The Bozzuto's

Happy Birthday Caitlin

2012-02-11T22:58:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Caitlin's 1st birthday yesterday with a small party at our house. She wasn't so excited about sharing all of her toys with the big kids from the neighborhood but she loved the cake & attention.

A weekend in Ras al Khaimah

2012-01-22T20:48:00.001-08:00

We spent the past weekend at the beach in Ras al Khaimah which is another Emirate in the UAE. It takes about 90 minutes to get there - passing through lots of desert on the way. It was a very quick trip, just one night away. The girls both loved the beach even though it was pretty cold outside. We learned that Caitlin doesn't do so well sharing a room - she kept us all up for a good portion of the night. I've attached some of the photos here - there are plenty more on Facebook!

The girls

2012-01-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Since I always seem to be short on time, I figured I'd just post some recent photos of the girls. Most of these are from a recent day at the park. We had so much fun on the slide and feeding the fish!

A ballerina!

2012-01-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for new activities to keep the girls busy. We have done music class, soccer, mummy & me groups and all sorts of play centers. I recently noticed an ad for toddler ballet classes and decided to give it a try with Angela. She really enjoyed it so we are now signed up for five more weeks! We need to go get her some proper ballet clothes - a lot of the girls were really decked out. I managed to get her shoes but wanted to make sure she would enjoy it before investing in tutu's and what not. She even let me give her 'ballet hair' which is a miracle since he hates having it in a pony tail!

Christmas Crazies

2011-12-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Rich was looking through photos on my phone last night and came across this little video. He was shocked that I hadn't yet shared it with anybody. The girls have loved playing Christmas music and dancing around the house (or in their dinner chairs). I even captured Millie attaching the Christmas tree!

Butterflies

2011-12-20T03:15:00.000-08:00

We recently attended two events where face painters were on hand to fill Angela's face and arms with cute little characters. At one birthday party, her face was transformed into a butterfly. Last weekend at brunch, she had a snowman on one cheek and all sorts of little things all over her arms. She came home from school today and was coloring on her white board with markers. Suddenly she turned around and asked me to make her a butterfly. Before I could react, she took the black (thankfully washable) marker and colored her face. Not quite as nice as the two that were done by professionals, but still pretty cute!

catching up

2011-12-18T05:33:00.000-08:00

Oops! Its been over a month since I last published anything here. Sorry. I've been filled with good intentions but my execution has been terrible. There are hundreds of photos to sort through, a handful of videos to upload, and tons of really great stories to share.

We are all getting really excited about Santa Clause. Our tree went up a few weeks ago in preparation for a holiday party we hosted. We had almost 50 friends & coworkers join us last weekend for a party in our garden. It was a really fun night. Angela was a little disapointed that it wasn't 'her' party - as we were getting things ready she asked if people were coming to see her, and if they would gift her presents and kisses. Needless to say, she is thrilled about her upcoming birthday and cannot wait to celebrate with a Minnie Mouse party and all of her friends.

The girls seem to be growing up unbeliveably quick. Angela is a little chatterbox and never stops. Her teachers at nursery love her and she has so much fun playing with all the big kids in our new neighborhood. Caitlin is now scooting on her butt all over the house - she loves following both Angela & Millie. She is getting a bit more consistent with her sleep although still wakes up once or twice during the night.

I put together a selection of photos from the past few weeks below. Easier to post as a slideshow than to try and upload each of them here individually. Enjoy, and hopefully I'll be back soon with more posts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op1n_aXkudc

Winter in the UAE

2011-11-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

The seasons are changing and the weather has been perfect lately. It's mid-80's and sunny most of the day, a few scattered clouds and we even had some rain! We put a patio area in the backyard and bought a grill. We have two new bikes and a trailer that holds two kids. The girls are really enjoying being able to spend so much time outside!

Trick-or-treat

2011-11-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

If you sense that my posts are lacking in frequency and content, you are correct. My laptop has died which leaves with an iPhone and iPad to use for updates. Sharing photos and typing out posts are not as easy without a camera connector and keyboard!! Maybe Santa will treat me to a new laptop for Christmas this year ;). Or maybe I just need to find time to go to the one HP repair center in Dubai (40 minutes from our house) to see what is wrong with my laptop.

Anyways, we enjoyed a wonderful Halloween this year. It's really exciting now that Ang can understand what is going on. We painted our pumpkins, went to a Halloween party at school and got to trick or treat with some of the neighbors. There were actually some really impressive decorations in the neighborhood. Unfortunately Caitlin had to stay home for most of this as she was sick. Ang must be bringing all sorts of lovely germs home from nursery - the latest round was tonsillitis. It only seems to have struck Caitlin and fortunately she seems to be feeling much better after a few days on antibiotics.

We now have a small bucket of candy to consume, dried egg smashed on the back of our house, and some great memories of a fun Halloween. You can see the photos using the link below. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38403322@N00/sets/72157628037259148/

Working girl

2011-10-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

Rich had to spend a few hours in the office this morning - on a Friday, which is our weekend. I guess he has been missing Ang lately because he invited her into the office with him. Her face lit up and she was so excited to pack her bag for work. It looks like she is having a great time!

> -----------------
> Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld.

The sandpit

2011-10-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

We are doing a big patio project in the backyard and a good portion of our (dead) grass has been turned into a giant sandpit. Angela is loving this and has spent so much time out there digging, building sand castles and making a mess. Eventually the area will be covered in brick tiles - hopefully soon!! Caitlin is happy to sit on the patio and just watch her big sister make a mess. The weather is now perfect for being outside and we are loving it!

(and notice, no diaper on Angela! We are giving potty training a go!)

Farewell, lizards!

2011-10-08T10:04:00.000-07:00

Our family has grown by one! This is Millie* a kitten we adopted this afternoon. She is about four months old and was found abandoned at a cat farm just outside Abu Dhabi. The person that rescued her believes that she was dumped after spending some time with people because this cat loves people. She lets Angela pick her up and is currently curled up on my lap, purring away.

We are hoping this helps with the lizards!

*The family that rescued her was calling her cinnamon but we have decided to rename since Angela cannot say anything that sounds even close to cinnamon. Millie is our latest choice, although we are waiting to see if this sticks.

Too cool for school!

2011-09-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Angela started at a new nursery today. We are very excited about this because it's so much closer to our house (less than 10 minutes walk). One change is that all the kids wear uniforms. While I don't really think 2 year olds need uniforms, this is really going to help simplify our morning on school days. Plus, she looks really cute!

The up's and down's of life in a villa

2011-09-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! I didn't really intend to take an almost 2 month break from blogging. The summer was busy and I preferred to spend my evenings with family and friends instead of updating you all with our lives. Since I haven't even begun to sort through vacation photos, I'll save that topic for a future post. I'm sure I'll be feeling home sick soon enough and re-living our trip home through a post will help remind me of many great memories!

As I've mentioned before, we decided to move from an apartment to a villa. I did most of the arrangements before we left for the summer but left Rich to oversee the movers while the girls and I were in the US. We arrived back in Dubai this past weekend and drove to our new home! When we pulled up outside Angela looked a little confused. She asked if her toys were inside and then asked if Gloria was inside too. We answered yes and she ran to the door, gave Gloria a great big hug, and spent the next two hours with her toys.

After only a few days here, we are already figuring out the ups and downs of life in a villa. Hopefully you will enjoy the few favorites I've included below!

Leapin' Lizards!
Last night I walked downstairs and noticed something scurry by in front of me. A tiny lizard. While I hate the idea of these being in our house, they do eat bugs and are completely harmless. So for now, they stay. Fortunately we rarely see them so they don't really both me.

H O L Y C R @ P.......I took a brief break after right the above section and as I walked downstairs a lizard froze just in front of me! Its a good thing Rich was home. After snapping a very blurry picture (just for your viewing pleasure), Rich trapped it and humanely disposed of it on the front walkway. I take back what I said above, I guess they do kind of bother me!

Do you know the meter man?
On Saturday evening our door bell rang, just about dinner time. It was the water meter reader who had been sent to investigate high consumption. It seems something had triggered a reading that showed consumption being 30 times more than normal. We haven't even been home most of the past month, d'oh!! The man had a look around and left instructions of 'might be leak, call plumber'. The maintenance team arrived early the next morning and spent three days fixing out tank and pump. We haven't yet received a bill for the 'excessive consumption' but the meter was running at a crazy rate so we are very worried!

