Sleds as transport

Our first years here in Ukraine, I watched with amusement as every winter people pulled out their wooden sleds with metal runners and started trotting about the icy streets with their kids in tow.  Didn't they know that the plastic sleds are faster?  That with the disks or even the toboggan rolls you could really get some speed?  Why were they bundling up their children and pulling them along the unevenly icy/ slushy / and bare walks that make up a neighbourhood.  Tsk tsk.  You would think that in the northlands, they would know how to use a sled.

Now, with a toddler and a baby - I understand much better.  The sled is transport before it is рецреатионал (which I guess explains why thе аverage cost is about $50 for a sled on runners.)  I guess when Saphira was wee, we had a more mild winter, and with a baby, if you choose not to go out, you don't go out.  No Problem.  With a baby AND a toddler, if you don't go out - there will be no nap time, and on a very unfortunate day bed time may also be delayed to a point where it is no longer productive for you to do anything after the child is in bed and you merely wave the white flag of defeat and crawl into bed after them.

And let me be very clear.  You cannot push a stroller one handed through snow and slush two feet deep at a curb while holding onto your toddler's hand. Pushing it with two hands is also a stretch.  Picking it up, hefting it through the mush while scrambling for your footing and hoping your toddler made it up the curb by herself in one piece and isn't currently howling, complaining of cold and wet, or deciding that the slush in the middle of the road is the perfect material for making a snowman- yep, that's about right.  And if there are any purchases - you know, the ACTUAL reason you decided to go through the half hour ordeal putting on everyone's snow suits, hats, gloves, and scarves (with more tears playing loudly during the exercises as we take turns being overheated and while I shout  - DO NOT TAKE THAT HAT OFF AGAIN, We are leaving, really we are leaving now.  We are leaving . . ..)  And passing past the door keeper once again in tears (What must they think?) to arrive, hot, and exhausted with the tears freezing on cheeks in front of our building -hoping that we can buy bread, eggs, milk and anything else we need before the whine of discontent begins again.  Thank goodness we can get most things through grocery delivery.

So today we bought a sled.  I have not tried it, but Alister says that it flies.  I have not worked out the full logistics of baby and toddler on the sled, or toddler pushing said baby on sled, or mother still slipping and sliding with said baby in ERGO.  We will let the drama and complications work themselves out as they come - for now, we have a sled as transport

Made in China

I don't know how it works in America, esp in the cities - but here the mothers with the children congregate in a park or a playground and let the children play. Sometime there can be as many as 15 toddlers with their parents, strollers, bicycles,and toys in toy running here and there at the accustomed meeting point.

At this age, the children do not play together. They are more interested in what toys the other children brings and normally the children will run up to the newcomer's stroller and peer into the basket, the more badly behaved ones pulling the toys out themselves. The mantras of the mother's include: Don't touch someone else's stroller, don't take things, and nelza - which basically means don't by any means - or a very strong no.

You listen as the mothers yell at their children and you learn the kids', but not the mothers', names. You begin to talk to the mothers who are there often and the ones you like you may learn their names and start arranging to meet. The mother's watch their children, chat, talk on the cell phone, and play interference when needed.

And the children play, bouncing from toy to toy as the fancy strikes them. Balls, strollers, musical animals you pull on a string, clack-clack toys, shape sorter toys, shovels, buckets, trucks, toy phones- an entire toy shop distributed between the stroller baskets and strewn beneath the trees. Most of the toys cheap (balls 50 cents, stroller $5, toy phone $1.25), some of them broken (but the kids don't care), and all of them from China. Many of the toys are the same, because if a parent sees that their child likes something the chances are that they will buy it for their child (it is slightly embarrassing if your child is always after anther child's toy)- but all the same they prefer to play with the other children's toys over their own - until their own toy has been claimed by another child. The best thing about the toys is that they cheap - not all toys - just the ones you see on the street. It doesn't matter if it gets lost or broken or picked up by another kid. One mother says she loves the 10 uah toys because she can buy them and feel like she is getting something for her child and not feel guilty about the money - though the money does eventually add up. And aside from the bicycles - it is often the cheapest toys that the children like most. Plastic shovels, for instance, are wildly popular. Not to dig with necessarily - but just to walk around with.

