried getting her to nap but to no avail.

After a soothing bath with Mommy and nursing, Magdalena went to sleep in no time as Daddy rocked her. But as you can see, even in her sleep she doesn't want to let go of her daddy! She held on to his shirt's sleeve and collar.

When I was little, my dad would take me on "daddy dates." I loved those times! Tonight reminded me of them because I would hold onto my daddy with my arms and legs (he called me his monkey) like Magdalena is doing with Petr.

Now that Baby is sleeping, I'm gonna go have a lil date with my husband -- looking at pictures on his new laptop that his office has provided him!

Family Picture

Petr, Rebekah, Magdalena
Hmm, this was supposed to go onto our profile...don't know how I messed that up! Well, Perhaps I need some assistence from the "Blogspot Pro" Sunny...

Mommy's bed

Magdalena has chosen a new favorite place to sleep -- her mommy's side of the bed! She's so adorable all bundled up under the covers...too bad that I didn't discover this sooner yesterday! We would have gotten a lot more rest.

Last night's dinner was super yummy! Homemade macaronni and cheese with stuffed tomatoes (not sure what they were stuffed with, but it was tastey too)! Since I've not had good mac in 2 years, I decided it wouldn't be bad to eat two generous helpings. : ) Thanks, Laura!

Getting Started

Well, Momma, I am doing this for you! I'm not promising to be very faithful at posting...but I'll try. : ) Since computers aren't exactly my cup of tea, I'm sipping an actual cup of tea now to help ease the pain.

Today, Magdalena is not napping well. She did, however, sit contentedly in her boucey seat for the duration of my bath! Hooray! I can feel human and not smell like spit-up when Laura comes over later to deliver some meals for us.

Laura Syvertsen and Shanna Davis have so kindly made us dinner for the next few nights. Ann-marie Verbrugge will be bringing us a meal on Friday. Ah, it's nice to not have to worry about what to cook...or more specifically, how to cook with a little baby in arms!