So the title says it all… but let me start from the beginning (Friday evening).

Mikey went to sleep like normal. I don’t think we had any incling of the impending ~24 hr flu, or stomach virus, or the repercussions that may have come as a result of food (or non-food) poisoning. Regardless, Friday seemed fairly normal. Though it was a day off, I worked about half of the day. The nanny took Mikey to the park and such (perhaps this is where he got the bug).

Everything was normal.

We had tuna sandwiches for dinner, and as usual, Mikey liked them. My wife has become quite the tuna salad afficianado, particularly given the fact that I just showed her how to make tuna salad for the first time about 6 months ago.

Again, everything seemed fine, until ~2am, when all of Mikey’s tuna ended up on the bed of the crib and on the floor just beyond its edge. The constant crying should have been a clue to something really wrong, but sometimes he just has a bad dream and then falls back to sleep. But after 3-4 minutes, Helen went to check on him.

She observed the trauma, stayed up with him after cleaning everything up, and got him to go back to sleep after about an hour. I can’t recall for sure (I stayed asleep – thanks Helen!), but I think he may have had another episode at 4 or 5 am. When I woke up (~9 am, Saturday) Helen explained the situation. Clearly he was very feverish – and it was concerning.

It took a while for the Ibuprofen to kick in (almost 2 hours) – but I think it was because he was sooooo hot (his legs, his head, his back, his chest – but his feet were cool/cold). Though the Ibuprofen helped, after 3 hours we gave him a full dose of Children’s Tylenol. That too seemed to help, but he was still hot.

He drank a bottle of milk, and that came back up within about 15 minutes. He was right next to me, and I didn’t know that his “stomach issues” were gonig to persist, so I didn’t have a bowl ready.

If flooded out like a quart of expulsion from a large pressurized garden hose. It was for sure more than he drank.

It pooled in the corner of our [rented] leather couch. I had to let it rest and soak into the cracks while I cleaned him up, changed his clothes, and took some time to calm him down. Like most anyone (especially any kid), he gets a bit scared when he vomits. He doesn’t understand why it’s happening, and of course it is a completely autonomic response (both sympathetic and parasympathetic). But I should not digress into the scientific rabbit hole…

After cleaning up the ejected milk, and waiting another 15 minutes or so, we proceeded to give Mikey some water. Of course we did this because we began to feel as if he might be a bit dehydrated after vomiting last night and in the morning. Unfortunately, this was our second mistake: I think we provided him with too much (we basically let him drink as much as he wanted). Essentially this was ammunition for the second cannon shot.  We saw the water, a second time, shortly thereafter.

From early morning I was sitting on the couch next to him. He was laying down, was still very hot, and clearly lethargic. He was wobbly, and had a hard time moving – and when he did anything even the slightest bit “strenuous” he shaked and was unsteady on his feet. SCARY for the parents, without a doubt – I promise you. But the fever was slowly cooling.

He slept. Almost an hour if my memory serves correctly.

When he woke he was again sweating. We continued our standard therapy, and decided it would be good for him to physically cool down – so we gave him a brief, cool bath. He was just too warm for my liking – and the latest dose of NSAIDs hadn’t kicked in yet (and of course you don’t want to double dose, ever, unless the alternative is going to clearly be much worse than any possible side effects).

Finally, we settled on a little juice and some water after calming down in front of the TV. I guess this was our third mistake. We shouldn’t have given him ANY more than ~10 mLs of ANYthing. But again, we thought he needed some fluids, and he seemed to like the strawberry-banana juice I picked up at the store last week. Again, he seemed fine… until it all came back up – this time on the other side of our L-shaped, off-white, all-leather couch (again – thankfully rented).

The PROBLEM (This THIRD TIME) was that my closed laptop was laying nearby. Too nearby if you know what I mean. And wouldn’t you know it – the projectile vomit went straight into the left side of my 17″ MacBook Pro. Because it was closed, my immediate reaction was that this was going to be no problem… I’ll just clean it and all will be OK.

Nope. Duh.

Again the emesis (mostly just water and juice – but routinely appearing to be greater in volume than what we had given him, implying that it was coming from beyond the proximal duodenum/ileum) was prolific and thorough. Yuck. But it was pretty clear fluid, for the most part, so I’m really not sure what was happening – and just assumed that he had a bad stomach bug. Obviously nothing was staying down.

The problem, once again, was that I had to take care of him in spite the sticky spew all over the couch. Unfortunately I didn’t quite notice the severity of the pooling along the left side of my computer with the immediacy that would have been recommended by my IT support staff. It just so happened that the computer was propped up slightly on the back of the couch, and the left side of the computer was touching the bottom cushion of the couch. This created a small “well” or “V-shape” between the cushion and the computer – and this is where the gastric expulsion rested.

Shit.

I knew this was bad, but what could I do? Shit does happen.

I quickly (within about 5-7 seconds) realized the unfolding drama and moved the computer to prevent the majority of the pooling, and to facilitate drainage. Damage done already – I feared.

