Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! Stella and Desmond got dressed up and went trick or treating today in NJ with Mama, Dada, Aunt Sil, and Amamma while Appachen stayed home to hand out the candy to the trick or treaters.

Stella went as a pumpkin/jack-o-lantern...

...and Desmond went as Ben Roethlisberger (this was the best costume for Des since he doesn't tolerate anything being put on or over his head like the way most baby costumes are designed).

This was Desmond's first Halloween and although he doesn't understand what it's all about, he was happy to be outside (the weather was great...in the mid 50s). He would even wave "hi" and "bye" to people when we would go up to the houses.

Once Stella figured out what trick or treating was all about, she was like "free candy...hey, this is pretty awesome". (Since Des was only a week old, we didn't go trick or treating last year & Stella certainly doesn't remember her trick or treating experiences from the previous years when she was 3 and 15 months old.) She would say "trick or treat" in her tiny little voice and would often get pushed out of the way by a stampede of older kids, but she had fun nonetheless. She was so excited when one house gave out chocolate M&Ms, her favorite candy.

At the end of the night, Stella was very excited about the loot she had collected, while Desmond was more interested in the helium balloon and the ribbon attached to it.

Walking the Walk!

Our little Des man is walking more and more since we have been in NJ. Now when he does fall, he doesn't get discouraged like before, and will just get up and try walking again. He looses his balance and falls when he gets too excited about reaching his destination...like walking over to get a toy or the remote control! I guess he is officially a toddler now and no longer a baby!

We are having lots of fun in NJ. Been here since Sat afternoon. Dada left for his conference in NY at lunchtime yesterday and will be back in the evening tomorrow. Then its Halloween...yay trick or treating! Then Sat is Desmond's 1st birthday party with some family and friends.

Random

This post is rather random, but nonetheless, it is about different things that we want to remember in our old age.

Mama always asks Dada to put lotion on her back after her shower and the kids have seen this ritual. 2 days ago, Des crawled over to Mama, stood up, rubbed his hands like he has lotion on them and started rubbing Mama's back as if he is putting lotion on her back like his Dada does. How sweet is that?!?!?

Mama asked Stella whether she thinks she looks like Mama or Dada and Stella looked at Mama for a few seconds and said, "Naahh! I don't look like a grown-up!" Hilarious!!!

Desmond was reaching for an uncovered electrical socket and Stella said, "no no no". Des looked up at her and said very angrily, "nah nah nah nah", several times to Stella. Desmond does not like his sister policing him around, which she has a tendency to do often.

Happy 1st Birthday Desmond!

Our little baby boy is 1 year old today!!! How fast time has gone by. Mama started the day off by dressing her little man in his new camouflage fleece outfit. He played with his vast array of toys as usual, while Mama made breakfast for everyone.

"What you talkin' about Willis?"

For some reason, Des woke up late today. Usually when he sleeps late, his first nap will be a short one, but today, his first nap went from 10:45 AM till 1 PM. Normally, Des takes his 2nd nap at 2:30 pm, coinciding with Stella's only nap of the day. But b/c Des slept so much for his first nap, Mama didn't put him down for his 2nd nap until 4 PM. Mama thinks that Des just wanted to spend some quality time alone with his Mama to commemorate the exact moment he made his debut into the world 1 year ago...2:54 pm, Oct 23, 2007 =;)

During Des's first nap, Stella helped Mama make Des's birthday cake (Stella later helped Mama decorate it too!).

Dada cam home in the evening from work, and after a quite dinner at home, we started the festivities. We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Desmond, Stella and Mama helped Des blow out his candles, and then we let him have at a piece of cake. Des didn't know quite what to make of the cake at first, but once we gave him a fork, he had no problem poking at it and eating it. Below are some pictures from our fun-filled evening. Des will have his official birthday party in NJ next week so stay tuned for those pics.

