We Have a Tooth!

Way to go, Juju boy!

Multiples of 3

The dramatic rain has subsided here for now, and hopefully we're all done. It's still raining every day, for the most part, but not so drastically. There are still some deep waters to drive through, but the roads are drivable now. The water really destroyed a lot of the roads around here, though; it's like driving through a disaster area!

And in family news, we took our boys last week for their 9 month and 3 year checkups. Actually only Julian was scheduled, but our awesome pediatrician graciously fit Asa in while we were there. So here's the latest on our little men...

Julian was mad as fire during his visit, because he was missing a nap, so Dr. B didn't see his sunny side, but he sure does have a sweet smile when he's rested. Completely gums, though; no teeth yet. He weighed 18 pounds and 6 ounces, putting him just under 25th percentile. He was 29 inches long, putting him about 75th.

Asa was in a cheery mood, as is the norm with this little sunshine-y boy, but he can turn to the dark side quickly these days if his will is thwarted. He doesn't so much cry, though, it's really more of a wail that gets under the skin quickly. A poor taxi driver had to endure it in a confined space most of the way home today. He has the most endearing little habit, though, of coming back after his wailing has subsided and saying, "Mommy, I'm sorry I...(wanted a cookie for breakfast, or whatever)". He's a really, really lovable little boy.

He weighed 34 pounds, putting him at about 50th percentile, and was 40 inches tall, putting him off the charts for height.

Julian is growing by leaps and bounds. He looks so much more grown up as the weeks go by. He's doing lots of leaning way over and stands well with support, but has shown no desire to crawl as of yet. His siblings weren't crawling at 9 months either, and these things are supposed to be genetic. So we'll enjoy the stationary phase while it lasts!

He's recently mastered his pincer grasp and can feed himself O's and bits of bread with impressive accuracy. If you cheer for him after he does it, you're rewarded with the BEST, big gummy grin. He has the carbs and the praise, so he's delighted. I really wish I had a video of this. Maybe soon.

Asa has picked up Emmy's habit of narrating his play, and I'm frequently told something along the lines of, "You're a bad man (or giant, or dragon...), and the good man (or knight or soldier...) poked the bad man with his sword!" (at which point I'm supposed to feign injury). Some of Asa's favorite things these days are riding his bike and big wheel, learning to catch a ball with and without a baseball glove, looking at books and being read to, drawing, eating (lots), playing with Emmy, taking his clothes off (I dress that child several times a day!), dressing as a knight, building with Legos, and generally making his way through the house leaving chaos in his wake.

He's learning the catechism along with Emmy, and we really must get them on video soon...we love hearing Asa say, "Father, Son and Holy Spi-wit".

Ju is a real mama's boy (and daddy's, too...). He's not keen to be in anyone's arms but ours when we're out and about, much to the disappointment of sweet friends who'd like to cuddle with him. But from the safety of our arms he enjoys all the attention he gets, and he gets lots. He's flirted with constantly at church, and I rode the songtaew with him in the sling today and felt like quite a spectacle with my little white boy with blue eyes strapped to my body...all eyes were on us and I heard several "dtukata's" (doll) as we made our way to our seat.

He's talking a good bit, but no 'mama' as of yet, sadly. Whenever I ask him to say it, I always get "dadada", which is fun for Tim. Soon enough my time will come.

And a picture of big sister, just because...


*these pictures are all from Family Fun Day at Emmy's school, which was a very fun event involving multiple sports and swimming on the school's facilities...it lived up to its name.

Today (It Finally Stopped Raining)

It was raining at 6 am this morning (after hard rain the night before). An hour later, I was on my way to school with Emmy, still raining. An hour later, I was in a meeting at the school, still raining. An hour later, the meeting was winding down and I realized the soccer field was underwater. Still raining. I walked through the downpour and pulled our van to the edge of the parking lot, saw that the water in the street in front of the school was extremely deep (it's always bad in heavy rains, but this was seriously deep water). Seeing a car come through up to its bumper and a truck with steam pouring out of it trying to get through, I realized I musn't do such a thing to our poor vehicle. So I pulled it back in to the parking lot and considered...I had a baby to feed at home, so only one thing to do...shoes off, pants rolled up, umbrella up, step off the sidewalk and into the nearly knee deep water, wade to a taxi. Two taxis (the first one ran over something hidden in the flood and had a flat tire, so I stood on the side of the highway and hailed a second one), and over an hour later, I was home and so glad to be there!

I went in and took the hottest shower I could muster with our warm water heater, put on a sweater I dug up on a high shelf (all that wading made me cold!), we made hot chocolate and spent the rest of the morning hoping it would stop raining. The street in front of our house was running like a river (see picture above), and we were some of the fortunate ones; the flooding was not severe in our neighborhood and lots of folks we know here had flooding in their homes today, not to mention all the people who live in pieced together homes...I just don't know what they do at times like this.

As we stood outside (after Tim fished our trash can in so it didn't float down the street like some others were doing) and prayed about the rain stopping, I felt a scurrying on my bare foot and jumped like a crazy woman to escape the humongous roach that had just clambered over. The rain finally stopped around noon. I've never been so happy to see rain end. We got word that the children at Emmy's school would be bused out to the highway and picked up at a business there because the roads leading to the school were impassable. So Tim undertook what ended up being a three hour round trip to collect her. They had a big adventure on the songtaew and bus, and arrived, finally, with Emmy in his arms as he walked through the water down the street. Here are some photos he took while he was out...

our street




our friend Ying braving the water to buy coffee!

School's cancelled for tomorrow, and we hear the rain is supposed to continue for a few more days. We would appreciate your prayers for safety, especially for all the people who suffer when it rains like this.

Dear Old Dog

It's 10 pm and this is what's hanging over the banister in the hallway...and Asa is sound asleep. Doesn't he look dejected? Very recently Asa's been fickle with his beloved Dog, at times saying he doesn't want him because "His paws are wet" (that would be a result of being chewed on by a certain little boy...), and then, holy moley, going to sleep without him! So it would seem that our little boy is beginning to grow out of his buddy. Makes me sad, but I guess it's time; there's only so long one can go around with a dog hanging out of one's mouth. I'm sure he'll still be needed at times for quite a while, but I think we've turned a corner. It's been fun, Dog. I'll keep you forever:)

Birthday

We met when I was 13 and he was 14. What fun it's been to grow up together and keep on growing. Happy birthday to you, Timbo.