Kids Halloween

Last year when we were in Austria the only souvenir that we found that we really fell in love with was a mini lederhosen outfit for Jaydon. At the time we bought it he was much to small to wear it but with kids one thing is for sure, they grow. By Halloween this year he had almost outgrew it so we figured we better make sure he gets some use out it. (The shorts are made out of real leather which was still very stiff and they were a little tight so Jaydon couldn't sit or bend over all night which in itself was pretty funny to watch...) Jaydon was the cutest little Swiss mountain boy in the compound. On our trip to Geneva we even picked up a few accessories for him, the hat and a St Bernard puppy with a cask around his neck. Jaydon was still fighting off his illness and had a fever most of the day but was willing to put his costume on and go out to see his friends. Mommy had to hold him for most of trick-or-treating but he did his best to get into the fun. After the trick-or-treating we had a party a the club house, it was very well decorated and we had to check it out before it got filled with little kids. Fourtunatly we did because that night Jaydon's fever hit 104 so we did not stay for the much of the festivities. All the kids in the compound got into it, I thought you might enjoy seeing a few of the other costumes too.
Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinkerbell and a Pirate: A couple African Giraffes: The 3 Musketeers: Will's costume was one of my favorites and his dad put a lot of time into it. He was the Thomas Train conductor. His actual costume was pretty low key (don't forget the train whstile) but the highlight was the train he got to push around the compound! All home made out of cardboard, duct tape and coat hangers...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Olives and more twinkle

We have discovered that Jaydon LOVES olives. Black olives on the fingers is always fun for everyone but he will eat them of any color or marinate. He understands that most of them have pits in the middle and always asks before eating one to know whether or not to look for a pit.

I also found another video of Jaydon singing one of his favorite songs. Can't resist how cute he is when he sings his songs.

Big Kids Halloween

Due to various travel plans we had the adults Halloween party a week early this year. It was good because more people could attend but meant we had 1 less week to plan costumes (which for most people is always left to the last minute). Steve ventured out to the party store on Thursday and did his best to pull 2 costumes together. He was a construction worker in Doha (he had some fake stitches and wounds but of course the adhesive that came with it was already expired). For me he found some fairy wings and face paint. I'm not really sure what I was - the make-up didn't quit turn out the way it looked on the box. I think most people agreed I looked like some sort of angle of death. Everyone got into the fun. Here's a few shots of the other costumes that night. Happy Haloween!

Jacob's 1st B-day Party

Jaydon's good buddy Jacob just turned 1 so we had a party to celebrate (of course). The theme was Texas, down on the farm. All the kids had fun playing with the hay and the water in the trough. Jacob had the honour of having both his grandma and great-grandma in town for the event. The highlight was definitely the cupcakes, or more like the chocolate frosting and M&Ms decorating the cupcakes. Here's a great shot of Jaydon and the birthday boy enjoying the cupcakes (i think this was their 2nd one). We tried to get all the kids together for a group shot, this was the best we got, too many kids and too much sugar. And by the way if you haven't experienced a 1 yr olds birthday party about 30 mins after everyone has had their fill of cupcakes here's a few seconds of video to give you taste of the fun...

Daddy couldn't resist playing with the kerchiefs decorating the party. For Will it was a cape but Jaydon is way too cool for that kind of nonsense.

Elisa's Baby Shower

Our good friends down the street have decided to hop on the band wagon and join the going trend in the compound. We had a cute little baby shower for Elisa and enjoyed the excuse to hang out, eat cake and catch-up with each other. She's having a little girl and has tentatively decided to name her Sara. Elisa is Italian (father) and Finish (mother) and her husband is Spanish so they wanted a cross-cultural name that would satisfy everyone. We can't wait to welcome another baby to the Al-Malki family.

Baby Cartoons

Well September flew by, after getting back from our trip and getting Jaydon back into a regular sleeping pattern he started the routine of bringing home the daycare germs. Unfortunately, it turned into a lower respiratory tract infection so Jaydon's been a bit cooped up in the house. He missed his friends Clarissa's 1st b-day party and now says "Go doctor, chest owie" on a regular basis. He's on the mend now but part of the routine was giving him medicine through a nebulizer.This meant introducing, or maybe I should say, making it a regular routine to sit for 15-20 minutes up to 3 times a day to watch his baby cartoons. He took an instant liking to Cookie Monster and this is now his new favorite song.

He's also got his Baby Einstein videos memorized now and we discovered in the bonus features a twinkle little star song that Jaydon really enjoys - he even tries to do the sign language along with it (too cute).

After a week away from school Jaydon got all dressed up in new clothes (including fancy new white shoes) and even got another neat school bag. This one is covered in his favorite things - tractors and has his name on it. I ordered these for his friends turning 1 in the compound and couldn't resist getting it for Jaydon too.