Second Week in Malaysia!

Our second week in Malaysia was also wonderful and full of memories: Celebrating Christmas; reuniting with family and old school friends; eating loads of different and delicious foods; sweating a lot (it's been extra hot and humid the last few days) and enjoying seeing Daniel change by the day and also enjoy meeting our loved ones.

Check out the slide show for photos of the second week (to download, click on the slide show and you will be taken to Picassa):

Unfortunately, we will be returning home this coming Friday night and should be arriving back home around lunchtime on Saturday, the 3rd (because of the 13 hours time difference, we'll actually be gaining a day on the way back). We've so enjoyed being here that we are feeling sad to be leaving soon. But, we are frequently reminding ourselves of how blessed we have been to be able to come here and experience all that we have for almost 3 weeks. We still have 3 more days to enjoy!

In the meantime, we are wishing our loved ones a Happy New Year!! Will blog again next year!

First Week in Malaysia!

We've been in Kuala Lumpur for one week and are having a wonderful time! Thank God, we are all now completely adjusted to the time zone and Daniel is back on his schedule and sleeping through the night again. It was exhausting the first 4 days for us all but definitely worth it! We are so happy to be here and still have almost 2 weeks before we return home.

We are so enjoying being in the tropics and our daily swim with Daniel is such a treat! The first day we decided to take Daniel to the pool, I told Jonny: "Let's go slowly, let's dip his feet in first and see how he reacts." I honestly thought that it would take a few days for him to get used to it. But, Daniel just loves the pool and after only dipping his feet in for a couple of seconds, he loved being thrown up and into the water with lots of laughter and excitement! He didn't show any fear or hesitation whatsoever! Check out the photos and you will see exactly what I mean!

We have also discovered that Daniel loves dogs - Jonny's mother has two - and he really enjoys going for a walk in his stroller and seeing all the different trees and surroundings - Jonny's parents live close to a tropical jungle; it's just beautiful! On the downside, Daniel has been bitten by mosquitoes for the first time ever but thank God, he has not had any bad reactions. It's also a new experience that he gets to sleep under a mosquito net which he loves to touch before going to sleep.

It's also been so lovely spending time with Jonny's parents and seeing their love for Daniel. Yesterday, we got to introduce Daniel to several of his grandfather's golf friends and they each got to hold him and it was so sweet to see their happiness in finally meeting their friend's grandson.

Anyway, check out the two slideshows below for photos of our travel and our first week here! (To download photos, click on the slideshows and it will take you to Picasa)

Slideshow #1: Travel from US to Malaysia via Korea



Slideshow #2: First week in Malaysia

Greetings From Kuala Lumpur!

We arrived safely and well in Kuala Lumpur late on Sunday night local time; more than 48 hours after leaving our home. Thank God, considering how far away we have come, the trip went very well. Thank you for your prayers! Daniel did great on the flights and is now adjusting to the 13 hour time difference. During the first 15 hour flight to Korea, he didn't sleep much but was happy playing in the baby bassinet Korean Air provided and enjoyed being held by different passengers who thought he was cute (by the way, we highly recommend Korean Air, the service was great!). The next day, we flew to Malaysia and Daniel slept most of the flight and did well despite us getting home at about 1 am. So far, nights have been the biggest struggle with him waking up frequently and by the end of each day he has been so tired that he hasn't wanted to have dinner; but each day we have seen improvements and tonight he ate well again and was less tired.

We are now here staying with Jonny's Dad who has more framed photos of Daniel than we do - how wonderful to see how loved Daniel is by many! The weather is hot and humid and we are loving it! We've been thoroughly enjoying the foods that we had been eagerly waiting to eat and are planning to hit the pool with Daniel soon.

Will post pictures and write more once we too have adjusted to being on the other side of the world!

Daniel Gets the Giggles!

A couple of days ago during dinner, Daniel got the giggles and we captured it on video! He laughed and laughed with our dear friend Maria Helena; here are a couple of minutes for you to share in our joy!

Boy Wonder Now 9 Months Old!

