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...