Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day today to our mothers in Ohio and Thailand.

Here is a fun photo of Cara. She loves to laugh and play games with us. She is walking more routinely now (4-5 steps at a time). She is still a very quick crawler (faster than we are) and occasionally walks using only her knees with no hands... Passa thinks it is a Thai trait since we don't see many babies in the U.S. doing this. Hope you are all well!

First steps

Cara has taken her first steps yesterday! A few times she would start from a standing position (holding onto the couch) and then take a few steps forward before falling forward. She is gaining more confidence each day.

The visit to the ENT doctor today confirmed that Cara hasn't been getting any more ear infections since she had tubes put in -- great news. Now that she isn't taking medicine all the time, her appetite has greatly improved and she is always in a happy and adventurous mood. From time to time she'll show her affection toward us by kissing us right on the lips... what a sweetheart.

Happy Easter and Suk San Wan Songkran (Happy Thai New Year)

A weekend of celebration in both the US and Thailand! Here is Cara in her Easter dress and Songkran outfit.

We have a lot of fun with Cara. Just recently she has started to carry objects along with her (flashlights, bottles, etc) in one hand while trying to crawl -- it is fun watching her learn. In fact, two days ago we caught her sprinting (crawling on all fours) down the hallway with her biting down and carrying a bottle in her mouth the whole way.

Some more shots of Cara, including the first time catching her smile (with teeth) on camera.

Cara is almost walking

Just a quick update. Cara has a lot of energy and loves to laugh and smile.

Generally speaking she is in constant motion. Cara is a now a professional crawler. She is almost ready to walk on her own now. The past couple of weeks she has been pulling herself up to stand and routinely walks herself along the couch.

Cara's cousin Avery (Erich and Sarah's daughter) will be born any day now!

Christmas 2008 Photos

We're a little late getting these pictures posted from Christmas in Ohio. We had a great time.

Cara has started crawling this past week. See is also much more vocal (mostly "da-da"... Daddy perhaps?). Enjoy the photos.











Here is Cara working hard to open her first gift on Christmas Eve (a teddy bear from Aunt Pam and Uncle Jerry).

Here are several other Piland family photos with Cara.

These two buddies had a great time during our visit.

Here is Cara's first cooking lessons -- baking Christmas cookies with "Nana".

And lastly we thought this was cute... Cara's photo shoot.

Snow in Houston???

Can you believe that on December 10th Houston got over 2" of snow? We still can't believe it. This was the earliest on record (trace reported in the 1940's). But the story didn't end there. Houston was in gridlock the following morning as many bridges and overpasses where shutdown due to ice... most of us were in our cars for 3-4 hours waiting for the sun to thaw the ice before traffic started moving.

Here is our proof.

Here is a picture of Passa making a snowball (seconds before throwing it at me).

...and here are the mandatory Cara photos. Cara now eats with us while sitting in her high chair.

Here is one of her in an Elmo track suit.

P.S. We're leaving for Ohio tomorrow!

Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving dinner. This year we spent a relaxed evening with the Malloys (our friends Mark and Shelly that attended our wedding).

Cara is starting to sit on her own now (with a little help). We are very proud of Cara's first art project at day care... we think her handprint is supposed to be a turkey. We'll have to remember to ask her in a few more months when she is able to talk.


Cara is getting ready for her Christmas trip up to Ohio! Here is a picture of our little snowflake.