Our precious baby boy officially became 9 months yesterday! It's been 9 months since we were at Mercy Hospital meeting him for the first time... Wow, we didn't realize then just how much he would change our lives. And it's just not in the sense of less sleep and him getting most of our attention; having him has completely changed the way we think about ourselves, our roles, our family, our future, our relationship with God... everything. And we know that, God willing, in the months and years ahead, the privilege of being Daniel's parents will just continue to change us. Parenthood is transforming... I didn't realize 9 months ago it would be this much.

We've had some special times over the past week: Thanksgiving with the Staggers and Ritchies; party for Daniel at Maria Helena's so that he could meet her closest friends and Maria Helena spending time with us on my day off. Check out the slideshow for our favorite photos - if you click on the slideshow, you can download the photos through Picassa (unfortunately our old camera broke on Thanksgiving so we haven't got any photos of that special day).

We now need to start preparing for our upcoming trip to Malaysia! We are leaving one week from tomorrow and will be away for 3 weeks. We are really looking forward to going but kind of dreading the flights there. We will first be taking a 15 hour flight to South Korea, sleeping over in Seoul and then making our way to Kuala Lumpur. We ask for your prayers for the flights over; Daniel is so active now and we're just not sure how we will manage to entertain him for so long in a confined space... oh well, we'll manage somehow! The time difference is also huge - 13 hours ahead from here - so that too will take some adjusting to... Please do keep us in your prayers! But once we are there, God willing, we will get to enjoy spending time with Jonny's family, introducing Daniel to family and friends, being outdoors in hot weather, swimming pool, wonderful food, etc... it's going to be worth it!

He's Back!

Just a quick blog tonight to put some pictures up of Daniel completely recovered from the first serious illness he has had since he was born. Last Saturday, Daniel started with a high fever which lasted 4 days and went up to 104 F (40 C); very scary! We were in frequent contact with his doctor and even went to the hospital on Sunday for some tests. But, thank God, it was just a really bad virus and now he is all better. It was an interesting exprience for us to say the least; Daniel would only sleep with us in our bed - which is a first - and had to be held pretty much the whole time he was unwell. After he was better, Jonny said that in some ways it had been a special 4 days where we really worked well together to take care of our son. And there were some cute moments of him waking up next to us and learning more about how he sleeps (he moves around a lot and now likes to sleep on his side!). Anyway, here are some photos of him tonight, all well and recovered...how we love this little boy!

Reunited with his Papai after a day with Ruth

Happy and Satisfied after Dinner

He loves to squeal!

He loves standing up and he's getting better at it!

We just love this photo!

Squealing again before bath

He does this every night...not quite sure what to do with his ball!

Clean after bath...He continues to be in love with his cream bottle!

Daniel Enjoying His Crib

I've been home today with Daniel and as I went to get him after his morning nap, this is what I found:

Daniel lifting the crib bumper to see me!

Greeted by a big smile!

He really enjoys playing in his crib; he loves to bounce on his mattress and look around. Very cute!

Bouncing away!

Random photos of Daniel at 8 months...

Haven't had much time to blog recently so I thought I would at least put some recent random photos of Daniel.

Some quick highlights of the "boy wonder" (that's what Jonny calls him!):

- He is doing wonderfully with Ruth; so far it's the best decision we could have made and it has been worth every penny. Not only does he get her full attention and absolutely loves her, we also don't have to rush out of the house with him in the mornings in the cold weather or pack his bags every evening - just so much better for all of us!

- He is so in love with Buffy, our cat. All we have to do is call her name and he starts to look for her. Whenever he sees her, he gets so excited and squeals.

- He definitely responds to his name now; in all three languages!

- There's a sixth tooth coming... amazing how fast it's happening for him!

- He is trying to crawl. Every time he sits he tries to reach forward but is not sure how to get his legs in the right position. This is just a reminder that we need to start childproofing our home soon!

Fast asleep after a long day...

(He fell asleep drinking his last bottle tonight which is why I could take the photo without him waking up)

Trying to go forward everywhere he sits - even in an armchair; we must be very careful!

Daniel with 5 teeth (3 on top and 2 on the bottom - a sixth one is on the way)!

Trying to crawl...

(Photo taken by Ruth. She takes photos of him during the day so we can see what they did together.)

Excited to see his friend Enya recently...

Playing with Enya... He loves her toys!

Ruth: Is She The One?

