Plug in

The Talbot extension program starts next week, and a team from Talbot West just arrived to tie up loose ends in time for Monday’s kick-off. Yesterday, I was at the seminary with the team and with Dietrich, and I spent some time chatting with Oksana, one of the KTS translators. She’s hoping to be pregnant herself soon, so she’s pretty into babies. She went on and on about how cute D is, how he looks like his dad, and how she particularly loves his nose. I said, “It’s interesting that he doesn’t have my nose (pointy) or his dad’s nose (generously proportioned).” She said (and this sounds better in Russian), “Yes, we have a name for Dietrich’s nose – we call it an ‘outlet nose.’” For sake of comparison:

Dietrich’s nose


A Ukrainian outlet


A lot of times, I think speaking Russian is just hard work. But then I have a conversation like that one, and I realize that it’s quite a privilege — and often an entertaining privilege — to learn how another culture expresses itself.

Feeding Dietrich

Tonight, we fed Dietrich his first “solid” meal. A lot of reading, shopping, chopping, peeling and boiling went into the one tablespoon that he downed! It also brought with it a cultural experience that I hope not to repeat for a while.

As you probably know, most people in the States start their babies on iron-fortified rice cereal. So, yesterday I took the baby on the long walk to the nice grocery store that has a good selection of baby foods. It was about 3 p.m., the store was crowded, and in practically every aisle, a worker was stocking the shelves. So, I had to leave the baby and his stroller next to the mandarin oranges while I maneuvered around the lady stocking the shelves and the three large cardboard boxes she was working out of.

One brand had its ingredients listed in English, but its rice cereal also contained milk and sugar. Another brand was all in German or Ukrainian, but not Russian. And the other options all originated in Ukraine, which I wanted to avoid for the same allergy-related reasons that I don’t use Ukrainian flour.

Trying to decipher all these languages was taking quite a bit of time, so Dietrich noticed his stroller had stopped moving and started crying. I didn’t want to make a rushed decision on his First Meal Ever, so we quickly finished the rest of our shopping and left. Or tried to leave. Despite the fact that I was holding an upset baby on my hip and pushing a stroller full of groceries with one hand, the security guard stopped me and looked over my receipt to make sure I hadn’t stolen anything.

This was not shaping up to be a successful shopping experience.

On our way home, we went to the outdoor market where there is a kiosk that sells baby products, including cereals. There, in the window, I saw Nordic Rice Flakes. Nordic Flakes are from Finland and I use them all the time to make granola or porridge in the morning, so I trust the brand. I asked to buy them.

“How old is your baby,” the seller replied.

“Five months,” I said.

“Oh, he can’t have that rice cereal, he’s too young,” she said. Then she tried to sell me buckwheat cereal. I explained the allergy situation, so instead she offered me a different brand of rice cereal that already had plums and sugar added. I asked again for the Nordic Flakes, explaining that the baby was only a week away from 6 months, but she refused to sell them to me.

At that point, I decided yesterday was not the day to start Dietrich on solids.

I did some more reading last night and this morning, and decided that I’d rather start the little guy on something more seasonal than rice cereal. Namely squash. About a week ago, I was eating squash soup, and he got the giggles every time I put a spoonful in my mouth. So I thought our chances of culinary success were high with squash. Plus, when I was in the market buying carrots about a week ago, the seller asked me if I wanted to buy some squash for my baby, so now I know that Ukrainians think squash is an OK food for a little guy.

Thankfully, an older gentleman was selling a big hunk of squash on the street right outside our house this afternoon. I bought it, peeled it, boiled it, pureed it (using my handy-dandy immersion blender), added some momma milk and fed it to the little guy.



He did great! He ate about a tablespoon, spilled about a teaspoon and already seemed eager to control the spoon on his own.



One I decided on squash, preparing it was really easy. So, I think I’ll go ahead and keep offering Dietrich fresh fruits and veggies for a while. Another bonus: A jar of baby food here costs about a dollar. The chunk of squash cost 50 cents and provided about 10 jars worth of food.


Dietrich also thought his bib was pretty tasty — so much so that we had to take it off to get him to concentrate on his food.

