Fruits, Vacuum Cleaners and Brooms: What do They Have in Common?

Daniel absolutely LOVES them!

I understand his love of fruits - current favorites are oranges and grapes - but vacuum cleaners and brooms??? I thought children usually dislike vacuum cleaners because of the loud noise, but whenever we get our vacuum cleaner out, he follows it everywhere and gets particularly excited when it's on! Daniel loves noise, especially loud ones! And the broom, if he gets hold of one he will not let it go and will carry it around the house, including up the stairs! It's so funny to see his fascination with these cleaning tools! What will you be when you grow up Daniel? :-)

Here are a couple of photos of Daniel carrying our broom around (and yes, I know, we desperately need a new one!):



And here is a special video taken especially for the grandparents (who are the most likely to watch it all - it's long, 7 minutes) of Daniel eating oranges!

You will see clearly what I mean when I say he LOVES them!!!

A Special Reminder of the Risen Lord

Yesterday morning as we made our way downstairs, we were greeted by a very special sight: The balloons that I had blown up for Daniel the afternoon before, were all floating by the window (above the air vent that was on)! We were all excited to see the colorful sight against the shining sun, when we remembered that it was Easter morning and that like Jesus, the balloons had risen! What a special and sweet reminder of our Lord! We spent the day remembering Him and all the hope and joy His resurrection brings.

Here is a short video of Daniel enjoying the "risen balloons!"

Sisters: How Blessed We Are!

After putting Daniel to bed tonight, I came downstairs and it suddenly hit me that my sister was no longer here. For the past 10 days she's been downstairs waiting for me every night. But tonight, it was different; and my heart ached and I started to cry...

Fafa, I miss you already! Thank you so much for coming to visit us, it was so wonderful! We really had wonderful quality time together and I thank God for you! I love you so much! I only wish we lived closer! But God knows the desire of our hearts and we trust in Him for the places we are meant to live...

You know, my sister and I haven't always been that close. She is 7 years older and we were for a lot of our lives, living very different experiences. Imagine, she was 18, going to University and I was 11, still not even a teenager... But thank God, with time, we have become closer and especially since we both gave our lives to Jesus. This recent visit, where we spent lots of time together, and loved and enjoyed each moment, is a testimony of how God has united us.

Thank you Lord! Thank you for creating sisters and thank you that my own big sister is tia Fafa! I'm truly blessed to have her as my sister!



Here are some other fun photos ...

I got to climb a tree again! I loved climbing trees as a child!

Fafa under the best Cherry Blossom we saw in DC yesterday

We had fun with "Tia Helena"

Visiting the Arboretum together this past weekend

And tio Juju - the new addition to our family who we love too! It was wonderful to see you too and please continue to take great care of my dear sister!

Having Fun with Tia Fafa e Tio Juju!

My sister (tia Fafa) and her husband Julian (tio Juju) arrived one week ago and we have really been enjoying our time together! Tio Juju only stayed for about 24 hours before flying to California for meetings, but we were really able to enjoy the time that we had with him. It is so wonderful to see my dear sister so happy and we are excited to see what God has planned for their lives as husband and wife - hopefully some cousins for Daniel :-)! Tia Fafa is still staying with us and will be here for a few more days so we're having lots of quality time together.

They were both so excited to see Daniel again! Tia Fafa has been a wonderful auntie and has even babysat for us which has been so helpful - she is a natural with him! We only wish we lived closer so she could look after Daniel more often!

Tia Fafa and tio Juju brought Daniel a very special gift from their world trip: t-shirts from each of the countries they visited - Mozambique, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Panama! What an international selection of clothes Daniel now has! Thanks tia Fafa and tio Juju for being so thoughtful!!!

Check out the slide show below from our the last week (to download photos, click on the slide show):

Update on Daniel's development at 13 months:

As usual, more changes have occurred recently!

- Daniel can walk using the walker and is doing better with us supporting his hands and just generally showing more interest in doing so! We think he'll be walking soon!

- Daniel is now eating table foods! He really started to resist being spoon-fed and has wanted to self-feed and it is generally going well. He eats best when we also eat so now we are having proper family meals together which is very special. But, we are struggling a bit about what to cook for him! Each change takes some adjusting but we are confident that soon we will all have it figured out! On a related note, he is still not into milk but is loving his water (now he knows how to tilt his head back when using his sippy cup)!

- He is teething again! It's been about 5 months since Daniel got his first 6 teeth and now there is a new bottom tooth on the way which probably means more are coming soon too. He has been a bit sensitive at times because of the teeth but is sleeping well at night so we're all coping well.

- He has learned to blow kisses and knows well that when I say in Portuguese "manda beijo" that is what I want him to do! Very cute and special!

