just shy of two [cedar james]

its official, we couldn't be any more enamored with this guy than we are right now.

some memories of cedar james, just shy of two years old:

• learning more words every day.  a snapshot of his brain learning two languages: "one more, tiet" (a combination of asking for more in english & khmer)
• calling the new baby "eh-ha spa-wow", & greeting her (even when she's sleeping) with an energetic "HELLO baby!"
• loves playing ball, watching seasame street videos online (especially featuring grover), putting tops on things & everything in their proper place 
• on his own (& despite lots of correction!) has taken to calling us "amanda" & "daniel" (see video below)
• really enjoys drinking mama's coffee, especially if there is whipped cream on it
• most commonly heard phrases: "cedar do it!", "pick you [me] up, please", "what's baby do'in?", "whaa happened?, "cedar brush teeth, too"
• favorite foods: rice, noodles, goldfish crackers & anything fishy tasting or shrimp flavored (basically all khmer food)
• making us smile: "mama, cedar open mouth like turtle!" (while opening his mouth super wide after watching a friend's turtle swimming)

cedar is pretty stubborn about not talking for the camera, but we managed to get him answering a few questions here.

gratitude x 1,000 [mary & jim in cambodia]

we were incredibly fortunate that my parents made the long journey to be here with us when ezra was born.  they helped us welcome ezra in bangkok, took care of cedar while we were in the hospital & did all the laundry & dishes in those bleary early newborn weeks.  then after 3 weeks in bangkok, they hopped on a plane with us & helped us settle back into our life in phnom penh.

[tie dyed shirts straight from the brockport, ny arts festival]

in the airport as they prepared to leave after 6-weeks in asia (we had time to chat- we had to arrive at the airport 5 hours early & their flight was delayed another 4 hours, due to the death of king sihanouk & the arrival of his body from china, but that's a whole other story!) we made of list of our trip highlights.  

so here it is.... the Top Five "Jim & Mary Asian Tour 2012" memories.

1) that first glimpse of daniel holding a pink blanket in the nursery (welcoming baby ezra)
2) lots of cedar time in bangkok
3) long weekend in kep
4) being "out & about" & meeting our community in phnom penh
5) a trip to prey veng province

two months [ezra sparrow]

 Little Ezra is already two months old.  In some ways, it seems like she's always been with us, but in other ways we're all still learning what it means to be a family of 4 & how ezra's joining us is reshaping us into something new & different.  It's been a really great month (I love maternity leave!) hanging out with this little lady & learning more about her.

Some thoughts on our little sparrow at 2 months:

• she has very dramatic hand movements, especially when she is sleeping.  cambodians like to joke that she is practicing to be an apsara dancer.
• she still sleeps a LOT, but sometimes she stays awake for a bit & we get to see her big, round blue eyes
• she's been learning how to smile & gives us huge, wide mouthed grins (a bit crazy looking, actually!) from time to time
• she's still a long & skinny baby, but is just starting to get some cute leg rolls
• she seems to sleep better on the go, in her sling with mama, than she does at home lying down in a quiet place. for now, its awesome! & we've been on a lot of sleepy coffee dates together. 
• her cries often end with cute little squeaks that remind us of a dog toy!

seasons [3]

[ click here for: seasons [1] & seasons [2]]

snapshots [october 2012]

a visit to kep [mary & jim in cambodia part 5]

no visit to cambodia is complete without a trip to our favorite sleepy seaside town, kep.  we went with my parents last year for a relaxing weekend get-a-way when cedar was a newborn, but this time it was a lot different with a toddler in tow.  for daniel & i, it will forever be remembered as the god-awful weekend of tantrums & [night] terrors.  luckily my parents were there to help us, the context for cedar  meltdowns was ideal - our guesthouse was beautiful & relaxing, & it seems to have just been a long-weekend freak-out phase. [fingers crossed.....]   

one month [ezra sparrow]

[our sweet sparrow at one month]

baby ezra has had an eventful first month!  she spent two weeks in bangkok visiting with her grandparents before hopping on a plane to finally return to her nest in phnom penh.  the next two weeks were spent with more visiting with grandparents & a bit of traveling (kep & prey veng), as well as getting to meet her loving cambodian community.  she weathered the changes well....probably because she seemed to be sleeping nearly all the time.  

we likely won't have many wide-eyed pictures of our sleepy little girl from this first month, but we don't mind!  her peaceful demeanor has helped to ease our transition to a family of 4 (especially with a big brother who just discovered the full meaning of the word tantrum) & who doesn't love holding a little bundled newborn, anyway?

[picture by steve chee}

 
it might be short lived though- after examining ezra, our doctor told us that he thinks she is going to be a very active child.  she measured in this month at a little over 8 pounds; the perfect size for all the sweet newborn clothes we've received (& which I'm sure she won't be able to wear next month at this time).  we'll hold on tight to these lovely newborn days while we can - welcome to our family little girl, we've enjoyed getting to know you (or rather, hold you while you slept all day) this month.

and a bonus picture - little ezra throwing the peace sign!  she's just following in the family line with a mama who works with peace projects & a big brother who also proclaimed his peace child status at an early age.