After another round of cleaning up, changing the boy, calming the stressful situation, and settling down to vegetate in front of the television again (which is very unusual for our household) – I then tended to my beloved computer.

I used some Q-tips and Kleenex as required to clean out the ports. I opened the laptop, cleaned the fluid that had wicked (capillary action) in between the screen and the left side wrist rest, and shut down the computer before proceeding with a more thorough cleaning. The thin black seal along the edge of the screen, which looks nice and sexy -  didn’t seem to stop the flow. I wonder if Apple ever tested for puke seepage during R&D?

I had to squish the end of the Q-tips with plyers in order to flatten the tip(s) to the point where they would fit into the port.

With the cripmed Q-tips being flat enough to get above and below the male appendage (containing the ~20 contact pins) on the inside of the mini display port, I figured I had accomplished what needed to be accomplished. Gastrointestinal innards were removed, and the port appeared (without diligent inspection) to be generally clear.  But still – I knew it needed more.

I busted out the toothpicks and did my best to clean out any remaining vomitous detritus left behind after the Q-tip swabbing, bit by acidic bit. Feeling pretty confident now, I returned to tending to my son. He was sweating, whining, aching and generally unhappy. I did my best to console him, pet him, cool him, and keep his mind off of his aching muscles/belly/whatever. I asked, repeatedly, where it hurt (in Russian – Где болит) – but he just couldn’t tell me. Either he didn’t know how to say it, or he was just in too much pain to try to explain, or even point for that matter.

After about an hour I openened the computer and fired her up. All seemed well, I connected to the wireless, checked my email, and felt very relieved that nothing had happened to the overall functioning. In the late afternoon/early evening I took my refurbished computer to the office and plugged it into my 23″ monitor, a mouse, the internet cable, and the printer cable.

Problems started here.

The external 23″ monitor didn’t go on after connecting to the mini-display port. It should have, but I’ve had troubles before with the external monitor’s power control box. So, I unplugged all the cables and plugged them back in.

Yeah right. Dreaming I must have been!

My son PUKED INTO my USB and mini-display ports, and I, somehow, was thinking (dreaming) that something ELSE must be wrong?   Talk about denial not being a river!

But after 2 minutes of trying various things, plugging and unplugging cables – I admitted to myself that it was most likely the projectile strawberry banana vomit that shorted out my port that controls external monitors.  Nooooooo!

The clincher was when I plugged in my old computer (which is now Helen’s), and it fired up the external monitor straightaway.

Damn it. I love this capability to drive a big, fat external monitor – and I use it both at work AND at home, routinely. Yes, I have a 17″ MacBook – but I love the extra acreage that another monitor provides! DAMN IT! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!  I can’t believe I’ve been foiled by puke.

I proceeded to clean the ports again. The USB worked after the first cleaning – but obviously something is still wrong with the mini-display port… or it did, in fact, short out something inside the computer.

I even tried to run a Apple Hardware Diagnostics on my computer by starting it up while holding down the “D” key – but I guess my computer is too old for this to do over the internet, and otherwise I needed to have the original disc that came packed with the computer – over 2 years ago. Man – I have so many discs floating around, I’m not even sure where it is. I tried restarting with a Snow Leopard disc – that didn’t work. I then tried a Leopard disc – that didn’t work.   Ahhhh – fuck it.

I cleaned out the port again as best I could. Again some miniscule crap came out on the tip of the Q-tip. I thought I’d surely done it now. But alas, as you might have surmised from my story thus far, it was to no avail. Nothing was working. Damn it again…

I became depressed. I even started looking at websites on repairing mini-display ports. There are very few out there – and not much information specifically about any kind of specific issues related to regurgitating into one’s display port and the repercussions or remedies therefor. Without much luck – I started looking at new computers.

Ooooh. New computer!

Clearly I was despondent. I left the computer on the desk, refocused my care on my son once again, and went to bed feeling crappy because my son was ill, and that f’n illness took out my computer as well. Damn it.

[Sunday] I was up at 4 am and 6 am to check on Mikey. Both times he was much better than during the day on Saturday. He was surely a bit warmer than normal, but he was actually pretty close to normal. Instead of waking him up, sticking a suppository up his ass, and possibly causing distress that could result in an hour(s) of crying and recognition of existing pain – I let him sleep. After the 6 am check, I was pretty sure he was doing OK, so I returned to sleep until again, until about 8:30 am, when Jimmy woke up.

Though Mikey wasn’t quite himself, and he appeared to be weak and somewhat dehydrated after waking up – he was definitely better than the day before. He still refused to eat ANYTHING. Nevertheless, I knew he was on his way to recovery – amazingly.

Returning to my computer issue – by mid-day this notion of the mini-display port being fried was starting to fry me and my brain. How did it happen? How could it have happened? I want to see the evidence if something “burned out.” So, I opened up the computer. Pretty easy, because I have some really small screwdrives for my motorcycle. Ten screws later, the back was off, and I was peering around the inside looking for damage. I cleaned fuzz from around the fans and looked for traces of gastric secretions around the affected ports in addition to any unusual markings, fizzles, or anything indicating a “pop.”