- He loves music and has started moving more and more to the rhythm of music when he hears it. His particular favorite is the "Galinha Magricela"song from Brazil! This song is about "the skinny and defeathered chicken" who lays eggs every day, up to 1000, and can even lay 4 eggs at the same time after doing a somersault! She is so skinny because of laying so many eggs! It's a great song and Daniel loves it! :-)

The Newly Weds Are Arriving!

Just a quick blog to mark our excitement and anticipation of the arrival of the newly weds: my dear sister and her husband Julian! They are coming to visit us after traveling for 3 months around the world and our home will be their final destination! Last time we saw them was at their wedding in England, last September, so we have a lot to catch up on. Daniel was then only 6 months old so it will be very special for them to see how much he has grown and changed!

Tia Fafa and Tio Juju, we can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!

His Own Bookshelf!

It has been so wonderful to see Daniel fall in love with his books! He now loves for us to read to him, listens carefully, points at pictures, imitates sounds of animals that we make, and even picks out the books that he would like to read! With this novelty in our home, we quickly realized that we didn't have anywhere nice to store his books and that they were just piling up on his bedroom floor and becoming very messy. So we ordered a special toddler bookshelf online and yesterday, Jonny put it together and Daniel loved it - both the building of it and the finished product! The bookshelf is just right for him in terms of height and easy access - with the books facing out for him to easily see and choose!

This is so special for us because we have been reading to him since he was a newborn and now, are finally seeing the results! It is so much fun! Thank you Lord for our boy wonder; what a blessing he is!

Not THAT Anymore! Sudden Changes and More...

I love to be in control of exactly how, when and where things happen. Planning, making lists, wanting things to be done in certain ways and in precise moments are all examples of how I love being in control. But guess what? Little boy wonder has also taught me in the past year that there are many things about him that I cannot control and that I just need to learn to accept! So, I'm happy to say that I've been able to handle pretty well the last unexpected and sudden changes that have occurred since Daniel turned 1!

What am I referring to? Well, for starters, Daniel has, almost overnight (about two weeks ago), decided to stop drinking milk, period. This is a boy who has always loved his milk and only 2 weeks ago, was walloping 8 oz of milk in the morning and at bedtime as well as about 6 oz mid-morning and mid-afternoon. But then, he got sick and had croup (we even had to take him to the ER one night to help his breathing; thank God he is all better now) and since then, has literally refused milk - either in his bottle or sippy cup. We offer it to him now several times a day but he will choose water over milk each time. We were puzzled..."Why don't you want milk anymore, Daniel?" "Don't you remember loving it just a few days ago?" We cannot answer these questions; it's just the way it is!

Of course, we were worried because we have always heard that children need their milk and that at this age, should be drinking up to 20 oz a day! Well, Daniel is now pretty much not having any milk (except for a few sips here and there and on an odd day when he'll drink a few ounces when he just gets up). But, a friend recently encouraged me that as long as we are giving him foods that are rich in calcium, he doesn't really need milk specifically. Her children never really drank milk and have grown up just fine. And, I know that in many cultures children don't drink milk and still thrive. So, we've had to suddenly adapt and now Daniel is eating yogurt twice a day, has milk in his cereal, more cheese and veggies high in calcium (well, at least that is the plan :))! And instead of milk, he is having breakfast earlier, snacks mid-morning and afternoon and dinner a little later so he will not get hungry at night. And thank God, this new food routine is working welll! Phew!

It's funny because we were just starting to think about how to wean Daniel off his bottle and get him drinking milk from a sippy cup. But hey, who said I could control that?! We don't have to think about that anymore, he just decided to do it all by himself! Looking back, this sudden change shouldn't really surprise me because it's exactly what he did at 5 months with nursing!

Having learned that everything is a phase, however, he'll probably start to drink milk again some day... But one thing I know for sure, the bottle days are now over and it's only the sippy cup now. Gosh, just another reminder that my little boy is no longer a baby...

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Here are some other noteworthy changes that have recently occurred:

-He's understanding us so much more! For example, the other day I told him to go to the window to see his friend Takumi who was leaving the house and he crawled over immediately! And if we ask him to clap, most of the time he'll do just that!

- Daniel is now loving reading books! Until only recently, he wouldn't really focus on the pictures but now he does, turns the pages and pays close attention! He has also started to bring out books during the day for us to read with him and likes to look at them on his own. So much fun!

- Calling me "ma-ma" more often (am now almost sure that this is his official 1st word - yay! - but am just waiting to make sure he doesn't stop doing it). Previously, he seemed to be saying in Portuguese "oi" (which means "hi") and "vem" (which means "come"), but that has disappeared which makes me think they were just sounds. He has also said "pa-pa" a few times but not consistently yet towards Jonny so could still just be imitating...

