Monday, October 21, 2013

Happy Birthday Emily!


Today was Emily's special day, she has been waiting for this since we celebrated Arvesito's birthday back in August. She had a wonderful day and loved it when people sang happy birthday to her. 

We brought a pink Care Bear cake (a request that hasn't change since early August) and cupcakes for school and we got to hang out with her at school for a bit as we all sang happy birthday and ate cake. She got super shy when they were all singing to her, you could tell she was so excited.

Milestones and Stuff
  • She can communicate fluently in English. Rarely does she have any tantrums 
  • Her Spanish is getting stronger. She understands everything but doesn't know how to say it all. Having my parents around this summer made a big difference. I cannot wait to take her to the DR and immerse her into the language and culture
  • No more diapers! She was potty trained a little after turning 2 and at about 2.5 she started to wake up from naps and in the middle of the night to go potty. She's had very few accidents since.
  • No more bobo (pacifier)! Emily fell off the couch in July and almost lost a tooth. This was the encouragement we needed to get rid of it. She was very sad for about a week and stopped talking about it after a month or so. Her teeth were starting to get pushed forward and after these few months you can barely tell she had a bobo. 
  • Emily is the most amazing sister we could ever hoped for. She is patient, loving, caring, and of course a bit protective of her things. Whenever Arvesito is crying she runs to get his blanket (ra-ra as he calls it) to calm him down. She is happy to give him all her food but even shares her candy with him. Loves to feed him herself and take care of him. Rarely fights back when he hits her, yes, he is a hitter and a bitter. Yikes!
  • We still have to feed her if we want her to eat unless it is pizza or ice cream. She eats those herself without having to ask her a million times to eat
  • She runs, every where she runs, and she's really fast. Loves to be chased around and play "catch me if you can" especially when it is time for bath
  • Emily loves the pool and is very comfortable in her vest going every where. She is started to feel comfortable jumping in and putting her face under water
  • She is definitely in the "I want to do it" stage and is getting better at doing a lot of things 
  • Can dress herself for the most part. Especially for bedtime and can do it on her own most of the time  
  • Loves doing puzzles, she can do up to 24 pieces with very little help
  • Loves reading stories at night and have started "reading" to us a few of her favorites. One of our favorites is Funny Things are Everywhere by Dr. Seus. I can't believe she can tell us almost the whole book!
  • Letters. She knows the whole alphabet and at least one word that start with every letter. When you ask her for a letter she says "a for apple". She has started learning how to spell and is still working on the sounds of the letter as she forgets them sometimes
  • Finally friendly Emily has come out. Emily has changed so much since getting to Malaysia. She used to be pretty cranky, especially with strangers and is finally working her way out of it. She is welcoming of visitors and even thought it takes a bit to warm up some times, she often doesn't want them to leave
  • She knows what she wants and how she wants it. She is a very determined and stubborn little girl. I wonder where she gets that from...
  • Loves music and likes quite a broad selection. When she gets addicted to a song she asks to hear it ALL the time. Her latest song was Royals by Lorde. She's also liking Katy Perry - Roar, Paramode - Still into you, All my exs live in Texas, Boots and a few others.

Things that will never change: Emily is still crazy about her Daddy and so is he. She definitely knows his weak points and how to use them to her advantage. Mami has been able to gain some solid ground but she will always be a Daddy's girl.

We are completely in love with our little girl and wish her many more years of happiness next to us.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Friday, March 22, 2013

Belated 4 Month and 26 Month Shots





The Tough Life

One of the things we love the most about Penang is that it is always pool time; no matter the month or the time of the day, it is always hot enough for pool.
Here are the few shots of us enjoying the pool even when we were not planning on it.




Cute, Chubby, Happy, Baby Brother






Singapore

I have been too busy to write anything the last 3 months but here is a quick summary, mostly pictures.

My mom joined us in early January and while Arves was on a business trip we decided to go on an adventure of our own with the kids of course. We had a wonderful weekend in Singapore and managed to visit all the sights on our list! Kids did great and despite a few inevitable meltdowns we all had a great time.

Day one we visited the zoo. Emily got to ride on an elephant, feed goats and horse, see the penguins, and enjoy a ride on a choo choo train through the zoo. This zoo is amazing in activities, variety, grounds, etc. just perfect.

After nap time we went to Orchard Road thinking we could easily find a place to eat and walk around a bit. This place is crazy; super busy and just mall after mall. I didn't know what to expect but was definitely overwhelmed by the amount of stores. 



Day two we went to Sentosa Island and met our friend Winnie for a walk around the new aquarium. Emily enjoyed the cable car ride and all the angry bird decorations. Arvesito was a bit too hot and didn't like the ride as much. The aquarium on the other hand was a fail for both kids. My mom and I enjoyed it but we had to leave sooner than planned since the kids had enough.





Hanging out with the M&Ms on Sentosa Island
 The second outing of the day was the Marina Bay Sands for some amazing views of the city. We had a great time running around and taking lots of pictures. Singapore is a beautiful city and I was so glad to have my mom to enjoy it with.



Clarke Quay for dinner
Day three we visited the Gardens by the Bay before our trip back home. Traveling with two kids was easy having my mom along; loved every minute of it!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Happy Year of the Snake!



In the spirit of Chinese New Year we decided to get some traditional outfits for the kids and here is the end result.





Arvesito is just over 5 months and weighs a whopping 17 lbs! He still has his ocassional melt downs but has gotten so much better; as long as you keep changing his environment and he is entertained he's happy. He is very strong and very alert but gets bored quickly. Arvesito is on the move army style and is almost doing the official crawl. He can sit up all by himself for long periods of time with the occasional falls. He adores his big sister and watches her every move. He is a momma's boy and whenever I'm around he makes noises to call my attention until I pick him up.






Emily is as sweet as ever. She is very smart and has an amazing memory, she can remember things we've told her only once whether it is a new word or something we were supposed to do. She is very loving to her baby brother and whenever he cries she says "I'm coming baby brother!" and hurries to sing to him. Emily is just a fun little girl who loves to run and bounce everywhere. She still adores her daddy beyond words and tolerates the rest of us. Emily doesn't really like strangers especially if she is in a bad mood; once you're in her circle though you are in to stay!  


Phuket, Thailand

 
Before Arvesito turned 3 months we decided to go on our first adventure as a family of four. Thanks Grandma Stolpe for making this possible.
One big happy Buddha

We survived, and actually had a great time. The ratio of adults to kids was still greater than one which is a good place to be. Spending a few relaxing days at the beach was just what we needed, it was wonderful.

Mom's view while crocheting and watching Arvesito nap

Beautiful sandy beach
 Besides our relaxation days we went for one adventure day where we visited the Big Buddha or Big Gouda, like Emily calls him, and we got to ride and feed elephants. Emily still talks about her ride on the elephant and asks to go again at least 3 times a week!

Mom, Tica, and Arvesito enjoying the ride


Feeding baby elephant!

We stayed at the Katathani Beach Resort which we highly recommend. 4 days of pure bliss!
View from our room

The rest of the pictures are on Picasa.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Family Day at Work

Recent picture of the 4 of us, a rare sight since usually one of us holds the camera.
We had a family day at work in our new building where Emily got to take a picture with the NI Penguin. She's been obsessed with Happy Feet so Nigel was actually pretty close :)


We're all doing great and loving our hectic traveling life. Emily is as sweet as ever and Arvesito as big as ever.