Siesta time

Kyiv Theological Seminary, the school where Eric works, is just a five-minute walk from our house. It's so close that we can see it clearly from Dietrich's bedroom window. One benefit of such a short commute: Eric can sometimes come home for lunch. Which he did today ... and this is what happened:



They woke up 30 minutes later, rested and happy:



I'm glad Eric got a little rest time in, since he just got home from his weekly meeting with the brothers (what they call elders here) at church, and it's 10:45 p.m. — time to hit the hay. Again.

Hey there, big sitter

Dietrich discovered a new trick yesterday: Sitting! Alone! Without support! He still needs a spotter, but he's already more stable today than he was yesterday. He's so fearless; when he starts to tumble, I feel a little panicked, but he doesn't seem to notice at all. I suppose one would never learn to sit/crawl/walk if one were constantly concerned about bonking one's head.

Experimenting with fruit

In a few weeks, a group of ladies here will be hosting a special event for the wives of the incoming Talbot extension students. These wives are sacrificing so that their husbands can work toward a Master's degree. We hope they will feel encouraged as we recognize the role they play in God's work in Ukraine, and as we share in times of prayer and teaching together.

I'm in charge of decorations; we'll meet in a seminary classroom, so I expect a bit of a challenge as we try to create a lovely atmosphere. I hope to avoid one common phenomenon: Often, when people come to events put on by Americans in Ukraine, the decorations are from America, and therefore are not re-creatable here.

At the moment, the markets are full of lemons, mandarins and other citrus fruits. Here are two early ideas -- let me know what you think, and feel free to share other ideas!


I envision two chains of lemons and mandarins like this, one on either side of a large glass bowl filled with fruit and flowers.



Fruit vases: I need to experiment further to see if the acid in the fruit will kill the flowers too quickly. I experimented using flowers on hand, but I think for the actual day, I'll stick with yellow and white Gerbera daisys.

Mellow Saturday

Daddy Eric is preaching tomorrow, so today we mostly spent a quiet day at home, giving him lots of time to practice his sermon.

In the morning, Anatoly (the president of KTS) gave a presentation about the state of theological education in the former Soviet Union. Eric went to that while I watched Corrie May and Caleb, two of the other kids on our team. It was fun to play with them and to imagine doing the things we did (playing Uno, writing secret messages with lemon juice) with Dietrich some day.

I’ll catch Anatoly’s presentation on video. Dietrich has reached a stage in which he’s a bit hard to take places for two reasons: 1) He’s very vocal. And very loud. 2) He’s so easily distracted from eating that he will skip whole meals, which makes him cranky. And very loud. This means the day when we will start leaving him with a nanya is drawing near, but I'm in no rush.

In the afternoon, Dietrich and I sorted his 6- to 9-month clothes, since he’s slowly growing out of the 3- to 6-month stuff. We picked out a few things to pass along to a pregnant friend here. We made soup. We made French toast for dinner. We meant to make granola, but it never quite happened. Soon, we will have baths and bedtime as another pleasant day draws to a close.

Taking the plunge

Dietrich witnessed his first baptism on Saturday. Members of our church gathered at a Pentecostal church more than an hour’s journey from our side of town. Why? Well, it’s really cold, so an outdoor baptism wouldn’t do, and this church has a baptistery it was willing to share.

We've been privileged to take part in several baptisms since we arrived in Ukraine, but I felt the most personal connection to this one. The four folks being baptized included two young men who regularly attend the youth group that meets at our house and a woman from our Ukrainian small group. It was a thrill to watch as they publicly professed their faith in Christ and their desire to serve Him.

I also enjoyed watching Dietrich interact with various members of our church. Many folks have really taken to our little guy, showering him with affection and asking lots of questions about his development. A favorite moment: When our pastor turned to Dietrich and asked when he’d get to baptize him. Baptism is certainly a few years off, but we soon hope to dedicate him at Svet Evangelia, since we recognize that the church will play a big role in his upbringing. Here are some of the people who already are taking a keen interest in his little life.


Several young ladies from the youth group, plus our Sunday School leader, Ira, in the middle.


Nikolai, who lives about an hour outside of Kyiv yet faithfully attends church every Sunday. We appreciate his warm heart, sly sense of humor, willingness to teach us about culture and gregarious personality.


Tamara is also a member of our Ukrainian small group. Every week, when the congregation is asked to pray, Tamara jumps in first. She's not shy, and we love her for it!