July 4th in Ohio

We had a great time in Ohio celebrating July 4th weekend! We saw the Stow Parade and visited the Akron Zoo. We enjoyed spending time with the family at Uncle Jerry and Aunt Pam's house. Great food! We had some fireworks and of course a game of horseshoes in the backyard. Here are some of our favorite photos.

Here is our little angel with Nikki (Nicole) and Cara's cousin Avery.








Uncle John and Aunt Sue:











Avery, Erich, and Sarah:

You really need to check out some more great pictures of this weekend at:

http://pilandpages.blogspot.com/2009/07/4th-of-july-fun.html

Cara's First Birthday

Happy Birthday Cara!

Cara celebrated her first birthday June 14th. We had lots of friends over. Here are some pictures.

Almost a year now

Cara is full of energy and running all over the house. She is very vocal too. She likes saying "ma-ma" ALL the time... here is what we've figured out so far:

"ma-ma" =
"I want that" or "I want to give you this"

"dad" (prounounced "dadt") =
either "Dad" or "I am having fun playing"... usually both are happening at the same time

when we say "thank you" to her =
she gives us back the remote control

Cara likes to imitate us too. Daycare asked us why she occasionally makes an"Ahhh" sound. We later then realized that after I (Dad) drink a Coke and finish with my own "Ahhh" she repeats after me while she's drinking her milk at the same time. She likes to play, one of her favorite things to do is to take off the glasses from our face and politely force them back onto our eyes. Too much fun.

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!