Who's that handsome devil?

Three weeks old and he's finally gotten a glimpse of himself. More like a fun house mirror than the full-length version, I keep telling him that the strange things he experiences as an infant are great fodder for the therapist's couch when he's older...

We had a wonderful time with Oma Tonny last week and it has been a bit of an adjustment to get used to life without her. Zander and Oma are big fans of one another, and there will be much happiness when we're all together again (we've already got our tickets for a week in Holland at the end of May!).

But Zander is nothing if not blessed with a surfeit of grandparents. Next up are Grampa Doug and Gramma Kathy, who will be making their maiden voyage to the Middle East to meet their grandson and of course, to see us, too. We also get to show them our lives here in Dubai, and as those of you who have visited can attest, this is a very different place to call home!

Meanwhile, life with the Little Guy continues to be full of surprises. He's smiling more frequently (yeah, yeah, I know, its just gas. I don't care, though, I love his grins!) and is awake for longer periods of time. Thankfully, this has been more during daylight hours than at night, but he has his moments of night owl behavior, too.


I don't know who invented this play mat concept, but boy, it was a bit hit today (thank you, Dutch girls!). Zander was especially taken with the purple giraffe. He's not quite at the grabbing stage, though, so at this point he just waves his arms like he's attacking a pinata and sometimes manages to give the giraffe a good thwack. Clearly a good time was had by all. If only we were all so easily amused!