Another whirlwind month filled with stuff to do, places to go, and people to see has passed. And Adik is 8 months old! [[image:2012_0829_rafe16.jpg:Yes, yes I am:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions So Adik is still commando crawling and starting to crawl over low hurdles (e.g., 1 pillow, 1 outstretched leg) but still has trouble crawling over anything higher than that. He’s terribly funny when he learns to do something. He yells a wild war whoop when his attempts finally succeed, and then he goes around and repeats the thing, practising his little heart out. Adik is very determined, and it’s so funny to see him putting his game face on. We still have to keep him from being trampled by his sister, but he is starting to stand his ground against her. He keeps going after the things she’s playing with (after she’s grabbed it out of […]
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49 Months
And so, another month has passed. Time does not march on, it flies faster than a speeding bullet. Four years and a month old. The darling of our lives, la reina del punto azul, the director of our plays and part-time adorable tot, part-time berserker dictator. [[image:2012-yaya49month-02.jpg:Arrrr mateys!:center:0]] * Mouse over pictures for captions We had yet another eventful month. It does seem like we hibernate and do nothing much for 8 months out of the year and then we pack everything in in the warmer months. This month, we have driven to Florida (pics to come, someday) gone through Ramadan, and celebrated Eid. It’s been another fun and action packed time. However, even though Yaya is now four and despite her promise that she would start eating “grown up food” after she’s four, it has not yet come to pass. Alas, the toastivore can not yet be swayed. But […]
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Salam Aidilfitri from Sitiawan
This year we spent Eid-ul-Fitr in Sitiawan. Here’s a photo of everyone during Eid morning. Then later that night, we had guests over the internet in the form of the Renstroms. Yaya and Adik also joined the fun. Adik wanted to crawl through the computer screen to join us, but Yaya held him back. EID MUBARAK!
Continue readingSalam Aidilfitri from Ohio
Eid Mubarak and Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin from us all! [[image:2012_eid_yayaadik03.jpg:Siblings’ first raya together:center:0]] [[image:2012_eid_yayaadik04.jpg:Hey, what happened to my feet?:center:0]] [[image:2012_eid_yayaadik02.jpg:Singing Raya songs or asking for duit raya?:center:0]] [[image:2012_eid_yayaadik05.jpg:Love Kak Yaya:center:0]] [[image:2012_eid_yayaadik01.jpg:Eid Mubarak y’alls!:center:0]] Missing all the family and friends in Malaysia. Also the ketupat and rendang. 😉
Continue readingRafe’s 7 Month Birthday
And so the boy is 7 months old (and a bit, but thank god for backdated entries, right?) 😉 [[image:2012_0729_rafe07.jpg:Flanked by his sister’s cats Purrsley and Duchess:center:0]] *Mouse over pictures for captions Unbelievably, another month has flown by and Adik is growing and developing so quickly. Last month’s rolling and lunging has quickly become a fast-moving commando crawl. The child is mobile! He’s happy to just roam around the house. We do have to make sure he doesn’t get trampled by Yaya (who of course is oblivious of the fact that she could actually hurt her brother if she steps on him), and it doesn’t help that he always wants to follow her around and try to do what she’s doing. But it’s awfully fun to watch his little personality appear and see the things that catch his attention (and then gets taken away from him by Yaya) and the […]
Continue reading48 Months (a.k.a. Fourth Birthday)
The big day arrived! Yaya is four years old, officially! Unbelievable! [[image:2012-yaya48month-02.jpg:Princess Fairy Yaya waves her wand:center:0]] It feels like Yaya cannot possibly already be four. Didn’t we just bring her home from the hospital last month? I guess time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂 * Mouse over the pictures for captions So her birthday came along a week after her birthday party. We had another busy month. It does seem to be that Vin and I sort of hibernate during the winter months, not doing too much if we could help it, but come the summer we seem to explode with activity! This past month we went to Bloomington, IN to visit the IU Campus and for Vin to attend a DVD launch party, and then a weekend trip to Vin’s hometown of La Porte, IN for a class party, and then to hang out with Becky in […]
