Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Adorable monsters




Raja has the most adorable facial expressions. He makes this kissy face when he is tired (cutest face ever!), and thinks empty water bottles are hilarious. He has always had a thing for water bottles, but now Daddy's taught him some new tricks with them, so he is overjoyed about that. He is still trying to walk, and still trying to push those teeth out. At this rate, it's anyone's guess which one will come first. He might be walking before those little nubs finally push through his poor little gums.
Jaya ventured into the ocean in her floatie, alone. A big deal due to her extreme aversion to getting her face wet. Lately, whenever she is hungry, she wants rice and curry, no matter what time of day it is. She had a playdate the other day with a neighbor and was SO excited to have a friend come over. Her imagination has been running rampant, and she tells stories, especially as she draws. She talks about monsters a lot lately, and gives her impression of one in the video.

It was a nice weekend. We went to the beach on an overcast day, which was great. Not so exhausted, not so hot...and great timing. It started pouring raining the minute we arrived home, literally. That night, we went to a teppanyaki place, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. It is getting slightly cooler here, although it doesn't feel like fall, it's still nice. We've been walking more because of it.
Enjoy our little monsters!



Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

The original plan had been to start off Marei's day with some breakfast in bed. However, I stayed up late with work the night before, and had some work to finish up as soon as I woke up. By the time I got downstairs, Marei already had both the kids and himself fed and ready for the day. What a man! I'll have to make it up to him with some breakfast in bed this weekend. Then we took him to get a relaxing Swedish massage. Here, when it is your birthday, you treat others - so we bought a cake and some goodies to share with our friends at ACE and our buddies the trike drivers. We had a nice relaxed dinner with our friends Alvie and Edward at a Mexican place called Mooon Cafe (not a typo) - we were excited to have some spicy food! Here are some moments from today...

Happy Birthday to an amazing husband and dad!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Fauxhawk and Fashionista

Today, Raja started dancing!  We were playing some music and he started going wild.  We don't have it on video yet, but will soon.  He is such a happy baby.  Lately, he has been cracking himself up.  He just looks at one of us and starts giggling.  So cute!  He is so handsome with hair.  Although he did look adorable with his shaved head too.  I love his perfectly shaped round head.  He is so smooth now with cruising, walking with anything he can hold and slide across the room.  For a while, he was waking me up multiple times a night, but that has slowed down, and he is back to getting up just once or twice.  When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he sits straight up before his eyes are even fully open, and wobbles and weaves with eyes blinking, and then usually topples back over for a midnight snack, and is out again within minutes.  It's hilarious!  If there is any chance of us getting that on video, we will.
Jaya is our baby fashionista.  I think we saw this coming when she taught herself to walk in my heels within 2 weeks of learning how to walk, period.  She loves to accessorize, loves skirts and dresses and all things girly.  She has definite opinions about what looks good and picks out her own clothes and puts them on, asking for help if she needs it.  She loves wearing my clothes, belts, shoes, and jewelry.  She likes to pick out my earrings, and when we go out, she looks at my clothes and picks out the shoes I should wear.  She even understands the advanced concept of shoes that "go" but do not necessarily "match."  She often prefers the shoe section to the toy section of the department store.  
She has loved to write and draw for a while now, but lately, she's shown a renewed interest for it.  She refers to everything she does as writing, and what everyone else does as drawing.  She has also been bringing us books, magazines, receipts, anything printed, and saying, "Teach me to read this."  She "reads" everything that she has memorized.  She is still singing a lot, and has expanded her repertoire.  
Raja is just as enthralled with Jaya as ever, and Jaya is big sister extraordinaire.  He wants anything and everything she has in her hands.  We often hear her reprove him with a sharp, "Mine!" followed by a gentle, "Raji, that's not safe for you" or "That's only for little girls, not for babies."  She is always looking to entertain her brother, and make him laugh.  All in all, looking over the last nine months, we feel so blessed with how well she had adjusted to no longer being the baby.  She is his Chechi, his little momma, and seeing the two of them together, playing together more and more every day, has been one of the best things about parenting thus far.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

American Football in Cebu



This week we were able to watch the Raiders' first game, live in high definition, through the nfl.com website. Oh was it painful! Here are some pictures my lovely wife snapped that led up to the game, during and after. Ignore my angry face after my team lost 41-14 to their rival the Denver Donkeys.