I don't even know how to start to share what has been happening... It's broken our hearts and has made us cry out to God for help and discernment. Suffice to say, there has been more drama in the day care front...

If you look at a few blogs past, you will remember that Daniel had only just started at his 3rd family day care, with Ms. Stacey. Well, it turns out that Daniel did not adjust that well...

Last Monday, we got a phone call from Stacey saying that she was having a really hard day with Daniel because he would start to cry if she didn't hold him at all times. What? That really didn't sound like Daniel. So off we went to get him and as soon as we arrived and Stacey answered the door, we could hear him crying. We were shocked. We had never seen Daniel that way. He just wasn't himself; it took him a few minutes to relax again even with us holding him.

So what was going on? Well, that is one of the most difficult things about being a parent of an infant: they can't really tell you what they are feeling and we're constantly trying to guess. Is it the teething? Is he getting ill? Is he scared? Does he just not like the environment? Is it the beginning of separation anxiety?

Well, after we stayed for an hour or so, Daniel was back to himself playing independently and happy. We talked at length with Stacey about the importance of us trying to work together to help Daniel adjust because we really did not want to change his day care again. That thought, just broke our hearts...

Well, the next day we brought his toys and bumbo seat as well as his teething gel and Daniel had a good day. But on Friday, Stacey said that he had been fine but that as soon as her sons got back home from school in the afternoon, he started to cry again - it seemed that he was scared of them. And interestingly, that previous Monday, the boys had not gone to school and so had been home all day. Even though they are well brought up, they did get a bit rowdy at times (understandably, for their age) which could scare Daniel. However, Stacey then admitted that she just felt she had taken too much responsibility and could not handle having Daniel. She was very stressed and was even thinking about stopping doing day care all together... So now we are thinking, was it her tension that upset Daniel? We just don't know...

All we know is that on Friday, we found ourselves in the same position that we had been in a few times before: What to do about Daniel's day care? This resulted in many emotions and questions: Has our son been traumatized by all these changes? Should I continue working? Why is it so hard to find good and long-term care? Have we been unwise in our choices or just have poor judgement? And finally, what are we going to do now?

So after much thought and prayer, we decided that we would not try another family day care again. The best option for Daniel that we could come up with was having a nanny at home. Yes, this option is a lot more expensive (which is why we didn't consider it first) but has so many benefits, as long as we could find the right person...

Well, we found Ruth. After checking her references and interviewing her, we felt that she would be perfect. She has a lot of experience working with children, has excellent references and is just very warm with Daniel.

I spent the whole day with them yesterday showing her Daniel's routine and felt very happy with her, the way she interacted with Daniel, her professionalism, our conversations, her maturity, sense of responsibility, etc. As much as we can tell, Ruth is great and Daniel is in good hands. One interesting thing about Ruth is that she is Peruvian and speaks very little English. So Daniel is now going to be exposed to a third language: Spanish (in case you're worried, my Spanish is good and so I have no problem in communicating with her).

Of course, due to our difficult day care experiences so far, we are a little hesitant about believing that Ruth is actually "the one." I guess, only time will tell if she is. But we really do hope so, we really want Daniel to be well the 3 days a week that I'm working and have stability.

Gosh, it's not easy being a parent... As Jonny likes to remind me, we just need to do the best that we can each day and resolve the problems that we encounter one at a time, with faith in God and His sovereignty.

Anyway... here are some pictures that I took of Ruth and Daniel yesterday. She is with him today and from next week, will be with him on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Daniel and Ruth at the end of the first day...

Thank God, Daniel Likes Her and She Makes Him Laugh and Smile...

Takumi is Back!

Our Japanese neighbor and her adorable three children are back from Japan, including Daniel's first friend, Takumi, who is about 6 weeks older than Daniel. We are excited that they are back and were really looking forward to continue getting Takumi's outgrown clothes, which we had gratefully received during the first 2 months of Daniel's life.

BUT....we were all amazed to realize that Daniel is now bigger than Takumi!!! So no more hand-me-downs from him... In fact, we talked about passing on Daniel's clothes on to Takumi! Luckily, our friends Dirck and Rochelle gave us lots of their son's clothes recently and I discovered that we have a fantastic Salvation Army Thrift Store close to our house - I was able to stock Daniel up for the winter for about $20! And yes, Takumi, we'll happily pass those on to you soon!

