Celebrating Daniel's 1st Birthday!

This past Saturday, we celebrated Daniel's First Birthday with some of our family and friends and had a great time. Daniel did generally well at the party but did feel overwhelmed at times with the busyness. One of the highlights was that we were able to bring together four of the women who had taken care of Daniel over the past year: Azad, Azra, Ruth and Maria!

Check out the slide show for some of the photos that were taken (to see in bigger size or to download, click on the slide show and you will be taken to Picasa):

Boy Wonder is ONE!!!

Yesterday, March 3rd, was Daniel's First Birthday! Wow, what a special milestone! We spent the whole day cherishing him and in amazement that he already is one! He had no idea why we were extra excited but seemed to enjoy the multiple times we sang "Happy Birthday" in both English and Portuguese. The day started with Papai making Daniel a birthday cake and then in the early evening, we had a small celebration in which he got to try his first cake ever (he ate a little but didn't seem to love it) and then opening presents.

Check out the slide show of Daniel on his actual birthday! (To download photos, please click on the slide show and it will take you to Picasa).




We are so thankful to God for giving us Daniel Peter, what a blessing he is! We will be celebrating more this coming weekend so stay tuned for more photos!

We Are Anxiously Waiting!

For Vozinha and Vozinho Fofinho's arrival tomorrow!!! YAY!!!

My mother and step-father are arriving tomorrow from Portugal to spend two weeks with us and to celebrate Daniel's 1st Birthday!!! We can't believe that our boy wonder will be 1 on Tuesday, March 3rd! One year ago we were waiting for my labor to begin with so many questions to be answered, including whether he would be breech or not. Remember? You can review the blog here! It's already been a year and now we have a very big, cute, loving and an overall so precious boy wonder!

We look forward to blogging soon with photos and videos of his first birthday! These are very exciting times for our family! In fact, you can see exactly how excited we are:

In the meantime, I've been asking Daniel over and over: "Who is arriving on Saturday?" And responding with much excitment: "Vozinha e Vozinho Fofinho!!!"

We will be at the airport tomorrow waiting for you with so much joy and expectation! See you tomorrow!!!

Introducing To You: Maria

Well, for those who remember, finding long-term child care for Daniel has not been easy for us... Since Daniel was almost 5 months old, we've already tried 3 family day cares and now we are on our second nanny whose name is Maria! Ruth, who we loved, had to return to Peru to be with her two daughters who were really needing her there. Fortunately, she recommended her friend Maria, who is a lovely woman, also from Peru.

We are very happy with Maria (she's already been with us for about a month) and are hoping that she will stay for many months to come... but, we are just taking one day at a time with that and just thankful that Daniel is doing well, despite all the changes he has experienced in this area. He really likes her and it's great that he's still being exposed to Spanish.

Here is a photo of Maria with Daniel on a recent early morning - not the best picture but at least you get to see what Maria looks like.

Bahooo! Wahwooo!

Recently, Daniel has been talking a lot and making the cutest of sounds! "Bahooo, Wahwooo" is music to our ears! We love listening and watching him make these sounds - check out the video!

We are now just waiting for an official first word, which I am hoping will be "mamae" :-) - though I will be very happy if it is "papai" too!

P.S. This video also shows Daniel pulling himself up and standing!

The Sweetest Greeting

When Jonny and I both go to work, we are always excited to come home to our boy wonder in the early evenings. Recently, Daniel is always by the window when we get home and we are greeted oh so sweetly.

It is always a joyful reunion; a very special moment of the day! This afternoon, I was able to get some pictures of Daniel by the window - they are a bit obscured by the reflection of the sun, but, you can see well the sweetest greeting that we so look forward to and enjoy...

Where is Papai?

We've been having so much fun with Daniel! Having him crawl around and become more interactive has been so wonderful! Each day it gets better; we praise God for him in our lives more and more each day!

One fun game that we have enjoyed playing recently before bath time is "Where is Papai?", which when I talk to him in Portuguese is "Cadê Papai?" Here's the video of us playing!

Recent Photos of Fun Times

We've been enjoying playing at Takumi's - Daniel loves all the fun toys and the change of scene.

He's still into putting most toys in his mouth!

Isn't she so cute? That's Nina, one of Takumi's sister

(half Japanese, half Caucasian American)

Both boys clapping - what a cute smile Takumi!

**********

We had our dear friends over for dinner in remembrance of Jonathan David. We had a special and fun time together, in his honor. It was an interesting coincidence to realize that I was wearing the same shirt the last time Kristen visited for JD but that this time, it was a much happier occasion.

Mikey and Daniel "playing" side by side.
How I remembered JD seeing them play together - Mikey is only 2 months older that JD and so this is what the 2 brothers would have been like...


Mikey was so sweet playing with Daniel!


Holly the sweetest princess!

Best friends with our precious children!


**********

Finally getting to enjoy the outdoors again on a surprisingly warm February afternoon! What a cute doggy hat - used to be Mikey's!

He loved being back on the swing!




This time, he was into leaning back!

Daniel at 11 months: Climbing Stairs!

Here is a recent video of boy wonder climbing our stairs!

Silly Mamae!

I have always wished that I would be remembered as a fun mommy. Making Daniel laugh brings me such joy and I hope that he will remember me not only as fun, but also as funny! Today, Jonny captured on video how silly I can be at times and how I can make Daniel laugh. We were enjoying the surprisingly warm February weather at the park, and as he was enjoying the swing again after quite a few months, Daniel found it particularly amusing that I was wearing his doggy hat - which he inherited from Mikey, my dear friend Kristen's son. I guess it wasn't just the hat, the whole look was rather silly - check out the video below!