Happy Boy!

Too cute not to post immediately. This is Daniel at the park today. He was in a great mood and I got some wonderful photos. Enjoy!

First Story-Time At The Library

Since Daniel only takes one nap after lunch now, we are doing lots of fun things together in the morning. I have wanted to take him to story-time at our local library for a long time, but it's on a Wednesday and I usually work that day. But last week, I had a different work schedule so I was able to take Daniel to the story-time for children under 2, called "Babies in Bloom."

It was so fun to see all the babies and experience the different little activities the Librarian had for the children. Daniel enjoyed most of it: after about 5 minutes, he wanted to walk around instead of sit and listen, but he particularly enjoyed when the librarian played music and gave them little rattles for the children to shake together. At the end, she used a bubble-making machine to blow hundreds of bubbles around. Since it was the first time Daniel had ever seen so many bubbles, he just watched quietly, not too sure what to do with them.

Here are some photos of our first story-time at the library:

Daniel listening to the Librarian

Walking around shaking the rattle

Looking at the bubbles...

Daniel's friend Nina was really excited about the bubbles. Maybe after seeing how she played with them, Daniel will know what to do next time!

Video of Daniel Walking At 14 Months

As promised, here is a video of boy wonder walking around - recorded on May 15th at the park! Isn't it amazing how in less than one month, he has become so much more stable? Just look at the video I posted at the end of April to see the difference. And this is Daniel walking with shoes on an uneven surface of wood chips - a whole extra level of difficulty! It's amazing for us to see how quick it all happens - I have enjoyed this part of parenting more than I imagined!

Death Is Not Dying

It has been a while since something has moved us so much. In fact, I can't remember the last time we watched something that has impacted us this way.

A couple of nights ago, Jonny and I watched a video of a Canadian woman named Rachel Barkey, who is dying of cancer. Rachel is only 37, a mother of 2 young children, and after 4 years of battling with breast cancer, she is now dying. The cancer has spread to her whole body and she doesn't have long to live.

What would you do if you were in her shoes? What would you want to tell people, to tell your young children, if you knew you were leaving them soon forever?

Well, Rachel recently gave a presentation to a group of women in Vancouver that was recorded and told them why she believes "Death is not Dying." Many people have asked Rachel, “Why? Why is this happening to you? To Neil? To Kate and Quinn? To your family and friends?” “I don’t ask ‘why?’” says Rachel. “Because I know.”

Watch it yourself or listen to her and you will understand why we are so moved (click on blue letters/links to watch or listen). Since watching the video, Jonny and I can't stop thinking of her. I even think of her in the middle of the night, she has had a tremendous impact on me...

I plan to write to her soon and I hope she will get to read my letter. But in the meantime, I just want to say: "Thank you Rachel for your testimony. Thank you for explaining it so well. We have learned so much from you. You are not dying in vain; you are fulfilling the purpose you have pursued. Thank you and you will not be forgotten."

Mother's Day Weekend

We had a nice Mother's Day weekend. But since becoming a mother, Mother's Day has been a "bitter-sweet" holiday for me. It is a day that I remember and miss Jonathan David even more, but it is also a wonderful reminder of how blessed I am to be the mother of two precious boys - one at home in Heaven and one here with me. And to experience Daniel Peter growing up has been so wonderful - I'm really loving it more and more and for that, I am truly thankful.

Jonny was so thoughtful to send me a beautiful bouquet of tulips (his favorite flower) with a cute card "written" by Daniel for Mother's Day. And Maria, Daniel's "second mother", surprised me when I got back from work last Friday with a lovely craft that she had made for me with Daniel, and also a yummy dessert - how thoughtful of her! She told me it was not easy to get the craft done - which I can totally understand knowing my 14 month old! We then had some new friends over for dinner on Saturday and Daniel loved playing with their almost 18 month old son Marcus. On Sunday, we had a relaxing afternoon after church and enjoyed taking Daniel to our neighborhood park.

Here are some photos of the weekend:







I need to post a video soon of Daniel walking. He is very stable now and loves to walk around all over the house! He loves to walk in and out of the house onto our deck and is definitely becoming more independent. He has also been talking loads, in a language that we do not understand but to him, seems to make perfect sense. To us, it sounds a bit like Tamil! :-)

What a precious age, we're just loving it! For me, my love for Daniel just grows each day and I often feel like smothering him with kisses! "Mamae te ama, Daniel, muito, muito e muito!"

Thankful For Our Neighborhood

I can't believe that it's almost 3 years since we moved into our home - time really does fly by. Recently, I have been feeling particularly thankful for our home and especially, for our neighborhood friends. We have been getting know so many children close to Daniel's age and he just loves to play with them. Right now, just around our house, Daniel knows 6 other children and each time we go to the park, we meet more.

