Learning

When AB was a baby I read all the books on development and knew if she was falling within such and such range of development. I have not cracked open even one of those books with DB, so whenever he does something more advanced than the week before, I am so surprised and proud of him - with AB I was more expecting it to happen. DB is now able to help me (a little) with getting him dressed or in this case, undressed. It is endearing.

Also, have I mentioned that DB says "mama?" He says it usually while in distress. I am not sure if he realizes I am mama, or if he is just saying it because it is a fun sound and he likes to say it. Either way, I am going to conclude he said my name first. Yeah DB! He also growls a lot, so I often call him "little bear."

Whew! That was exhausting for him! DB prefers being naked, so if I would just let him go without his diaper, he would be a happy camper. Believe it or not, that weird-o looking diaper is a Huggies diaper. None of those cute Disney characters for DB's bottom.

Playland

Talk about getting behind on blogs! I have a small amount of time alloted for internet each day. It is usually between the time the kids go to bed and when I feed Dash once more. If I spend it looking at People.com then, that is what I did rather than things more productive, so I should be wise in my time right? Recently our weather has begun changing and is rapidly growing more and more cool. Today we all wore jackets. Therefore my internet time has been spent scouring the internet for deals on new shoes for fall, some winter clothes and clearance summer clothes for the kids. However, I am done. If I look at The Children's Place website even once during in the next 2 months, it will be too soon.

A few weeks ago we had incessant rain, so we took AB to a local play place. We mostly like it. They have all the kids use antibacterial on their hands before entering. No shoes inside. They require all non potty trained kids to wear diapers (still saw some split bottom pants and bare bottoms though), and they have air purifiers. They have taken greater than average steps to keep the place clean which goes a long way with us.

AB had a blast. Her favorite thing was the kitchen, and she spent most of her time playing in the kitchen area. The best part for KB and I was watching AB face plant and barrel roll down a bouncy slide. After we saw she was okay we could not stop laughing. As she was tumbling down, all we could see was a blur of blue hairbow, green gingham bloomers, legs, arms and her dress. Since America's Funniest Home Videos is still my favorite TV show, this was right up my alley as far has humor goes...apparently my humor has not matured since I was 5 years old.

Eating her dress.

I am not sure if she was doing something interesting or if just she was interesting.

Once we got home AB had her bath and bedtime reading.

Blog War (That is what my friend called it)

Living overseas it is important to go extra lengths to keep up with my friends living elsewhere, otherwise we could easily lose touch with some precious people in our lives. We have friends living all over the world and like in our country, using Facebook is neither convenient nor...umm encouraged by the local government. Actually if you buy a international internet connection then you can access Facebook, but let me tell you, it is slow, very slow, so slow I log onto Facebook about once a month. Blogging is also tedious. I have spent hours trying to upload a photo or two (once it took 6 hours to upload a video), but it is much easier and less time consuming that Facebook. Therefore we blog, and most of our other friends living abroad blog too. I blog primarily for my family and my few friends that I know periodically check in on us. This is why our blog is chalk full of pictures of our kids, because let's face it, KB and I are now both 30, it is downhill from now on in the looks department for us.

One of my other motivations for trying to post something at least once a week is because of the small depression I fall into every single time look up one of my friend's blogs and see the same old (albeit usually very cute) pictures of their kids from months before. Wanting to spare my friends from a similar depression I made it a goal to post something once a week. I am generous like that (wink wink). I have a friend of 4 years (Andi can you believe it has been 4 years?) who also lives abroad. She has two teenagers and, a toddler and a newborn. If anyone has a reason to take month long breaks between their posts, it is her...and all you other people with more kids than I have.

To my point. My sweet friend Andi has decided to post something every single time I post and has said so on her blog. I do not think this is fair to her since she has 4 kids and all, but I really look forward to getting to see more pics of her kids and hear stories like the one she posted recently. I need to ask her if it is okay to paste a link to her blog, and if she is cool with it, I will share her blog with you all. They are great and you all will enjoy getting to know them.

