Our Lucky Dragon

It has been awhile since I wrote a blog about Tau’aho. He makes appearances in other blogs of course because our lives completely revolve around him, but I thought it was time for an update.

This little guy is just over four months old and at his last doctor’s appointment he weighed in at a whopping 17lbs! He is getting longer and longer. We have to dress him in 6 and 9 month clothes because he is so tall we cannot button the onesies under him. Both Lady Hiva and I are so glad he is growing well and developing. The doctor recommended trying out some solid foods because he has all the signs he is ready for it. He is not sure he understands yet. Most of the time he rolls it around with his tongue and then it dribbles out of the corners of his mouth and down his chin. It becomes quite a comical affair.

He would rather watch the camera than eat (talk about remembering your Filipino roots haha)

Trying to figure out how to chew

I don't want any more! Just give me my bottle

The joy that Lucky brings into our lives is unmeasurable. Along with getting bigger physically his little personality is beginning to show. He is a calm and happy guy. He is mastering his hand movements so we have to watch where we walk or what he is sitting next to because he will reach out and grab it. And of course, he is in that slobber-put-everything-in-my-mouth-and-initiate-it-with-slime phase so sometimes we are greeted with a wet hand on our face or a wet hem of clothes.

He smiles all the time and laughs out loud when we play with him. Sometimes he laughs so hard he gags himself. My favorite part is his new love of being chatty—yes, you can say that he received that trait from his dad. He talks when he is waiting for his diaper to be changed, he talks as he sits in his seat waiting to eat and as he does his tummy time. Today in church I had to walk out at the end of the Priesthood lesson because he decided, after watching the teacher, that he too wanted to talk. He chattered animatedly for a while so I went to take him in the hall and have a “chat.”

He also seems to love to sing. This week he woke up all smiles at 0200h and soon we were both singing at the top of our lungs. His favorites are “I’m a little teapot” and “Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam.” Today we were listening to some Christmas music and soon we heard him over in his seat singing loudly. It is more like a happy screeching squeal but it is a sound we love to hear in our home.

The only time he cries is when he is hungry or when he is ready for someone to rescue him from his crib after sleeping. We started to call him our Lucky Dragon because when he cries in the crib he lifts his head up and points his legs like he is an angry flying dragon.

Lady Hiva and I are so happy to celebrate with our little guy—even over the mundane little things. Like when he eats, or poops, or smiles. We love this guy. And we know there are so many others around the world that do too. We recently were given some shirts from the Philippines for him to wear and remember his roots. hehe. I guess one of the best parts of being a Foreign Service family is that you have family all over the world whom you love and miss and think about even when you are not there with them at the moment. We have a large family from our time in Manila and we are already beginning to see our Turkish family forming.