I saw nothing, and I wasn’t convinced something actualy fried inside.

I returned to the toothpick supply, the Q-tip drawer, and pulled out my plyers again. I began re-flattening my arsenal of Q-tips, and this time I busted out the last few milliliters of 100% EtOH we have in our stash.

Using all the focal strength of my aging eyes (hardening lenses), and taking advantage of direct sunlight beaming into my living room – I proceeded to clean the port AGAIN. Though nothing was obvious, I noticed some minute dried crusties deep and inside the port. They were for all intents and purposes, not an issue. But I wanted that sucker as clean as could be.

I cleaned once, I cleaned twice, and I cleaned again for good measure.

Can you guess what happened next?

It worked.

Yahoooooo!  Whooooooopie!!!  I am DA MAN!  Ooooooohhhhh   Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!

Soooooo stoked.

My son, who had a 1 day viral infection (or some sort of gastrointestinal toxin, without diarrhea) was in full recovery mode, AND my computer was BACK!

It has been a roller coaster of a weekend, so I thought I should take advantage and not forget it by blogging about it now.

I wonder how many others have brought in their computers to a computer repairman – only for the repairman to find that nothing was wrong with their computer except that a pin inside some port wasn’t clean or was shorting out for some reason?  (Oh, and then charging like ~$300 for a new chip or something).

Anyway, I’m stoked. Happy days again. Time for bed.

 

 

So I’ve had lots of things to discuss – but I’ve been just too busy to sit and write. Or rather, I’ve had lots of other things to do, and just haven’t made time to write new posts.

Anyway, I thought that on Jimmy’s 7th month birthday I would post some pictures of the little hedgehog (ежик) (his Russian nickname). In fact, I thought this might be an opportune time to catch everyone up on the monthly development of Jimmy  – through the eyes of the camera.

Each picture is about a month apart – more or less

Best to everyone!

Cheers!

Well time flies, doesn’t it?

Haven’t posted in a while, and so I thought Jimmy’s 4 month “birthday” (today) would be a good time to share some pictures.

This covers a couple of months –  I hope you enjoy as much as we do!

It has been a while, so I thought I’d write a post about some of Mikey’s new “tricks.”

1) Tantrums.

Yes, the wonderful “terrible” twos have arrived – and a bit early, if you catch my drift. Indeed, I suppose it’s a misnomer. Two doesn’t necessarily mean AT 2 years old. But somehow I was really hoping that such tantrums wouldn’t start until the age of two, at least – which is just under 2 more months. I am truly hoping that we are not going to experience an extended terrible-twos… because that would unbelievably suck. Speaking with a buddy, who happens to be visiting, we discussed his kids’ early years. One was not nearly as painful/challenging (with respect to the terrible twos) as the other, the latter of which turned out to be a total nightmare for about 4-5 months. I figure we are about a month into it now. I certainly hope it slows/stops/disappears as Mikey is better able to express himself. Speaking of…

2) Speech.

Mikey has only begun to speak the most rudimentary of words. For better or worse, he is speaking almost only Russian. This will change of course, but for now, we live in a Russian/Ukrainian speaking country – so it is definitely easier. Mom, Grandma, and Nanny all speak perfect Russian, with Dad lagging a bit (but I can get by). Better said, actually, he is understanding almost only Russian. Real speech is yet to come. One of [wife-given] my jobs (!) is to try to communicate more in English with him – but I don’t like that very much: For one, I don’t get the practice speaking Russian (for myself); secondly, I am being asked to speak with my son in a language (English) that he really doesn’t hear during the majority of the day – making communication challenging and, in fact, relatively ineffective;  and thirdly, my wife is a perfect English speaker – so why she can’t, or doesn’t, speak to Mikey in English is confusing to me? Kapeesh?

Anyway, he has, just in the past week or two, started combining syllables. He has for a while been able to rhyme (repeat) basic 2-syllable sounds: baba, mama, papa, booboo, vava, etc.  Although we’ve tried to get him to say more complex words, his tongue just hasn’t seemed capable of responding to his neural commands. Sure, some things he could say – like “Wow!” BUT, in the last week, he has leapt ahead and started saying words like “apple” and “cookie.” SOOOO AWESOME, and cute! It’s such a simple thing – but for me, it is a remarkable feeling of joy and satisfaction. My son is beginning to speak!  And in the not too distant future, it means that we will begin to have 2-way discussions      I can’t wait!!!

3) Reading.

Of course we’ve been reading books for a long time (almost as long as he has been alive)… but as of this past week he has been seeing letters and taking the initiative of speaking them to me – without me asking him to do so!  For example, when our computer starts up on our big screen TV, it says “P5B-V” in big letters. He is now reading those letters when the TV starts up. At first I didn’t realize what he was doing. But then, he pointed at the letters (numbers) and said them one after the other. Moreover, I would say the word “five,” and he can now repeat the compound sounds!  Pretty cool!

