Sand and Bailes Reunion

We've had a great time traveling on and off for the past six weeks. It's great to be home for a long stretch now!

At the end of July, Katie was in the States for a few weeks for her orientation with CRS before she headed off to East Timor for a year. Peter and I were excited to go on a vacation with her for a week before her training started.

We spent a few days in the Outer Banks before heading to Sanford to attend the 25th Bailes Family Reunion. It was particularly fun for me to share the family reunion with Katie. and see my sister Megan. Unfortunately, we were lazy with the camera at the Reunion and didn't get any photos...

Friends in Town

Last week I had the treat of watching my friend Carrie N.'s daughter Stephanie while she attended USAID training in DC. Stephanie is two months older than Desmond. They had a great time playing together, although each became jealous when I held the other.

Hats off to you moms of multiples. I'm grateful that kids develop gradually. It was quite a handful to immediately go from one toddling baby to two! Thankfully they are both sweet babies, which made things easier.

Although Stephanie is American/Congolese, I think she could pass for a sweet Brazilian baby. I couldn't resist letting her wear the bib.

Stephanie helps Desmond practice heading in case he wants to be a soccer star someday.

"Do you like my reading area Stephanie? It's my favorite spot in the house."

First in Flight

This past week was Desmond's first flight. Desmond and I flew to Charlotte where my dad met us and drove us to Asheville. We all had a blast. Desmond practiced his drunken walking while Grandpa and Gran held his arms.

He also became completely and totally infatuated with the two cats. Des would wake up from his nap babbling "gack, gack, gack" (his way of saying "cat"). Who knows, maybe someday Desmond will convince his mom and dad to get him an indoor pet. That would be a miracle. :-)

Crawling, the Pool and More

Desmond has been changing a lot recently. It's keeping me on my toes! A couple of weeks ago he started crawling. It's been rewarding to watch him exert his new-found independence. It helps us get a better feel for his personality.

We're about to embark on several weeks of travel. We'll be visiting family and friends in Asheville, the Outer Banks with Katie K., Sanford for the Bailes family reunion, and south Florida for Peter's high school reunion and more family. I'm super excited!

Desmond loves the pool. He didn't even cry when we dunked him for the first time.

"Hear me roar!"

Practicing standing.

"Show me where East Timor is again..."

Helping Dad fix the ceiling fan light.

Learning how to shovel and drop into the mouth.