- Pointing much more clearly at things with his index finger.

- Standing on his own for several seconds without holding onto anything for support!

- Every time he sees Buffy, he imitates her sound and says "eeoooww". He started doing this on his own and Stephen, my step-father, was the first to notice! Yesterday when he went for a walk, he saw two dogs and started to say "wow-wow" (Portuguese equivalent of woof-woof!)!

- Daniel is definitely transitioning to 1 nap per day. I'm still watching him carefully to make sure he really is ready but there have been quite a few days now that he has only had one nap - either just one in the morning or one in the afternoon - and he's generally done well with that. This is exciting since especially now that spring is arriving, we'll be able to enjoy the outdoors more in the morning!

- And lastly, his favorite activity is climbing the stairs! He does it several times a day and is so fast; his energy is incredible! Just think what it will be like when he is running? More adventures to come for sure...

Here are some cute pictures of Daniel taken today!

One Year Later...It's Not About Me Anymore

Since boy wonder just recently turned 1, I have been reflecting a lot about how he has impacted me. I had heard before "that children teach their parents a lot" but now I know from experience that this statement is true. It's almost a year since I wrote this blog when Daniel was 6 weeks old, about how I was learning that "it's not about me anymore." I knew that I was undergoing some intense training in the selfishness department but boy, today I can say that I didn't realize how difficult that training would be!

Having Daniel has been one of the most amazing but also challenging experiences of my life. I think that because I had experienced the tragedy of losing Jonathan David, I subconsciously thought that I would be able to handle other challenges quite easily. After all, what could be more difficult than losing a child?

But, becoming Daniel's mother brought its own difficulties. I have always theoretically known that having a child would be demanding, but the reality is that nothing could have prepared me for what I have experienced this past year. The sleep deprivation was very difficult for me to handle. At about 3 months when he was going through a growth spurt, I started to feel a lot of anxiety and experience insomnia. It was horrible. Thank God, my sister visited me at that time and provided some invaluable support and then later, I went to see a counselor who really helped me realize I needed to give myself time to adjust. The anxiety didn't last for long, and from 4 months onwards, I started to accept the difficulties, adjust better and enjoy my new role as a mother more and more.

But it wasn't just the sleep deprivation. I have also come to realize that serving people is really not my forte (I did kind of know that before, but now it's been confirmed!). For Jonny, for example, serving comes much more easily and he enjoys it. I had always been very spoilt in that department; growing up in developing countries we always had house-help and then later, I married Jonny who due to his gift of serving (and my gift of receiving :-)) continued to spoil me. But, once Daniel arrived, everything changed: as his mother I had to learn to serve him, day and night, and in every aspect of his life. Serving a child is particularly self-sacrificing because it is constant and requires a lot of patience, perseverance, strength, energy and tons of love (and you don't get much encouraging feedback either)!

However today, a year later, I can wholeheartedly say that I'm so thankful for Daniel. Not only for the great blessing, joy, and cuteness that he is, but also for what he has done to me "in the inside." God has used Daniel to grow me in many ways; He has used my son to prune my branches so that I can become a better person - more selfless, a greater servant, and more dependent on Him. John 15:2 "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

And for this, I'm very thankful. I have by no means arrived in this department, however. There is still a lot of pruning to be done. Serving, though it has become easier over the past year, is still not easy for me. There is still a lot that Daniel has to teach me. But even though growth is often difficult and painful, I'm looking forward to growing more . I'm looking forward to it because I know that for those who believe, God uses everything for our good - all our pain, all we experience. He uses everything to help us become more like Him, the greatest of all: the Lord Jesus.

Thank You Lord for my son. Thank You for pruning my branches. Thank You for teaching and growing me. I pray that I may bear more fruit for Your glory.

Photos of Daniel from about a year ago...

The House Feels So Empty... We Miss You!

Dear Vozinha e Vozinho Fofinho,

You have left a big empty feeling in our home and in our hearts; we are all missing you! At the same time, we are very grateful that you came all the way from Portugal to spend two weeks with us, to celebrate Daniel's 1st Birthday and to give us much joy. Thank you! The memories of our time together are wonderful and they are many... I put together the best photos of our two weeks together so that we can keep all the memories alive - check out the slide show (to download or see bigger, click on the slide show and you will be taken to Picasa).

We love you and please come back soon!

With all our love,

Ana, Jonny and your special grandson, Daniel

More photos from Daniel's First Birthday Party!

Our dear friend Pastor Dan Taylor, took some wonderful photos at Daniel's party - check out his website to see and download them! Thanks Dan so much for these wonderful photos! And it was very special to have you and Lori there!