Wheeeee!!!!
One of the reasons I really wanted to move was because our apartment really lacked decent outdoor play for kids. The pool required climbing a steep set of stairs and the kiddie pool wasn't special enough to hold Angela's attention very long (especially because she could jump out and run to the big pool in less than 5 seconds). The new house has multiple playgrounds and swimming pools within a five to ten minute walk! The first playground we discovered was a bit of a let down and was just a small slide. However, yesterday I took Angela for a walk and discovered a slightly (very slightly) better playground with swings. Ang was happy with that....wheeee!!! I'll also point out that there is a gym, grocery store, coffee shop, ice cream stand and Hallmark (random) within walking distance. While its still a little too hot outside, none of this is too far for a quick walk in the heat.

The spice rack
Moving is usually a great time to purge all of those little things that have been hanging around a little too long. In my case, this would be the spice rack. I love to cook and have accumulated a random assortment of spices in our cupboard. I rarely sort through my belongings which became so apparent when I was sorting stuff. Not one, not two, but THREE jars of paprika. Seriously? I can't even tell you a recipe that I use paprika in. Its just one of those things that gets added to the shopping list anytime I need 1/4 teaspoon of it because I can't imagine why I would actually have had it in the first place. Anyways, I have a lot of organzing left to do but am really enjoying the purge (and the fact that this house has so much more space than our last house!).

Once we have finished tidying up the furnishings I promise to be back with updated photos and new stories about our life in this new house. I'll leave you with two pictures of the girls since I don't have many to fill this blog. Ang has jumped right back into swimming lessons and took to her new teacher well today. Caitlin's hair has been tamed a bit - Ang decided to help dress her up today!

6 Months!

2011-08-09T12:24:00.001-07:00

Little Miss 'Kai Kai' is six months old today!! Such a sweet & happy
little girl who is constantly making us smile. Her first two teeth cut last week while we were on the airplane, and although she seemed a little uncomfortable she was still as happy as can be! She had her first taste of solids this morning, Angela helped feed her rice cereal. It was a big hit!

A messy little face after her cereal - surprisingly most of it actually ended up in her mouth and not on her shirt.

A special treat

2011-07-29T00:53:00.000-07:00

As much as I try to feed Angela healthy snacks, from time to time we give her special treats. Especially when moods need changing. Its amazing how a small piece of chocolate can make her so happy. This morning, as we walked by Krispy Kreme at the mall, it called out to her. She had been very good as I pushed her around Carrefour (our version of Walmart) trying to stock up on last minute items for our trip home so I figured she deserved a special treat.

She picked the sprinkles (surprise surprise) and then asked to go sit in the big chairs (food court). Who was I to say no? I would much rather leave her mess at the mall than have it spread across my car!

The special treat

Start with the sprinkles - have to lick them all off first

Then finally take a bite, this was a very slow process

Yum!!

The doctor

2011-07-27T03:59:00.001-07:00

Angela is into all things doctor lately. The minute somebody says ouch she runs for her doctor kit and is ready to listen to your heartbeat, peer down your throat, give you some medicine and a shot or two. Yesterday she discovered something new to add to her doctor kit - the band aids!

I glanced up to see her standing behind the sofa with a rather guilty look on her face.

I went to investigate to find an entire box of band aids laid out on the back of the sofa.

Clearly she knows this isn't where band aids go - as she quickly ran away from the mess!

This was all fine because the band aids actually kept her sitting quietly playing. Unfortunately, by the end of the day she had figured out how to open the wrapper and the entire back of my sofa was decorated with colorful bandaids!

You never know til you try....

2011-07-13T01:58:00.000-07:00

There has been an ongoing discussion in our house about taking the bottle away from Angela. This idea started back in March after her 2 year check up when the doctor suggested it. I was so hesitant to do anything about it because for over a year now she has had a bottle for every nap, every night before bed and for most of her night time wake ups. Plus there was so much change with a new baby in the house, I really didn't want to disturb her routine.

Today is the day. Big girls don't use bottles and big girls sleep in big beds. It's nap time and she just drank her milk in a sippy cup (only protested slightly before she realized it had milk in it) and is snoozing away in the guest room 'big bed'.

So I guess I was wrong about my little girl. She isn't so little anymore. It's time to hit the stores and find this girl a bed!

(sorry for no pictures - Ang does look pretty cute at the moment but I'm not risking ruining her nap for a picture).

It's Grammy's birthday!

2011-07-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

The girls made a very special birthday message for Grammy's special day!

Conversations with a 2 year old

2011-07-09T06:01:00.001-07:00

Ang: 'daddy works'
Daddy: 'does mommy work?'
Ang: 'no'
Daddy: 'what does mommy do?'
Ang: 'mommy, Kai Kai, MILK!'

Making milk - its a full time job!

Five months!

2011-07-09T03:30:00.000-07:00

Caitlin is five months today! She is such a happy, sweet baby and now has the cutest little giggle that we almost always hear when she is in the bath. She has perfected rolling from her back to her front - although she gets her arm stuck under her so she ends up frustrated, stuck on her belly. We've seen her roll from her belly to back many times, she just doesn't always have her arms in the right place. I'm sure she will figure it all out soon.

Sleep has gone backwards a bit. Lately it is taking her a very long time to settle at night so I spend close to two hours getting her to sleep. I'm hopeful this is just a phase because it is quite exhausting!

We've made no progress with her allergies. She is definitely allergic to all things dairy and possibly soy. If I have the smallest amount of dairy she ends up miserable for days - a bad excema reaction on her face and legs, a very gassy tummy and lots of spitting up. I've been trying to keep my diet incredibly bland and feel horrible everytime I slip up on something that bothers her. I love that I can offer her a great supply of milk but am really looking forward to the day that I can have ice cream again!!

It's now less than a month until our trip home which is very exciting. We can't wait to see everybody, and of course for Caitlin to meet the rest of the family!

Sorry for the grouchy face pictures - she had just woken up from a nap!

home sweet home

2011-07-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

Although we have loved life on 'the Palm' in Dubai, we've decided its time to give up the apartment life and will be relocating to a villa in August. The community we are moving to is called the Meadows. The villa has five bedrooms (2 more than we have in our apartment) and has a large back yard. There are lakes with walking trails around them and we will be less than a 10 minute walk to a local shopping center (with grocery store and coffee shop).

As with any rental property, I'm sure we will find faults with the new home. Its not as new or fancy as our previous apartments. The maintenace will increase as we have a backyard to take care of (growing grass in the desert should be interesting). But, I think it will be a great place to live as a family while are in Dubai.

View of the neighborhood mosque!

View from the back bedrooms - lake directly behind the villa and 'mansion' villas just behind that.

The front

The back yard - this is just one section, it's much larger.

Toes!

2011-06-30T22:12:00.001-07:00

Caitlin has discovered her toes - and her ability to get then into her mouth! She has spent the past two days with her toes in her mouth. Even if she is sitting up she tries to get them in there!

just hanging out

2011-06-27T02:02:00.001-07:00

Such cute sisters!

School's out for Summer!

2011-06-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, school isn't out quite yet, two days to go. We had parent teacher meetings this morning, a field trip to the Aquarium on Tuesday and the end of term party is on Wednesday.

I find it quite entertaining that they have 'parent teacher meetings' for two year olds. However, it was nice to hear so many great things said about Angela this morning. Apparently she saves all of her tantrums and moods for home and is an absolute angel at nursery. The teacher actually said that Angela is the only one that doesn't give her a hard time (no pushing, biting, yelling, crying, etc). I've attached the handout that shows some of her favorite nursery activities.

We also received her class photo's - so cute! I'm still trying to contact the photographer to see if I can purchase additional copies. Unfortunately the package they offer the nursery is a single copy of each photo.

I have Angela signed up to attend a nursery program that is three mornings a week for the month of July. I think she will enjoy getting out of the house and into a building where the a/c is cranked and there are lots of toys (and messy play)!

Happy fathers day!

2011-06-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

The girls were so good to their daddy yesterday. Angela brought a special cupcake home from nursery, but unfortunately wasn't patient enough for Rich to get home from work to enjoy it with her. She saved him about half of the bottom!

Rich made it home from work in time for some pre-bedtime snuggles.

At the mall, again

2011-06-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's officially 'too hot' here which means we've been spending a lot of our free time at the mall. Angela loves shopping - if we ask her what she wants to do when we go out she often replies 'shopping'. Fortunately there are plenty of great malls to keep us occupied.