Update: Andi said yes, so her blog address is http://abrahamsinheritance.blogspot.com/

For the grandparents -

This is several weeks ago when DB was trying to develop the concept of going from one point to another. He used his head as an extra appendage. I believe AB did this too when she was learning to crawl. Unfortunately DB can now assume the proper crawl position and is becoming better and better at getting from point A to point B. I am grieving his mobility.

Taking a break.

Trying again.

Trying to eat mommy's nose.

Trying to rip mommy's nose off her face with his super strong tiny fingers. Look at the intensity on his face. It is fierce.

Many Thanks

Thanks to our friends in Belton for the treats you sent us this week. We sure felt special. The books you sent us already migrated upstairs, so I do not have a picture of them. Rest assured they have been read many times already. Thanks friends!

DB's favorite thing in the box were not these tiny super cute sunglasses -

...it was his Prilosec. The day after it arrived, he had a Prilosec and Motrin (teething) induced sleep coma and had one of the best morning naps he has ever had. Now if the mother-load of Prilosec that our lovely United States Postal service lost sometime last month would just arrive, we would be set for months of happy acid reflux free bliss. Thanks mom for getting it to us.

Date Night

Since moving to our new city we have been blessed by a sweet young couple who comes over every Tuesday night to watch AB so KB and I can get a little "alone" time. Our idea of alone time has changed since we were first married. As newlyweds and after having AB we considered alone time as when it was just KB and myself. However now that we have DB we realize as long as DB remains immobile and quiet, having him with us is just as good as alone time. Therefore, date night is usually KB, DB and myself. Unfortunately the immobile part is ending soon, and I hope our friends will be willing to watch DB too. Last week we had to take turns eating dinner because DB kept trying to take the food from us as we were eating it.

Anyways, when we go on dates we often go to the local mall. Gosh that sounds like a lame teenager date, but it has everything we need, Papa Johns, Starbucks, Dairy Queen (drinks and sweets only) and a movie theater. Have we ever mentioned that the young people of this country absolutely and completely loooooove Transformers? They like to decorate their cars with Transformer stickers. Adults wear Transformer t-shirts. You can hear ringtones dedicated to the movie everywhere. Local advertisers even got in on the action. Much to the delight of nationals of this country, a local famous milk is mentioned by name in the movie. The mention received applause during the showing of the movie we attended. So it was no surprise to us that a huge spectacle was made of the #3 movie release. Outside the mall they erected a HUGE statue of Optimus Prime (I do not care if I spelled that right). KB wanted to let you all see how respectable adults lose their dignity over this movie. Check out the guy in the striped shirt. He was just one of many doing the same thing.

We came home to see AB dressed up like this -

The next morning -

How He Has Grown

Although I have still managed to take monthly photos of DB, I have failed to post them. Here are his -

5th Month

6th Month

and 7th Month photos. I think in this last one we can finally see his legs getting longer, that or his enormous diaper is distorting it.

Here is my little tribute to him.

DB is now 7 months old. I still think he looks like a boy version of his older sister - with brown hair and a completely different hairline.

AB at 7 months

DB at 7 months

DB is a happy baby. The only thing that messes up his day is a bad case of acid reflux. Unfortunately his medication has been in transit for almost a month now and he has about 3 bad days a week without it. He is really a little guy, about the 10th percentile in height and 5th in weight. AB was like that too, so I guess that is the norm for our babies. To me it means we get more use out of their clothes before they outgrow them - for now at least.

Recently his personality has seemed to pop. He is no longer frightened when KB razzes his tummy and even likes to watch daddy wrestle with AB. When he was younger his daddy's laugh scared him, causing him to throw out his arms and cry. It was precious. He loves his mommy, and I just cannot get enough of that.

