This used to be our playground

Apartments in Kyiv lose hot water for two weeks in the summer. After four years, we're used to it. Our hot water was shut off in late July, and we eagerly looked forward to its return. Except that it didn't return. After three-plus weeks, it was nearly time for us to leave for SEND's annual conference, and we were still taking cold showers.

But it got worse. One day, all the trees were cut down around our playground. "Oh, that's a shame," I thought. "We'll have to use more sunscreen."

The next day, instead of a playground, we had a swimming-pool-size hole in the ground. A day later, our courtyard was dotted with five such holes.



Seems it was time to change the pipes, and unfortunately, those pipes ran right under our playground -- a place not only for Dietrich to play, but a place where I get the chance to chat with Ukrainian moms. We both learned a lot on that playground.

We went to the conference and to Poland, and got back to find the hot water on, but the holes still there. At first, word on the street was that they wouldn't replace the playground, but the latest news is that we're going to get a new, safer, plastic play structure. We had learned to play safely on the old playground, but it certainly wouldn't meet many safety standards.

So now we're enjoying the constant presence of construction equipment. Dietrich has learned to say truck and bulldozer, and frequently asks to stand at the window to watch said trucks and "bulldozers" do their thing. (Bulldozer is in quotes because, just after I taught Dietrich to say bulldozer, Eric informed me that the machine to which I was referring is actually an excavator. Probably not the first linguistic mistake I'll make as the mom of a boy.)

One day, while standing at the window watching, we saw the "bulldozer" driver arrive for work. He showed up in slacks and a shirt -- inappropriate attire for construction work. This is common. When we first moved here and had to have furniture assembled, the assembler usually showed up nicely dressed, and then changed into work clothes. But I'd rather forgotten about that step, so I was a little surprised when he stepped behind his vehicle and stripped down to his underpants. Our view (thankfully) was fairly well blocked by the machine, but lots of spying eyes in other apartments would have gotten an eyeful.

Nice to meet you

Hanging out with Dietrich at the moment is like always wearing a "Hello! My name is ... " nametag. If someone gets onto the elevator with us, he looks at them and introduces me. "Mama," he proclaims. "Mama!" At church, he introduces me to people who knew me before there was him. "Mama," he tells them, as if they didn't watch my belly swell as he grew week by week. At the dinner table, he introduces me to Eric. (And then he introduces Dada to me.) Soon, all of Kyiv will know that I'm Dietrich's mama. And that's just fine with me.

From Krakow , with love

We were at a SEND conference last week, just 30 minutes from the Polish border. At the last minute, just before leaving for that conference, we decided that we couldn't be so close to Poland without visiting Krakow. So, rather than come back with the rest of the SEND team, we headed west. It was a dicey decision, since Dietrich had been throwing up for the last two days of conference, but he seemed on the mend, and we decided that our family really needed some time away, together, even if it meant sitting in an apartment with a sick baby. At least it would be an apartment in Krakow.

By the time we arrived Monday night, D was all better. The train we wanted to take back was already sold out, so we were forced to stay another day. (Oh, what a shame, she says sarcastically.)

So, here we are. We spent the day at the zoo, where Dietrich got bit by a duck whom he was trying to befriend. Tonight, we will eat grilled meat and watch horse-drawn carriages and street performers. Last night, we saw fire-breathing dancers. The night before, we watched one guy on a break-dancing team spin on his head for a minute. Who knows who might bust a move tonight?

Turns out I am a luddite

Our Internet's back!

No explanation for why it didn't work automatically when I plugged my laptop in, but it turns out that I made matters worse on Tuesday when I put a period in the wrong place during my conversation with the help desk. I would feel really embarrassed about that misplaced little dot, but it took the two masters 45 minutes to figure it out, so I just feel a little bit embarrassed.

The cost of finding the misplaced period was $10, which we were supposed to pay at the bank. However, we didn't know we had to pay it within a day, so last night our Internet got shut off again. Thankfully, the bank was open today so we were able to pay up.