Des, Mama, Dada, and Stella love you so, so much! From the moment you were born, you turned our lives upside down...for the better. We are so happy that you are a part of our family...we can't imagine our lives without you. We can't wait to see your little personality develop more and more as the days go by and we are sure that you will continue to fill our lives with lots of love, joy, and excitement!

Duke Reunion

We went to Soma and Basil's last night and had a fun time catching up with friends of ours (Sarah, Jason, Rebecca, & Griffin) from our days at Duke and eating some yummy pizza and desserts. The kids had a blast...it had been a really long time since all 4 kids had gotten together.

Des was walking around by himself without any prompting...I think stranger anxiety was a great motivation...when he found himself in the mix without Mama or Dada nearby, he would walk over to either one of us with a quickness. It was so cute to see. (We forgot our camera that night so had to steal these pics from the Kalbs and Zaras.)

All Bundled Up

Mama, Stella, and Desmond went for a walk today to the nearby market to pick up stuff to make dinner. Since it was a bit chilly, we had to bundle up a little. The Steelers one piece fleece that Ommy got for Des came in quite handy. It kept Des warm and toasty. Miss Stella insisted on wearing her hood over her head inside and outside the house. Mama took a few pictures of the kids before w headed outside.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Stella and Desmond

It was a beautiful day today, albeit a bit warm for fall, and we took advantage of it by going to the pumpkin patch. Stella had a great time running around the patch. She kept asking us "want to race?" Des stood on his own for awhile, but didn't want to walk even holding our hands because of the uneven terrain. It was very sunny and bright out so poor Des is squinting in all of these pictures.

"Look at me standing!"

"Mama, Dada, I think I found the perfect one!"

Desmond's First Steps!

Des took his first steps today...2 steps to go from one couch to the other all by himself.

We then enticed him to walk some more with a popsicle, which he loves. We placed Des between Mama and Dada and would trade the popsicle between us so that if Des wanted the popsicle, he would have to go after it and he did. The most steps he took by himself was 3! We are very proud of our little guy, who is getting to be not so little any more!

In other accomplishments, Des can say "woof woof" if you ask him "what does a doggie say?" When Mama and Des were reading a brand new book, we turned to a page that had a picture of a stuffed dalmatian and Des immediately started saying "woof woof" without any prompting from Mama!

Des will also sing the the tune to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" by saying "da da da" while putting his hands up to mimic stars twinkling. It is so cute.

If you ask him "how big is Desmond?", he will raise his arms up in the air to say "so big!"

Boo!

When Mama was out shopping this past weekend, she saw this adorable Halloween jammies and just had to get them for Stella. Mama just absolutely loves all things Fall, including pumpkins, autumn leaves, the cooler weather, Halloween, and especially Thanksgiving. These jammies are so fun and festive. Stella was very excited to wear her new jammies after her bath today. After she put them on, she kept saying "look at all of the boos on my pants" referring to the ghosts!

Mama wanted a Halloween themed fleece sleeper for the Gup, but, sadly, didn't see any =:( But Mama did find a cute Christmas fleece sleeper for him. So Des will be modeling that in the months to come...stay tuned =:)

Sibling Rivalry Love

Desmond loves to climb up onto the bottom step of the step stool and tries very hard to climb up to the top one, which usually ends in frustration (screaming and whining) because he is unable to do so. Today, Mama was putting the clean dishes away when she turned around to notice both Stella and Des on the step stool. It was so cute to see Stella holding onto Desmond's waist so that he wouldn't fall down.

Stella said at one point, "don't hurt me Guppa!", when he accidentally donked her face with his head. In the picture below, she is pointing to her cheek where Des donked her.

Mama then explained to Stella that Des didn't mean to hurt her and that it was an accident. Stella then bent down and hugged her baby brother. All was forgiven!

The Gup returned the gesture by giving Stella a kiss on her shoulder :)

Shortly after this picture was taken, Des lost his balance (with a little help from his sis) and landed on his bum! Poor guy, he's OK though.