4) Conversations.

Mikey has a “best buddy” at the park. The nannies have a meeting place every day (different places, but generally at the park), and the kids get together and play while the nannies huddle together to gab, gossip, and blab about the kids, life, and how the parents are inept and stupid (I’m guessing). Anyhow, Mikey has a best friend, Luke. In the past week or so, Luke and Mikey have begun conversing with each other! They use total, utter, and complete gobbledygook – but somehow they ARE communicating. Or, at least they appear to be. And they appear to be trying: mimicking the nannies babble to one another in Russian. They say things like “gapoo-dalikala-mooloo, deepadoo-likka-likala-doodee,” etc, etc.. In fact, they appear to be having full-blown conversations, where for a 30 seconds or more they go back-and-forth to each other. We’ll try to capture it on video soon and post it.

5) Eating.

Mikey has recently begun really feeding himself with utensils. Most notably, a fork (вилка). He enjoys “stabbing” the food and lifting it to his waiting mouth! Awesome! He even rotates the fork properly, seals his lips around the tines, and pulls the fork out, leaving the food completely in his mouth! Success!

6) Boo-boos.

He has been getting more and more “ouchies.” Here, they are called “va-vas” (va-va is singular). On his face, on his hands, on his chin and nose, etc…   It seems like almost daily we notice something new. Of course the nanny (Natasha) also sees them, and tries to curb them, but somehow she also enables them. I’m thinking he gets them from playing in/around bushes, and the twigs catch him unknowingly. The worst part is seeing things around his eyes. Shit! Skin is one thing, eyeballs are another.

7) Dancing.

He is a DANCER!  Who woulda thunk it? He loves to dance to almost any/every kind of music on the TV, radio, or even in-house human-generated rhythm. He has been going to “school” where they dance and play – and he is really good!

School.

Speaking of school, he has been going every week and doing various art projects. Usually involving paper and glue, and some sort of inexpensive grain (like barley). But he makes designs and pseudo-pictures. Pretty cool. He made a little Christmas tree postcard. He crayoned a mushroom and glued barley on the cap (it looks like a Polish mushroom).

Like any parent, I feel like I could go on and on and on… so I think I’ll just leave it there for now.

Best to all

So all is well.

Mom is doing great, the baby is resting comfortably in his new crib, and we’ve only had one or two incidents with Mikey getting two close to the baby – and approaching with too much momentum.

So the name -

James Alexander Geller

Why? Because we like it. I think we like Jimmy, because it goes well with Mikey… And James is a nice, strong, uncomplicated, manly name

But I think it’s mostly so that it goes well with his brother… as in… Mikey, Jimmy, get your asses over here, NOW!

Also, Alexander is a very common name in Soviet (or former Soviet) countries. So that’s kinda nice, because he was born in Kiev!

And, we have both a MAG and a JAG. It seems to work.

Here’s a couple pictures of the little dude

cheers…..

It is with utmost joy, glory, satisfaction, and profound elation that I (we) announce the birth of our second son. We are unbelievably grateful for this gift, and we are genuinely moved by his grace and tranquility (so far).

It occurred today, in Kiev, Ukraine, at 10:12am – just a few days before the presumed “due date.”  The morning was delightfully crisp with fresh air and blue skies all around.

Under very relaxed conditions, and with the help of the same doctors that delivered Mikey, our second son took in his first breath of air and let out a couple of brief cries – and with that, our lives have once again changed forever. In fact, the world has changed forever – at least from our narrow perspective.

He is healthy, cute (cuter than the pictures show), alert, strong, a natural feeder, and not fussy (again, it’s just day 1). He weighed in at 3.45 kg (~7 lb, 10 oz), 54 cm (21.25″) long, and 36 cm (14.17″) of circumference at the head. He ranked between 8 and 9 on some scale, up to 10… so I guess he is doing pretty well so far. If it’s a Ukrainian scale, it’s probably bogus… but hey, I’m not going to be cynical on my son’s birthday. There are no guarantees in life – but all seems to be going as it should so far. Thankfully. Very Thankfully.

In fact, I guess this is turning out to be an honest to goodness Thanksgiving. (It always is, but you know what I mean, don’t you?). We are thankful, that’s for sure.

And we want to thank all of you, our friends and family, for being part of our lives, and for being part of our larger family!

THANK YOU!!!!!

большое спасибо!!!

Here are a few pictures. I will update the blog with some more as the days progress. But these are from day 1. Enjoy.

OK,

gotta get to bed, and then back to the hospital in the morning.

Oh, and FYI, Mikey, now a little over 20 months old – is doing great too. We can’t wait for him to meet his little brother!!!

Lots of Love,

Mom and Dad

Neither are 100% accurate, but both are inevitable.

Gonna hunker down for another winter, and do our best to raise a healthy sibling for Mikey.

Obviously more news to come in the nearest future 

All the best,

Snotty

OK, I admit… I’ve been lagging on the pictures
I guess there’s a desire from family and friends to see more pictures of Mikey.
So, here you go…

They are more or less in order, from January (~9 months) until July (just over 16 months).