This weekend we started with the Dubai Mall. We caught part of a hockey game and then happened upon a play area which kept Angela and Rich entertained for an hour. The weekend ended at the Marina Mall - a hair cut for Angela and a trip to get groceries (most of the nicer grocery stores are located in a mall). We're getting better at hair cuts, this was the first time Angela actually sat in the fun race car chair instead of on my lap. She really did not enjoy being there though and when it was all finished she cried, pulled at her hair and said 'hair, broken'.

Follow Me

2011-06-11T00:19:00.000-07:00

I have added a new 'feature' to the blog. There is a follow me button to the right (above our photos). Simply enter your email address and press submit. Then, every time I post an update you will receive an email. I've been sending out an email in the past but many times forget to send it - and I don't really know who wants the email and who doesn't. So now its up to you! If you want to continue to receive email updates just use the Follow Me link to the right.

Four Months!

2011-06-09T09:38:00.001-07:00

Wow, time really has flown by. Caitlin is four months old today! We have a very healthy little girl - she is now a little over 15 pounds and filling up sized 9 months clothes. She recently started laughing - one of the sweetest things. Angela continues to be an amazing big sister and loves to hold and kiss her baby Kai Kai. Its so much fun watching them interact.

Newport, anyone?

2011-06-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, our summer plans are all booked. We will be staying in Newport, RI for the month of August and then will be in Maine for about a week in September before returning to Dubai. Rich will be back in Dubai to work and oversee our big move* from August 10 to August 26.

The house we have rented in Newport has plenty of room for visitors and we would love to invite everybody there to visit. I know its a bit early to make concrete plans, but if there is a specific time that you would like to come visit please let me know so that I can make note of it. I will try to make sure there are beds for everyone and that we aren't too crowded at any particular point.

As the temps have soared way up over 110 and humidity is in full force here, we're really looking forward to getting back for a bit of New England summer! Can't wait to see everyone!

*the Big move....we're giving up the apartment on the Palm and moving to a villa in a gated community. More on that soon!

Caitlin rolled over!!

2011-06-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

I put Caitlin down for some tummy time yesterday and she very quickly flipped to her back. I figured it was a fluke because I put her down a little on her side. Well, today she had been on her tummy for about five minutes. Angela and I were on the floor playing with her and she suddenly pushed herself over again! I captured two photos at the very end. Wonder if she will be a 'roller' like her sister was!!

Our little fish

2011-05-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Angela asks to go to the pool almost every afternoon now that it's super hot out everyday. I finally found a swim class for her which she started today. It's a kids only class (mommy doesn't get in the pool) and there are only two other kids in her class. Although she was a bit hesitant about a few of the activities today, she had a great time in the water! I am hoping this helps her confidence in the water so that she can become a great swimmer!

Pack her knickers!

2011-05-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

When I picked up Angela from nursery last week, one of the helpers pulled me aside to let me know that Angela was very curious about two of the other girls using the potty. She asked to sit on it so they let her. I've tried this a few times at home over the past month and she was never interested, in fact seemed terrified. So this was exciting. The helper told me to send in three pairs of knickers the next week and they would give it a go.

I sent in three pairs of very cute Hello Kitty undies yesterday. When I went in to pick her up, they were very happy to report that Angela went pee pee on the potty TWICE!! After that she wasnt interested so they put her back into diapers and didn't want to push it too much. I've since tried the potty a few times at home but she only wants to play with it.

I'm not sure mommy and daddy are ready for this potty training thing, but we realized long ago that we don't have much control in this house.

And yes, I'm sure Angela will cringe someday when she looks back to see that I've written an entire post about her using the potty :)

Save the date!

2011-05-17T05:54:00.000-07:00

It's time to have the next set of babies baptized. We are planning a baptism for Caitlin and Lexi in the Boston area on Sunday, August 7.

Tummy time

2011-05-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

She may be making an inappropriate hand gesture, but I assure you, she really is enjoying her tummy time!!

Three months!

2011-05-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Baby Kai Kai (as Angela calls her) is three months old! It's amazing how fast these three month have passed. Caitlin is a very happy baby - always smiling and coo'ing for us. She is starting to outgrow another size of clothes and will soon be in the 6 to 9 month range! We have no complaints about her sleep - she consistently takes 3 or 4 naps during the day and is almost always asleep by 8 o'clock at night (and doesn't wake up for a feed until 3 or 4 in the morning). Angela continues to be an awesome big sister and still loves holding Kai Kai's hand, giving her kisses and holding her in the swing. These two little girls are just amazing!!

love my girls!

2011-04-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

We were all looking nice for a lunch event on Friday afternoon and managed to get some photo's before leaving the house. The girls are both doing great these days. Angela has some moments where she definitely 'two' but has such an awesome personality and is so much fun. Caitlin is always smiling and is a fantastic sleeper (slept ten hours straight last night!). We are so blessed with these gorgeous girls!!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Easter a day early here since Chris and Katie had an early flight Sunday and its a work day so Rich is at the office. The girls both got some great gifts from the Easter bunny and we had some friends over for a small brunch. The afternoon was spent at the pool - its nice and hot here now so lots of pool time!!

Caitlin's first Easter!

Ang having fun in a box

Our fun visitors, Chris & Katie. Ang was very sad to say goodbye this morning!

Yummy homemade cinnamon rolls!

We're off to swim! Ang LOVES the pool now that its getting so hot outside.

Easter Egg Fun

2011-04-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

We have visitors this week (my brother, Chris and his wife, Katie) and they brought along a few Easter Egg coloring kits. I boiled the eggs last night and we spent the morning coloring them. Angela really seemed to enjoy it. Her favorite part was definitely when she picked up the blue color and poured it all over the table, floor, and my feet. The look on her face was priceless. It was something like 'that was a lot of fun but I bet I'm going to get yelled at so I better not smile'. But then we all started laughing and she joined in. Fortunately the floor is tiled and the mess was easy to clean up.

Only one cracked egg!!

flights booked!!

2011-04-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Some exciting news to share, we booked our flights home for the summer! We land on the 31st of July and return on the 8th of September. Hopefully this gives us plenty of time to see everybody.

Also, Caitlin's passport is ready for pickup so I'm planning to get it tomorrow. She still needs her UAE residency visa, but that should be relatively easy to sort out (and she can travel without it).

A few new photo's to share

Sleepy babies.....

...wake up happy!!

Angela enjoying some beans - her absolute favorite food.

Check out the bruise on her chin! I didn't witness the fall but heard that she didn't cry, the teachers at nursery were impressed.

Two months!!

2011-04-11T10:24:00.001-07:00

Caitlin passed the two month mark a few days ago! She is up to 5.97kg (13lb, 2.6oz) which is right around the 95th percentile for weight. Her height dropped off quite a bit on the growth chart but the doctor thinks the measurement may have been wrong (or she is just going to be short!). She is a champ when it comes to sleeping and regularly sleeps seven to eight hours in one stretch at night. Unfortunately the two year old in the house is not sleeping this well so we're still not getting much rest!

Pictures!!

2011-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures taken last week! I've posted a few of my favorites here to share. Thankfully Angela waited until this week to take a tumble at nursery and bruise her chin!

Passport Photo's

2011-03-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

We applied for Caitlin's passport today...baby passport photo's always make me laugh! I was going to post some of the attempted photo's but then figured Caitlin may hate me someday if I share those with the world.

In just a few weeks we should have Caitlin's passport and will be able to obtain her UAE residence visa. We are making sure we have everything in place so that we can book our summer travel plans!! More details to come soon but we are planning to be in the states from August 1 until September 8. We have rented a house in Newport, RI for the month of August and then will head to Maine for a week in September. Hopefully six weeks at home will give us plenty of time to see everybody.

I'm so pretty

2011-03-21T22:37:00.001-07:00

As I've blogged about in the past, Angela is not the type of girl that enjoy's getting dressed up. She loves her cotton leggings and t-shirts. Bring out a dress and she screams. Try to put it on her and she has a complete meltdown. We've pretty much given up trying when it comes to clothes. My goal in the morning is to get her out of her dirty pajamas and into clean clothes. If I can get her to let me brush her hair its a good day.

However, it seems that she now completely understands the word pretty.

I haven't attempted to put her hair up in months. Everytime I try, it lasts all of ten seconds (and results in the same reaction I get when trying to put a dress on her). But she wore a new outfit the other day - an outfit that came with matching hair clips so I just had to try!

My oh my, aren't we pretty. She stared in the mirror for a good five minutes with a silly little grin on her face.

