Coldest Day Yet.! A Hint of Things to Come...

Brrrr.  Today it never got above freezing, and tomorrow it is not going to get past about 10 degrees (F, not C!).  Yikes.  Gio and I did venture out in the morning to attend our first toddler group.  It took me a few tries with taxi drivers to find one that understood where I wanted to go.  When we arrived I had my first chance to sit down in a room filled with English-speaking people and just chat.  It felt good.  Gio was immediately comfortable and ran off with another boy to cause mischief.  He spent a lot of time searching for toy cars.  Sadly the 3 girls who live in this apartment do not seem to share his obsession so he finally made do with some Legos.  I met quite a few women who were full of advice about how to adjust to life here.  I am already looking forward to next Tuesday morning!

Now Gio and I are spending a long afternoon and evening together at home.  The cold and falling snow made me think again about my plan to venture out with him to change some money and buy a few toy cars for his "garage."  He is just recovering from a cold so I decided to be a "good mummy" and keep him inside instead.  The hours are long, though, without much to do.  Right now I am typing while he looks at truck photos on the iPad.  He alternates between that, jumping in his "bouncy castle", and, when I am really not paying attention, sneaking upstairs to play with the bidet.  Ugh- what are these things for anyway besides water toys for curious toddlers??

Hot chocolate hits the spot on such a bitterly cold day.

Gio is refusing to take his nap these days, so I find him "resting" a lot, esp in the afternoon. 

The garage.

Must study this!  I joined the "International Women's Club of Kiev" today.  This seems to be stuffed with information.

It is hard to explain how challenging it is for me to grocery shop here.  I basically choose stuff that I recognize and guess at everything else.  Here are a few items from my trip to the store today....

Gio is really into cereal right now.  This looked like one he would like.  Oddly he was never one of those babies who liked Cheerios.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.

I picked this from the photo.  I assume it is a can of tomatoes.  Trick now is that I got home to discover I do not have a can opener.  So mystery remains unsolved....

Yep, it's milk.  Just not sure if it is whole/lowfat/etc.  And no hint of any organic stuff around.  Sort of scary since Chernobyl is a quick bus ride from here.  Can't help wondering if the cows are radioactive....

Same question about eggs. I always went for the organic, cage-free ones in US.  I just picked the more expensive kind here hoping that meant something.  And Gio likes the pictures!

This was easy.

It took me a few trips to the store, but I FINALLY found peanut butter....I think. Not sure at all what language this is.

Absolutely no idea.  Something I found in our cupboard.  Leaving it alone.