All seems to be going well.

Enjoy.

… Cuz you know when we sleep aloooone, [it means] Mikey is sleeping all by himself.’

It’s the first time. We moved Mikey into his own room.

13 months, 10 days, 10 hours, 2 minutes (or so).

The first real significant phase in our child’s life is complete.

He has grown, he has matured, and he has taken to his own room like a true champion, too. We moved the crib out of the Master Bedroom, we warmed up the kid’s (or kids’) room, we bathed and cleaned him, and then we dressed him for bed in his own little room. We fed him his pre-sleep milk, and helped him into the crib. Some 20 minutes of rocking and cooing later, the boy was asleep, the nightlight was on, the curtains were drawn, and we were free.

He was a champion. He slept all night long without a peep! He woke up and not a peep! Very Amazing. About 10 hours of near total separation (except for checking on him before going to bed ourselves), and the entire family woke up in the morning – happy as can be imagined.

The best part, we didn’t have to be quiet in our room any more, we could turn the lights on if we wanted to, we didn’t have to tip-toe around OUR own bedroom, etc, etc.

Thank you Mikey.

Thank you.

I’m back!

Wow… I think I aged 5 years in this one year. What a long, strange trip it has been.

Most importantly, my son is now [just over] 1 year old. What a transformation this has been. He is both happy and healthy – touch wood (no, not your wood).

Anyhow, I’m now a “Master” in Biotechnology Management from IE Business School. I suppose it’s another notch in the proverbial belt of education. Admittedly, though, I learned a hell of a lot this year! It was more challenging than I had anticipated, which I suppose is a good thing.

Finally, my job is both demanding and arduous – but I’m apparently doing a pretty good job at it. From this perspective as well, I have learned quite a lot about business and corporate project management, not to mention maintaining my connection with the scientific community and science world. All good and interesting stuff…

So — I’m going to just catch my breath for a few more days, but then I will be getting back to blogging a bit more routinely about [just] one American’s life (and times) in Ukraine.

Here’s a pic just before we cut his hair. Looking forward to the next year!

According to Soviet tradition (though perhaps originating elsewhere, historically – probably religiously oriented), children do not get their hair cut until 1 year of age. Similar to orthodox Jewish tradition where it is 3 years, I believe. Thus, and to the chagrin of my wife, I have been insisting that we do not cut his hair. No trimming, no nipping, no plucking, no clipping. Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow (like one of my favorite Eric Clapton songs).

Of course, I’m not Russian or Ukrainian or even close. If anything I think there’s some Polish and German in the heritage. But since we are in Ukraine, and since our baby was born here, I think it is appropriate to honor some of those traditions. My wife thinks I’m crazy. She wants sooooo badly to cut the bangs because they are hanging in his eyes. But my MIL says it is absolutely a tradition to not cut a child’s hair until their first birthday. I kinda like it.

So we’ve turned to hair gel. Just a couple of days ago I was wondering why my boy looked like a 50′s “greaser.” I was told by my wife that she couldn’t take it any longer, and his hair had to get out of his eyes. So… here is a picture I took today of the little dude. Oh, and still no teeth as you can tell. We are thinking about baby dentures unless they come in soon. Are there such things as “toothless babies?”  I don’t think so… but supposedly hyperthyroidism is a potential cause of very early or very late tooth appearance.  But no other signs of this, so… Enough of the medical talk… here’s a pic from today.

Oh, and HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY – if you like in that kinda stuff…

Even though I have a bit of a head cold, I still woke up with this song in my head. Lionel Richie’s All Night Long. I love this song. It just makes me want to dance and sing along. OK, don’t think about me doing it… here are some original visuals (and sound) while you read along. (Click the video below to have it play along while you read).

So, why might I post a video from Lionel Richie, you ask? Because I felt like celebrating today. Even with a bit of trouble sleeping on my own because of a minor bug I picked up while traveling, it was one of the more comfortable nights in the last year.

One day before he turns 10 months old, Mikey was an Angel!

HE SLEPT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT,

(FOR THE FIRST TIME)

* * *

Oh Lord, please allow this to last… please let this be the first of many, many more restful nights for the whole family.

* * *

Also, and I promise to not provide all the details, but he pooped in his potty like a professional this morning. Supposedly he had done this a couple of times before, but this was the first time I had seen it. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time (if ever) I was so happy to see a little pile of human shit – that I stared at and analyzed for at least 15 seconds – trying to figure out why the two lumps were so different. Obviously it’s due to what we feed him at different meals, butt…….   either way, I need to give huge thanks to my mother in law. She sat there with him, holding him up with his legs in the air, positioning his butt over the light blue plastic potty, while making “grunting, pushing, pooping sounds” for about 10 minutes… and lo and behold – he did it.

Anyhow, the sleeping through the night is (seems like) the real MIRACLE today!!!!!

He slept All Night Long… (all night)…

All Night Looooooong!