Unfortunately she decided to pull the bows out while in the car on her way to nursery school - and then screamed about them not being in her hair. Oh well, at least I got a few pictures!

growing girls!

2011-03-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were at the doctors for Caitlin's one month check-up and today we returned to the same office for Angela's two year check-up! Both girls are very healthy - up over the 90th percentile for weight.

Angela now weighs 31.35 pounds - putting her way up there on the growth charts. She has come a long way since falling below the 1st percentile at 6 months old! The doctor was happy with everything except one thing - the dreaded bottle. The only request from the doctor was to try and (gasp) wean her off the bottle (GASP!). Angela has a great routine and goes right to sleep for naps and nights, after drinking her milk from the bottle. We have already made some improvements to this - she now drinks her bottle in the living room with us instead of being rocked in her bedroom with the lights dimmed. So do we take the bottle away? Any tips from the experienced?

Caitlin is up to 11.22 pounds - maintaining her spot at the 97th percentile! Looking back at Angela's growth chart, she was almost six months old before she weighed this much! Again, the doctor only had one issue and that was that we were letting Caitlin sleep in the swing. She had been spitting up a lot and it seemed a lot worse when she was flat on her back so the swing seemed more comfortable (and ensured longer stretches of sleep at night). I've cut a few things from my diet and the spitting up has almost stopped. The past few nights she has slept on her back, in the bassinet, and continued the 3 to 4 hour stretches she was doing in the swing!

The two of them are so incredibly sweet together. Angela has had a few jealous moments but that was to be expected. She always calls us over if the baby is crying or needs something and she loves to kiss the baby and hold her hand.

the girls

2011-03-11T00:44:00.001-08:00

Just a few new photos...

Mommy & her girls

Hi Caitlin!

CHEESE...

sisters

2011-02-28T08:57:00.000-08:00

Caitlin loves hanging out on her tummy and this afternoon Angela decided to join her. Melts my heart!

coziest chair in the house

2011-02-22T09:20:00.000-08:00

Caitlin has a new bouncy chair that she just loves to snooze in. I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody else decided to try it out. Trouble!!

Caitlin Elizabeth

2011-02-12T03:58:00.000-08:00

We are so excited that our family has grown by one. Caitlin was born on February 9, 2011 at 10:45pm. She weighed 4.265kg (9lb 6oz) was was 49cm (19.3 in) long.

Angela has been fantastic since we arrived home from the hospital. She thought it was so cool that there was a new baby around and has been giving Caitlin lots of gentle kisses. Both of the girls are getting lots of attention with Grammy and Dziadziu here! Its been great having some extra help at home as we adjust to life with two kids.

I have started uploading pictures which are available on Snapfish. I will continue to add more as I find time.

Waiting for baby

2011-02-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

Today I am 40 weeks, 6 days pregnant. This is not something we had expected, or planned for. Even my doctor is surprised, she has been saying 'any day now' since my 38 week appointment! I guess this little girl is comfy in there. Our next appointment is tomorrow afternoon and I know we will talk about induction. Although I'm really hoping to not be induced I know that I'm reaching a point where it may become necessary.

Angela is enjoying all of this extra time as an 'only child', especially now that Grammy & Dziadziu are here. She has gotten lots of new toys and we've had extra trips to the mall, park and beach. We also did a mini-safari on Saturday morning to try and find some camels. In the time we've been here I hadn't seen any camels and we thought it would be fun to go drive around outside of the main city area. We didn't travel too far but did manage to see some cool things - including camels!

After passing many 'camel crossing' signs, we were starting to give up hope that we would actually see any camels - just a lot of sand!

And then a truck passed us on the road, and we finally saw camels!

A few minutes later, and there were camels everywhere

Ang was on camel lookout in the car

Having some fun at the beach

Storytime with Grammy

Our 'sporting day' star

2011-01-31T01:25:00.000-08:00

Today was Sports Day at Angela's nursery. Parents were invited in for an hour in the morning to watch the children dance and do mini-races. We were so excited to be able to watch Angela with all of her little friends.

Ang is part of the Little Mozarts classroom - here they come marching in
Starting to dance - to the tune of Hey Mickey your so fine - Ang seemed to really enjoy this one
The group dancing (the two lines of kids on the left are her classroom)

The real fun began when they brougt out small groups of kids for races. Angela was part of the butterflies and got to flap her way across the courtyard. We have a video of this which is posted online but I can't get it to post to this blog. You should be able to view it here: Video
Post-race, looking very cute with her butterfly wings

Third place, yay!

the last days as an only child

2011-01-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

I have reached the last week of this pregnancy and while there is no guarantee that this baby will come early, my doctor thinks it could be any day now and even guessed that she might see me this weekend.

Angela got the ultimate 'only child' day today - there is nothing left to do to get the house ready for baby #2 and I really needed to get out of the house today to keep my mind from jumping at every little twinge in my belly.

We started the morning at Toys R' Us. If you have seen our playroom you know that this stop was not really necessary. But Bonnie is flying back to China on Sunday and we wanted to send her with some new toys for her son. Of course we can't leave that store without more things for Angela too!

After Toys R' Us, it was on to Mini Monsters. This city is full of indoor play areas that come in so handy in the very hot summer months when you just can't go outside to the parks. Mini Monsters has just recently opened and we were very impressed when we checked it out last weekend so we decided to go back there today. I can't provide too much detail because I'm way too large to accompany Ang through the maze of a jungle gym to reach the 'fun' parts - but based on what Rich and Bonnie told me it sounds like heaven for kids. It's only about fifteen minutes from our house and Angela was asleep in the car (with a snack in her hand) before we even got on the highway.

After a great nap at home we decided to head down to a local beach area for dinner and to check out a little carnival. Dinner was at Angela's favorite place - On the Border. I'm not sure why but whenever we eat here she cleans her plate and then devours the little bowl of ice cream they bring her after. At the carnival she got to ride the train and the merry go round, and daddy won her lots of toys.

Unfortunately a stuffed meerkat was not on the list of things won. I'm sure the Muslim Meerkat would make a great addition to the playroom.

Practice!

2011-01-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

A friend came over with her 7 month old baby today and Angela was so excited to see the baby. She got to hold the baby, play with her and gave her some very sweet kisses. It was so wonderful to see how well she interacted with her. I have a feeling she is going to be an excellent big sister!!

A special visitor

2011-01-13T06:30:00.001-08:00

This is the second time in one week that a random cat has appeared on our patio. I woke up one morning this week to find a cat peering into our bedroom window - that one belonged to the people that live upstairs and it had jumped down to our sofa. They somehow got it back without us noticing (I think they lowered a bucket down for her).

Today, a new cat appeared. This time Angela was awake and was so excited to see the 'meow meow'. Soon the cat disappeared - I have no idea where he went (or where he came from) but Angela had a good five minutes of entertainment through the window.

Catching up

2011-01-10T21:10:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of recent posting. Here's a quick recap!

We had a great New Years - our friends Jenn & Justin were visiting from Boston and we decided to have a quiet, low key New Years Eve on our patio. There was a great fireworks show at the Atlantis and one of the neighboring villas was having a beach party so we had great music! Rich even made it home from work before midnight to enjoy a glass of champagne. The next day we did an Abra tour in the Marina (some photo's below).

Angela had another growth spurt - and is now such a big girl. She is going to nursery three mornings a week and loves it. Unfortunately this morning she went in her pajama top because we're still having some issues with getting her dressed. I can't blame her though, I would love to just hang out in my pajama's all day! Fortunately her teacher was able to change her shirt without a meltdown.

The house is all ready for baby number two to arrive. We still don't have an official name for her - its been narrowed down to a few options but we're being indecisive on this one. Its now three weeks until my due date and I'm feeling ready! I think Angela can sense something is about to change because she has been extra clingy lately. She loves to rub my belly and give the baby kisses and we talk all the time about what a great big sister she is going to be. In case you are wondering, baby #2 will be born at the American Hospital. I've been really impressed with the care there so far and have heard wonderful things about others who have given birth there.

I promise to try and get more updates on here, although with a new baby coming you probably shouldn't hold your breath!

loving our new toys!

A dhow cruise in the Marina with Jenn & Justin

haircut - round 2

2011-01-06T23:46:00.000-08:00

Angela's hair was getting too long again but I was really dreading a return to the salon for a trim. This time I loaded up on movies, chocolate and lollipops. Forgot the ipad at home but fortunately they had Barney on for her to watch.

