Dear Santa...

We went to the mall today to get Stella and Desmond's picture taken with Santa. This was Desmond's first outing besides visits to the doctor's office and he did great. Stella did great as well considering last year she was terrified of Santa and cried the entire time.

C'mon Desmond, Smile for Us

Desmond has not yet really smiled for us/at us when he is awake. But as soon as he falls asleep, he is all smiles and even giggles sometimes. We managed to capture one of his sleepy smiles on camera. We can't wait for him to smile at us when he is awake!

Merry Christmas

The holiday season always sneaks upon us all too quickly and this year especially so, but we finally managed to purchase our tree last Sat (12/8/07) and got it decorated the following day. Stella enjoyed helping Mama decorate the tree while Dada tended to the Gup who just watched from a distance. Stella then really got into the holiday spirit by donning her Santa outfit. Here are some pictures from our fun filled afternoon of tree decorating.

Desmond's First Haircut

Desmond was born with a full head of hair and came out looking like he could use a trim around the edges. Well we finally decided it was time for his first haircut on Sat (Dec 8, 2007) and he was not even 7 weeks old yet. We trimmed the sides and little off the front, but took a lot off the back since we didn't want him to sport the mullet look. Mama started the haircut process, but Dada quickly took over because he said that Mama was cutting Desmond's hair like a girl's! Luckily for us, Desmond was a good sport throughout the process.

Here are some before shots of the Gup...

...and here are some shots of the Gup after his haircut.

Stella Loves Chocolate

Stella has quickly gone from not wanting to even try chocolate to a chocoholic! When we made a yellow cake with milk chocolate icing for Desmond's 1 month birthday, Stella proceeded to eat just the chocolate icing off of the cake. She has recently figured out that she can just eat the chocolate chips off of the chocolate chip pancakes Mama makes for her...the sneaky little devil!

Look Who's Awake

If Desmond had his way, he would prefer to sleep his whole life away. In fact, if someone could pump milk into his stomach through a tube so that he doesn't have to be awake for a feeding, he would be as happy as a clam. But as the days go by, he is starting to be awake more and more and looking at the world around him. Here are some pics of Desmond awake and enjoying his bouncy seat.

We have also been trying to give him about 10-15 minutes of tummy time daily but that has been a challenge because he is usually awake after a feeding and we don't want him to spit up his milk while on his belly. When we do give him tummy time, he doesn't really try to lift his head up (see pics above) unlike the times when we hold him upright against our shoulder and he is constantly lifting his head up to look at things.

It's Potty Time!

We had been trying to potty train Stella before Desmond was born and were making some progress, but upon his birth, things had been at a standstill...until now. Stella will tell us when she has to go potty but it is a matter of whether she wants to sit in the potty or not. Last Sat (Dec 1, 2007) , she actually told us when she had to go potty and had a successfully potty experience on the big potty in her bathroom. As a reward, she got these Elmo (one of her favorite characters) slippers she is modeling in the pics. She also had another successful potty experience the following day. Hopefully this trend will continue, but it becomes difficult to help Stella go on the big girl potty when Mama, Stella, and Desmond are home by themselves during the day because without fail, Stella always has to go to the potty when Mama is feeding Desmond and Desmond usually screams his head off if Mama interrupts his feeding to help his sister! Wish us luck.

Desmond is 1 Month Old

Desmond turned 1 month old on Nov 23, 2007. He is getting to be a big boy. At his one month checkup, he weighed in at 9 lbs., 13 ozs. and measured 22 inches long. Here are some pics of our one month old Gup.

Notice the double chin....

...and of course, some more of some Stella lovin'

Stella the Puzzle Master

Stella loves to do puzzles. We started her off on the 12 piece jigsaw puzzles back in July and she mastered them in a few weeks. The 12 piece puzzles are so easy for her that she does them with the picture side down in a matter of few minutes. Dada then bought her a few 24 piece jigsaw puzzle a few months back and she has also mastered those. Here are some pictures of Stella doing her latest 24 piece jigsaw puzzle. Dada showed Stella how to do this puzzle once and then she did it by herself after that in a matter of 15 minutes. We are looking for 50 piece puzzles but the stores only seem to carry 100 piece puzzles.

Raking Leaves

Last weekend, Stella had tons of fun helping Dada rake leaves from the deck and backyard while The Gup took it easy and slept on the chaise.

Stella Loves to Dress Up

Stella loves to play dress up with the Disney princess outfits she got from her cousins Zoe, Ian, Eva, and Eli for her 2nd birthday.

Here she is dressed up as Sleeping Beauty

...and as Snow White goes to Woodstock!

Stella Lovin' on Desmond

Here are some cute pictures of Stella lovin' on Desmond.

A Visit From The Mathews

After Ommy left, Smitha's family came to visit. Appachen (Smitha's Dad), Amamma (Smitha's Mom), and Aunt Sildha had a great time meeting Desmond for the first time and playing with their beloved Stella. Amamma stayed for two weeks to help us with the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and showering Stella with lots of attention while Mama tended to Desmond and Dada went back to work. We greatly appreciate all of the help Amamma provided and enjoyed our time with her. We miss you Amamma!

A Visit From Ommy

David's mom (called Ommy by her grandkids) was with us the first week and half or so after we got home from the hospital. Stella really enjoyed her time with Ommy and we certainly appreciated all of the help Ommy provided from cooking and cleaning to taking care of Stella during her visit. We know that Ommy had fun playing with Stella and getting to know Desmond, her 6th grandchild.

The New Family Goes Home

Desmond and Smitha were discharged from the hospital on Oct 25, 2007. We were all happy to be leaving the hospital and to be going home. Here is a picture of Desmond in his going home outfit and a picture of the new family.