Continue readingThe one with the be-earlied pre-Ramadhan party
So since July 22nd fell on the 3rd day of Ramadan, we decided to move up her party to the week before, on Sunday July 15th. We invited our friends and neighbors to what has become our annual cookout / birthday party. We did not have any overnight guests this year as Mandy was busy studying for the Bar exams (go Mandy!). We decided to keep everything indoors, other than Vin grilling burgers and hot dogs outside. Also, this is the first year that Vin did not have baseball in the morning – it’s a little hard to play baseball with two kids right now! 🙂 And so, the party was on! Happy birthday, Yaya! [[image:2012-yaya4thparty-03.jpg:Graeter’s Ice Cream Cake:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions We cleaned the house and I made the pasta salads the day before leaving only minimal cooking to be done on my part that […]
Continue readingThe Amazing Adventures of Yaya, Adik and Auntie Jo – Part 2
So, here is the second part of Jo’s visit. The second half of her trip was just as fun and action-packed. But first we come home and relax a little after the excitement of Indiana. [[image:2012-jovisit-23.jpg:Yaya, Auntie Jo and Adik (and Purrsley) play “trains”:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for more captions [[image:2012-jovisit-22.jpg:Both kids got milk!:center:0]] [[image:2012-jovisit-38.jpg:The Amazing Flying Adik!!:center:0]] We drove up to Canada during the second weekend of Jo’s visit. It was both Victoria Day weekend and Auntie Vera’s birthday that Monday! There was another family reunion, this time in London, ONT. The last reunion in Canada took place almost five years ago! This will be the first time the Canadian family gets to meet Yaya and Adik in person! Also the first time Yaya and Adik go to Michigan and Ontario. While Yaya has already been to Malaysia and has crossed international borders, this would be Adik’s […]
Continue readingRafe’s 6 Month Birthday
It is Adik’s half birthday! Yaya says, “But he’s still zero!!” While he’s not one yet, he’s already 1/2 year old, but apparently we haven’t taught Yaya fractions. 🙂 [[image:2012_0629_rafe16.jpg:Bubblicious drooly boy:center:0]] Can you believe six months have gone by, because I certainly can’t! There is going to be a lot of pictures in this entry – so I warn you in advance! * Mouse over pictures for captions Adik is developing rapidly. He rolls like a champion and is starting to try lunging forward when on his tummy. He’s trying to crawl! He loves when we chase Yaya around the house and giggles and squeaks when he catches her. He is also now playing “ooo-chak” (peekaboo) himself. He holds a cloth over his face and whips it off and loves when we laugh with him. He loves anything with buttons (tv remote, letter computer, etc.), empty plastic water bottles, […]
Continue reading47 Months
One more month till the big birthday!! Can you believe it? We certainly cannot! [[image:2012-yaya47month-04.jpg:Princess Yaya is almost 4:center:0]] We had another activity filled month – the 5 days Zarin was here were quite busy (more on that later). I know, I still owe entries on Jo’s visit, but I’ll get there! * Mouse over the pictures for captions Yes, there will be a separate entry for the kids’ time with Uncle Zarin (I promise there will be! Just maybe not right away!) so I won’t talk too much about it right now. But suffice it to say, a theme park was involved and everybody except Adik went on rides. 😉 Food status: still no change. Still counting down to her 4th birthday as she still claims that she will be eating real food when she’s 4. I hope she doesn’t back too far away from it. I would be […]
Continue readingHappy Father’s Day!
