Our little climber and other videos

Here's a recent conglomeration of some favorite home videos and pics.

Archie's learned to climb. He can successfully get on our bedside table. He actually can get from the table onto the bed, but I haven't been able to capture that on video.

Archie loves to play with Daddy. Although the quality of this video isn't great, the content is worth watching!

Do you think he has talent?

One of Archie's new favorite things is sitting in his toy basket. What baby wouldn't love being waist deep in toys? The great thing for me: he can climb in by himself, but he can't get out by himself!
Archie's first time drinking milk from a cup was October 25, 2008! I think more got drooled back onto the floor than anything else so I'm not sure what he thought about the taste.

Is he a baby or toddler?

I can't decide if Archie is a baby or toddler. He's looking more like a toddler everyday (especially in the big boy outfit he's pictured in below), but shouldn't a toddler toddle? Archie cruises around the house, but hasn't quite progressed to independent toddling yet. Anyway, life stays fun with him around! I will say he's a lot more work now that he's so mobile, though.

Archie REALLY loves my guitar. He's not usually allowed to be near it, so he's savoring this moment.


He also loves to play outside. Unfortunately, I don't know how much longer that will last because the temp outside is dropping quickly, and we've already had our first snow!


It was getting dark by the time I took this pic, but he is so funny crawling around on the playground. I think he'll have more fun when he can walk!

Where can I buy a hard hat?

Where can I buy a hard hat? Can I also buy the baby a hard hat? No, I'm not going to start him doing construction projects yet, but I think we need one for walking outside our door. As if ear-splitting noises from hammers banging on our roof beginning around 6:30 a.m. on the weekends weren't enough alert that repairs were occurring, the bucket dangling on a homemade pulley outside the window definitely clues you in! Hunter and I were seriously a little afraid to pass under our door because of how the bucket-pulley was rigged. We didn't want to get hit by falling stuff.

Here's a shot of the men working on the roof.

And here's a shot of our apartment so you can get an idea of how tall it is. While five floors is on the small side for this part of the world, no elevators (while living on the fourth floor) can seem pretty tall when you're carrying a baby in one arm and groceries in the other. The good news: exercise (like stair climbing) is good for your heart!

Sun Island

Archie and I recently went with some friends on an outing too Sun Island. As you can probably tell from the pics, the day of the excursion wasn't too sunny!

Best pic of the day: A little girl wandered over and gave Archie a big kiss. I think he likes her.

Hanging out with mom in front of the squirrel house.

Archie can play ball now. When Hunter and I roll the ball, he gets in on the action. He especially likes it when we sit on the floor and throw the ball to each other laughing like it's the most fun thing we've ever done. He tries to catch it.

Culinary Delights: Feasting Arabic Style

You didn't just miss a major event in the lives of the DeJs. We haven't moved across the world, but we did discover a pretty good Arabic restaurant in our city.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any real Arabic writing on the sign.

We enjoyed our dinner better because we were eating it with friends!

Lamb pieces, hummus, pita bread, chicken pieces, samosa, and french fries. (Are french fries really traditional Arabic food?)

Archie had fun posing in the little Arabic style house that was decorating the restaurant.

Watsons: Real or Fake?

"Each week, millions of customers in 13 markets shop at Watsons Your Personal Store. Building on its long-standing reputation for quality and innovation, Watsons Your Personal Store offers more than 25,000 products in 1,500 outlets." If you would like to continue reading more of this Watsons sales jingle, click here. Otherwise, I'll hurry on to the point of my post.

Watsons, one of the leading personal care store chains in Asia, has many locations in our city. Unfortunately, the closest location is about 45 minutes from our house by bus. Can you imagine my delight when I saw the Watson's sign within walking distance of our house???

Alas, the old adage is true. If it seems too good to be true, it is. Why? This Watsons is a FAKE! It doesn't even sell Watsons-like products. I mean, at least the fake California Beef Noodle King (chain restaurant) near us sells beef noodles like the real one.

Real Watsons are clean, pretty, and usually located in busy shopping centers. Here's a shot of a Watsons in Singapore! Come visit us in Asia and go shopping with us.

One Year Portait Slideshow

Enjoy the music! It's a song written for the Olympics called "I'm a Star!"

Cartoon Archie and Studio Pics

I recently took Archie to have his one year portraits made. The studio compiled a cartoon-style photo album. I'm posting the page layouts and a few of my favorite individual shots.

Donkey is Delicious

The correct answer to the Donkey Poll: "I ate one of his cousins." Your answer guesses were evenly split between Archie enjoyed petting the featured donkey and the correct answer.

What does donkey taste like? I had cold sliced donkey, which tasted about like roast beef in the USA. It was ok, but I think I would have preferred it hot. No worries, I'll have more opportunities to try other styles of donkey. The restaurant has a whole donkey section on their menu. However, I should add that donkey has not displaced dog as my favorite meat (or at least favorite unique meat)!

I'll close with a famous saying and let you draw your own conclusions: "Heaven has dragon meat and the Earth has donkey meat!"