...as Jaya reminds us from time to time. Sometimes we need her to remind us of that, because it is so easy to expect too much of her because of the way she talks, and how old she appears to be at times. She is such a special little spirit, with so much joie de vivre. She has so much passion for everything she does. She is so smart and is constantly humbling us with her observations and her natural inquisitiveness. She just loves to serve - to take care of her brother, to rub Daddy's back, to bring Mommy water, to help us with chores. She loves to play kitchen and cook for us, so she got a kitchen this week made from a cardboard box, a mixing bowl and a cheap faucet. She loves it, and was very vocal about saying so - so polite. She loves music, and sings now more than ever. She is still very into being a mama, and likes to nurture and care for her baby doll. She loves all things girly - including nail polish, lip gloss, purses, and high heels. She is always cheering for and encouraging her little brother, and takes her job as his protector very seriously. We told her how important it is to keep Raja safe, especially now that he is crawling, and, true to her cautious nature, she is hyper vigilant about making sure there is nothing that can hurt him. "That's too little for Raji!" Raja adores his big sister and wants to be wherever she is, playing with whatever she is playing with. She is always making us smile. We love our little J-Bugs!
It is usually pretty difficult to get much good footage of her on video, as she gets somewhat camera shy when we start taping, but we got a few good shots of her recently. Here's to our two year and seven month old sweetheart!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
My first post and Raja crawling
After being asked by Editor-in-Chief to share some thoughts or comment on some of her posts...this is it - I've finally decided to write an entry! (if I sound smart or something its because my lovely intelligent wife has done the grammar and spelling check). I must say that Leatha does a great job at explaining in detail (I tend to leave those out) what happens here and how wonderful of a time we are having. I have no problem with Leatha doing all the posts because I enjoy her writing skills and she does a much better job than I could. The kids are growing up so fast and it is a blessing to be able to watch them daily and be there 24/7 by their side. As most of you know, my duty here is as a stay home Daddy. I admire Moms and Dads of this world who devote all their time and energy to their children day in and out. I'll admit that it has been hard for me to do this great duty full time. One important lesson I think that I can learn here is to how to be a devoted stay home Father and Husband and enjoy it, not thinking about what I am missing out on or what I want to do. Leatha is so unselfish and this allows her to put me and our children above her own needs. I realize how good I have it and that I was lucky enough to marry this great Woman. Enough of that. My dear son has decided that he wants to crawl now! Leatha cried when he did, saying that "he's not a baby anymore." He has been sitting up for the longest time now and often crashes head first (sorry boy, you got my jug) trying to move forward. Well, this evening we saw him on his four legs ready to unleash the beast inside of him! After many attempts to get him to move forward he did so and is loving every minute of it. Watch the video and see for yourself. Note that Jaya is his coach and motivator! Leatha added the slide show so can't take credit for that.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
the Baby Celebs
I've written a little about how much attention the kids get here. People are so friendly and just adore the kids everywhere we go. Whenever we go out, we have to plan accordingly and account for the time needed for the kids to greet the public. At church, people seem to be waiting in line for their turn to hold them, and at restaurants, waitresses offer to tend them while we eat. We've been calling them the baby celebs for a bit, but the name was stuck when the other day, a saleslady kept telling Jaya how sweet and cute and lovely she was. After I paid at the register, Jaya started walking to the door. I called to her, "Jaya, say bye-bye to the nice lady." Jaya paused, turned her head back and looked over one shoulder, and with her head slightly cocked and a closemouthed smile, the kind reserved only for her adoring public, she blew the woman a kiss.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Teething, Crawling, and Eating
So Raja has been working extra hard on pushing out his first teeth this week. He's been fussy, and poopy, waking (very) often, and had a low-grade fever for a couple of days. But he still gives us that big toothless (for now) grin all the time. He is just so sweet.
One of the ways we knew he was teething was that he wants to eat our food. He grabs rice from our plates and shoves it in his mouth. He also helped himself to my ice cream the other day, which Marei caught on video (see below). He is also very eager to crawl. He just wants to move, and can scoot around pretty well with a combination of lunging forward, rolling, and sitting. It is so fun to see the absolute joy in his face when he gets to where he wants to go. We love his mad face too, when he can't go where he wants. His new name is Baby Badge, Marei being the Big Badger. Why Badger? Marei's nickname from childhood - since badgers are little and ferocious. Like our Raji-paj. I just can't get enough of my baby badge.
Here are a few moments from the last week.
One of the ways we knew he was teething was that he wants to eat our food. He grabs rice from our plates and shoves it in his mouth. He also helped himself to my ice cream the other day, which Marei caught on video (see below). He is also very eager to crawl. He just wants to move, and can scoot around pretty well with a combination of lunging forward, rolling, and sitting. It is so fun to see the absolute joy in his face when he gets to where he wants to go. We love his mad face too, when he can't go where he wants. His new name is Baby Badge, Marei being the Big Badger. Why Badger? Marei's nickname from childhood - since badgers are little and ferocious. Like our Raji-paj. I just can't get enough of my baby badge.
Here are a few moments from the last week.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Hot pavement and long hair
Yesterday was a hot day. Jaya had kicked her shoes off while she was in the stroller, and when she jumped out onto the concrete, she yelped, "Too hot!" and said "got owies on my feet." Fast forward to today:
Jaya: "I am mad at the sun! So mad!"
Mama: "Why are you mad at the sun?"
Jaya: "Because it buhned (burned) my feet!"
It has been a long-time struggle in the bath with washing Jaya's hair, because of her aversion to getting water in her eyes. Lately, she has been telling me that she wants long hair. So today, as I was washing her hair, to encourage her, I told her that she should be brave and let me wash her hair without getting upset, and then she could have long hair soon. She let me wash her hair with minimal fuss, and was silent for a while. The wheels were churning, because about 10 minutes later...