She wanted nothing to do with the kids chair at the salon. We finally got her to sit on my lap with a piece of chocolate and she happily watched Barney while the lady trimmed away.

We now have a cute little girl that is all smiles (with a major sugar buzz).

About a month to go

2010-12-31T04:37:00.000-08:00

We are officially in the final countdown to baby #2. Of course we are being optimisitc that she will arrive early but I know chances are pretty good she will be a February baby. Just hopefully not a Valentine's Day baby (that would mean two weeks late).

While in line at the grocery store today an older American man asked me how much longer I had. I said about a month. He said, "oh, twins"? Me, "Nope". "Wow, thats a big baby then". Gee, thanks, way to make a girl feel good!

In case you were wondering how big I really am, I've attached a recent photo (taken with my fancy new iPhone!!).

Christmas Photo's

2010-12-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Some highlights from our first Christmas in Dubai.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=MegBozz&target=ALBUM&id=5554860523967919777&authkey=Gv1sRgCL2qto-CpbP_WQ&feat=email

Christmas Wishes from the Bozzuto's

2010-12-25T01:43:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

We had a very relaxing morning here as we enjoyed watching Angela open all of her presents. Santa brought her so many nice new toys and we had so many wonderful things sent to us from far away. Thanks to everyone that sent packages all the way to Dubai - it really means a lot to us!

I promise to post more Christmas photos soon, we're too busy playing with all of Angela's new toys!!

Love -
Rich, Meg & Angela

32 weeks

2010-12-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

I had my 32 week scan today and all is well with baby #2. She is growing right on track and is measuring just slightly big. I don't think this changes my due date but will confirm that with the doctor on Saturday.

The doctor that did the ultrasound was running almost an hour behind schedule so he flipped on the 3d/4d scanner to give me some special photos. Of course she didn't really want to show us her face and kept turning away but I saw a few images that remind me so much of Angela when she was a baby. I've scanned these and added a few pointers since the images aren't perfectly clear. You can only slightly make out her face in the second image. If you click on the photo below, it should open up to a larger size.

Oh, and before I forget, we did confirm that it is in fact a girl!

It's a good thing we live in Dubai!

2010-12-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

Angela's latest 'thing' is refusing to get dressed in the morning. Once she is dressed and knows we are going somewhere she is usually fine, its just a process to get a shirt over her head.

Today she managed to get food all over her pants during lunch so we just left them off for her nap. When she woke up she wouldn't put the pants back on (and we weren't going anywhere so I didn't fight it). During her snack she started taking her shirt off. While she hasn't mastered getting it completely off she can get it pulled all the way up so I ended up just taking it off. She spent the rest of the afternoon in only a diaper, and I'm so happy she hasn't figured out how to take that off yet!!

The problem came when she wanted to go outside after dinner. We usually take a walk or play on the patio. She wouldn't put clothes on so I opted for the patio as I don't want the neighbors to think we are totally crazy and don't have clothes for our kid. Funny enough, she refused to go outside without her shoes on!!!

Diapers & crocs, its the new thing!!

I'm so happy I don't have to deal with socks, jackets, hats and mittens right now!! At least she is happy!

Christmas is coming!

2010-12-05T00:53:00.001-08:00

It seems that even in Dubai, you cannot escape Christmas! There is music playing in the malls, decorations everywhere, and lots of excitement about holiday travel plans and Santa Clause.

Yesterday we put up our tree and started decorating a bit. Angela let out a big 'ohhhh' when she saw the tree all lit up this morning. She has taken an interest in some of the ornaments but has yet to pull anything off the tree (or knock the entire thing over). While putting up the tree Rich had the great idea to crank up the air conditioning so that 'it feels a little more like Christmas in here'. Its a good thing I have all of our winter clothes here!

Yay, its up!

Today we paid a visit to Santa! I knew going into this that it could either be a really good or a really bad thing. It was entertaining for us, a bit traumatic for Angela. She loved checking out the giant tree and all of the decorations. She loved playing with the other kids in line. She was so excited when we got to walk into Santa's house. She screamed 'Nooooooo' and ran for the door the minute she saw Santa. We managed to get her close enough for a photo, but she was not thrilled about it. She preferred to stand right next to the door and wave to Santa from a safe distance. As soon as we said its time to go she yelled Bye, gave a wave, and ran back out into the mall.

Waiting patiently for Santa

Excited to go see Santa!

We forced her into this picture - this is the one that they framed for us!

UAE Spirit

2010-12-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Today is UAE National Day - the celebration of the 39th anniversary of the UAE. There are flags up everywhere and so many special events going on around town. The Atlantis is all decked out in the UAE flag colors and looks quite impressive from our balcony.

We unfortunately did not get out to enjoy the parades or fireworks. Rich is (once again) in South Africa for a few days and Angela and I have both been fighting a little bug so I didn't want to go out. Angela did get to celebrate at nursery school yesterday - all of the children dressed in the colors of the UAE flag and they did special projects revolving around the country. She messed up her outfit before I could get a photo, so instead I'll post some photos from tonight on our balcony. The night time temperature is perfect for hanging outside lately - we love it!!

Souk Madinet

2010-11-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Colleen's last day in Dubai so we planned a fun afternoon outing to the Souk Madinet. This is an area of shops and restaurants set along a canal in between two very nice hotel properties. The shops vary from traditional clothing and decoration to modern toys and accessories. The restaurants are plentiful and offer a variety of cuisines (Lebanese, Persian, Italian...).

We took a tour of the canal on one of the Abra's, spent some time browsing the shops and then had a wonderful Persian dinner. Definitely a fun afternoon out!

Turkey coma...

2010-11-27T01:18:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday was great! The food was all wonderful (or at least everybody said it was) and we really enjoyed having family and friends here to celebrate with.

Angela quickly picked up on Darren's building skills and had him trapped in the playroom for a while.

The feast (half of it anyways)

Yummy!!

This week I'm off to find a Christmas tree and decorations for the house! Based on my last trip to the mall, this should not be difficult. We were always surprised by how much Christmas decor there was in China and it seems that the UAE is no different!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T01:39:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends & family from Dubai. We are celebrating today (Friday) since Rich had to work all day yesterday. Colleen is here visiting and we have a few IBM friends coming by this afternoon to join us for dinner.

I've never actually cooked a complete Thanksgiving dinner so this should be fun. The turkey is in the oven cooking and all my sides are prepared. Check back for another update soon to see how it all turned out!

Butterball turkey - complete with Arabic label!

My audience while baking an apple pie yesterday

Smells yummy mom

At least if the turkey doesn't come out, we'll all enjoy some apple pie!

To the Top

2010-11-24T02:08:00.000-08:00

Nana is here visiting this week so we took her out on a special tour this morning. We went 'to the top'...the viewing platform on the 124th floor of the Burj Khalfia (the tallest building in the world). Angela and I did this tour when we were here in April and its definitely something that all visitors to Dubai must see.

Also worth noting is the walkway that runs just behind the Burj tower. There is an amazing view of the tower behind a pool of water with fountains. Unfortunately the fountains were not turned on when we were there today but its still a fun area to check out.

A trip to the mall, but not to shop!

2010-11-14T01:21:00.000-08:00

In Dubai, you often hear people say that they spent a weekend morning or afternoon at one of the various malls. Most of the malls here are very nice and offer lots of really great shopping options. However, the malls aren't only for shopping. The entertainment at most of these places is endless.

Yesterday afternoon we had planned on taking a trip to the beach (we still haven't had a beach day since being here) but then decided that it was still a little too hot outside. So instead we ventured out to the Dubai Mall. This is the biggest (and nicest in my opinion) mall in Dubai and is right next door to the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world).

We now always leave the stroller at home and Angela is happy to ride through the mall in a cuddle cart. All of the malls have these little cars - and Angela loves riding around the mall in them. They also offer 'double' cars for two kids and have some that have tv screens built into the steering wheel. My favorite part is the shopping back on the back that is great for storing the diaper bag and all of our purchases.

Our first stop at the mall yesterday was the aquarium tunnel. They've built a large tank that is visible from three levels of the mall shopping area and includes a tunnel that snakes through the tank. As soon as we approached the aquarium Angela started pointing and yelling 'fishy fishy'. She loves seeing fish!

After the aquarium we walked over to the Waterfall which is a massive indoor waterfall with an interesting display of divers. We then made our way to the train ride and Angela and Bonnie took a short ride around one section of the mall. Angela was thrilled to climb into the train car but then grew really antsy when the train didn't start moving fast enough (the conductor was taking a long break). When the train finally started moving she seemed shocked, and then had the biggest smile on her face.

