The last time I posted was a bit over a year ago.  Ho boy!  Things have changed.  Needless to say, I am separated.  I have temp custody of the kids.  And we are waiting for things to simmer down.  I expect them to at some point in time, but they are still tedious for the moment.  I guess this is just the next big change in the great adventure.

The kids are taking things in stride.  They have been living with this whole thing for as long as I have and so the transition part of it has less of a sting than would normally be present.  That, and they are super awesome kids.  Can't overstate that.

To Cub or Not To Cub

Before Misha turned 8, I had been mulling over the idea of whether or not to start him in Cubs.  I had taken him to some pack meetings (I am currently cubmaster), and regularly took him with me to the scout office to pick up awards (he has a morbid fascination with the elevator in the scout office).  He seemed to enjoy it, even asking if he could go to the scout office and pack meeting.

I knew going into it that Misha wasn't going to get a lot of what they do.  I did want to see if he would enjoy the experience.  I am not worried about Misha's behavior; he is generally quite pleasant.  He does tend to wander as he is quite curious, so when they asked if he would be in scouts, I said that could work if he could be assigned a helper to keep him on task.  After a bit, they called two older scouts to alternate as his helper (to pick him up, take him to, assist him at, and bring him home from den meetings).  That lasted a couple weeks in November.  One of the helpers got busy with a team, the other just doesn't show up.  I would have used K. to help, but they decided to call him as a den chief with the other den, so that option is gone.

I sent him to scouts with K. last week but their groups didn't combine and Misha was there sans helper.  I got an email today from his den leader saying that, in short, Misha is great, but he needs supervision that we can't provide.  Now I am frustrated and disappointed.  I wanted this to work; to give Misha a chance at participating in "normal" activities.  I am not going to tax the primary with this problem as it is obvious that flakey teens aren't going to be there for him and the leaders are too busy themselves (I can empathize with that).

I could go with him, but this is when I get to make dinner between dropping people off and picking them up (when its not pack mtg night).  If Misha hated scouts, this would be a non-issue, but he seems to enjoy it. Replacing this activity with another won't work because, again, on this particular day I drop people off then make dinner, then pick them up.   In short, I don't want to "burden" other people with my special needs kid.  But even more so, I don't want to let him down.

Misha can ride a bike!...and other tidbits

Misha has had a small bike with training wheels for a while.  He has enjoyed pedaling around on it.  He frequently goes around the block.  We have taken the walking trails in the canyon.  We even biked a mile or so to a park he wanted to play at.  It's slow going but he likes it.

A couple of weeks ago, Irks decided that he had balance enough and that he should try it without training wheels.  After a few tries, he took off.  Who knew?!?!  Now he asks all the time to go ride a bike.  He continues to amaze and confound our expectations.

Misha love General Conference.  Not for the talks, of course.  The Friday before it started, I told him that it would be conference the next day.  He got a big grin and excitedly said, "Tabrrkel Choir", which of course means Tabernacle Choir.  He joneses for the hymns.  Expecially when they sing his favorites.  Currently his favorite hymn is "More Holiness Give Me".  The repetition of the drawn out, "Moooore" gets him laughing every time.  He even has included new bits centered around his current fixations.  For instance, "More stop lights in Provo.  More Baska (our cat) and Shadow (our dog)...".

My aunt and cousin were in town for a few hours on Saturday so we had a picnic lunch at the park.  It happened to be the same park next to the school that Misha attends.  At the same time, there was a large student group roasting hotdogs and stuff sharing the same pavilion.  Misha, in true form, made a drive by snatching and got a hotdog and a glass of rootbeer before anyone was the wiser.  He does this at home, too.  If we leave something out/exposed that he likes, he will innocently waltz up to it humming or singing, snatch a handful, stuff it in his mouth, and scamper off.  Chips, raisins, and bread are common, but we also get little mouse bites in cheese blocks, or finger gouges in butter.  Gonna have to work on that.

