Ilya and Lena just keep growing and changing. It seems like their personalities keep on changing, which I suppose is just a sign of them getting more comfortable.

Ilya is still picking up English like crazy. He was just telling Aaron about the time we made pasta and cookies together. His latest thing to ask is “are you sure?”

Lena is still not speaking tons of English which we understand. She has words, but even sometimes if I give her choices, I just don’t understand her. I use signs or gestures to help out with this, but it can be very frustrating. She does not seem to understand that I cannot understand her. She does have a few words which are very clear.

I have decided that grocery shopping with kids can be fun… for the first few months, it was kind of tiring. Lena sits in the cart and Ilya walks, unless there is a cart which both of them will fit in and is easy too push. I’d have to have one eye on Ilya at all times and both of them just loved to babble and sing out in public. Now,  Ilya will recognize enough food that I can tell him what we need and he’ll help me look for it.

Food is still an interesting dilemma in our house at times. Lena has become, overall, a good eater. She enjoy healthy foods and will gladly munch on a salad and picks her beans out of a meal first. But, there are times when she is just sooo slow, like the other day licking up every bite of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, before eating her quesadilla. Ilya, surprisingly, is not the greatest eater. When he was first home, he’d try EVERYTHING and woof it down. Now, not so much. He might like something one day and not the next. There are a couple of safe foods, which he’ll always eat, like pasta or tacos, but it can go either way with most other things.

I am also pretty careful about what my kids eat. They hardly ever have sweet things beyond fruit. But, tonight, I made them these chocolate avocado shakes. This was very exciting for them. Aaron and I agreed that they were good… not the best milkshakes ever, but definitely yummy. They don’t taste like avocado at all; I actually thought they were a bit too chocolatey!

This look reminds me a bit of his cousin Bram.

I love this photo. It’s hard to get a great photo of him smiling… this is just so Ilya!

I love this photo, minus the food on her tooth.

I wasn’t sure I’d get a moustache picture with her, because she kept doing this. Hey, Becky? Recognize this shirt? It’s adorable.

Salvador Dali, anyone?

Food mustaches are quite popular in our house. Here is a sour cream one from quesadilla night.