The final stop at the mall was for dinner. We opted for Rainforest Cafe so that Angela would be entertained. The food was nothing special but the look on Angelas face when the gorillas nearby started moving and making noises was priceless. She is working on perfecting her monkey noise and was more than happy to imitate the gorillas that were dancing by our table!

We left the mall having made only one purchase - a stuffed monkey that makes noises and dances. Now Rich is just waiting until Angela is big enough for ski's so that he can take her to the indoor ski slope at the Mall of the Emirates!

Angela's first haircut

2010-11-11T23:38:00.000-08:00

It was finally time. Angela has been refusing to keep her hair pulled back out of her face so this morning we ventured out for her first hair cut.

Things started out ok, she was very happy when we arrived at her favorite play center.

The trouble began when we put her in the baby chair and buckled her in. Not even Barney playing on the tv or snacks could calm her down.

Fortunately the hair dresser was fast and efficient and managed to trim everything in about 7 minutes. Its not perfect but is about as good as you can get with a child that is screaming bloody murder.

She looks so old now!

Fall back

2010-11-09T04:53:00.001-08:00

We did not 'fall back' here in Dubai so we are now 9 hours ahead of NY instead of 8. Morning time in the US still seems the best for reaching us - you can usually catch Ang just as she is waking up from her nap. Unfortunately Skype is no longer reliable here. It's banned by the government (for video calls, chat works just fine) and although they don't have it blocked the service providers are now filtering the calls resulting in very poor quality on video and voice. We have had some luck with video calls on Google Talk but I know not everybody uses that service. I'm on the lookout for how best do video calls and will let everyone know when we find something that works!

28 weeks

2010-11-09T03:58:00.001-08:00

I am 28 weeks pregnant now - and feeling a bit overwhelmed that baby # 2 is only 12 weeks away. I had a routine appointment with my doctor this afternoon and everything looks great. The baby continues to grow nicely (as does my belly) and we're both healthy. I return in about four weeks for an ultrasound and another visit with the doctor. Hopefully we will have confirmation of the gender then - although the technician was fairly certain it is a girl at my 20 week scan, she wasn't 100% sure because of the babies position.

**Photo note**
I'm already in pajama's but thought a 28 week belly photo would be a nice addition to this blog. So not the best of photo's but it will have to do for now.

the end of the expo

2010-11-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Although we are no longer in Shanghai, we're still following the news about the city. For those that visited us in the past year you no doubt remember Haibao plastered all around the city and the 2010 World Expo signs everywhere. A few of you even visited the Expo. Well, last weekend marked the end of the Expo and I have to say I'm not sad we are missing it. From the sounds of it, Shanghai has grown more and more busy in recent weeks. Visitors to the Expo topped out at over 1 million in one day - and I'm sure many of those people also visited Yu Yuan, the Bund, the Pearl Tower and the fake markets. Which means all those places that are normally very crowded were probably at least twice as crowded. Considering many of the Expo visitors were Chinese, this means lots of crowded lines, pushing, shoving and smells (none of which I like).

I'm not sure I ever blogged about our trips to the Expo so I've gone back through my photos now. Sorry no Ang pics here, she never made it to the Expo.

This is Haibao. He was the mascot for the Expo and you could find him everywhere in Shanghai.

These are photo's of a few of the pavilions. The lines to get into some of these were always so long. We made it into the South African pavilion (because there was no line). The first photo that doesn't have a country name is the Theme pavilion. This was a series of movies and exhibits about certain themes. I cannot recall the theme that we saw but it was really odd.

Dining at the expo...one evening we were at the Expo with Deb and Ali and searched for a place to eat. We found something that claimed to be a Western Cafe. The food was horrible and the service was interesting. We teased Rich to have his photo taken with the cow because he ordered the beef - and I was pretty sure that beef would come back to haunt him the following day (it did not). Deb and Ali both ordered the 'safer' pasta dish. The waitress came by with two plates of pasta, gave one to Deb, and then walked away and gave the other dish to another table. We had to wait about 15 minutes to get another plate of pasta and were reminded once again about the lack of dining service in China!

the proper technique for eating green beans

2010-11-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

1. Select a green bean from your plate

2. Peel the bean apart (remind mom no olive oil next time, these things are slippery!)

3. Pick out each little bean

4. Enjoy!

happy halloween! part 2....

2010-10-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

The photos that I posted earlier were from before Angela's halloween party at her little play school. We dropped her off at her play school for a few hours this morning and I think she had a great time. When I picked her up she was still dressed in her full costume - wings, halo and all! She had orange frosting smeared on the front of her dress and was clearly coming down from a sugar buzz. It was fantastic.

I took a few more photos while at play school...

Angela made one of the pumpkins on the wall!

She also did this ghost...

Goofing around with daddy

happy halloween!

2010-10-30T23:07:00.000-07:00

We have a perfect little angel today!

Angela is spending the morning at the play center nearby, celebrating Halloween with all of her little friends there. Mommy made some yummy pumpkin cupcakes to share!

In the news....

2010-10-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

A nice article in the Bentley alumni magazine!

http://observer.bentley.edu/issue/fall-2010/alumni-update/career-move

Showing off our dance moves

2010-10-17T04:06:00.000-07:00

Angela has a new favorite movie - Monsters, Inc. She loves the music that plays at the end of it and starts dancing all over the living room as soon as the credits start rolling. It's so cute!

MINE

2010-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

One thing that we loved about this apartment (other than the massive balconies, water view, great location and space) was the playroom option. Anybody that visited us in Shanghai witnessed the mountain of toys that overtook the living room, something that constantly drove me crazy. This apartment has one decent-sized room just off the living room that would make a perfect office (in Rich's mind). But, in my mind, it just had to be the playroom.

After our stuff arrived it became obvious that we had some storage issues. One trip to Ikea and we fixed that problem. The playroom is now finished!!

We discovered this past Saturday just how much Angela loves the playroom (and all her toys). We invited some new friends (somebody Rich met through a Columbia alumni event) over for breakfast and to play. They have a son that is slightly older than Angela and they just moved here as well. Well, as soon as Henry walked into the playroom and started picking up toys, we learned that Angela has a word in her vocabulary that we hadn't heard before. 'MINE!!!!!'....

I guess we need to work on our sharing skills!

arts & crafts

2010-10-05T09:23:00.001-07:00

Angela has been attending a local daycare facility a few times a week. We drop her off for a few hours in the morning, once or twice per week. Its not a proper 'nursery' program but offers flexible schedules (we just call the day before to book her in) and has a really great staff.

Today she brought home an art project!

the new meggo-mobile & growing babies

2010-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

We bought a new car! Of course, we haven't yet registered it because the registration process requires documentation from the bank and its taking them a few days to get the papers together. Hopefully we will be able to drive it soon. We ended up finding a slightly used (less than 1 year old) Volvo SUV. The owner is another ex-pat that is moving and needed to get rid of the car. So we ended up getting an almost new car at a decent price.

Angela is continuing to grow like a weed. We had her 18 month well being visit last week with the new pediatrician. Angela weighed 13kg - which is about 28 and 1/2 pounds. This puts her in the 95th percentile for weight which is so surprising because she was below the 0 percentile at 9 months. The doctor said she is healthy and had no concerns with anything. Her skin is also doing remarkably well these days (for those that haven't seen it, she has had a very annoying excema rash on her legs). I guess she just needed a break from the China air!

Finally, baby # 2. I haven't posted much about being pregnant but now that I'm really feeling pregnant (i.e. big) its time to start posting. So, my first official belly pic for this pregnancy is below - at 22.5 weeks. It has definitely popped!!

At the park!

2010-09-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

While out for a drive this past weekend we discovered a cute little park not far from our house. Angela was up early this morning and was getting very antsy in the house so I decided to take her out to play. Unfortunately its still a bit too hot here so we only got to play for about an hour before Angela's face turned bright pink and her head was covered in sweat. Hopefully the next month will bring some cooler, more comfortable temperatures and then I'm sure you will find us in the park many mornings!

Interestingly, men are only allowed in the park on weekends - during the week it is only for women and children.

