Benjasiri Park

Here is our park, it is hard to get good pictures as it is quite big, but this at least gives you an idea!

Gretta and I working out......

The park view from above, I couldn't really get the whole park because I was on the pool level and there wasn't a good place to look over without getting out the climbing gear....but anyway the rest of the park is to the left of the big courtyard, where all the trees are.

Hanging out on a park bench.

The pool.

Our apartment/hotel building

The pool from our balcony.

We broke down and got Gretta a new toy.....a walker! She hasn't quite mastered moving all around the place, but she goes a little ways and will soon probably be scooting all over. Considering that they have a crib and high chair here where we're staying, we figured we haven't had to buy much for her here besides a stroller and diapers, which is great!

And in Grown Up news......

(We realize Gretta is kind of becoming the star of the blog) Josh is back in Bangkok now! The project is going well and is on schedule to go live when he is in Bangladesh in November. We're enjoying some time together before he leaves again and went out to the mall the other day and to the park. We got to try some pizza with corn on top, which was quite tasty. Also, we sent in our absentee ballots! Glad we got to be part of the politics in the US without having to watch the bad commercials for the last 2 months!

High chairs and low spirits

We were without Josh again this week and there were a few lonely days for me! I guess its a little harder to have him gone when we're over here, although I miss him just as much back home. Pretty much either way it isn't very fun! Absence makes the heart grow fonder though. Gretta seems to be teething again so some rough nights and days for her (and I) were also making the week hard. She seems to have gotten better as the week went on. Still no sign of those dang teeth though, guess its a come and go thing with no reward for her troubles as of right now. We've been spending most days taking walks in the park and wandering the mall looking at all sorts of things and getting stopped by all of her admirers. Josh gets home tomorrow and we are all looking forward to being together again! We'll have to take some pictures in our park one of these days, I kind of forget to take the camera since its a work out walk, not just a stroll!

I think this is actually her "tough" cookie look.....watch out!

Here's the smiling face we know and love!

Gretta graduated to a high chair this week.....thought it looked more grown up with the hamburger and fries in the picture. She doesn't look too sure about it, that is a lot of big food. Anyway, that was my meal because I was feeling like some American food for a change!

See she is much happier with her peas. We have been making all her food since all they really have for jarred baby food is bananas and apples mixed with other things like cereal or peaches. They have no veggies, which is quite weird. It is also really expensive so making it has been so much cheaper and actually kind of fun. Not as hard as it sounds since you can make big batches and freeze it. So our much sought after food grinder from a couple entries back has come in handy!

We thought we should mention some things about Gretta, being that she is the big 6 months old now! She sits up by herself all the time now and she sits very straight and looks so proud of herself! She loves to be in her stroller and go places and see things. She pulls herself right up and wants to see the world. She loves to roll....all over the place. We find her in her crib in different positions all the time and it is becoming challenging having her on a couch or bed because she has almost rolled off more times than we can count, and on one occasion....she actually accomplished her goal and did (oops) she was, however, unharmed! She has learned to play by herself, sometimes, usually in her crib when she wakes up.

She has found her "voice" and LOVES to use it! Screeching, babbling, "singing", a new enhanced babble just this week actually, she found her tongue, so now she can do more pronounced sounds. She giggles quite a bit when we play peek-a-boo or tickle her tummy. She has also learned to peek-a-boo herself if we put a blanket over her head, she will pull it off.

She is eating carrots, peas, barley, squash and bananas right now and we plan on introducing new foods every few days. So far she loves it all! She grabs.....anything and everything. She likes the cords coming out of the computer, hair, skin and food from our plates the best (of course all the things we don't want her to have). Its truly amazing how strong she is!

She has also learned her toes are just as tasty as her fingers!

She likes listening to music and dancing and also getting read to. What we've found out is that she is not particular about her musical or reading tastes and she will listen to anything we want to read or listen to. So we do read her kids books, but don't have to read "Goodnight Moon" 80,000 times, The Economist is just as entertaining and more fun to grab since it will rip! She is sleeping quite well through the night, which we are so thankful for and overall we have been spoiled, she is a great baby! :)

Happy Half Birthday Gretta!

That is right, Gretta is 6 months old!

Cannot believe how fast its gone and how big she is.

Pictures with dad before he left for Bangladesh.