I was recently talking to one of the mothers and we both agreed that due to the the current housing market, it is unlikely that any of the families that we know will be moving anywhere else soon. And that is great, because the kids are getting to know each other and are growing up together.

Now that the weather is much warmer, all the kids have been spending a lot of time outside and so Daniel gets to play with them almost every day. Yesterday morning, for example, we were walking to the park with our family friend Maria Helena who was visiting us and our Japanese neighbor decided to join us with 2 of her children. We had so much fun and you could see that Daniel was on cloud 9!

At one point I even said to Maria Helena: "Look how happy Daniel is right now!" And then she wisely explained: "Well of course: he is with his mother, outside playing in the park, with his friends, enjoying the nice weather, has a full tummy, what else does he need?" So true... Daniel certainly didn't need anything else and just played and played, smiling often. And I watched, feeling such joy and thanking God for the special time we were having in our neighborhood.

Here are photos of Daniel having fun with Takumi and Nina at the park...

Daniel walking with "Tia Helena"

P.S. We are feeling sad that our Japanese neighbor will be going to Japan for the summer at the end of May. Daniel will miss the children so much! But it will be a great reunion in August and fun to see how much Daniel and Takumi have grown (they are only 6 weeks apart). Isn't it special to see how much they have grown since the last time they returned from Japan? I love this feature of blogging!

Memories of April...

It is amazing to me that we are already in May and that yesterday, Daniel turned 14 months old! This year seems to be flying by... Since we have been so entertained with Daniel walking, I haven't posted many photos recently and realized when going though our camera that we've actually had many special moments in April. So here is a slide show of what is now great memories of the month that just passed... It's funny to see from the photos that we had both very cold and very hot days in April!

Update on Daniel at 14 months:

Since Daniel started walking about 1 and a half weeks ago, he is already so much more stable and can do over 50 steps in a row - though he does continue to wobble and loses his balance often! The progress is rapid and we are enjoying it so much! He also continues to have that cutest grin on his face each time he walks - it's definitely his favorite activity right now! He's also getting very good at standing up and walking from sitting or kneeling without holding on to anything. And he can walk in circles and turn corners very easily. Just amazing to watch how quickly it all happens!

Since yesterday, we have noticed that Daniel has discovered his nostrils! He puts his little finger inside them very gently and always has this curious expression on his face. The funny thing is that he does it most during meals, when he has food on his finger! So we are telling him not to do it but you can see that he is just so intrigued! The other thing he has been doing during meal time, is hiding food on his seat, right next to his leg, under his tray. What a bizarre thing to do! As you can see, table etiquette is collapsing all around us! :-)

Another cute thing we would like to remember is that when Daniel points at things, he likes to cross his index finger with his middle one - it's so funny and cute! We hope to get a photo of this but he points for only a few seconds at a time so we haven't succeeded yet...

Guess Who Is WALKING?

Well, the day has arrived. I have been dreaming about blogging about this for months...drum role please!

Daniel Peter is now officially a walker! It started at the end of last week: on Friday, April 24th, he took 3 to 4 steps, on Saturday he took 8 and on Sunday 14! Today, we were finally able to catch several cute video clips of Daniel walking. He was in a great mood, a bit hyper, but managed to show off his new skills! By the end of the evening, before bath time, he was so hyperactive that he couldn't stand straight - as you will see in this video. Look at his enjoyment and all his squeals! And of course, Mamae and Papai are having fun too! What a joy! So cute to watch and experience! Enjoy!

16 years of Ana and Jonny!

For a change this is Jonny blogging, not Ana! What is the reason for this strange turn of events you are probably wondering... Well, it just so happens that today, April 25^th, marks the anniversary of when Ana and I started dating! And it has been 16 years now! It is funny to think that it has been 16 years because that seems like a long time but it has flown by. We have now officially been together for more than half our lives, as we were 15 years old when we I asked Ana to “please go out with me”. Little did I know that this would lead to marriage and babies but I am so thankful to God that it did! Together, we have gone through a lot over the last 16 years and I am glad that I have a partner to share all of life’s ups and downs with. She makes me smile every day, is my best friend and brings out the best in me. Over the last 14 months I have also seen her become an amazing mother (as all you regular readers can tell from the blogs she has written) and I am very proud to be her husband.

Ana, I love you very much and I thank God for all that you are and all that you do. Happy 16^th anniversary!

Learning to Walk...

How special it is to watch Daniel Peter learn to walk! Just in the last couple of weeks, he has been standing on his own for several seconds and has taken at least 1 step on his own! Soon, he will be officially walking - how exciting!

Check out this sweet video of Daniel "learning to walk" with his Papai this past weekend at the park. Even since this video was taken, he is already more steady on his feet. But we don't want to forget this cute wobbliness, we know it will not last for long!

You are growing up too fast Daniel! But we are excited to witness this new special milestone reached soon! Oh, how we love you; you are so precious!!!