The BIG Ultrasound

2010-09-18T05:01:00.001-07:00

I had my 20 week ultrasound appointment this morning. Rich and Angela tagged along and waited patiently for the ultrasound tech to do a big reveal of the gender. Although baby # 2 was not very cooperative, we're pretty certain that Angela will be getting a baby sister in February!! This will be confirmed in a few months at my 32 week scan, but for now we are thinking PINK!

Welcome to Dubai

2010-09-09T11:37:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd post a quick update with photo's of our new apartment. There is still a lot in process and we'll be filling the empty spaces soon I hope. It sounds like our shipment from China should be arriving on September 25th. It will be nice to have all of our stuff back, Ang sure is missing her toys.

Enjoy the photo's!

Farewell USA, Hello UAE

2010-09-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

We have landed safely in Dubai after a great trip home to the US. It was so great to see so many of our family and friends and as always it was sad to say goodbye. Although it always seems a bit too chaotic while we are visiting home we always enjoy the trips home and look forward to the next one. I took so many photos while we were there and have finally had time to sort through them all.

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3200449015/a=4776520_4776520/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Our first week in Dubai has been uneventful. Our apartment looks great but is so much larger than I remember it being. It still feels a bit empty since our shipment from China hasn't arrived yet. I took some photo's of the rooms that are mostly finished which will be posted here soon. Unfortunately I have been having some computer problems (yet again) and can't turn my laptop on at the moment. That also means no skype for me so if you are looking for us, try Rich!

I promise more updates as soon as I am back on my laptop!

Jie jie

2010-07-15T04:20:00.000-07:00

In case your Chinese skills aren't up to speed, Jie Jie (which is what it says on Angela's shirt) is the Chinese word for big sister! We are very excited that we are expecting baby # 2, due February 2, 2011.

aunts & uncles

2010-07-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in blog postings - its been a busy summer for us so far! We've had so many visitors and are having a lot of fun showing everybody around China. I have lots of great stories and photo's to post from our trip to Beijing with Deb, Ali & Dan. There are also some great photos that were taken in Xian during a weekend trip that Dan & Rich took. But for now, I'm just going to share some great aunt and uncle moments.

Angela is really enjoying all of the extra attention. She loves to go hunting for Dan in the apartment - usually while carrying her panda hat so that he will put it on and chase her around. She mimics him a lot and he can always get a good laugh out of her.

Katie has been doing a lot of reading which Angela absolutely loves. Every night she gets three or four books to read before bed and usually goes back for at least two more. She also had so much fun with Katie in the pool the other day, check out the video link below for some happy baby fun! She just loves getting her face wet.

Swimming Video --> http://picasaweb.google.com/MegBozz/ChinaJuly2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCIeD7JCSlbv4Og#5492186650135562018

Dragon Boats

2010-06-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

There was another holiday in China this week - the Dragon Boat Festival. Its only a one day holiday that falls on Wednesday but the government declares the Saturday & Sunday before working days and then everybody takes Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday off.

As with many of the local holidays, I am not really sure what this one is all about. I asked Bonnie but all she could say was, "oh, we eat rice wrapped in leaves, you know that one?" Um no. Thanks again to Wikipedia, I learned that there are actual dragon boat races too.

Rich got to work from home Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday which was nice since he was in New York all of last week. Angela was so happy to have lots of daddy time at home!

Unfortunately we didn't actually make it out to see any of the dragon boat races (and we didn't eat any of these rice wrapped in leaves things either). Its so hot here now and I heard that the crowds along the rivers where they race can be horrible. Since I don't have dragon boat photo's to share, you get a few of Angela instead!!

California highlights

2010-06-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

It took me ages to get all of my photo's organized from our trip to California for Cheryl & Tim's wedding. We had such a wonderful trip and it was so much fun spending time with everybody. There are so many great photo's so I created a slide show - its long but will definitely show you the highlights of our trip.

Created with flickr slideshow.

A walk in the park

2010-05-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

While out for a walk on Sunday afternoon we came across a few "only in China" moments and I was so happy to have my camera ready.

The first 'moment' I didn't actually take a photo of because the guys were really struggling. There were two men attempting to pull a stack of bricks that were piled onto a cart with wheels up a ramp. They were failing quite miserably because just as they would reach the top of the ramp, one of them would loosen their grip and the entire thing would start rolling backwards down the hill. About an hour later when we walked back by, the same two men were bringing the same pile of bricks back down the ramp into the garage (that is when I took a picture). All that work to bring them up, just to bring them back down again?

Next up, they don't use lawnmowers! I guess I never really noticed that although you do see grass around here, you never really see a lawnmower. As we were walking along we saw two men sitting in the grass. At first it looked like they were just having a casual chat. It turns out they were pulling the grass - by hand! I can only imagine how long it took them to complete this section of lawn!

The complete randomness we encounter here always makes us laugh.

Finding our balance

2010-05-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

Angela finally decided to 'let go' and take a few steps...she was so proud of herself!! Sorry for the choppy video but I was home alone at the time and of course had to get video immediately.

movin' around

2010-05-12T06:15:00.001-07:00

Angela figured out that she can walk really fast with her walker. Check it out!!

Wo Shi Mei Guo Ren

2010-05-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

Although I have managed to get around just fine using hand gestures and taxi cards, I figured it was finally time to start some Mandarin lessons. I have now completed about twenty hours of lessons and have a basic understanding of the tones and language structure, can communicate to a taxi driver how to get to our apartment and (of course) I can shop .

I am finding that my basic Chinese is earning me some credit. The other day I announced 'Tai Re Le' in the playroom after an Ayi turned the heat up too high. She smiled and said 'Oh' and then turned the heat off. Getting home in a taxi is so much easier now that I can tell them that we live close to the Shangri-la (versus telling them to go to the Shangri-la and then pointing them in the right direction from there).

Hopefully these new language skills will continue to make my life in China easier and easier!!

dubai

2010-05-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Our latest travel adventure landed us in Dubai. It was a business trip for Rich but Angela and I tagged along for some fun - a work-cation. I will post some photo's here, but if you want to see the entire set you can check them out on Facebook (unless of course you don't have a FB page - but I really think that Rich is the only one that is still holding out on Facebook).

We were a little nervous leading up to this trip because Angela was not such a great traveler on our last trip (to Seoul). She managed to redeem herself though and we really had a great time in Dubai.

When we arrived in Dubai, it was hot. I was excited about this after many cold and rainy days in Shanghai. It was also clean. And everybody spoke English. I guess I've grown accustomed to living in China so I rarely notice how gross this city can be and how much the language changes your everyday life. It was so nice to be able to get into a taxi and tell them where to go without needing the address written out. And to walk into a restaurant to find baby chairs readily available. Dubai does come with its own culture shock but I guess in comparison to China it didn't seem quite as difficult to adapt.

We stayed in a great hotel in Jumeirah Beach - right on "The Walk" which is an area filled with hotels, shopping and restaurants. The hotel had a great kiddie pool and the staff were so great at keeping Angela happy during the day. Our good friends Shannon & Darren moved to Dubai late last year and were so gracious to show us around the city.

Our big day out was Friday - since the work week is Sunday through Thursday in Dubai (Friday is a holy day and most offices are closed). We went to the top of the Burj Khalifa, had a fantastic brunch at the Westin hotel, and then relaxed at Shannon & Darren's apartment. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and has a viewing platform on the 126th floor. A few weeks after the building opened (earlier this year) there were stories in the news about visitors being stranded when the elevator malfunctioned. It has now been fixed and we were eager to get up there to see the view. As the elevator descended on our way back down, we felt it stop and most of us noticed that the screen showed "G" meaning we were on the ground level. Well, the doors didn't open and the elevator started moving again - it was obvious we were going back up to the top. We reached the 126th floor and the doors opened and then closed again. A minute later we were back on the ground level and this time the doors opened. Whew...

We headed back to Shanghai very early Saturday morning - most international flights leave Dubai in the middle of the night. Our flight left at 3am which was nice because Angela slept for the first half of the trip. We only had two nights of jet lag induced sleep trouble, which was pretty amazing considering it used to take a week or longer to get back on schedule (although that is comparing a four hour difference to the 12 hours from NY).

the view from our room

the view from our room (yes, camels!!)

Angela LOVES the water!

Hanging out at brunch - for some reason she loves putting her feet up on the table.

Family photo op at the top of the Burj Khalifa

Getting our exercise

2010-04-19T03:35:00.000-07:00

Angela isn't yet walking on her own but is getting really good at moving around while holding our hands. Tonight, we realized she can run. I'm so afraid of her being able to do this on her own!!

sunny days

2010-04-18T16:23:00.001-07:00

We finally had a weekend of nice weather - bright sunny skies and a nice breeze - so we spent lots of time outside exploring our neighborhood. Nana is here visiting from CT now so we're having lots of fun with her!