It is fascinating to watch, and rather enjoyable to be a part of, especially if your child is well fed and rested that day. You learn the latest child rearing gossip - the cheapest diapers, the foods the other children are eating, the rumor that raw carrots will prevent cavities. I'm quite enjoying it.

Debute

Saphira made her public debut into the world at 12 days old when she attended church with us. This may seem a little late by US standards - I made an appearance at 6days old myself - but in Ukraine Babies in public before a month old (except for the daily 2 hour stroll) is unheard of. The risk of germs etc - is too great. On the one hand, its nice, it is one less thing that the mother needs to worry about - on the other hand - how long do they expect me to sit at home? Another side note, people wondered why I wasn't in the hospital a week before my due date waiting for the bay to arrive. It was enough torture waiting at home for the baby to arrive - what am I going to do in the hospital all that time?? Esp if she had been past her due date?

Anyway - everyone loved seeing the baby - but no one asked to hold her (she is too small and germs etc). Everyone was aghast that she had bare legs (she was very warm in the onesie, dress, sweater, and socks - believe me - her legs were not suffering and there WAS a blanket) and the most common comment was - oh she is so small how many "months" is she? once again demonstrating that it is uncommon for a baby to appear in public earlier than 1 month - 40 days after its birth. One woman - when I responded that she was 12 days - took a GIANT step back from us and said we were very brave.

Saphira took it all very well - slept through the entire service and only proceeded to fuss once we got home. We don't know how we managed to get such a nice, mellow baby- but are very thankful for her.

Changes

Well, as of April 13th, we are a family of three :- )

For anyone considering giving birth in Ukraine, I highly recommend ISIDA. We found the care top notch, cheaper than the equivalent in the US and really above and beyond the call of duty. Most importantly - they were willing to listen to pretty much all of our requests and were slow to do interventions despite the fact that I had a not so normal delivery since my water broke before contractions started. (When we came into the clinic at 1:30am - the doctor looked at me with this "how could you do such a thing" look and said - so are you the one whose water broke?- Which I found humorous, like I can control when my water broke?!) Anyway - we are thrilled and very pleased with the entirety of care we received at ISIDA and recommend them 100%.

My mom has been here to help out - which is a God-send as I don't know what the house would have looked like or what we would have eaten the first 2 weeks. Now, I am slowly able to do things - a load of laundry on my own and dinner were my achievements of yesterday - though I missed having a nap.

1st impressions of parenthood? Well - we were given lots of baby clothes and blankets- and I didn't see how we could possibly use them all. However - over the last three days we have soiled 7 blankets, 1 crib sheet, and 10 baby shirts/onesies etc. I had no idea. I mean 7 blankets!!

The next observation is swaddling. Somehow - in all our blankets - we didn't have one that was really acceptable for an American style swaddle - they were either too small to be effective or too heavy to be comfortable. However- in the hospital - they showed us a different swaddle - a Russian swaddle. After finally obtaining a decent sized swaddle blanket (Thanks Dawn!) I have decided that still the Russian swaddle is not only easier - but more effective. It can be used with both square and rectangular blankets (and a smaller size as well - even the receiving blankets worked for the first two weeks until she started stretching her legs out more) and so can be used as the baby gets bigger if you use a long piece of rectangular fabric. It is easier in that you don't have all this holding of the arms down as you fold fabrics and make little tucks and pleats. The main key is pulling the arms tight and making sure that when you wrap and "tie" the legs, that the arm fabric is trapped underneath the leg wrap.

Unfortunately - I have only found this one video demonstrating the "Russian Swaddle" method - but as I don't have a lot of time right now - and in the interest of spreading the ease of a tightly wrapped swaddle - I am including it.