DB is on the go now. He cannot get very far, but he can push himself around on his belly. He can sit on his own, however after a few minutes he usually tips over. It does not bother him. He really likes for me to assist him in standing and is showing signs of trying to pull up. He is very grabby. Anything within reach is in danger, especially mommy's hair and her tea. He also likes to grab the skin on our necks, face and collarbones. DB loves his baths and consistently pees in the water each and every time I put him in. He kind of growls at us, especially when he is reaching to grab us. Very cute indeed.

Things that make him laugh - AB laughing, mommy kissing him, AB jumping, daddy pretending to wrestle with him, AB twirling, mommy tickling him, AB running up to him, when we hold him up and let him "fly" over our heads, bouncing on our knees and touching (grabbing) our faces.

DB is sleeping in his own bed in his own room now. He goes to bed at 8pm, wakes up to eat at 10pm, goes right back to sleep and wakes up around 7am. He prefers to sleep on his tummy with is face smashed into the corner of the bed. He loves his mobile and pacifier. I prefer he not like a pacifier, but we will work on that later. For now it makes him happy and that makes everyone happy.

DB is a hearty eater of all things sweet. He loves applesauce, pumpkin, pears, bananas, and a locally grown purple sweet potato called taro. He does not like broccoli, potatoes or cauliflower. He likes rice cereal, but rice cereal does not like him. Poor guy can't use the bathroom for two days after eating it. He is still not a fan of water.

In the last week DB has begun to chew on AB's floor. She has one of those foam puzzle floors. DB often uses his tiny little fingers to pry up a piece of the floor and starts to chew on it. I find it strange to say "son, don't chew on the floor!" Also, yesterday he got a hold of my indoor shoes (we do not wear our outside shoes inside) and apparently chewed/slobbered on it because it was definitely wet when I put it on.

He wears both cloth and disposable diapers. I am done with washing poopie diapers. After a nice glob of it fell on my foot as I was trying to flip that junk into the toilet, I said "stick a fork in me, I am done!" For two weeks after that I only used disposable. Now I alternate. He wears disposable until he has pooped for the day, then he switches to cloth. I greatly prefer this situation. (Also since AB only uses her diapers to poo in, she now only wears disposable).

I never thought I could love a little boy as much as I do DB. I cannot get enough of him and I am already dreading him leaving us to go to college in 18 years. I have also found myself quoting Monica from Friends saying to her newly adopted baby boy, "I will love you so much that no girl will ever be good enough for you," but fortunately for DB, I am a rational person and I am praying for his girl right now. We love you DB.

Sudden Finish

I was told a couple of my family members have requested a video of the kids. They are in luck! Our internet seemed to be working in our favor today and I was able to upload this video. Just in case you are worried about the end, I caught him.

Also, our apartment is in one of many stages of disarray, but this video was too funny to not post just because I am mortified that it looks this way. It is messy.

Dinner Out

Recently we went to a local Thai restaurant. Like most foreign food, it was an East Asian version of Thai food. I cannot be too harsh on them though, most East Asian restaurants in the US are just American versions of East Asian food...I just cannot figure out the disparity since most of the East Asian restaurants in the US are owned by actual East Asians. Anyways, it was decent, but the decor was extra fun. It was also at this restaurant we figured out DB has entered into the "I want to grab any and everything in front of me" stage. It is beginning. The easy low maintenance baby stage is passing.

Also, AB was born in Bangkok, something she has not seemed to grasp yet. The "where are you from" verses "where were you born" questions just confuse her. She will answer Texas (I realize Texas is a state and not the name of our country) and Thailand for either of the questions but usually just Texas. We want her to have some sort of connection with the country she was born in and could have a dual citizenship with if she wants, so we hope by the time we visit Thailand early next year she will have a better grasp of "I was born in Thailand." We thought going to a Thai restaurant would help introduce AB to the concept of Thailand. It is the best we can do right now, even if the food did not really taste like Thai food.

DB loves his lay and play, but it too will be put away all too soon. He is now scooting across the floor and is managing to grab things that I put out of reach. Bring out the baby gates and child safety locks. Sigh.