We also had our first pony tail!!

happy spring!

The Bund is open!

2010-04-12T23:38:00.001-07:00

In preparation for the World Expo which opens in May, the entire city has been cleaned up and revitalized. Our streets have been paved, sidewalks cleaned, trash bins replaced and fresh flowers have been planted everywhere. At times it is entertaining to see just how much effort is being spent on making the city look nice.

One of the key projects that was to be completed in time for the Expo is the Bund. This is one of the top tourist stops in Shanghai and had been closed for over a year as they renovated the entire area. A few weeks ago on a gorgeous Sunny day, the Bund was opened up for visitors. We made our way over on the ferry to catch a glimpse of the new walkway. Although parts of it were still closed off it was obvious that they had done a pretty good job of refreshing the area. As usual, Angela got lots of attention and loved every minute of it.

I was feeding her a banana and these guys thought it was a riot - they cheered and laughed every time she took a bite.

One old building in view of the bund - I have a feeling this won't be standing much longer

Rich and I were out for dinner over the weekend and realized that many of the local apartment buildings now have facades and new lights. A friend of ours recently told us that one of his local Chinese friends received a letter from the government about the Expo. They have assigned 'wardens' for each of the local blocks that will help to enforce some rules that are meant to help enhance the image of Shanghai. These rules include not walking outside in pajamas, not spitting in the street and not hanging your laundry from the window. It will be interesting to see how much of this is actually followed. I don't mind seeing the laundry drying and people in their pajamas. The spitting, that I could definitely live without!!

We've got SEOUL

2010-03-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

We all have one more stamp in our passports - South Korea. This proved to be one of the more challenging trips we've taken, even though its only a 90 minute flight from Shanghai. Now that Angela is a bit more mobile, she really doesn't want to be stuck in the stroller when we are out. She also has a very hard time sleeping when she isn't in her own bed so we had some rough nights in the hotel room.

Rich worked the first three days that we were in Seoul so Angela and I were on our own to explore. Exploring a new city alone with a 1 year old proved to be too intimidating for me so we stuck close to the hotel. Fortunately, the hotel was connected to a massive shopping center so there was plenty of browsing to do. There was an aquarium in the shopping center which provided enough entertainment for an afternoon. Angela loved seeing all of the fish - and would point and get excited whenever she saw bright colored ones. She actually has the same reaction when she sees the fish in the tanks at our local supermarket.

On Saturday we did some real sightseeing since Rich was with us and this was our only day to explore the city. The day started with a trip to Dunkin' Donuts (there were a surprisingly large number of these in Seoul) followed by a visit to the Bongeunsa temple which was very close to our hotel. The temple was quite busy with people coming and going to pray but was also very open to visitors just looking to tour the grounds. The buildings were all incredibly carved and painted and there was a giant Buddha statue tucked away in one corner of the grounds. I took a video of one of the areas so that you can hear the music that was playing the entire time we walked around. When you watch the video below, be prepared for a special ending.

After the temple we headed to the central part of the city to do some more sightseeing. Of course, at this point the sky had turned black, the wind was howling and it was starting to rain, but we didn't let that deter us. We made our way to the National Museum by taxi and spent about an hour walking around the museum. From there we purchased tickets on a city tour bus that stopped at various landmarks around Seoul. We made it to the War Memorial which turned out to be a giant museum full of information about many wars (we were expecting it to be just the Korean War). We took some time to walk through the section about the Korean War and then made our way back onto our bus. At this point Angela decided to sleep so we chose to stay on the bus for about an hour as it moved through the city. It was getting late enough in the day that we probably could only fit in one or two more stops and we wanted to check out some of the markets that were towards the end of the bus tour. We got off at Insadong which is a very artsy market. We walked around here for a bit but by this time it was pretty cold so we ended up stopping for a quick snack and then decided it was time to head back to the hotel.

At the COEX Aquarium

Bongeunsa Temple
the little purple dot towards the bottom left is Ang & I - this statue was huge!

Courtyard full of lanterns

Meg & Ang exploring the Machu Pichu Exhibit at the National Museum

Checking out the grounds of the War Memorial

DUNKIN' DONUTS!!

and, it seems we cannot escape Haibao. This is the mascot for the 2010 World Expo which is being held in Shanghai this year. There are Haibao statues and pictures all over the place in China, and we even managed to find a few of them in Seoul!

Angela is one!

2010-03-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that Angela is already a year old.

To celebrate, we invited all of our Shanghai friends over for brunch the Sunday before her birthday. It was rainy and gross outside so a great day to stay inside. We were thrilled that we also had some family there to help celebrate - Aunt Chris and Erin were visiting from CT.

Her recent stats:
Weight - 20.15 lbs (30th percentile)
Height - 28 inches (25th percentile)
Head circumference - ?? (85th percentile)

I didn't write down the number for her head and now can't remember it. We saw a new pediatrician - its the same facility that we've used in the past but I decided to try the other doctor. I think we will stick with this one, I really liked her. She declared Angela a healthy one year old and was very happy to see that her weight has increased dramatically.

The only thing that concerned the doctor was that Angela hadn't been pulling herself up to her feet on her own. Well, one week later she is pulling up on everything she can get her little hands onto. She seems so proud of her new ability and has been enjoying being able to explore new areas of the house.

Angela is a pretty chatty and I think we've decided that her first word was da da. Whenever daddy walks into the room she points at him and yells da da. Unfortunately, she also refers to me as da da. She can say ma ma but seems to use it only when she really wants something (she will point at whatever it is that she wants and scream ma ma). She can claps her hands, blow kisses and wave bye bye (which is sometimes accompanied with her saying bye bye - although is comes out more as bah bah).

I have tons of photo's from her party and from the past couple of weeks but am having a really hard time uploading to blogger. Since I can easily (and quickly) upload to Picasa albums online, I am inserting a link to my album instead of putting pictures in this post. Sorry you will have to go there to view photos, but this way you will get to see many more of them!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/MegBozz/AngS1stBirthday?authkey=Gv1sRgCIDO_7Drgq3VpQE

Little Miss Piggy

2010-02-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

I swear, some days I think this child eats more food than I do. We have started letting her try the food that Bonnie cooks for us (depending on the spices that are used) and so far she has loved everything. Chinese noodles, pork dumplings, fried rice....who doesn't love these things?

Unfortunately, she has developed some bad habits when it comes to food. When she is done eating, she picks up any food that is left on her tray and throws it to the floor. I guess we need to work on signing 'all done'. If she doesn't like something that we have given her, she will spit it out and throw it on the floor. If only we had a dog to help clean up her mess!!

grilled cheese - yum!

string beans stuck to her nose

she does like to share - and loves feeding other people

I think she needs a new shirt that says 'I love noodles'

I guess all that food is helping - we finally see some chubby rolls on her!! We don't go for a weight check until her one year birthday (which is coming up so quickly!) but the last we checked on our scale she was almost up to 20 pounds.

Dumplings & the Aquarium

2010-01-31T06:23:00.001-08:00

After spending one too many weekends at home with no plans, we decided that we would get out to do something new this weekend. Since its still a little cold (and rainy) here, we thought we would go for a nice brunch and then visit the Urban Planning Museum. Well, plans are great to have but we learned once again that when you have a baby around, plans don't really mean anything.

It took longer than usual for Ang to go down for her morning nap which meant she slept later than we expected. By the time she woke up we were starving and decided that we would go somewhere close for lunch - we chose dumplings at Din Tai Fung - a very popular chain in China. Ang has gotten very good at going out for lunch and will usually sit in her high chair and eat her food or nibble on food from our plates. Not today. She wanted nothing to do with the high chair and had no interest in sitting still at lunch. We figured this meant that she wasn't up for a trek on the subway to Puxi and decided to instead check out the Aquarium which is only a ten minute walk from our house instead of the Urban Planning Museum.

We spent about an hour wandering around the aquarium, looking at all the fish. It was pretty impressive and much nicer than I had anticipated. We ended up purchasing annual passes and look forward to returning someday when Ang is a little happier.

Mommy trying to point out the big shark, Ang doesn't look so impressed

Ang checking out the fish!

Loving the giant walkway under water

Maybe next time we will get to see the penguins eat!

All bundled up and ready to go home with a new friend (stuffed seal)