I'm Nine Months Old!

We celebrated Amelia's nine-month birthday (a few days early) with a lunch out with my two uncles, an aunt and cousin Jason, who took these adorable close-ups! I don't have Amelia's new numbers yet because she doesn't go in for her appointment until we get back to Florida. But, I'll be sure to let you know just how much Amelia has grown!

Good Bye, Chiang Mai

We've been here almost a month now and as we prepare to leave, I thought I'd post a few more photos because I know I won't have time right away when we get home!

The same day we went to see the elephants, we went to a temple called the Forest Temple. The buildings and the surroundings are very peaceful and beautiful. People come from around Thailand to meditate and pay their respects here. One day Amelia may appreciate all that. For now, though, she thought the temple bells were really cool.

Most days we walk around my parent's garden, which is quite beautiful. It's the end of the rainy season in Thailand and the daily rains make everything so green. They also cool things down somewhat, which is nice in the afternoon. The day this picture was taken, Amelia was helping my Dad pick flowers.

You'll also get an idea of what it's like when we go out to eat. We definitely stand out with that bright yellow high chair!

Amelia will get many chances to practice waving "good-bye" when we leave Chiang Mai tomorrow and head to Bangkok for a few days. She'll have a completely different Thai experience there visiting a city of eight million people with almost as many cars!

Chang, Chang, Chang (That's Thai for "Elephant")

Our last week here has been very busy - we went to see the elephants, we went to a Thai temple, we celebrated Halloween (Thai style, with watermelon jack-o-lanterns instead of pumpkins) and we're getting ready to leave.

Amelia LOVED seeing the elephants. They live in a forest camp called the Mae Sa Elephant Camp. It's a beautiful setting with flowing streams and lots of forest acres for the elephants to roam. The elephants also put on a show where they paint, play soccer, and stack logs. Amelia squealed, waved and clapped during the show. She wasn't intimidated at all! She loves to clap now, mainly for herself, but she also shared the love with the elephants. After the show, we fed her new elephant friends. A two-year-old baby elephant (I guess more of a toddler) loved the bannanas and sugar cane we gave him. He chomped so loudly! You can also take a ride on an elephant, which we decided not to do because it's sort of precarious to balance on the seats on the elephants' backs.

The temple we went to is also in a forest setting. My parents live on the outskirts of Chiang Mai and there are hills, rice fields and lots of open land right in their neighborhood. About 20 minutes away is the city of Chiang Mai, which has tons of good restaurants and delicious Thai and Western food. We've had so much fun, collected tons of memories and have the pictures to remind us of this special time with family friends. We head home soon. The next time we're here, Amelia will be walking and talking - maybe even speaking some Thai words I will teach her!

Hanging Out in Chiang Mai

For the first week or so here, we took it easy getting adjusted to the time change, meeting so many new people, and eating some new foods. (Amelia LOVES Thai mangos and avocados! The mangos are sweet and juicy and delicious - just right for feeding herself.) We eat most of our meals on my parent's upstairs teak porch. It's like being in a tree house with big, beautiful trees and flowers and birds all around. That's where Amelia does most of her playing, too, with a little girl who lives near my parents. Her name is Nong Ice and Amelia really digs all her toys! We went swimming at the Chiang Mai Sports Club. And Amelia takes LOTS of baths because it's hot and humid here (like Florida!) and there is no central air conditioning. (Only the bedrooms have A.C.) She has met dozens of new people and smiles at almost everyone she meets. I continue to be amazed at how well she has adjusted and traveled, especially at an age when separation anxiety is supposed to kick in. I hope Amelia grows up with a love to travel. There's so much to see in the world!

En Route to Thailand

It's almost time to leave Thailand (I can't believe we've been here almost a month!) but here are some pictures of our trip over. The long journey began with my Mom announcing, "Oh. I better take my blood pressure medicine!" I cracked up because my Mom is the most calm, kind woman I know and she was worried about the trip! But Amelia was an absolutely EXCELLENT traveler, almost completely non-flustered by the bombardment of dozens of new sights, sounds and smells, not to mention the lack of sleep.

We flew from Orlando to Dulles (near Washington D.C.) to Tokyo to Bangkok, where we spent the night. Total travel time: 30 hours. Total time Amelia slept, (for only 30 minutes at a time and only in my arms): seven hours. We played a lot on the plane, she ate a little, and charmed anyone who looked at her. She also thought it was really cool to bang on the tray and luckily no one was sitting in the seat in front of her. In Tokyo, she LOVED the airport's play room for little ones. It's completely padded and baby-proof so she could crawl, stand, fall down and burn off energy without hurting herself. She met a couple new friends before we had to rush off for our next flight.

Once we arrived in Thailand, Amelia adjusted to the time change better than her Mama! She only had two rough nights and she has slept through the night ever since. She's probably tired from all the crawling she does on my parent's big, beautiful porch. More on that to come in the next post.