Happy Father’s Day!! We tried to make it a good one for Vin, his first Father’s Day as the father of multiple children. First off let’s start with home-made cards: [[image:2012-fathersday07.jpg:Hearts from Yaya, People from Adik:center:0]] Mama helped by manning the sharp scissors to cut the string paper dolls out. Yaya wrote and decorated her own card (the hearts design) and was kind enough to write and decorate a card on behalf of her baby brother (the people design). She’s getting good at writing PAPA, no? On the backs Yaya wrote who the card was from: [[image:2012-fathersday05.jpg:YAYA:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday06.jpg:ADIK:center:0]] I think we may need to practise writing the “K” in Adik a bit more ;-). Now the food. Vin chose pancakes and hash browns for his Father’s Day brunch: [[image:2012-fathersday02.jpg:Blueberry pancakes for Vin:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday01.jpg:Chocolate chip pancakes for me:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday03.jpg:Hash browns err.. browning in the pan:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday04.jpg:Syrupy pancakes:center:0]] And a few presents: […]
Continue readingRafe’s 5 Month Birthday
Adik is five months old! Almost to the half-year mark! Where does the time go? [[image:2012_0529_rafe02.jpg:Good morning smiley boy!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions So May was an action-packed month, as we mentioned in Yaya’s last entry. We did some traveling while the kids’ Auntie Jo was here. In this past month Adik went on a couple of road trips, crossed the state line for the first time, and even crossed an international border for the first time! Adik has now been to Indiana and Canada. He took the road trip OK although he hated being alone in the back seat and howled till we were all heartbroken when that happened. But he loved visiting with people, especially when he never got put down and was passed around from person to person. As long as he was full and not sleepy, he was happy to be held and […]
Continue readingThe Amazing Adventures of Yaya, Adik and Auntie Jo – Part 1
We had a nice treat when the kids’ Auntie Jo visited all the way from Leeds! Yaya had lots of time to play with Jo, and Jo had lots of time to cuddle Adik. And still spend some time with Vin and me ;-). The last time Jo visited was at Yaya’s 2nd birthday, and this time with not as hot weather in May, it was just as much fun. [[image:2012-jovisit-02.jpg:Jo with Yaya and Adik:center:0]] * Mouse over pictures for captions We hung out at home for the first few days, chilling and letting the kids get to know their Aunt. Yaya took to her right away and showed her her room, and included Jo in all the games, and gave Jo her own roles to play in the play-acting games. [[image:2012-jovisit-01.jpg:This shirt that Auntie Jo gave Yaya has an “attached tutu”!!:center:0]] [[image:2012-jovisit-03.jpg:Let’s all make Adik laugh!:center:0]] [[image:2012-jovisit-04.jpg:Auntie Jo gives […]
Continue reading46 Months
The countdown is on! The girl is two months away from her fourth birthday! Woohooo! [[image:2012-yaya46month-01.jpg:Purple flowers:center:0]] It has been an action-packed month, since Vin’s sister Jo was here for over two weeks. (More on that later) * Mouse over the pictures for captions I won’t go into the details of all the goings-on while Jo was here (stay tuned for that), but it’s been a busy month! Yaya keeps getting bigger and saying funnier things. I just don’t believe she used to be as small as her little brother! Little Miss Pot-pet (chatterbox) will talk your ears off, it’s hard to believe that she didn’t even speak until she was 27 months old! Food status: still no change. What can we say? She does seem healthy enough. Bananas, toast, butter, and lots of whole milk (with a dash of chocolate soy milk) seems to be working for her. She […]
Continue readingA Yaya and Adik Story – April 2012
OK, a second installment of the “choose your own adventure” of Yaya and Adik. This time I did jumble up the order (last time I went chronologically) to make up the story. Enjoy! Also, feel free to write your own version! [[image:2012_yayaadikapr_01.jpg:Photo 1:center:0]] Photo 1: Yaya: Adik, let’s lie down on the pillow! Adik: OK, Kak Yaya, but you play nice this time, OK? [[image:2012_yayaadikapr_05.jpg:Photo 2:center:0]] Photo 2: Yaya: Adik, I want to introduce you to someone special. He is my favorite stuffed animal, Purrsley! Adik: He is cute. I like his nose, so pink and triangular. [[image:2012_yayaadikapr_07.jpg:Photo 3:center:0]] Photo 3: Yaya: Let’s share him, Adik. Now you hug Purrsley (he’s such a good hugger) while I tuck the blanket around us. Adik: Oooo he’s so soft! And cuddly! [[image:2012_yayaadikapr_08.jpg:Photo 4:center:0]] Photo 4: Adik: And now he’s mine! All mine! Bwahahahahaaaaa! *kicks blanket off* [[image:2012_yayaadikapr_06.jpg:Photo 5:center:0]] Photo 5: Yaya: Adik, […]
Continue readingRafe’s 4 Month Birthday
Here we are, at the four month mark. He’s just getting so big now! He seems to be just growing up almost too quickly! [[image:2012_0429_rafe14.jpg:I’m droooooling!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions He went out to dinner with us and was quite sociable – he was passed around the table and was content to be held by everyone. He just quietly sat there and observed us. He did not cry. We were very pleased. He’s also been to Yaya’s soccer matches and was quite content to stay in the carrier, enjoy the fresh air, and watch all the little kids running around. Again, no tears. He had his first trip to the grocery store – he just slept in his car seat the entire time! So far, so good, still a mellow little fellow! The day after his 4-month birthday (since it fell on a Sunday), we went to […]
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