Sittin' in the mornin' sun, I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes...

I finally documented our newest milestone. He's still a bit wobbly, but is enjoying a new vantage point. I felt the need to get every angle for the enjoyment of his grandparents, so bear with us...


He has the sweetest crinkly-nose smile. This is not its full glory, but a mere hint. Tim calls him a 'smile dispenser', as you've only to look at him and you find yourself basking in his sweet grin. On the flip side, he also has a shriek that is a force to be reckoned with, and is known to wake directly from a silent slumber into a piercing scream. He's not big on alone time, and is by far the happiest when he's in our arms or in a sling. So we do a lot of both, but are also working on his ability to sit or lie somewhere and let us do important things like get dressed and make meals.

oops!

Update on big sister: The first week of school was splendid. She has pronounced it "bunches of fun", and spent a good part of this afternoon trying to convince me that school on Saturdays was a good idea. She was aglow on Friday because she made two new friends. One is from India and the other from Australia. I wonder if she'll pick up any new accent quirks?

Wednesday was Thai Mother's Day (the queen's birthday), and we went to our friends' home for a cookout (thank you Dave and Jan; it was great fun!). We encountered this scene on the way, and, happily, had our camera with us...

I love this picture because it's such a jumble of Bangkok- cars (everywhere, always!), motorcycles (everywhere, always!) and the occasional elephant. In fact, the kids and I were walking home from visiting a friend in the neighborhood next to ours tonight, and we stood in awe of an elephant walking right by our neighborhood. Its master was selling sugar cane to feed to it, but we didn't have any money, so we just watched. Like Samwise Gamgee, I love a sighting of one of these magnificent animals. However, it always does make me sad to see their big feet trodding cement when they should be traipsing through the jungle. It's not the ideal life for them, in any number of ways.

But, on a happy note, I just love this picture 'cause I love these guys...