Now if we can just get him out of the bedroom….  we’re gonna have a party… All Night Looooooooong!  Feel good, feel good…..

Recently my son has been eating real food. We give him blended mixes of all kinds of stuff: meats/vegetables, fruits, etc… (consequently, things have really begun to smell – but that’s for another day).

Unfortunately he doesn’t always want to eat. Well… even when he does, there comes a point where he simply, without warning (generally), decides NO MORE. This is the first indication that The Hand is about to be unleashed.

Because we want him to grow up strong and healthy, we generally force-feed him the rest of his food whenever possible. It has nothing to do with my wife painstakingly slaving in the kitchen to produce this gustatory bambino delicacy. Really – we do NOT use the turkey baster on him more than once a week.

But seriously folks, we don’t like wasting food – and that really fresh stuff just doesn’t seem to last all that long. Moreover he definitely likes the fresh food more than anything that’s been stored – so we try to get him to eat it all when it’s fresh. When he does finish it, it’s a BIG молод`ец! (Well Done!).

Still… we’ve come to notice a consistent pattern. He stops being interested in the food unless you distract him with something else – at which point the innate feeding behavior returns for another bite or two. But then, it’s…

Resistance!

Inevitably he begins to resist. We counter-attack.

This leads to rubbing of the eyes (глаза), and concomitant blocking of the mouth (рот) (pronounced rrot).

At the first sign of weakness, we again try to slip the spoon in – perhaps after a 10 second lull in the fun and games, and while faux posturing as if we wouldn’t dare try to feed him even one more bite – we usually try one more time.

If we are very lucky, we get ONE MORE scoop in.

But then watch out…

The next attempt will be countered by a right cross, that not only takes out the spoon, but leaves the food that was on the spoon strewn about. Now this, in and of itself, wouldn’t be so impressive or hazardous, because the food stops moving – and in this case, the good eats are easy to clean up.

Unfortunately for us, our son (as I imagine most other babies) has become an expert at precisely hitting the spoon (almost while looking the other direction), splashing food all around the table, and still, miraculously, keeping at least 1/2 of the food somewhere on his hand. And Voila… we have…

Hand on the Loose!

This hand is now capable of contaminating: the chair, the face, his clothes, the table, his hair, the cat, your glasses, your clothes, your hair, the walls, the floor (not the ceiling yet, thankfully), your food, his eyes, your face, the couch, numerous toys within reach, seat cushions, windows, mirrors, and everything else you forget to keep at least one foot away. He flails – We counter. He whines – we grab a napkin. He screams – we go back and forth trying to catch… the Hand on the Loose.

I now think he simply likes the battle. He thinks it’s a game. Thinking to himself, “why should I eat that when I can play with it for at least 30 more seconds!”  To add insult to “injury,” more recently I’ve noticed that Mikey has become more calculated in his decision making – often waiting for that moment when Daddy tries to deliver a really big spoonful, so that the precious offspring can really get a full handful of ammunition…

Ahh… the joys of fatherhood. How can you resist that face

So it’s a beautiful day in Kyiv. Well, maybe I can say that because I like the snow. But the trees aren’t very happy. On my short walk into work, around and between the brick an mortar domiciles which represent older Kyiv (as opposed to the new fancy storefronts that line many of the streets downtown), there were 2 trees that fell. The Kyiv Post story is here.

Sure it was windy, and we got about 6-8 inches of heavy snow. But trees falling down? Yes, sure, I know it goes hand in hand with precarious weather… but I never thought the trees right out in front of our building would be falling down. Shows you what I know…

The snow was apparently really heavy (wet). As it piled higher and heavier onto the leafless branches, and in combination with the soggy ground surrounding the unseen part of the tree, gravity and wind took caused havoc. I’ll try to post some pictures later, if I can get them off of my phone.

Of course, this didn’t stop the now 2-day tradition taking place in the small “parklet” (a wanna be park in front of our building). There were 5-6 individuals today (only 3 yesterday) partaking in breakfast. It was difficult to tell if they were eating anything, but the [first] bottle of vodka was about 2/3 empty. Ahhhh…. the holidays.

* * *

That reminds me of another little story that took place a couple of weeks ago. We had a little get-together at our house for my wife’s birthday on a Saturday evening. A boyfriend (who is a driver) of one of my wife’s grade school friends tagged along. I will focus on him, as it was his behavior was most captivating. He strolled in, in his mild-mannered demeanor, and made himself at home – playing with Mikey at every opportunity. It was a welcome reprieve for my wife and I, and Mikey seemed to like him too. Within 5 minutes he (let’s call him Alex) asked “do you have any vodka?” I said “sure,” pulled an ever-so-slightly acquainted bottle out of the freezer, and offered a shot glass in tow. To make a long story short, over the next 3 hours Alex drank 2/3 of a bottle of vodka. NO problem. His girlfriend said “oh, he really likes vodka.”

What?

How can anyone “really like vodka?”