Misha has a morbid fascination with some things...like elevators, escalators, and the hair clippers.  Recently K. was in the kitchen when he heard a loud buzzing and Misha running out of the room.  Misha commonly will go into our bathroom and pull the clippers out and toss the bits all over the place.  He evidently pulled them out this time, took them to the kitchen where we do haircuts, plugged it in and turned it on.  The sound was enough to scare him half ot death.  

My favorite Christmas present

My favorite Christmas present came early this year.  It was a long time coming and actually required quite a bit of effort.  But it paid off and is beautiful.  Now you may be wondering what wonderful gift I am talking about.  Here it is:  Misha is pooping in the toilet!

There have been times this past year when I wondered if he was ever going to learn.  I honestly didn't relish the idea of having to change diapers on a teenager.  But he finally did it.  They had been working with him at school and we had been working on him at home (with less frequency, admittedly).  I had been trying to tempt him by promising Angry Bird time on the tablet, but he still hadn't pooped.  He didn't want to for some reason, which is common for kids like him.

Irks decided it was time to really go for it, so she started by just sitting with him in the bathroom as long as it took for him to go.  I think the first few times it took over 45 minutes a piece.  We would then shower him with praise, high-5s and, of course, Angry Birds.  After a while of having to sit with him, he started going in by himself with prompting and going.  Now, he is at the stage where he will announce he has to poop and go in by himself, or just go without prompting then announce he is done.

I am so glad.  It is night and day.  Misha is no longer smelly half the time.  We don't go through the same amount of clothing per day.  His stomach, which used to be a little pot-belly, has flattened out some with the reduction of his colon.  He even seem to be putting on some weight.  Awesome.

Yesterday we went sledding at the local jr high (has some great small hills).  After a few times going with Irks or myself, Misha told us he wanted to go "Ya sam" (by myself).  He went down laughing all the way and we would slide down after and walk the sled up with him.  We then let him go down and didn't go after him.  After a minute of sitting there, he climbed out and tugged the sled up the hill and went down again.  For Misha that is a big step.  Awesome again!

And I didn't get the flu that ran through my family.  Good Christmas all around.

Quarterly Update?

I guess it's time for an update. I guess.

Except there isn't much to report.

The kids are all well. They are all doing well in school. Asya likes K.G. Maeser and the other two like N.W.A.. Even Misha from time to time reports, "I like Mrs. Smith." Misha is doing well in his class and is the delight of his teachers. Mrs. Smith reported that he gets the giggles about a word or phrase or sound in class a lot like he does at home.

I redid Misha and Kiril's room which is now Misha and Nikolai's room. The only problem is getting those two to stay in bed when you put them down.

Irks is enjoying school. She is a star student despite all her worries about math...of course I don't see her much. If she isn't at school she is studying...or at art night...or at art night again...or studying.

Me...I just work. That's all I really do. Although I did go on the Klondike with Kiril and only got slightly popsicleized.

It's been a lot of fun watching Misha these past few months and his social abilities develop. He is expressing his wants really well. He is really good at expressing his dislikes as well. He has even picked up "I don't love you" from Boba. Baba Liza brought over from her last trip a computer animated cartoon series from Russia which is much better quality than they have had in the past. Misha loves it and asks to watch it almost every day. And he sits there and laughs hysterically at it every time. He also lets you know when he is "very, very tired." I think that phrase comes from Mom.

He transitioned to the district autism program. They changed his initial diagnosis from developmentally delayed to autism spectrum so he would qualify for the services (according to the district psychiatrist, he tests within the spectrum). This is good because the autism programs tend to have a really well-structured program that helps a lot with Misha's attention span. His canned response on what he did in school today is expanding too. He will mention some things he did instead of the traditional "I played." or "Fun" responses.

With Boba transitioning into Primary from Nursery, we figured it was time to move Misha out too. It will be interesting to see how he does this year. I know he can handle it as he goes to school full day, but will he enjoy it...or will he benefit from it. We'll see.

Haven't had much to say, that's why.