Daniel and Takumi questioning: "Are you sure this is that old friend of mine?"

Daniel explaining to Takumi..."Yes, my friend, I started to eat a lot while you were away and well, you see, we just eat a lot less fish over here..."

Here is the proof: Daniel at 2 months just a few days before Takumi left for Japan...

Daniel is 8 Months Old Today!

Wow, we can't believe that our baby boy is exactly 8 months old! In many ways, it's been a long 8 months with all the change that Daniel has brought into our lives but it's also flown by - especially when we look back at old photos or blogs and are amazed at how much he has grown and developed!

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you a cute video of Daniel that I took last Friday which captures him at the end of 7 months perfectly: sitting each time better but often followed by a loss of balance (which he loves!); flapping his arms around in excitement; energetic and happy. And if you look carefully, you will also get to see his first teeth! What a joy he is!




P.S. In case you are wondering, the pacifier in the video I gave him to play with as a toy. Daniel just never liked the pacifier; even though there were several desperate times in the first few months that we tried and wished he had!

Daniel and Ms. Stacey

After all that we went through to find Daniel a good and long-term family day care (you can refresh your memories here and here), we have had to change day care again! Azad's family has been going through a difficult time financially and so she started to get many more children - too many and it started to become a little chaotic! Also, because Daniel is part-time (only 3 days a week), she kept telling us that if another full-time infant arrived, she would have to choose the other child - even though she loved Daniel. All of this led us to change day care and to choose Ms Stacey.

Stacey was our second choice the last time we looked around for day cares and we chose Azad instead, primarily because it was much closer to our home. Stacey's day care is small, right now she only has one 4 year old and Daniel (she said that the maximum she will ever have is 3 children) and she has guaranteed Daniel's place, even though he is part-time. So we feel more comfortable with this arrangement. She is a sweet and calm lady and has very well behaved boys (ages:9, 7 and 5) who play with Daniel in the afternoon for a couple of hours after they get back from school.

Of course it was hard to move Daniel to his 3rd day care in his very short life (I never imagined it would be this way!), but at least, so far, he has not shown any signs of separation anxiety and continues to be adaptable. We hope that this time it will work for the long-term! Daniel is now beginning his second week with Stacey and has adjusted very well. This morning when we arrived he smiled as soon as he saw her and squealed when he saw Sheridan, his 4 year old friend.

We do miss Azad though; she was wonderful with Daniel and he loved it there. We will always remember how well she looked after him and how much peace she gave us especially when he first started, at only 4 months of age. Azad was also sad to say good-bye and we agreed that we would visit once in a while and that she would be our back-up day care (in case Stacey cannot take Daniel on a specific day for personal reasons).

***

Other updates on Daniel:

- He's got three more teeth coming in on the top gum! His teething process is happening so fast, he had only just started getting his first two teeth a couple of weeks ago and now soon he will have 5! Amazing, I never thought it would be so quick!

- He is eating so much now, about 6 - 8 oz of food per meal! Where does it all go I always wonder as he eats and eats?! :-) He's now eating a variety of different vegetables and fruits and on Saturday we gave him chicken for the first time which he loved! Now when we put him in his high chair he starts to get excited waiting for his food. Amazing progress! Only a few weeks ago he wouldn't eat at all, remember?

Busy in October: See Slideshow

The last few weeks we have been very busy and it's been hard to blog due to: spending time with Granny Heather before she returned back to Malaysia last Saturday night; juggling work and family life; spending time with my cousin Josani and girls on Sundays; catching up with friends, etc. We've had many wonderful moments and enjoyed the wonderful warm fall days before it suddenly turned cold. It's been a joy being able to do a lot more with Daniel; we've had fun. See the slideshow below of some of our favourite photos of the last few weeks.






P.S. If you click on the slide show, it will take you to Picasa and then you can download any of the photos you like! I just love technology!

Daniel's Rapid Development at 7 Months

The last couple of weeks have been really busy and so much has been happening - I'll try to write a separate blog about that and post some photos soon. But tonight, I want to quickly write an update on Daniel's development because so much has been changing that I know I'll forget if I don't. Here are a few things from the top of my head that are exciting to us about Daniel's development:

- He is sitting now for much longer unsupported - it's so sweet to see and he gets very excited, flapping his hands up and down.