I’m guessing he likes getting pissed as a sailor on leave (every night he’s not driving, and some nights when he is) more than he likes “vodka.” Anyhow, the only scary part was the fact that he was playing with Mikey more and more as the vodka took effect. Granted, the effect was not as dramatic as it would have been for those of use not constantly maintaining upregulated alcohol dehydrogenase levels, but it was still apparent. He was getting drunk. And the more he did so, the more he wanted to play with Mikey, and the less he wanted to talk to adults.

It was one of those bizarre, somewhat socially uncomfortable situations where you want to interrupt and take your child back – but it would be incredibly insulting, potentially damaging to a very long-standing relationship, and potentially unnecessary (as long as Mikey is not being lofted around the room as if he were manning his own private aircraft – which he did, occasionally). Nevertheless, after several glances with the wife, I chose to hold Mikey for a while. Then she did – and then I did again.

The [not so] funny part is that this is normal behavior for lots of Russians. They drink a LOT… and it is totally normal to drink whole bottles. Crazy.

It seems as though I’m beginning to lose my baby-face,

and I’m starting to look more like a big person.

* * *

More like Mom? More like Dad? Hard to tell… but either way, you know I’m cuter than… !

also…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!!!

Yep, really! I’m 6 Months old today!

I’m sure you know that my Dad has been real busy with work, school, and me. But I convinced him that everyone deserves to see a few pictures of me spanning my first 6 months of life. Bear in mind, this is not all of my photos. If you are interested, you can see some more at: http://www.mikegeller.com

Nevertheless, I asked for a few photos to be posted here, just to tempt you to go to my site.

Enjoy!

No, not like the TV show.

We had a real house call. Strange, but true. Kinda like the “olden” days…

It was time for Mikey’s HepB innoculation, and so we called the clinic. What do you know, they provide “house calls!”

The doctor (pediatrician) showed up with his “black bag,” and a still-cold HepB vaccine, and proceeded to give our son an injection into the anterior aspect of his right thigh, probably between vastus lateralis and rectus femoris, perhaps just a hair proximal to mid-femoral shaft.

He whined for about a minute, but no problem.

The doctor (врач) spoke excellent English, filled out the paperwork, and packed up his bag. He was in and out within ~15 minutes.

A House Call – in Ukraine. How nice….

Hello World!

My name is Michael Anthony Geller. I was born on March 18, 2009, which means I’m a Pisces, like my Dad. Though my parents desperately wanted me to turn upside down, I was insisting to sitting like a little Buddha in the cozy little womb I called home… and consequently, my birthday was (sorta) picked for me.

Here I am showing them where to stick the bottle…

My name was chosen because my parents like the way it sounds. But the more I think about it, I think there is some correlation with some of my forefathers. Specifically, my Dad’s grandfather was named Milton – which I think led to the Michael; and My Mom’s father was named Anatoliy – which I’m pretty sure resulted in Anthony. According to Wikipedia, Geller comes from German, Yiddish, and/or Russian. It also means “one who yells,” so my parents are in for a special treat!

Speaking of my parents, here they are again:

Mom

and Dad

On that great day last Wednesday, March 18, we were at a nice private clinic called ISIDA in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yep, I’m a Ukrainian! But wouldn’t you know it, even though I’m proud as hell to be born in The Ukraine, Dad has already insisted that I become an American – and so I’m supposed to get my picture taken sometime in the next week or two, and then I get my first passport from the American Embassy. Nice people over at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, I’m told. I guess that means I’m not allowed to be President of the USA, huh? Oh well… those guys are tight-asses anyway.

The birth was fairly easy, and my Dad took a lot of pictures (and some movies). Yes, he was in the room at the time with the camera in hand. It’s sort of embarrassing, but I think he even got a picture of me peeing all over the nurses when I was about 2 minutes “old.” One of the nurses even screamed a bit in surprise. The others giggled. Pretty soon thereafter, the nurses poked and prodded a bit, and noticed I was gaining color quickly. My lungs obviously worked. I tested them out about 10 seconds after leaving the womb.

Here I am, about 2 minutes old. Kinda gross, but kinda beautiful too!!!

Look, my cord is still attached!

I think Dad was amazed to see a live baby come out!!!

They put me on the scale and I weighed in at 3.44kg. Not too shabby since the doctors were saying I was average/small during most of my development. It just goes to show you how accurate those stupid ultrasound thingys are. For you non-math majors out there, that’s about 7lb 9oz. The nurse wasted no time in measuring me too… I was 54cm long and my head was 38cm in diameter. Also, not so bad. Not quite a Kareem Abdul Jabbar or anything, but I think I should be able to hold my own when I’m all grown up. Of course these measurements were taken over a week ago now (by about 12 hours), and I’ve probably put on a good half cm and at least 100-200 g.

I was immediately given to Dad and was taken out of the delivery room, and Mom showed up in the recovery room about 20 minutes later. I was quite comfortable being wrapped up like a little worm. They also left that little bit of “white stuff” on my face for a little while – I guess it has some protective qualities.