Jaya: "Mama, I don't want long hair."
Mama: "You don't want long hair?"
Jaya: "No, I want crazy hair, like you."
Jaya: "I am mad at the sun! So mad!"
Mama: "Why are you mad at the sun?"
Jaya: "Because it buhned (burned) my feet!"
It has been a long-time struggle in the bath with washing Jaya's hair, because of her aversion to getting water in her eyes. Lately, she has been telling me that she wants long hair. So today, as I was washing her hair, to encourage her, I told her that she should be brave and let me wash her hair without getting upset, and then she could have long hair soon. She let me wash her hair with minimal fuss, and was silent for a while. The wheels were churning, because about 10 minutes later...
Jaya: "Mama, I don't want long hair."
Mama: "You don't want long hair?"
Jaya: "No, I want crazy hair, like you."
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Beach Outing
We finally made it to the beach! We joined our friends on a trip to the Portofino Resort, about a half hour from where we live. We had so much fun. As you can see, the water is so clear, and the beach is just beautiful. Our friends kept telling us, wait until you see one of our white sand beaches...
Jaya went nonstop all day, and could not get enough of swimming and playing in the sand. Raja just loved it too, splashing and kicking around. He even napped in the ocean, as he fell asleep on me in the mei tai. Jaya is learning how to go under water. She doesn't like water in her eyes, so she was very excited about her new goggles. They are serving double duty at bathtime. Raja, on the other hand, loves to splash and splash, and doesn't seem to care one bit about water in his eyes, salty or not. He has, however, developed an unusual fear of basketballs and volleyballs and the like. (See below).
What a great day. We were all so worn out from swimming, that all four of us fell asleep at 8:30 that night. Jaya keeps talking about "da ocean." We're all excited that this was just the first of many trips to the beach.
Jaya went nonstop all day, and could not get enough of swimming and playing in the sand. Raja just loved it too, splashing and kicking around. He even napped in the ocean, as he fell asleep on me in the mei tai. Jaya is learning how to go under water. She doesn't like water in her eyes, so she was very excited about her new goggles. They are serving double duty at bathtime. Raja, on the other hand, loves to splash and splash, and doesn't seem to care one bit about water in his eyes, salty or not. He has, however, developed an unusual fear of basketballs and volleyballs and the like. (See below).
What a great day. We were all so worn out from swimming, that all four of us fell asleep at 8:30 that night. Jaya keeps talking about "da ocean." We're all excited that this was just the first of many trips to the beach.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Lyrics, overheard
Lately, Jaya has been singing a LOT, as in, nearly all the time. She woke up before 6:00 am today and played for a couple of hours while I worked. I decided to jot down some of the lyrics our budding songwriter belted out:
"I will mess it up, up, up then I will mess it down, down, down"
"good morning good morning the old lady said"
"whoa me brotha, I got a piece in my hair, look at the mess shadow shadow shadow"
"I going da da do do doo do, we all going poo poo poo poo"
"I already play with my 'mato (tomato), I already play with my sun, I play with my 'mato stick"
"fight, fight, fight"
"where's doggie at? okie okie okie, namie namie namie"
Interjected as the chorus to many songs is, "You put your whole body in, you put you whole body out..." or "wheee, whee, whee" or "la, la, la" The chorus, although the same, is adjusted to fit the rhythm of the particular song.
Not to be outdone, Raja has been saying "DaDa!" We wonder if he will be as loquacious as J-bugs.
"I will mess it up, up, up then I will mess it down, down, down"
"good morning good morning the old lady said"
"whoa me brotha, I got a piece in my hair, look at the mess shadow shadow shadow"
"I going da da do do doo do, we all going poo poo poo poo"
"I already play with my 'mato (tomato), I already play with my sun, I play with my 'mato stick"
"fight, fight, fight"
"where's doggie at? okie okie okie, namie namie namie"
Interjected as the chorus to many songs is, "You put your whole body in, you put you whole body out..." or "wheee, whee, whee" or "la, la, la" The chorus, although the same, is adjusted to fit the rhythm of the particular song.
Not to be outdone, Raja has been saying "DaDa!" We wonder if he will be as loquacious as J-bugs.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A busy week
We were so busy this week! Some highlights:
- Raja says "amma" now. Not totally sure if he knows he is referring to me, but he says it around me the most. He loves sitting up so much now that he will really growl if he forgets how to sit himself up and needs some help. He is also busy trying to crawl, although it is more of a lunge in his case. He is so strong, we have to be very careful about what we leave around him - he grabs anything in sight, and has an iron grip.
- Jaya has been telling us at night what she plans to do "tomorrow." She has also been asking to pray herself, with our help. She also told me the other day, mama, you look cute. She resists her naps often, too excited by what she might miss while asleep. Lately, Raja has been sleeping in longer than Jaya (so I have been too!). So when he wakes up and she hears him, she gets so excited and yells, "Raji's awake! Raji's awake! We have to go see him!" She runs into the room and Raja is all grins and giggles at his sister. It is so cute!
- The Academy students are there to learn how to operate a business. (Hence, the Academy for Creating Enterprise). So some of them asked me to teach them how to bake banana-coconut cake and oatmeal cookies, and they have been selling them. It has been really fun, and neat to see if things I cook would actually sell. They sold out the first day, and have continued to since. Kind of a neat way to see if there is a possibility that maybe one day I could actually make money doing something I like to do even for free.
- Our house feels more and more "normal," as we often have visitors and dinner guests, just like in the States.
-The weather has been hot and humid but bearable. Not sure if it's the weather, or we've just become accustomed to it. In either case, it's nice!
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