Yah, I know. I haven't blogged much. Been busy. Summer time...you know. Ira was taking ESL classes this summer, so I played Mr. Mom whilst she conjugated verbs and played around with past perfective participles or whatever they are. We've been camping a couple of times, been to Ira's friend's cabin a couple of times, but not much else.

When I started my job in March, I knew that it was going to be tough to meet my financial goals...or even keep at the level we were are when we were laid off mainly cause I had taken a 5-6% hit. We managed to bank most of my severance and also the consulting I did. But it wasn't enough. My goals are simple really: Pay the bills, pay the mortgage, pay tithing, put money away, take the wife to dinner. Not big goals. It wasn't long til I came to the understanding that something was going to have to change. So I started interviewing again. If someone wanted to torture me, all they would have to do is make me do interviews. We hates them, we does.

So about 6 weeks ago, I interviewed at a well known place in the valley. My immediate feedback from the interview was really positive. I was quite hopeful of getting an offer...and I waited. Waited. Waited. Finally my source there told me that the senior management had decided to go with the "other guy". I was disappointed but that's life. I know I do not interview well.

So time passed...so did some more interviews. A couple of weeks ago Friday, my source chatted me and told me I should be expecting some good news. And good news it was. I got an offer which was beyond my expectations and I decided to go with it. What I found was that my old work didn't want to let me go. But I kept with my decision after some internal wrestling. So off I go.

Update

So, after a couple of long months being unemployed, I finally landed. It's a well established company that has been around since the 50s. Here's a hint. It has something to do with cows. Yes, I said cows. Also banking. But not banking cows...as far as I know. I also am busy in the evenings doing contract work for one of my old company's clients that was left unhappy with the previous contractors.

Ira is as busy as ever and finally decided that home schooling was more work than she wanted to deal with, which interestingly enough coincided with me going back to work and the end of her vacation from it all. It's about time.

Misha is talking up a storm. He is learning to speak sentences instead of phrases and at school they are working on him saying things in 1st person, not 3rd person.

Boba has finally stopped getting up before 6:30, but that doesn't matter cause I get up before then anyway. While I was on a call the other day, Boba babysat Misha cause Ira had to run the kids and baba around.

Other than that life is calm. Very, very calm. And that is good.

I take the challenge!

I dunno. The hair really isn't me. To see the original: http://fourboysonegirl.blogspot.com/2011/02/you-can-be-as-pretty-as-me-challenge.html

Winter

Me in Sydney. Spent 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and 2 after consulting onsite at a client.
Me at the Opera House right outside the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Palm and Christmas trees side by side....it ain't right.

This is much better. A 3 story tree in a department store.
Went to the zoo one weekend. We thought these were fake until I saw one move.
A view of my work and hotel from the Sydney Tower. I worked in the building second from the right. I stayed in the Marriott 6th from the right, bordering Hyde Park.
A view from work out upon Sydney Central over Hyde Park. The opera house is the two white triangles poking out left of middle.
The deadliest snakes on Earth.
And Dory, maybe. But I can't remember.
I came home to cold, snow, layoffs, Christmas and the inevitable Russian New Year's Party.
Dasha lying around on the job instead of sledding.
Ira and Misha sure had fun.

Long overdue update

Since it seems I will be having a load of free time on my hands in the near future, and considering I have been remiss in blogging the last while, it seems like a good time catch up. So what's been happening you ask? Well:

Asya turned 11. People in our new ward call her "Lee" (that's what she told them her name was when we moved in. It catches me off guard every time.

Ira and I went camping by ourselves and Ira made me go "plain air" painting. I won't show you my painting. I am hoping it was destroyed.
We had our 3rd(?) annual Harding Family Reunion at Heber Valley. Ira had the kids doing all sorts of projects like sculpting and boat making.

Good thing the boys were around to save us all from the big, ole' scary...

...chipmunk.

We also had several picnics, hikes, etc...

Misha turned 5 and really likes riding his new bike. See how he smiles?!?

Blowing out his cake.
And our annual trek to the zoo
And our annual Turkey Trot to Thanksgiving Rock in Dry Canyon...
And I spent a month in Sydney. I'll try to find the pictures (I took two different camera's on the trips so the SD cards are in different places.)