Though I didn’t want to leave my folks, the nurses took me away to where the other babies were gathering that evening; something like a “meeting of the minds,” I believe. I overheard my parents conversing the next day about what had happened. Mom needed to sleep, and Dad went home because he wasn’t allowed to stay. That was my first day… and the rest is (proverbial) history!

We spent a few more days in the hospital, learned all about baby care, and enjoyed round-the-clock attention. I’m now at home, and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Whitey the Cat. I understand why they named him that — but I’m sure glad they thought about it more when they named ME!!!!!

Maybe I’m being sensitive, but I think Whitey is a bit jealous already. I hope to be better friends in the future.

That’s all for now. I’ll keep you updated whenever I (or my parents) do something cool 

Cheers, and thanks for reading,

– Michael

It is pure joy to announce the birth of our son, Baby. We have not named him yet, as Russian tradition does not demand such. We have some solid choices, but we will wait to make sure the name fits

The funniest thing about this is that there are, more or less, like only 10 male Russian names to choose from !!!

Anyhow, I wanted to let everyone know that Mom, Dad, and Baby are doing well.

Everyone is happy to be alive and so far, quite healthy. We are ecstatic about being part of a growing new family.

We will be posting more soon, obviously. But TODAY is the first day of our son’s life, and I wanted to post a picture or two. Even as I write this, he’s still not even 12 hours old!!!!

With Much Love, from Kiev,

Scott, Helen, and ???

Baby!

Mom!

and, Dad!!!!

I’ve been around for a while now. I’ve had my share of changes: opportunities, adventures, lifestyle fluctuations, monetary challenges, academic pursuits, travels, residences (in different cities, states, countries), etc…

I’m changing again: and this time it’s the most radical transformation of my life so far — and I thought I’d share it. I feel as if I have begun reinventing myself once again.

1) I reached a milestone last week –> I turned 40. Though I’ve been expecting it for a while now, the transition into my 40′s has brought more age-related considerations than any my previous birthdays. Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, I feel as if I’ve truly become a man. It’s probably similar to what Neanderthals experienced at about 14, but that’s another story. I’m no longer willing, nor able, to be shaded by the umbrella of youth. I am 40 years old. Nobody else can or will ever claim me as a dependent. I am to be the dependable one. Although I still follow in the footsteps of leaders, I, too, am expected to lead. I am now 40. FORTY. And for all intents and purposes, I have lived the first half of my life (pretty well, I might add). No, no mid-life crisis just yet – just the realization that 40 years is a significant amount of time to be wandering around this small planet.

2) I have taken on a new job. I won’t bore you with the details (though it’s quite intriguing, to be honest), but suffice it to say that in many ways (though I’m still putting my skills and training to work) I’m changing my professional direction. I guess I could more accurately say that I’m learning more about what it will take for me to really do the things I want to do in life, scientifically. Yes, I will be utilizing my scientific expertise, but I’m hired into an executive management position – more of a desk job, really. Who would’ve thunk it? Certainly not me, not even 3 months ago. But, indeed, it has happened. I’m both excited and nervous, and I’m encouraged by the challenges that lie ahead. I have some good people around me, and a lot is being asked of me: two ingredients that should blend well together, and will hopefully react to provide me with the encouragement and skills necessary for me to develop my capacity to manage and produce results.

3) I have returned to academia. No, not in the research sense… and no, not to simply perpetuate the sometimes delicious lifestyle of the college student. I have entered a specialized master’s program in management, online (most of the time). An MBA if you will, specializing in biotechnology. It’s for sure one of the more academically demanding (and challenging) pursuits I’ve faced; a situation most definitely inflated by the fact that I have avoided business, and the study thereof, for my entire life. Nevertheless, here too, I am excited by new challenges. I have met a really wonderful (small) group of freinds/colleagues/students, and together we are all going to learn about business, and the business of biotechnology and biotechnology’s related fields (pharmaceuticals, health care, etc…).

4) Finally, I’m having a baby this week. Yep, my boy is due any day now.

Man – can I pile it on any thicker? Am I ever going to sleep? Am I going to be able to study? Will I contribute to my own growth, or will I get so worn down that I fail at one of the above (or all of the above)? Do I have it in me? Is this what normal people do? Will there be any time to stop and smell the roses (and lilacs, here in Kiev)?

I’ve got a hundred more questions swirling around in my head right now, but I don’t think I need to spell them out for you. Most of you probably have (had) some of the same thoughts, feelings, experiences at one point or another.

So, I just wanted to lay it out here on Snotty’s Blog, and say –>  PLEASE excuse me if I don’t find too much time to write. I will do my best, as I have really found this to be a fun exercise, and a good way to express myself – without asking for or requiring direct feedback. Just a way to share my thoughts and feelings. I know my wife will be equally busy with the little guy, but she has expressed an interest in contributing to the blog too. So — maybe you will see some posts from Helen in the not too distant future. Maybe even a picture of the baby, if you are lucky!!!

Regards from Kiev,

Snotty