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!"