Conference Stuff

We finally made it to the 1p36 Deletion Support and Awareness conference this year. It was, in a word, awesome. Finally we got to rub elbows, hob nob, and mix with all the people we have only see in .jpg format. We found out some interesting facts on the genetics of it and got to listen to the panel of therapists answer questions on a wide variety of topics.
The first day, it was just Ira and I and Misha. The highlight of the day, of course, was Rachel Coleman. As she was the first item on the first day, she was there when we arrived. I pointed her out to Misha and asked him who that was. He answered without hesitation "Signing Time". Her presentation was a mix of songs for the kids and talking about her story for the adults. And she was gracious enough to stay afterward for a photo shoot with any and all the families who desired. After lunch, there was an optional activity at the Gateway fountain. Misha didn't know what to think at first, but then he started running around himself to get soaked.

The next day, we brought the rest of the gang for the Sib Camp. The kids thought it was great too. As you can see, Nikolai was really enjoying a rich chocolate brownie in the hallway.

Thanks Nate, Melanie, Phoenix and the others who got it all organized. It was great.






We also went camping a couple of times with Ira's friends up above Sundance.



And went on a hike to Stewart Falls.

Gobsmacked!

I suppose I should tell you about the weekend before I get to the good stuff.

Friday was Father & Son's. Feeling brave, I decided to take Kiril, Misha and Nikolai with me. I figured Kiril could help out with the two wee ones. For the most part, it worked out. We went up Diamond Fork. The weather couldn't have been better. I was perfect.

We got up there a bit after 5 and immediately set up. I hate having to do that stuff later when you are tired and it's dark. So I got the tent up, the pad inflated, sleeping bags laid out. Kiril was running to the car and back, hauling our gear over. His nose started bleeding and so his hands and arms were covered where he had wiped it off. I was almost done, about to lay out the last sleeping bag, when I hear Nikolai start crying. While Kiril had been running back and forth, Misha and Nikolai had kept close, just wandering around the tent. So I sent Kiril over to look. He brought Nikolai over, who was covered in ants. He was crying of course because they were busy biting him.

I spent the next few minutes cleaning them off of him and squashing the little buggers. They were everywhere. In his hair, in his shirt, in his socks, in his diaper. And the little buggers would latch on and not let go. He was crying for about an hour. He would cry and sob "Колучий!" which means pokey or thorny. And "больно!"-- "It hurts". Finally getting him calmed down with food, we were able to settle in and enjoy the rest of the evening.

During the night, Nikolai also got a bloody nose and we woke up with it all over his face, arms, hands, pajamas, and the air mattress. But no one fell in the fire or in the river, so I call it a success.

During the course of the evening, Misha was wandering about doing what Misha does. At one point, he wandered over to where our dinner was, pointed at the bag of food with the word Taco on it and said, "Taco." You may remember that I blogged about something like this recently. I didn't think much of it cause we had been pulling tacos out of the bag.

It kinda nagged at me though, so I decided to do an experiment yesterday. I got a piece of paper and wrote "Taco" on it. I called Misha over and pointed to it and asked him what it said. He said "Taco". As soon as Ira and I managed to get our jaws off of the floor we tried another word. And another. And another. Misha successfully identified: taco, Misha, pizza, cat, dog, Elmo, Dasha, and a few other words. There were some he didn't know but he guessed at.

I am guessing at this point that Misha is seeing the words as pictures. He doesn't know all his letters yet, but he is very good at visual association. I just had no idea he could read. Today "taco", tomorrow Shakespeare!

Bed time ritual

We have gotten Misha down to a regular bed time schedule. It's great being able to avoid all the fussing he used to have when he put him down for the night.

