Our Zämäd Azmad: Early Thanksgiving Gratitude

As I ready to return back to full time work I am noting a lot of lasts - the "last" week I am home, "last" day that Mehandis is home on a Monday and "last" Thursday that I drop Abera off at Michael's while I travel to see my private speech students. This isn't the best perspective to take I am know... causes a bit of blurred vision as I type through teary eyes actually.

So... here's to the "firsts" and giving thanks for all that is yet to come!

Abera is now sitting up on his own, for a few moments at least, and consistently turning over from back to tummy. He seems very proud to be moving a bit more on his own... he tells us all about it when he is moving (in his baby language - "Da da bbbb mam bob")

We have a had a fun run of introducing Abera to several new friends and family.

He seems to love meeting people for the first time... and the second and third times aren't too bad either I suppose ;)

Here Abera met Bridget, who is one month younger than Abera. Bridget's big brother Sean opted not to pose for the pic. Thanks so much for coming up this way Colleen!

My Uncle Gregg also made a road trip to visit his two great-nephews. Everyone got in on the fun!

Mehandis got a helping hand on the monkey bar rings and fire poles, while Abera got a chance to take his first turn on the slide!

Not sure if the big boy or little boy enjoyed this "first" more?

All of us headed to Train Fest the next day... thanks for treating us Uncle Gregg!

This was my favorite scene - a model train town that has a fire burning and all the rescue cars are there to help. I could have used a rescuer myself when we kept having to hunt down Mehandis as he rushed from one exhibit to another.

All of were a bit spoiled by the treats, presents and hot fudge sundaes that my Uncle shared with us. Had fun watching Toy Story while having a pizza party too. It was fun to see everyone enjoy the time (and naps) they had together. Also great to have an extra helping hand with feeding Abera his bottles (a first for my Uncle as he said he never gave a baby a bottle before).

After we said good bye to Uncle Gregg our new friend Dominic came over for a play date. Here the boys are modeling Mehandis's "fancy" belts. It was hard catching them standing still to snap any pics. Should have had video of them dancing to Abba together though. Hysterical.

Thanks to Rachel for her generous ways in sharing her costumes with Handi during a recent get together too! This is actually an older photo which doesn't catch her latest "Lady Gaga" outfit. Her mom, Natalie, and I got a giggle watching Lady Gaga chase and scare Darth Vader. As Natalie said "Who knew Lady Gaga is scarier than Darth Vader?".

While my free time is now going to be lessened with my return back to work next week, I am so thankful for all the fun we fit into the 3 months home with Abera. So many friends and family visited or we traveled to visit them. We have made new friends and gotten to know others better.