- Just in the last couple of days he has been repeatedly saying sounds such as "ba-ba" "wa-wa" and even, yes, "ma-ma!" He also said "be-be" which in Portuguese means "Baby!" Should I consider that his first word? :-)

- He has two teeth that we can SEE (if you look carefully, still quite small) on the middle of his bottom gum. First he got one tooth and then now, a second one is coming. They feel sharp and now I'm wondering about what to do in terms of brushing his teeth - we haven't started yet but I guess we should soon! Any advice on this, please do let me know! Right now he doesn't like me to even touch his teeth with my finger, so how should I do the brushing thing?

- He loves to drop his toys from the high chair and watch them at a distance; he does this over and over again, so cute (and of course, we are happy to pick them up for him! :-)). He also loves to put his toys to the side of his bumbo seat, one by one, and tries to reach them and put them back on the tray - this can keep him entertained for a long time!

- He's started to enjoy the exersaucer a lot more and even played for over an hour in it the other day! He's also starting to put a lot more weight on his legs and stands for some time in the exersaucer.

- He's been eating so well now and even has sat in high chairs at the mall and in a seafood restaurant yesterday in Annapolis. I'm also getting more confident feeding him solids in public even though it's still very messy!

- He is sleeping through the night without a dream feed!! Jonny has been faithfully giving him a "dream feed" in his sleep for months now between 10:30-11:00 pm but in the past week, Daniel has been refusing it (I think he's just not hungry). So we decided to just stop offering it a couple of nights ago and he has been able to sleep through without this extra feed! This has been soooo exciting for us because it now means that Jonny can come to bed with me again, even at 8 pm if he wants to! Wow, I thought removing the dream feed would be so much more difficult, but I guess that he is now eating enough solids to sustain him!

- It now seems that he is down to only 2 naps a day.The first one is about 2 hours after he wakes up and then the second one sometime in the afternoon, about 3 hours after his morning nap. He's been starting to have one longer nap (about an hour) but at least one of them will be his usual 30 minutes. Anyway, what a difference it has made that he is awake for so much longer and we don't have to put him down for naps every hour as we did for months. I remember he used to have 5 to 6 naps a day and this almost drove me crazy! We've come a long way! :-)


Wow, our baby is growing so fast! It truly is a joy watching his development and wondering what he will do next; thank you Lord for this experience!

Special Photos of Daniel at 7 Months

We've been wanting to get studio photos of Daniel since he was born and have finally managed to do so! We thought the photographer did a great job of capturing Daniel; babies move around so much and to get him looking and smiling at the exact moment is not easy! We are particularly pleased that Granny Heather was able to be there and that we now have a special picture of "the three generations." I personally was a bit disappointed with how I looked in our family photo but Daniel and Jonny came out great. Here are the photos!

(P.S. Daniel wore shoes for the first time that day - courtesy of Josie and girls!)

Family in Town...

We can now say that we have "family in town"; that to us is a very special and welcome phenomenon! My cousin Josani and her two wonderful daughters, Natasha and Giulia, are now living in the area! We have already started to spend a lot of time with them at the weekends and are looking forward to seeing them more and more.

It's funny because the girls have made me acutely aware that I need desperate training in "modern history" since I hadn't heard of the "pop groups" they listen to or experienced the latest technology such as the "Wii." This is so funny because I remember clearly being a teenager and feeling that my older family members had no clue about the "real world!" And now, here I am, in the exact same position! So Nana and Giugiu, I promise to get up to speed on this - I may have to write things down though cause I already forgot the name of the oldest brother of the "Jonas Brothers" - is it Nick? :-)

Jonny and Daniel with Josie, Natasha and Giulia

Having fun together...

Josie playing with Daniel - he was talking to the bottle!

And for a special treat, here is a cute video of Daniel laughing with Giulia - so happy I was able to record this special moment as we were walking in their neighborhood!