1. Diaper change and pajamas. Hopefully we can get him potty trained and get rid of the diapers all together.
2. Brush the teeth. Misha still likes brushing his teeth. We sing songs while we do it to keep him distracted. He prefers the "ABC" song, or "Twinkle, twinkle". He gets lazy on his pronunciation if I don't move the toothbrush out fast enough.
3. Prayers. He usually likes to pray in English but sometimes goes Russian. He makes more sense in English though.
4. Little Bear. Our nighttime ritual has become fixated on two stories from the Little Bear series. When Misha jumps into bed he immediately says, "Fshoop". What he means is "Birthday Soup". We have to read Birthday Soup. Every time. He is getting good at some of the bits...he really likes the "peas" and "pomotomomadodoes" part. As soon as we finish Birthday Soup, we have to also read the Goblin story "pit-pat-pit-pat-pit-pat". His favorite part other than the "pits" and "pats" is when the goblin snaps his fingers at the end.
5. I then leave Misha in bed with is book and the light remains on until Kiril goes to bed. No more crying. No more escaping.

The other day we had a picnic with some friends who made bbq chicken. Anytime someone mentioned the word "chicken" as in "this chicken is good" or "here, try some chicken" or when Misha ate a piece of chicken, he would emit this loud "bok-bok-bok!" Even the next day while telling the family about it, I said "chicken" and Misha immediately "bok-bok-bok"ed.

We are moving this weekend. Moving sucks. But it ought to be good. Misha loves the doorbell pipes.

Can Misha READ???

Last night, we went to Mom & Pop's to visit mom who just got back from Washington. As we were leaving Pop was kinda wigged out cause he said that Misha had been rummaging around the pantry, had pulled out a packed of taco seasoning and said, "Taco". Then Pop said Misha pulled out a can of Coke and said,"Coke". We were kinda gobsmacked. Mom asked if we had Coke at home and I answered that we generally don't have any kind of carbonated drinks at home.

So I called Misha over and pulled out the taco seasoning packet and asked him what it was. He said, "Taco! Yum, yum." But then it did have a close up picture of part of a taco on it. Then I pulled out the Coke and asked. I am pretty sure he answered, "Sok", which is Russian for "juice".

I am not sure though. Last week, he brought an advertisement over to Ira for Pizza that didn't have any picture of any pizza on it at all and said, "Pizza."

Maybe it's time to start teaching Misha to read, if it's not already too late.

Dino Museum

Misha's school had a field trip to the dinosaur museum that Thanksgiving Point. I got off work early to take him and also dragged along my new toy--Nikon D3000. So here are some pictures:



Aside from bolting toward the nearest exit the first time he saw a dinosaur, Misha mostly ignored the bones. He was more interested in the fence, or the fishes in the water, or the emergency doors and light switches.

Unless it was the erosion table. He would have played in there for hours if I hadn't have dragged him away.



He was keen on the prehistoric fish:



The giant shark didn't even phase him:

And played for a while in the sand pit. He is good buddies with one of his instructors:

But his favorite part of the day was getting windblown when we were leaving:

It was a good day.

Been a while...

My brother reminded me I have been remiss in blogging. So I am repenting.

My reason for not blogging is I really don't have much to say. It's all busy, busy, busy doing the mundane work-a-day things and nothing special, exciting, or awful to report.

Misha--still going to Giant Steps. He really enjoys it. He enjoys going. Enjoys being there. Enjoys coming home. Enjoys trips in the car. Hates coming home from those. He has turned into a parrot. He is in the phase of speech development where he repeats (or tries to) whatever word you say last. That makes two of those in the house. He is getting daredevilish at the park. He fell 5-6 ft twice last time we went. Once he climbed up a ladder and couldn't get down and fell while I was walking over to help. He likes to reach out and snag a monkey bar and hang there swinging back and forth. Sometimes he can get back onto the platform, other times he falls. I caught him a couple of times but the last time, he was over there by himself and plopped into the wood chips.

Nicolai--quite a character. He is talking a lot and has realized that Misha is fun to bug or bully. We have to rein him occasionally. But he also shares with Misha and is excited when he comes home on the bus. He really like Baba Cindy and cries for her sometimes. One of his best friends there is Baba T. He brings her her book, movies, helps her walk down the hall, helps her to her chair, gives her hugs, etc. He is going through nursery initiation which means that one of use has to spend some quality time in Nursery each week. He is learning though. Once snack time hits, he could care less who is in the room with him.

