*ESHIALO SHILALA*: November 2007

5 days short of 3 months

By next week, Fazal will be 3 months old. Right now he is taking a cozy nap under a blue fuzzy blanket, being hugged by a long-eared stuffed rabbit. If the camera batteries weren't dead, I would definately take a photo. So what is he up to these days?

* He wakes up usually twice a night to eat and have a clean diaper. But usually he falls asleep again within 15 minutes. We have been trying to perfect the art of keeping a baby asleep during the night. We feel pretty lucky in this department.

* He coos and babbles and squeaks and laughs quite a bit. He has a heart-melting little grin so of course we adults are always trying to make him smile

* When we carry him around, he is only happy if he is now facing out so he can see everything going on; when we turn him around and he faces our shoulders, he squirms and his face gets all red!

* He can now entertain himself for about 30 minutes without any attention from us, lying on his back and looking up at some little animals hanging above his head, including a zebra, lion and giraffe, and he "talks" to them a lot. Does he think they are buddies? Or edible, perhaps?

His playyard (playpen) is placed in between daddy and mommy's desks at work, so it has enabled us to watch his development throughout the day. Some days we get lots of work done, other days the focus is on him. It's a pretty unique work environment for the States we suspect, although ironically it somehow resembles more of an African family/child/work set up.

More photos from Thanksgiving weekend

With cousin Andrew and his daughter Cora

And Judith too, helping to get ready to head home after dinner

The dinner was especially to celebrate Cora's 17th birthday!! Congrats! We had a lovely time also seeing Inge again, and meeting several members of Judith's family. Fazal enjoyed all the love and affection (can you find him in the photo below?)...

Visiting the Potters

Cousin Bella in Rhode Island is introducing her stuffed penguin to Fazal who took a liking to the little thing.

Being held my uncle Tom

Karen and her daughter Bella were wonderful with Fazal and we enjoyed seeing them over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Lydia leaves, Fazal meets Betsy...

Aunt Lydia left last weekend after spending time with Fazal and many other relatives on the East Coast who were happy to see her! Come again soon Lyd!

Here is Fazal with his koko, who he hung out with when we took Lydia to the airport

With Lydia

Fazal met Betsy, a doll that Christina and her sister Emily played with when they were his age!! What a loyal friend :-) haha

Veteran's Day Visitors

The long weekend (we had a day off from work in the US for Veteran's Day) brought us some very special visitors - cousin Annie from Maine and aunt Lydia from Chicago. YAY! We had a great time together focused on getting to know the littlest member of the family, eating lunch, and catching up. Thanks for coming Annie!! We plan to see Lydia again this weekend before she returns to IL.

Annie and Fazal

Lydia and you-know-who

...and with grandma!

A glimpse of Kenya

Jafred visited his family in Kenya in May of this year and we have not yet posted photos, so here are a few. When I get a chance I'll add more little by little - there are a lot! Introducing.....

From left to right, Jafred's brother Aziz, cousin Solomon, brother Jackson, and uncle John

Martha, a cousin, is very dear to us.

Jafred was fortunate to see all four of his sisters: below from left to right is Sellah, Veronica, Isabel and Grace, and his mother is farthest to the right. We love you all!!

His brother Balito, his wonderful father, and other brother Avomba

We miss you Mom!

Isabel with her daughter

The Mato Men

Talking more and more

Just in the last week Fazal is expressing himself more and more. Everything he does is a little louder, a little more confident, and funnier too. Here's a video of him in a cheery mood - we probably took it first thing in the morning. Also, yesterday while lying on his bed, he nearly rolled himself over onto his belly! He flipped onto his side a few times, we were amazed because it was the first time we saw him do this.

a growing boy

Fazal had his two-month well-visit to the Ped today. He has grown a full 3 inches since birth! I guess it just confirms what we always knew - he ain't gonna be no shrimp. Aside from the great news that he is healthy and growing just as he should, he had to get a round of vaccinations - yuck...Hopefully by tomorrow the muscles in his legs where they gave the shots won't be sore any more. It is hard to watch him be in pain! I suppose it is better though than suffering from one of the illnesses that they are supposed to prevent. Like his little Puma socks? They were a gift from dear cousins in RI (and are meant for 6 month olds, gulp...)

Video of Fazal "live"

For those of you who haven't had a chance to meet Fazal in person, here he is!

Welcome to the Community Fazal

On Saturday, Nov 3rd we hosted a party at our home to welcome Fazal to the community. The theme was "It takes a village to raise a child." In Kenya, at least where Jafred grew up, that was quite literal, and we would like Fazal to feel as though he is surrounded by a support network, an extended family, if at all possible.

It was attended by local family, long-time family friends, a few Baha'is, as well as others. Em & Cedric helped us a lot in the organizing and they MC'd the program. People brought prayers, poems, other readings and stories to share in honor of Fazal. In the Baha'i Faith, there is no particular tradition to bless a baby, like a baptism or a bris, but this party was our own way of doing this.

We want to thank everyone who participated - it really meant a lot to us!

Everyone!

Candy, Fazal, Steve, Bella

Above: Jeremy and Gail Below: Lois

Paul & Linda talking to Steve

Karen, Ginna, Linda, Chris and Paul

Candy and Bella (who is the cousin closest to Fazal's age!)

Hank and Cedric

Jafred and friends

Bella, Karen, Christina and Tom

Candy and Fazal were greeting people at the door

Opening the beautiful gifts for Fazal

Gorgeous Autumn Sunsets

As the weather gets cold here, and the sun sets earlier, we are getting some beautiful colors in the sky as the sun goes down. Cedric, our bro-in-law, took the first photo. The two below that show how the sun lights up the remaining leaves on the trees - it almost looks like there is a fire behind the house!

Perrin & Mia visit

Christina's childhood friend, Perrin, came for a visit from New Hampshire with her 9-month old daughter Mia. We had so much fun catching up...it was the first time we have hung out since we both had kids. Last time we got together in August, Mia wasn't crawling yet (she is now, and boy does she explore!) and Fazal was still a few weeks away from making his grand entrance.

Mia was so cute - in this photo she is patting Fazal's head!

The babies getting to know each other

Jafred holding both of them!!

Thanks for visiting sweeties!! Shane, we missed you - but good luck this week! :-)

The good life

Fazal was a bit fussy the other day until he started hanging out with his grandpa. After a little walk outside and a chat, he fell right asleep, just as relaxed as can be.