Arrival in Kiev

Ready for flight #1.  Elmo on IPad? Check.  Tiger headphones? Check. Thumb? CHECK!

Breakfast with Elmo in Frankfurt.  Who knew Sugar Smacks were a German delicacy?

A cool wooden jungle gym in the middle of the terminal.  Only in Germany.

 We have now been in Kiev for almost 3 full days.  Gio wakes around 10 or so  (ah, the simple joys of jet lag) then we hang out, eat cereal and play with trucks.  Around 12 we head out to explore a bit, heading in a new direction each time.  The past two days Gio napped on these outings but not today so now I am sitting down here hoping he will sleep in his crib (too small for him so he is really fighting it- he misses his big tented crib and bouncy mattress!).  Today we went to the center of town which is only about 10 minutes from here.  The biggest challenge by far is trying to cross the busy streets as you must go down and under them through a complex series of tunnels that are full of lots of little and big shops.  Very nice and I can imagine a big relief from the cold during the middle of winter but the steps are an enormous challenge for me with the stroller.  I found a few that had ramps so I will just have to learn where I can cross. The Ukrainian people are remarkably kind and helpful.  Today a woman, on her cell phone and in stiletto heels insisted on helping me carry the stroller up a flight of stairs.
It gets fully dark here by 4, which is in another 30 minutes and with Gio's cold being quite strong I think we will end up staying in the rest of the day.  He seems to be quite content with his trucks, puzzles and bouncy castle but I feel a bit stir crazy at times.  I keep busy with laundry, vacuuming and attempting to cook, though it is tough for me as I cannot find the ingredients I want in the stores since I keep buying the wrong things! All of the cyrillic labels and rather vague pictures on labels make buying anything feel a bit like a gamble. Oh well, there is always yogurt, cereal, eggs, proscuitto.... that is what Gio has been eating since we got here!  As soon as our housekeeper/nanny Larissa starts on Friday I think I may turn over a lot of the cooking to her.   The weather is definitely cold and dank with heavy rain all day and night yesterday but so far it does not bother me.  Feels just like Erie/Hanover!
  Gio's cold-altered voice is quite funny- all scratchy and deep when he says "Mommy, hold you" and "No fall down".  His latest phrase he started yesterday was "Change you my diaper." 


And now some photos of our apartment....rather empty, of course, as our shipping container is still somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean....

Our building- our apartment is the one with the lights on the top floor to the right.

View when you enter.  Living/dining room.  Gio's bouncy castle that I brought in luggage is on the right!

Kitchen.  Enclosed porch to right with a dryer (quite rare in Europe!)

TV (with 15 English channels and 30 Italian ones!)...good for long cold days ahead.

Gio and "2 Big Toms" leading the tour upstairs....

Guest room/office

Master Bedroom.  Gio is fascinated with the cross and Jesus on the wall above the bed.  Calls it "Pappa". I have to get used to this European tradition.

My favorite room in the house!  Bigger than our entire house in DC.  Two sinks (my dream), 4-person sauna, shower, huge tub, storage....I could live in here!

Gio's room is enormous! It is semi-divided into a sleeping area and play space.  Just need some things to play with!

Gio's travel crib is not really adequate anymore for his 38-pound self.  We are hoping his jumbo crib arrives very very soon!

More pictures to come soon of our neighborhood.  With so few hours of daylight it is a challenge to get any good shots!  Happy Thanksgiving to all.