Sunday, September 7, 2008

Some updates on them bof' together

This week, both the kids got a little virus.  A fever, some fussiness, difficulty staying asleep, nothing too bad.  Just some sleep-disruption for mommy and daddy.  They got better quickly.  Marei and I, on the other hand, took a little longer to recover from the sleep deprivation.  I have been cranky and tired a lot this week.  Good thing kids (and Marei) are so forgiving!
Jaya is still singing her little heart out.  She is talking more than ever, and has a few new uniquely J-Bugs phrases.  
"Also too" - as in, "Mama, I am coming with you also too."
"Bof' (both) together" - almost always refers to Raja, as in, "Daddy, you can carry us bof' together."
"Not yet, later" - usually refers to bedtime, naptime, or mommy work-time.
She has developed a cute little stutter, it usually appears when she has something extremely exciting and/or lengthy to tell us.  She has also been using the "L" sound to replace other sounds.  Instead of Ayala, she says, "Alalla," instead of Mary Lou, she says "Mellalou," and instead of Amooma, she says "Amoola." 
She is hilarious, sweet, even profound.  She makes us smile and laugh all day long.  Here are some of the things she's said recently that I remembered to write down. (There's also a gem in the video below).
Upon seeing a model in a turtleneck - "The lady is wearing a shirt that will make her SO hot.  Her body will be too hot 'cause she's wearing that."
After seeing me start work for the day, grabs her own toy laptop and says, "I'm working.  Don't bother me.  Only if Raji need me."
When Daddy came home from playing football - "Daddy, why did you put your shoes in the bag?  Your shoes are dirty.  You're making the bag all yucky!"
After getting better from her fever, referring to earlier in the day - "Daddy and Heavenly Father gave me a blessing 'cause they love me."
After seeing someone with a shaggy 'do - "That guy has crazy hair like us, mom.  He has crazy hair also too.  Why he has crazy hair like me?"
Just sitting around thinking - "When I get bigger, I will get taller and I will get two big milkies right here (patting chest)."
Speaking of which, Raja now does this cross between a headstand and a triangle pose while he nurses.  He attempts this whether we are home or out, lying down or seated.  It makes for some interesting nursing sessions.   He's also developed an unusual crawl style in his attempts to be up on two feet like sister.  He wants to be in the center of everything, and needs constant watching.  He is so quick and tries to climb anything and everything in sight.  He knows how to climb the stairs, and will fight to get down if he sees something nearby he can climb.  The other day I came home to find that Raja had drawn all over his body with marker, and Daddy had somehow missed it.  Today I dropped a (closed) bottle of nail polish, and couldn't find it for a while because the kid pounced on it so fast.  
They are both growing so fast!  I marvel at how much they learn and grow each day.
We've experienced so many wonderful things being here, but I think that one of my favorites is all the family time we get to spend together.  I feel especially grateful to have a job where I can still be with my children all day.  I reread The Family: A Proclamation to the World today.  Reading it was sobering, as it reminded me of the importance of the work Marei and I have to do, but it was also exciting and joyful - I can't think of a single thing I'd rather be doing than being a wife and mother.  This week, even though I knew the kids were fine, I couldn't help feeling so sad for them that they had to deal with the discomfort of illness.  The feeling that comes from worrying about your kids and wanting the best for them is like nothing I've ever felt before. 

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  Elizabeth Stone


Monday, September 1, 2008

A little pampering...

We went to the salon today for a little pampering.  Marei's feet have never looked better, I have polished fingernails for the first time in a long time,  and Jaya is sporting an interesting shade of green on her little piggies.  Taking a two-year old to get a mani-pedi sounds extravagant, I admit.  Not something I thought I would do with Jaya for a long time.  But considering that all of this...
1 pedicure (Marei)
1 manicure/pedicure (Leatha)
1 manicure/pedicure (Jaya)
1/2 hour body massage (Marei)
...cost $7.77 - about what getting four fingers of my left hand manicured in the US would cost - I am okay with pampering my J-bugs, and grateful to be able to do it.  Jaya was so excited too, and was just the most well behaved little lady, sitting as still as she could and thrilled to be able to pick out her very own shade of polish.  Marei was amazed at what a pedicure could do for his hooves, and truly enjoyed his massage.   I think I am going to get used to having nice nails while we are here, so I need to learn how to do an excellent at-home manicure before leaving Cebu.  We had a nice meal out at a nearby Italian restaurant, where we were able to capture a modified shimmy-shake on tape.  We ended the day with fun at home.  The kids are in bed now, and we too, are off to bed.  Happy Labor Day!