Dasha--Ever read the poem "There was a little girl, she had a little curl..." That is Dasha. When she is good, she is very, very good. But when she is bad she is horrid. Not really. She has her ultra-whiny moments but for the most part is very helpful and patient while we work on her eczema. We have been to an allergist and are going to go for a round of blood tests and then to a dietitian.

Kiril--Usual energizer bunny energy. My mother's cousin Kirk was over a couple of Sunday's ago and Kiril talked his ear off. He is interested in everything at once...as long as it doesn't include work.

Asya--Same as usual. Constantly with her nose in a book.

Ira--her new thing is wooden figures that she designs, cuts out, sands, burns, paints and now is selling on irishenciya.etsy.com. As with anytime she gets bitten by a new art bug, she spends all her time and energy on it.

Me--not much. Work and more work. Running and biking. Working. Some play when I get a chance. whee.

Updates

It's been fun with Misha recently...well, it's always fun with Misha. But it's been lots of fun to watch his progress.

--Misha is picking up new words. The other night he picked up a new favorite word "nachos" and repeated it all night long. He really gets a kick out of the "ch" sound in words. He is more willing to try new words. The Nikolai factor has given him a competitive edge.
--I finally saw something specific that Misha has been practicing in school. A couple days ago, he entertained himself, and me, by walking backwards then running forwards across the length of the room. Over and over.
--He is finally getting the knack of hugs and kisses. Before, he would just lean his head in for a kiss whenever you asked for either. He has started giving hugs and kisses spontaneously. Especially to Mama, Baba Cindy, and his favorite Aunt Christy. His small cousins also retain his favor.
--Misha has become an avid artist. Whenever he can find a scrap of paper and a pen/pencil/marker/crayon/improvised writing implement, he will spend a lot of time scribbling.
--We moved the boys back upstairs and now Misha doesn't like to go to bed alone. He always asks for "Iggy" who generally goes to bed later, and will cry at his door, open/shut the door, leave his room until Iggy goes to bed or we chase him back in several times.

Asya -- still enjoying school. We have to get after her for reading when she should be doing something else. English, Russian, it doesn't matter. She reads as if she is starving for the words. Like her old man, I suppose.
Kiril -- Turning 9 this weekend. Tends to make things up when writing school articles. According to Kiril, grizzly bears weigh as much as an elephant, have needle-sharp claws, sharp metal fangs, and strong bones to tackle their prey.
Dasha -- Her reading has taken off. She reads to Misha and Nikolai, or Ira or I.
Nikolai -- Talking up a storm. Usually gibberish, but he is also picking up words. Whether the kids, the parents, or Misha. Very much a mommy's boy.

2009 wrap-up short list

--Successful Russian New Year's party, one 2.5 families.
--Kiril gets baptized.
--Ira battles the system and gets Misha into Giant Steps. (It's been great for him).
--Another farm trip to Lyman, UT. Skipped this one too (had to work, whew). Kids loved it.
--Start Baba Liza's green card process.
--Misha and Nikolai in competition. Lots of progress for both.
--Did round 1 on the HCG diet. Lost some weight.
--Misha starts hugging and kissing people.
--Started temple work for Ira's family (got her crotchety ole dad baptized finally).
--Get Baba Liza's green card.
--Successful Russian New Year's party, 60 people, no accidents.

After the wife picked me up from work yesterday, we were riding home and she was explaining that she has Misha try different sounds while they ride around in the car.

With a bit of prompting, Misha proudly pronounced "Sh-sh-sh-kol-ya" (russian word for school is shkola). Then she asked him who was in his class. He replied, "de-ti" (deti = children). For the rest of the ride home, he continued spouting out those words. Of course by bed time, he would only say, "kol-ya".

While I brush Misha's teeth in the evening, we sing the "ABC song". He does fairly well alternating letters with me. He still gets hung up on "L-M-N-O-P" though.