In other news: We had a lovely time celebrating Eric's 35th birthday on Thursday, and tonight the celebration continues with a Mexican food fiesta with two other couples. Off to cook!

I am not a luddite

A week ago today, my new laptop stopped turning on. I've been out of sorts ever since.

I was just days away from the deadline for two big projects that I work on several times a year for SEND, and I had to ask someone in the States to take them over, which made me feel like a big ol' slacker.

Thankfully, Mac opened several stores here in the past year, so they now have an authorized service center in Kyiv. The authorized service people replaced my keyboard. It's Russian now, which is actually rather convenient, since I don't need to see the letters to type in English, but I desperately need them to type in Russian.

I know this is a rather complainy post, but let me just say that I am SO IMMENSELY THRILLED that my computer works again, and I promise to soon make a backup of all the things I thought were lost forever.

Back to the complaints. Sadly, the authorized service people claimed that my warranty was only good for repairs done in the States. I'll be Skyping Apple about this matter ...

... just as soon as our Internet comes back on.

When my laptop came home, it no longer connected to the Internet. I spent 40 minutes on the phone with the Internet service guy this morning, but to no avail. He and I faced two language barriers: Russian/English and PC/Mac. The Russian/English one was way easier to overcome.

On Thursday, the Internet master (master is the word for a specialized repair person here) will be stopping by to take a look. Last time my Mac wouldn't connect to the Internet, it took three masters the better part of a day to figure it out.

I wish Thursday's master quick success. Dietrich watches Sesame Street via Internet. You try feeding him oatmeal with blueberries, but without Sesame Street!

Milestones

In the past week, Dietrich:

a) Ate a whole Happy Meal for the first time.

b) Got run over by a little red bike. Now every time he sees a kid on a bike, he says, "Bike. Uh-oh!"

c) Sat still for his third haircut.



d) Licked his way to the center of his first Tootsie Roll Pop — a gift from the lady from whom we buy our water. Somehow, the water lady has a whole stash of American candy that I've never seen sold in Ukraine. Dietrich thinks she has the best job ever, because from her kiosk she can see every car, truck, bus, motorcycle and tram that goes by.

e) Grew to love a new babysitter, Anna. Anna really bailed us out when our regular sitter's daughter got sick in the village (where they have a little house and grow veggies), so they couldn't return.

f) Took several three-hour naps. That Anna tires him out. Thanks, Anna!

g) Had a little girl hold his hand. But she was just trying to woo him into giving her his crocodile toy.

h) Only wet one pair of underpants today, and managed to put almost all his poop in the potty. This isn't consistent enough behavior to be considered a trend, but it's a nice break from the days when we go through every pair of underpants before naptime.

Things we're into these days

It seems I took a little break from blogging. We had guests for much of June, and then I threw a baby shower (in Russian!) for a friend, and evidently it's taken me a while to recover from all the entertaining and excitement. So, just to get back in the saddle, I present the following list.

Things we're into these days

1) Classic Sesame Street via YouTube. I'm trying to wean Dietrich off his addiction to the not-very-educational Muppet Show. But, oh the nostalgia! I nearly teared up at "I'm an aardvark" yesterday.

2) Fruit. On Sunday we quickly consumed the season's first watermelon, and I've been using up stuff in the freezer to make room for frozen strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and peaches. Here's to smoothies in November!

3) Dietrich's liberties with the English language. You say potato? Dietrich says podada.

4) Work. So much to do.

5) Late bedtimes. After-dinner strolls to take advantage of the warm summer nights have pushed Dietrich's bedtime back to about 10 p.m. He's a night owl, like his momma.

6) Playground vocabulary. I'm meeting with one of my old Russian teachers a couple of times a week to make sure that I'm saying things correctly when I talk with Dietrich on the street. When we initially studied Russian, I didn't realize how important phrases like, "Don't touch the dog/glass/poop" would become.