GG Jack Comes Home

Great Grandpa Jack is now all settled in and I dare say, really enjoying himself. And really, how could he not? With these little squirts always around...

And this little kitty crawling up into his lap to give him smiles and snuggles...

We got his room all set up to his liking...

Though frankly, all of his time has been spent downstairs in the family room in his swiveling chair.

When he's not in his chair watching El crawl around (and herding her away from the fireplace), he'll join me in the kitchen and sit with me while I cook. He also enjoys watching Eleanor eat her yummies. I don't blame him. She's pretty darn cute, especially when she cracks herself up.

Here the spoon inexplicably ended up stuck to her forehead. We're still trying to figure that one out.

All in all, things are going really well. We are so happy that GG Jack made the brave decision to leave sunny California and join us here where it is much, much colder.

Spokane was where he met my grandma 60+ years ago, and so he likes to say "Well, it seems I've come full-circle."

Changes

There have been lots of changes since I last posted. Most notably, Roma, Eleanor and I moved into our own place. El-bell is no longer in an officery, but in a proper room of her own. Hooray!

The house we moved into is beautiful and big-- so big in fact, that we invited my grandmother up from California to live with us. And you know what? She accepted! Grandma Ann, or rather, Nanny Annie as I have re-named her for the kids, has been a wonderful addition to the Romaniuk household. She and I are quite suited to be housemates. For one thing, we both love crime dramas and for another, she likes my cooking. Jackson and Eleanor have certainly enjoyed having their Nanny around & I can say with certainty, that she has loved their snuggles.

Nanny Annie brought up her cat Phoebe, who used to be my cat Phoebe & is in fact, the other Ukrainian cat with a passport who came back stateside with me after the Peace Corps. Klitchko and Phoebes are thus, reunited and I guess in a way, you could say that things have come full circle in their animal kingdom.

Now that Roma and I have moved out of Sarah and Steve's place, you might be wondering what happened to Burnsaniuk. Well, I assure you, Burnsaniuk lives on. We only moved five minutes away and I see Sarah and Jackson practically everyday.

Speaking of Eleanor, she's getting so big. She's now almost seven months old, 17 pounds chunky and 27 inches long. She's eating lots of different solid foods. Her favorites include squash, avacado and pears. She's army crawling all over the place and at times, she'll even get up on her knees and crawl properly. She's got lots of energy and continues to make us laugh and bring us joy beyond measure.

Here she is with Roma having fun at the pumpkin patch:

And here she is hanging out with her minnie doll:

And here she is with the kitty her great aunt drew & framed for her. How about that two-toothed grin?

El has had her challenges of course. She is still not sleeping through the night, though she's getting closer. She still is not a consistent napper, though things seem to be getting better bit by bit in that arena too. I took away her pacifier about three weeks ago and since then, there have been major sleep improvement.

The first night without the pacifier was the hardest. She put up an incredible fight and her dad wanted to cave. Heck, he would have caved if I hadn't been there saying: stay strong honey! This is for her own good! We are stronger than her in this situation, WE-WILL-WIN!

You know what? We did. Score one for mom & dad.

***

We've had lots of visitors since moving into our new place. Grandpa Mark came to play:

And Grandma Sheri came to play:

And my oldest friend Annie Parsons came to say hello:

AND... perhaps most exciting of all...

Great Grandpa Jack came up for a visit and enjoyed himself so much that he accepted our offer to move in with us too!!!!!

So... next week, Eleanor and I are going to fly down to California and help Great Grandpa Jack -- who has yet to receive his nickname... we'll see what comes to me :) -- pack up his room. Then, we're bringing him back up with us. Hooray! Why else live in a big house, if you can't pack if full of the people who are dearest to you?

And in case you think we are maxed out -- those who are dear to us but do not wish to relocate -- know that we'll still have a guest room to fill. So consider yourselves invited up for a visit :)