Our First Halloween

This evening, we experienced for the first time as a family the American tradition: Halloween. We invited some of our neighbors for a pot luck dinner at our house and then we all went out "trick-or-treating" together.

Our Japanese neighbor lent us a costume for Daniel and he was a cute little dragon! He wasn't too thrilled about the hat but he wore it for photos and when we went out. Thankfully, it was actually quite warm outside so the kids were comfortable in their costumes - though for Daniel, it was even too hot! It was so cute seeing the kids together dressed up... We are just so thankful that Daniel (and us) has such great friends living close by to share this experience with!

After dinner and before we went out, the kids in the neighborhood started knocking on our door and said "trick or treat!" This was the first time Jonny and I had ever given the kids sweets and I got so excited about it when they came! However, I did wish I wasn't giving them candy...I felt so bad about it that I even told some of them to make sure to brush their teeth! Uhm...I think they may skip our house next year! :-)

In all this experience however, there was something that really struck me: When we went outside, it was like our street was a different place. There were lots of people walking outside, homes had their doors open and lights on, people were greeting each other and were happy. We actually got to see for the first time some of our neighbors whom we had never seen before! So in a way, I could see one great benefit of this tradition: it is a time for people to connect with one another, however briefly. And at the same time, I felt sad. Sad that it takes a tradition like this, and in particular candy, to get people who live so close to one another to come out of their "shells." For just a few minutes though it was different... and it made me wish that it was the norm rather than the exception...

The cute little dragon.

Waiting for his little friends to arrive.

The three of them looking so cute dressed up: a dragon, a fairy and a fireman.

With our special neighbors: Irena (Justyna's mother), Justyna, Heather and Devesh.



Little dragon having dinner - the tail didn't bother him!


Our first time trick-or-treating! Daniel had no idea what was happening, but he went with the flow....



The three of them outside the most decorated house on our street.



We then went to Justyna's house and Irena, who is Polish, gave us candy too - this was the first time for her too! And Daniel walked straight into her house - he loves to play there!



Walking with Papai... This was the first time Daniel walked outside in the dark!


And with Mamae at the last home we visited...





Memorable times!

Playing In The Puddle: Photos and Video

Life has been so full recently that my dear blog has been neglected... For those who check most days, sorry about that! But as work has picked up for me (still need to write about my work...) and all the end of year commitments, I'll probably only be able to blog once a week or so for a while. But I promise to try my best to blog at least once a week. Thanks so much for following this blog!

Anyway, this afternoon Daniel had lots of fun playing in the puddles close to our home and I wanted to record it. This is only the second time in his life that he has done this and he loved it! Check out the photos and video below! My camera unfortunately ran out of battery as he got more into it but at least I got to capture some of it. Enjoy!

One extra developmental update that happened tonight: Daniel started galloping! So cute and he really loved doing it! Must try to get that on video too...

Good night!

Beautiful Autumn Trees...Beautiful Memories...

The rain and crazy cold weather have passed, revealing the beauty of Autumn in this part of the country. Today after I got back from work, I saw these trees close to our house just looking gorgeous and then I remembered that not long ago, I had taken these pictures... Remember?

Well today, about 2 years later, the little baby growing inside of me is now a big and cute little boy, who has completely changed my world...

Sweet, sweet times!

Recent Special Moments

We have been extra busy lately which is why one week has almost gone by since my last post. Anyway, though I'm feeling exhausted tonight, I wanted to quickly post some photos of some very special moments we recently had:

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of seeing my dear Honduran friends again after almost 2 years! Wilsen and Libny are the daughters of my dear friend and colleague Perla and they came to DC to have lunch with me. I love the two of them so much and we had such a lovely reunion! I feel like they are almost like my little sisters! Wilsen, the one closest to the wall, is getting married the day after Christmas, how exciting! Las quiero mucho!!!

Saturday morning we had the privilege and joy to celebrate Holly's 5th Birthday (my dear friend Kristen's daughter)! She is such a sweet little girl - we love her so much!


This is Daniel waiting for the cake and ice cream - which he didn't like... he just does not have a sweet tooth.

Holly opening her birthday card from us.

Our family with Holly and Mikey - Daniel looked away just as Mike took the photo...

Auntie Helena came to visit us again this past weekend. Daniel absolutely loves her and called her "Nena" all the time. He asked her to read to him his tractor book...

Not the best photo of "Nena" and Daniel, but I wanted to remember how we already had to wear a winter coat this past rainy weekend. The cold weather came so suddenly that we didn't have a coat for Daniel and so we were so thankful when Kristen gave us two winter coats that used to belong to Mikey. Also, Nena and Daniel enjoyed each other during this car ride to church and also held hands - Daniel loves holding hands and Nena loved it too!

