Happy Second Birthday, February 2009

Unfortunately, we don't have photographs of our birthday dinner together... just the two of us, Little Nio and his Daddy. His Mommy had gone out to the temple to make merit and give some special offerings, but wasn't able to join us in time for dinner because of the traffic.

Little Nio and I were able to enjoy a great spaghetti dinner together at S&P Restaurant at Central Lad Phrao. We also had some chicken wings and shared a big chocolate milkshake.

My wife, Kanittha, joined us after dinner and we all went shopping for more birthday gifts. We got him some clothes, a life vest for when he goes swimming, a little musical caboose and a combination xylophone and piano.



Here he is back at home, already playing with his birthday gift even if it's still in the box. Actually he was already playing with in the car... banging on the keys all the way home.



Finally unpacked.



Little Nio up on his high chair with his piano-xylophone combination birthday gift toy.



We also bought Little Nio an ice cream cake from Swensen's for his birthday.





Here he is enjoying the ice cream cake, and the chocolate dipped candied cherries on top.



With his Mommy on one side, his birthday cake in front of him, and his aunt, Pa Kut on the other side.



A very generous and giving boy, here's Little Nio sharing some of the cherries on his cake with his Mommy.



A quick shot of the reusable decorative canopy we set up over our dining table. With the environment in mind, it doesn't hurt to have party decor as a "renewable resource". Too bad that his aunt and Mommy forgot to blow up some balloons for him. Better luck next year, son, maybe your Mom will remember by then.





More cake eating for Little Nio. It's a 2-pound cake, so you are bound to see a lot of it featured in this blog.





After the birthday cake, all cleaned up and ready to start banging away at the keyboards again.





Little Nio takes his musical act to our family room on the second floor. You can see here that he plays with a lot of energy and much gusto. He's a natural performer.







Slowing the set down a bit, Little Nio plays some mellow tunes that involve a slightly less frenzied banging on the keys.





Taking a load off his tiny feet, Little Nio plops himself down on the sofa, but continues to tap away his music on his brand new piano-xylophone birthday gift toy.

It's anyone's guess how long the toy will last. I give it a month at the very most, but it will be all worthwhile if it kindles in his heart a passion and a penchant for music. One can only hope that this early introduction will lead to the development of a talent.

Still Growing, February 2009

Taken a few days ago, here's Little Nio back in action at KiDO.



Here he is running down a ramp...



Playing in a small pool of plastic balls...



And here he is with a nice soft colored ball...



This is one with his Mommy. She's been complaining that there are not enough photographs of her here on our blog, so we definitely have to do something about that. We've moved Little Nio's play sessions at KiDO from Saturday lunchtime to Sunday at 3PM.



After KiDO, I had to go check on site progress at the Embassy of South Africa. Work is nearing completion. Here's my wife trying to strike a pose in front of the Consular Section entrance with the flag of South Africa displayed. Unfortunately Little Nio is prancing around in the foreground, effectively stealing the show.



Another attempt at a decent photograph of my wife, Kanittha, in front of the Consular Section. Here Little Nio is trying to see how strong the secure glass of the embassy really is — it's bullet and shatter resistant, but it's definitely not smudge and saliva resistant.



Inside the embassy, near their pantry and break-out area, Little Nio is trying to strangle one of the giraffe art sculptures on display.





Back at home and fast asleep, Little Nio is such an angel. Do you know the feeling you get watching your child sleep, wishing you had a camera handy so that you can try and capture the moment? Well I did have a camera on hand and I was able to capture the moment.





After a quick and short haircut back at "Dotty Cut", we all sat down to have dinner together at The Terrace, located on the third floor of the Central Lad Phrao department store. Here's Little Nio going through the menu with his Mommy.