Glutton for Punishment

I am not delusional enough to believe people visit our blog to look at KB and myself. Let's face it, it is all about our cute kids, so I leave it them to be the face of our family. Also, if I do venture into talking directly about myself I generally try to avoid talking about my weight or appearance, because unless someone is really really funny, insecure or overly confident rants about one's appearances are usually really annoying more than anything. I do not think people consider me funny, so this post might fall into the category of lame. Sorry. This post is about my hair.

I have lived overseas for 3 1/2 years and had my hair cut in this country 5 times. All 5 times I have regretted it and vowed to never cut my hair in this country again. Alas, I just cannot seem to help myself. I am apparently too optimistic and continue to give them another shot at cutting my hair and it always turns out wrong. The most recent mistake was yesterday.

My hair has gotten long recently, like about halfway down my back. KB likes it because he has a thing for long hair, however he could see pass the longness of my hair to the fact that it was stringy and looking sparse. For the last three months my hair has been falling out like crazy. I expected this to happen since I lost hair like this after I gave birth to AB. I also expected I would need to cut it and planned accordingly. During our last visit to the capital I was planned to visit Tony and Guy, but our schedule did not allow it. So when I sat at our dining room table day after day starring at my stringy hair in the mirror during language class I decided I could not wait three months until we went back to the capital. It had to be cut immediately.

My language tutor set up an appointment at her salon and went with me. I told the guy I wanted my hair to be cut just below my collar bone and did not want any layers shorter than my chin. I said I did not want my hair thinned out since it was already very thin and under no circumstances did I want bangs. Tisk. Tisk. Tisk. Where did I go wrong? I know where I went wrong. I went against past Leslie's advice. FUTURE LESLIE, DON'T DO IT!!! The sad thing is, I know future Leslie won't listen. She will get her hair cut in East Asia again.

Basically, my hair was cut to just below my collar bone and feathered up to my chin. Yes, he had the audacity to feather my baby fine hair up to my chin. Ironically it is the exact same haircut I have had 2 other times. Both also disasters. The only difference is that this time I was thankfully not given bangs...well actually he did give me bangs, but they are long. He also curled my feathered hair under. It created a 2 layer triangle shape. It was bad and he was confused when I asked him to straighten it out. He said it was more beautiful curled and left it like that.

I have come to the conclusion that this haircut must be some sort of standard haircut. I cannot explain why three different men in 2 different cities would give me the same haircut (with different instructions and photos) each time. Tomorrow I am going to go back and have him cut off the feathered hair. My collar bone length hair will become chin length hair. I knew this was the inevitable outcome, but I just could not seem to help myself...and next year when my hair gets ridiculously long and stringy I will probably do it again.

Afternoon at the Park

Recently we once again visited the city park. Here are some highlight pics. I like this first picture because there is a random truck driving down the walking path and the passengers were a family, not park workers. I still do not know how they got in. We had to lift the stroller over several barriers just to get it in.

AB was proud of this leaf.

AB and daddy played this game of daddy hiding, AB finding him and then daddy throwing her up in the air. It was a hit.

After all that fun of getting tossed around, AB was in no mood to stand still and take a picture with mommy and DB.

Firsts

Here are some of DB's firsts -

First time he poop sprayed mommy. He was about 2 months old. Our friends who live here with us are probably not surprised about this at all. I am quite known for my fearlesness when changing my little boy...which leads me to picture #2.

This was recent and absolutely not the first time he wizzed on me (note the wet spot on my shirt).

This is the first time he met his new buddy Sami. Although Sami weighs as much as DB's older sister, they are just 3 little months apart in age. They plan to become great friends and are anxiously waiting for their newest little buddy Caleb to be born, maybe even this week!

First time to drink from a sippy cup. He has been drinking his sweet citrus reflux medication for 4 months now and I am afraid water was just too plain for him. He was not a fan.

First solid food. Although quite unconvinced he would like it on day one, it was a different story on day two. Now he cannot seem to get enough.