The Experience of Introducing Solids Part II

Well, thank God, little Daniel (who is now 7 months old!) is eating much better now! Thanks for the advice I received after my previous blog! After our 3 day break, we started again with pears for 3 days before trying other foods and he's now actually enjoying the experience! Hurray!!! He hasn't complained or gagged in a while and we've been finishing each meal with him happy! We even gave him prunes this past weekend to help him get through some "poop issues" :-) and after thinking briefly about the new and strong taste, he ate several teaspoons with no problem! Of course prunes also create a lot more mess as seen in the photos below! We are now getting more excited about introducing, slowly, more and more new flavors and then a mixture of them! We just keep learning that everything just happens at the right time; no point panicking or trying to speed things up - hopefully I'll remember this the next time I start to worry about him reaching the next new milestone...

Thinking about it...

I want more! Toy or prunes?

What a relief: Happy after eating prunes!

Happy Fourth Birthday Dear Holly!

Sweet beautiful Holly, the daughter of my dear friend Kristen, is now 4 years old! I first met Holly when she was 6 weeks old and have been at all her birthdays so far. It has been very special watching her grow up into a friendly, sweet, affectionate, loving and precious little girl - we just love her so much! She is so funny and witty; we love reading "The Kids' Perspective" - Kristen's record of what Holly says! We had fun celebrating her birthday last Friday and especially seeing her excitement as her best friend Riya arrived!

Beautiful birthday table that Kristen prepared for Holly

Holly and Riya: So excited to be friends!

Holly and Daniel (7 months exactly!)

Good-bye My Dear Vovó...

Saturday morning, September 27th, I woke up to the news that my last living grandparent, my mother's mother, passed away peacefully in her sleep in her home in Campos, Brazil, at the age of 94. She had always wished that she would die in her sleep and would "fly away as a little bird." I thank God that her wish was granted...

As expected, I am feeling sad with the news of her passing, but am also thankful for the long and productive life she lived. I'm so grateful that she was my grandmother and I know that the legacy of her life will live on in those who knew her or heard about her.

There are so many reasons why I'm thankful for her. She was a very wise, strong and hardworking woman who did her best to bring up her 12 children (only 8 made it to adulthood), in very difficult circumstances. She had many "sayings of wisdom" that my mother frequently repeated, and still repeats, which I hope to pass on to our own children. She was very affectionate and I will always remember her love and affection towards my grandfather - who passed away about 7 years ago, after 66 years of marriage!

But I think that what I will remember the most about my grandmother, were the beautiful blessings she gave me every time I spoke to her. My mother taught me that each time I started a conversation with my grandmother (and grandfather) on the phone or in person, I needed to start by saying "Blessing Vovó." My grandmother would then reply something like: "May Jesus bless you my child; may He give you health, happiness, and love." When I was younger, her blessings were a lot longer and I would always listen attentively (even as a child, I knew they were special), but as she grew older, they were short and sweet, similar to as quoted above.

Now that I look back, I appreciate this beautiful tradition, but also recognize that her blessings were much more than just a custom. They were her heartfelt prayer that Jesus would indeed bless me, the way she hoped. Though in my life so far I have not always experienced "health, happiness and love" as she wished, I believe her prayers have been answered: God has blessed me with the faith to believe in Jesus, the person she always asked to bless me, which is the greatest blessing I could ever receive.

So to my dear Vovó: Good-bye for now. I miss you already. Thank you for being my grandmother, for your wonderful life example and for the hundreds of blessings you gave me throughout my life. Until it's my time to meet you again, enjoy the rest and peace God has prepared for you with your loved ones, including my beloved son Jonathan David. What joy I feel to know that you are all together with our Lord Jesus!


***

Here are some old photos of my grandmother...

On her wedding day - I believe it was 1936!

Twenty-five years wedding anniversary (1961) photo with her husband and 8 children - (my mother is the one on the top row, second from the left)



My mother with her parents on their 50th wedding anniversary (1986) - I remember attending the party, I was 9 years old!

And here are some more recent photos...

My grandmother sitting on her varanda the last time I visited her (May 2006, age 92) as she did every day for years...

I enjoyed holding her hand - she was always very affectionate!

And kissing her!

The last photo that the three of us (my mother, sister and I) took with my grandmother together - May 2006


And finally, my beloved grandmother on her 90th birthday - I have this photo on my wall!