Good night and sweet dreams! For those in Malaysia, good morning and have a great day!

Developmental Update: Daniel At 19 Months

In the last month, Daniel has started to do so many new things that it's hard to keep track of them! But here is a list of the main things I can remember:

1. Language development: He has a much greater understanding of what we are saying and asking him to do. He is also talking more and more (latest new words are "pão" (bread) and "mão" hand and is saying more 2 syllable words such as "carro" (car) instead of just "ca" and "gaco" for gato (cat). This morning I actually heard him tell Rashell "Baba não mão" - translated as "Baby no hand", meaning "Baby do not touch!" - I think that's his first 3 word sentence! Oh, and a funny thing is that he is saying "ball" with an English accent! No kidding, it's genetic!!! :-)

2. Physical development: Daniel has recently started to: kick balls! Jonny was particularly excited about this development! He is learning how to jump and is just running so much more that it's hard to keep up with him - which can be dangerous at times! We're trying to teach him that he cannot run on the road, just on the side walk or on the grass... but he still does not understand why...

3. He loves reading books and watching DVDs more and more - his ability to focus has increased tremendously. The other day he actually sat in my lap for over 20 minutes watching a "Baby Einstein" DVD and I was amazed (and of course I really enjoyed it too because it was like a long, rare, cuddle!). Since I've been working now from a public library, I've been bringing back home different books and DVDs which he loves. His favorite books are those where he can see pictures of machines such as trucks and cars - that too must be genetic! :-)

4. Signs of potty training readiness are coming strong! He consistently says "boo" when he sees a diaper or a toilet now. Also, we think he is starting to tell us when he is going "pee-pee" because all of a sudden he will say "boo" and grabs his diaper as if something is happening! We are now thinking more seriously about what the next steps are to making potty training a reality...

5. After months of holding crayons and pens but not interested in what he can do with them, Daniel has started to enjoy scribbling on paper quite a lot! The problem is that we have started to find his scribbles on other places such as on his table, chair and drums. We are now teaching him that he can only draw on paper! :-)

19 months... What a big little boy he is!

Do you like the latest haircut? I think I'm getting better! :-)

And he's just such a bundle of cuteness!

I thought this photo was funny because you can really see the large 2 bottom 1st molars! Daniel now has 12 teeth and the 4 canines are just starting to come through all at the same time - ouch! Soon he will only have the last 4 remaining 2nd molars to come out and then we will be done with the infant teething process! Yay!

Daniel is obsessed with playing with our electric toothbrushes... look at that sweet cheeky face! Did I say he can be cheeky? Oh yes he can! :-)

One Week Later...

Here are some photos of Daniel tonight, during his hyperactive phase, exactly one week after his bad fall and the trip to the ER to get stitches. Compare with the photos at the bottom of this recent blog... Not bad huh? The scabs of the scrapes on his left cheek bone have gone and left behind some pink spots of new skin. The cut still needs healing and not all the stitches have fallen out, but it too is healing well. We are encouraged and praise God for that!

And here are some bonus photos of him hyperactive!

And for an extra treat, we finally got Daniel to kiss Rashell this afternoon (Maria babysat Daniel during his nap so we could attend a church event). Maria said she had been asking Daniel to kiss Rashell during the week but he wasn't interested... So it was the cutest thing ever to see him actually kissing her several times today!

Daniel and Rashell have been growing closer and have even shown signs of "sibling rivalry" - for example, they sometimes complain of the other touching them when sitting in the stroller or when they are having lunch. But the kisses today show how sweet their relationship is becoming! :-)

Petting Farm - Photos and Video!

Yesterday on my day off, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful mild autumn morning, and took Daniel to a petting farm only about 10 minutes from our house. We had so much fun - though we did miss Papai! Last time we took Daniel to see animals (when we went to the county fair back in August) he wasn't too interested in them but this time, he actually went up to the animals on his own and petted them. It also helped that we were able to go inside their "cages" and it really felt like we were on a farm! He particularly enjoyed touching the baby cows who were bigger than him but only 2 months old!

The highlight for Daniel though, was with no surprise, the tractor-driven hayride. We got a great seat, immediately behind the tractor and Daniel quietly sat the whole time, just observing and taking it all in. He wanted to go on the ride again, but it was time to pick a pumpkin (a fun American tradition!) and go home for lunch... It was so special that I will try to take him again this month before it gets too cold!

Here are some photos and a video I put together with different clips from our time at the petting farm!

Click below to see the video!

On a separate note: Daniel's wounds are sooo much better! Tomorrow will be exactly one week since his bad fall and I'm planning to take some "one week after" photos so keep tuned for the next update! :-)