So that you can actually read the sign, we hold it away from the baby......

This is so much better than cake....what she doesn't know won't hurt her!

Moving day and fun in the park

It has been a while since an update, but we've been having fun taking pictures in the meantime! We're not the only ones having fun with pictures either......Gretta is so popular here that a group of girls from Hong Kong had to get their picture taken with her by the pool this week, the girls at the front desk took her picture on their phones and a little boy at the place where Josh gets his haircut was in awe and was also taking pictures of her with his phone! Seriously, it is like she is a celebrity and we are her bodyguards or agents. We get stopped wherever we go because everyone has to look at her, make faces at her, talk to her and usually touch her. She is going to be so shocked to go home and find out people will not always give her so much attention in the grocery store or on the street! She also has made good friends with the housekeeping staff and they can't get enough of her.

Then again...who could resist this face??

Mom, you're freaking hilarious.

Turtle in the park

Family in the park

Lizard in the park!

We spent Sunday afternoon walking around Limpini Park. It is a pretty large park for being in the middle of the city and its nice to get out and walk around while people and animal watching!

I'm so done dealing with the paparazzi.

We are moving back to Emporium Suites today, our old place that we stayed at the last 2 years we've been here. The things Josh and I are most looking forward to at our old place are having more pots and pans to cook with, a toaster, having the grocery store in the same building, (which they also sell sushi at, so Josh looks forward to that, I am excited for Au Bon Pain), the sky train is connected to the building, they have a park across the street and they also have many restaurants in the mall. So overall it will just be really nice to have all those things close and easily accessible. Even more so now that we have a stroller and/or have to carry a baby! It will be nice to go for walks either in the mall that is connected to our place or at the park across the street hopefully fairly often, because we won't have to worry about packing a bunch of stuff for Gretta since they are both close to our apartment! We'll let you know how we all settle in and post more pictures of our adventures when we arrive.

The week goes on....slowly

Josh is gone this week in Bangladesh and its been going a little slow....but Gretta and I have been having fun reading, playing and dancing. Can't wait for him to be home on Friday though!

The lost rattle.

Gretta has discovered the game of throwing things and making us play "fetch."

The view from the pool.

High and dry!

After a quick dip to cool off.

The last baby food grinder in Bangkok....we searched many stores and finally found it on a random shelf and there were no others to be seen. It must have been meant for us.

Congratulations to our friends Beau and Jess on their new addition Devin Isaac, born on September 11th, quite a little stud!

And the baby sleeps.....

Gretta has been sleeping a lot better this week and is even on somewhat of a schedule, but shhhh....don't tell her, we wouldn't want to jinx it. So needless to say this week, we are ALL much happier!

She has been demonstrating some new tricks this week such as sitting up on her own.....

Banging on the table in Bangkok

And you thought she wouldn't be walking soon?? Yep, she will stand and hold on to the ottoman all by herself once we stand her there that is, she doesn't actually pull herself up there! She may be advanced, but not that advanced!

After a couple of weeks at our new place we have weighed the pros and cons and although it is very nice and was fun to try some place new, we have decided we'll be going back to our old place here in Bangkok where we lived for the past couple of years. It is a lot more conveinent to things and it is more familiar to us. The kitchen is better stocked, the couch is more comfortable and we just like the neighborhood and everything overall at the old place better. So at the end of the month we'll be packing up to go over there. Josh's work is going well, he'll be in Bangladesh this coming week. Other than that, not too much else going on!

Jet lag and babies don't mix

Well it was a bit of a rough first week dealing with jet lag ourselves and Gretta also trying to cope with it. Although, with her we're not sure if its the teething, new place, jet lag or just being a baby that has made her so fussy lately, mostly at night. Probably all of the above! We had a good weekend and bought her a stroller and took her out on the town which of course she enjoyed, seeing all the people and things around Bangkok. We get stopped a lot wherever we go. People really stare at her, also they like to try and talk to her. She always has a big smile and that makes everyone happy! We thought we were biased thinking she was so cute, but it could also be her big blue eyes and pale skin.....its a little exotic over here!

All ready for bed in "The Cat's Pajama's" from Great-Aunt Barb!

We are a little late in posting this, but she turned 5 months old the other day so we took some pictures of course!

Relaxing and playing with her rattle....