Flight

A friend of mine shared this poem with a group on FB. It speaks exactly of my feelings for my two girls! Just had to share...

Flight
……

I know women
who would lose their children
like throwing off a robe,
unbraiding a red ribbon
and discarding it, to let
their wild selves fly free.

I know women
who put aside their children
like cheap jewelry by the side of the bed.
I know women
who never seem to wear them at all.

My girls, I do not want
to be free of you.
You are like my wedding rings
which I could have easily slipped out of
but wear
every day that my heart beats.

I want you near me.
My girls, my husband,
when I see a sunset
I want these two eyes
to be part of the eight who see it.
I want our laughter and stories
to be so tangled
that our memories weave into one dream.

This is my time with you.

Soon enough, you will be off
swimming your own new seas.
Soon enough, we will step back and watch you
blooming and bursting in solitary ways
in your own fresh, separate skins.

How could I waste this?

Oh my darlings, you are not my cage.
You are my wings.

~Alicia Bayer

Dr. Haven

Haven adjusted her stethoscope and gave herself an injection.

As she gave herself the shot, she said, "Poke."

She must know that this is the way babies take their medicine...

Bag Hat

The girls had fun playing with this bag today. Love the smiles on their faces. 

On High Ground

Hope watching the water rise, feeling secure up on the porch.

Pandas and Penguins

Last week we took the girls to the zoo here in Chiang Mai. We weren't sure what the day would be like exactly. For parking, zoo tickets, panda tickets, penguin feeding, bus and "monorail" passes, and lunch we spent about 18 dollars.

The Chiang Mai zoo is on the side of a mountain, and it is difficult to traverse without riding a bus or taking the rickety, one rail train. The monorail is nothing like what they have at DisneyWorld or Disneyland.

This panda was sleeping peacefully until Haven started talking.
Then it immediately looked up and stared at Haven.

The cost to enter the panda exhibit was more than the cost of entering the zoo itself!

We were going to go see a seal show, but it was closed when we got there. I guess they were cleaning or something instead... So we went to see the penguins and found out that Hope could feed them! She had a lot of fun.

Getting her boots on... 

Ready to meet the penguins.

The gloves were a little too large for her, but she had fun with the penguins anyway.

Thirteen Months

Haven turned 13 months on the first. Thought I would snap some photos of her 13 month old self. This one turned out the best.

Just today she hit the 17 pound mark. Yay for weight gain! Also, she's gaining new vocab daily. Today she's been saying water (wawa), bottle (baba), open (opeh), and also just babbling things that sound like sentences. She's amazing.

Veiled

Haven hiding in the cheesecloth.

Beneath lacy cloth

She plays and sits for moment

Not long will she stay

Poll Results

The poll that I created to assess your interest and what you would like to read is now closed. Actually, I'm not sure when it closed, but I just saw that it is. The winner of the poll is A Photo A Day. I was disappointed to only get 9 votes total, and one of those was my own. But now I know that most people don't care what I write about, and I guess that is a good thing in a way.

So, for the next month I'll be doing A Photo A Day. Here is today's:

Hope riding her new bicycle

Dragonfruit Face

As Haven was eating her lunch

She was wanting some more to munch

Red dragonfruit food

She smeared it in good

And ate it all up without crunch.

Curly Cue Haiku

Hot humidity

Wispy spirals all over

Framing funny face

Feel Good Pictures

We had some fun outside in the grass playing with the chickens and with each other. These girls put a smile on my face.

Flowers in Her Hair

We just received a package from some friends in the States with some flowers for the girls' hair. Thought I'd share some of the pictures.

Funny face

A good hairstyle for keeping long hair from getting tangles.

Practicing zooming while shooting. This is one of the best pictures
I was able to get while practicing. I like the flower and Hope's
profile.

New Teeth and Watercolors

Three teeth! There's another one coming in on her right side.

Hope has really been enjoying her watercolors. That was a great purchase
on our part.

At One Year

Newborn Haven

At 1 Year Old, Haven is:
71 1/2 cm. long
7 kilos, with a head circumference of 44 cm
Pulling up to stand
Cruising along everything
Taking 2-3 sturdy steps in a row, once in a while
Babbling all the time

6 month Haven

At 1 Year Old, Haven says:
"Hi there!"
Hi
Bye-bye
Baby
Bye-bee (diaper)
Byla-byla (banana)
Papay (papaya)
Daddy
dahdee (doggy)
chickie
ba (bath)
dtaw (stop)
duh (done)
mama (although I think she uses daddy interchangeably for both of us)
bee-bee (peek-a-boo)
ja-eh (this is Thai peek-a-boo)

11 month Haven

At 1 Year Old, Haven:
Is starting to actually look through books
Gives hugs, kisses and high fives
Still nurses at least four times a day
Takes about three naps a day, and sleeps all night (7:30-6:30)
Enjoys playing with Hope
Loves nodding and shaking her head, especially when copying someone else
Imitates what others say, often quite clearly
Likes to sip out of a straw, although most liquid goes down her front
Is a snuggle-bug, and loves to roll around on beds and blankets while saying, "Aaaahhh."

Another newborn pic of Haven

We're so blessed to have had one year so far with our Haven Anne.

Haven's Skype 1st Birthday Party

For Haven's first birthday we decided to do a Skype family birthday party. So I sent out invitations over Facebook to our family members. I let them know not to bring gifts. I also told them that we'd be having carrot cupcakes, but they wouldn't be able to taste them. I did invite them to make their own carrot cake to eat along with us during the party.

It turned out very well. We chatted with family in Idaho and Texas, some simultaneously, and some one-on-one. Haven didn't have much of a clue what all the fuss was about but she enjoyed smushing her carrot cupcake all over the place.

Hope ate all her frosting and left her cupcake. There was some good thinking done before-hand so that Hope and Haven both got some homemade applesauce in their tummies before they loaded up on cupcakes and frosting.

All in all it turned out very well for a first birthday party. Happy Birthday to our little one!