Oatmeal Cookies and 3.5% milk...almost heaven!

A nap and ½ a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and I have survived yesterday’s attack…Despite Skip’s protests however, I chose to postpone our trip to the store yesterday and walking tour of the city since I wasn’t feeling 100%. I was tempted to – and wanted to – but something told me that the way our luck has been going, we’d get to the store and I would suddenly need a restroom and we’d be in deep doo-doo. We made the best of it instead, here in our little apartment. Skip was somewhat content to play our usual games; bowling, castle building, coloring, hide Mamas glasses (argh! – 1 hour yesterday before I found them – in his crib. I don’t even want to know HOW he managed to get them in there, I’m just glad I can see again. I do sense however, he’s growing bored with the simple toys and ready to move onto something a little more exciting – or maybe he just needs a few more empty containers. We’ll have to keep an eye on that situation.A bit stir crazy by dinner time, we decided to be adventurous and bake oatmeal cookies. I've been craving them since we got here - I don't know why that is but I finally HAD to have some. The task was not as simple as it sounds however, since 1) There are no baking dishes in the apt. 2) We had no vanilla, or brown sugar and 3) Once the oven is lit, the door gets hot and keeping Skip away from it while I’m in the kitchen is near impossible. You see, his best friend lives inside it. Yep, Skip’s got a friend who is remarkably the exact same height and weight that he is, and who could pass as his twin. We don’t know exactly how long he’s lived in there, but all Skip knows is EVERY time he looks inside the glass door, THERE HE IS. He even wears the same clothes that Skip does – go figure!Skip talks to him, dances with him, and lately, has been trying to outsmart him. I think he suspects that SOMETHING is up with this kid, and will try and trick him…He move to the side of the stove, and then actually sneak up on it slowly, but lo and behold, his friend is always there. We’ve decided to give him a name since he practically lives WITH US, so I asked Skip what we should call him and he said Bob. Of course he says Bob all the time, and other than “Papa” and “Ma”, and since Ma and Papa already exist, Bob was fitting.Anyway, the cookies came out pretty good, and Skip seemed to like them a lot. We shared a couple of them after dinner, and washed them down with a glass of nice cold water (since we were out of milk) until Skip backwashed and I decided to give him some juice in his own cup. He didn’t mind – either way he was happy.We skipped the bath as well, and chose to read some extra books instead, and before we knew it was 8:30 and time for bed. Skip went quickly to sleep, not feeling completely recovered, I followed not long after.I got a wonderful treat this morning from Skip – he decided to sleep in and didn’t wake me until 8:15! I did hear him at 7:30 but he is very good about just playing in his crib for awhile, but 8:15 was like heaven after all the early mornings. It was still –10C on the thermometer but Irina told us it was supposed to warm up some, so we planned to take a trip out later in the day. The morning flew by, and after Skip’s nap and lunch we got dressed and prepared to head out. We needed pampers and milk and were feeling brave enough to take a trip to the store alone. Skip got really excited when I took his snowsuit, hat, mittens and scarf off the hook and put them on the floor so I could dress him. I got sidetracked for a minute and when I came back to find him, he was lying on top of the heap as if to hurry me along…Just as we were leaving, Irina came to the door, so we all walked. That made the shopping easier since we could get the pampers at the nearby pharmacy where Irina could ask for them (They are kept behind the counter like everything else in the small store) and pay for them for us. From there we went to another small corner “grocery” store and got milk. This time it was 3.5% and I wondered if it would be better, or god forbid, worse tasting than the 2.5%… We also bought some strawberry ice cream at this store since it was just calling our names and I am happy to say, it was the best ice cream I’ve had in two weeks. Of course it’s the only ice cream I’ve had, but it was really pretty good. I would have let Skip have some but he was napping at the time, and as they say, you snooze, you lose.Dinner was a treat tonite since Skip has decided he doesn’t like rice. The one time before I gave it to him he ate it, but wasn’t thrilled. Today, however, he just wasn’t going to put up with it. He was spitting it out faster than I could spoon it in, and then he just plain refused to open his mouth – a first that I’m aware of. He scoffed a jar of carrots, so I know he was hungry – just not for rice. We’ll have to retest that one again at a later date. He had yogurt and bananas for dessert and ate some of my oatmeal cookie as well. I am happy to report the 3.5% milk ALMOST tastes normal and was a welcome change. I think next time we’re gonna go for 4.5% if they have it – what do I have to lose? We’ll keep you posted..It’s now 7:30 and Skip has been playing INSIDE the bathtub full of toys for about 45 minutes but is starting to get anxious since I promised him a real bath tonite. He’s been so good I have t keep my promise. It’s still hard to believe that 10 days ago he’d scream at the site of the water filled tub…I guess we might make a sailor out of him yet.