Seven Days in Kyiv: Week 20

My cold continued to knock me out, so on Monday I took at three-hour nap with Lev, who also was sick by that point. I woke up feeling so much better, and was able to enjoy the rest of the day with the Teuberts. Sweetest moment: Jenny, the eldest Teubert daughter, also was sick, so she spent the day in her parents' bed. At one point, the three younger kids (her two sisters and Dietrich) joined her in the bed, where they spent a good chunk of time huddled together over Legos.

We left on the Tuesday morning train. Thankfully, we had a coupe this time -- actually, we had beds in two different coupes, but the conductor took one look at our tired, bedraggled, 6-in-the-morning selves and told us to stick together. (She worked it out with the other passengers.)

The trip was fantastic. Everyone went back to sleep until 9, and when we all woke up, Lev crawled around on the bench, we played games at the little table -- we had such a pleasant time that Dietrich chose NOT to watch a movie.

I was supposed to take Lev to get his already VERY overdue six-month vaccinations and a Social Security card on Wednesday, but he woke up sicker than ever, so I canceled both appointments. He should have gotten these shots in early December, but he was sick for several weeks, and then it was the holidays, and then the clinic was out of vaccines for most of January. So, we're quite behind. I'm hoping this won't prevent us from getting the one-year vaccinations done while we're in America in May.

A few other notable events from the week:

1) Our last Christmas box arrived! It was from my brother and sister-in-law, and we opened it "with" them (via Skype). It was packed with yummy treats and three action figures from "Toy Story." Oh, happy Dietrich! For those of you unfamiliar with the movies, Andy is the name of the boy in "Toy Story." I asked Dietrich if he knew any other kids who had so many Toy Story toys, and he replied, "Nope, only Andy!"

You have to respect the marketing genius that is Toy Story. It's a movie about toys. Therefore, every. single. thing. in the movie can be made into a toy and sold. Genius. Thankfully, Dietrich seems content with his Christmas bonanza.

2) I put Lev down for a nap on Saturday. A minute later, it was suspiciously quiet in his room. I peeked in: He had pulled himself up to a standing position in his crib. Then, on Sunday night, he started for-reals crawling! I wasn't too concerned about his soldier lunge, but several people last week commented on the important brain development that accompanies crawling. So, I spent about 15 minutes on Sunday afternoon crawling circles around him on the living room floor. Suddenly, he started to mimic me. He still reverts occasionally to the soldier lunge, but he's learning that the more-typical style is quicker and less exhausting.

3) We put together a newsletter. Did you get it? If not, let me know and I can e-mail it to you.

4) On Sunday afternoon, Bertha the goose gutter invited seven young missionary kids over to her apartment for a story (a fable from her youth), cookies and playdough. Isn't that sweet? And a little bit crazy? I so appreciate her!

5) Two families that we know in the States suffered serious medical emergencies with their children. (Read about one here.) Thankfully, God spared both little boys' lives. Another friend is going through a difficult transition, and we were able to Skype for a while. My parents are organizing my grandfather's memorial service, and I've been able to keep up-to-date with the plans and with how they're handling the loss. I know Skype and Facebook have their disadvantages, but as someone who lives very far away (and in another age wouldn't know about these situations until months after they occurred), I appreciated the ability to immediately pray for these families and to talk with my friend and with my family.