DaDa......

yes, even against my constant brainwashing of "say mama", Evan's first discernible word was "dada". We still think it's a whole lot of gibberish he says, but there is a very distinguishable "dadadadada" in the mix of it all. At first, we said "oh, that just sounded like Dada", but after a few times of having him repeat it after us, we gave him a high five for his first word!! I have to say I was a bit disappointed it wasn't "mamamama", but I think once he is able to say it, he may not stop. So the later he gets to it...maybe the better!!!! That's been our biggest achievement of the week. He has also been practicing his walking. He loves for you to give him your fingers, let him pull himself up, and then he is ready to go......and keep going! I swear, this child of mine keeps me fit....he tires me out!! We are probably less than a month away before he is off on his own! We've already started to show some battle wounds....we had our first minor scrap the other day. He was standing in his pack and play while Mom and Dad worked on getting pictures hung in his room, and he took a spill....on the way down scratching himself on one of his toys. It was a tiny scratch, but enough to leave a mark! And then while on one of our evening walks, he managed to get bit.....twice....on the head by a mosquito. We've found that he reacts to mosquito bites just like his mother....they get nice and swollen and bright red. So you can only imagine how he looked for a couple of days....a scratch on one side his face, a bite on his forehead and another bite on the other side of his face.....my poor bug!!! And with all this, he is also getting his 3rd tooth...the top left one has finally broken through.....the top right seems to be lagging behind. He may be the one-toothed wonder for awhile!!! We've been very lucky that none of his teething has caused him much pain. He has been the happy-go-lucky baby through it all!!

Evan continues to love his pool days. We went out last Sunday and had a great time with our bubbles....we found them in our sea shipment things and decided to try them out. Evan was just as amazed by them as he was when he was 3 months old. Although, now it was so cute to watch him try to catch them....or rather touch one with that little index finger he loves to use!!!


Well, we did our part in helping out the Malaysian economy and purchased a shiny, new Proton Waja (pronounced wah-jah). Although it looks black, it's actually a burgandy color when in the sun. This will be Andrew's to-and-from-work mode of transportation. I think it's quite nice actually, although Andrew says it's definitely a no-frills vehicle! Who cares that its 0 to 60 takes about 20 seconds!! We just got it this evening and he let me take it for a spin. I'm still not comfortable driving here, so we only toured the neighborhood and then took it up the road....to test out its power....or lack thereof!! Anyhow, I think it will suit us just fine as a 2nd car. We are hoping to get to the dealership tomorrow to order my new car....a nice, new Toyota Innova (it is the US version of a minivan). Yes, I caved and opted for the minivan. Actually, it's one of the only vehicles here that offers a 3rd row and doesn't cost $50k. With having a driver and Andrew, Evan and I, we needed something that would fit more than 5 people. We test drove it a few weeks ago - I actually think I'm really going to like it. I have no idea how I'm going to park the thing anywhere.....cars (and car spaces) here are all about the size of Geo Metros or smaller.... good thing we are keeping the driver around. By the way, you can't just go get a car here, to get one that is "full spec" (ie. one with the extras -which here means automatic gear shift, locks and windows, etc), they have to order it for you. The sales guy told us it could take anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks....c'mon it's a car....and a nothing-special one either! I guess they import them one at a time...who knows!!!

Well, I'm definitely starting to find my way around this place. I managed to get connected with a guy that custom makes shoes. We had this "shoe party" and Jackson the Shoe Guy came with about 50 pairs of shoes to try on and an album with another 200+ shoes to look at, fabric/leather samples, color swatches, etc. So you could have him make you just about any shoe you wanted....it was wonderful...although very difficult to make a decision with so many choices. You first chose the type of shoe, then the style of heel, then the color of leather and then he would measure you for a custom fit....it was fantastic!! And can you believe I only came away with 3 pairs!!! Andrew's deal with me was I could purchase however many, but I had to give away the same amount from my closet....not such a bad deal given I have shoes in my closet from 10 years ago....I can work with that!!! Also, I found a place to get custom framing done for dirt cheap.....I took in 5 B&W pictures of Evan to get framed (2 5x7s and 3 4x6s) and it only cost me RM100 (that's only $30!!!) to get them ALL framed.... with a nice, black wooden frame AND double matting!! It was wonderful....but also sad to know how badly I got ripped off in the US!! Guess it's all about the labor!!

As you can see, we've had another busy week....hope you enjoyed hearing all about it!!! I'm off to bed now as past midnight and I'm sure the bug will be up bright and early tomorrow!!!