[WARNING: Adult or rather, Baby Content]

This wasn't his first time pooping on the toilet, but it was the first time we were able to document it! I think these pictures speak for themselves.


WARNING: don't scroll down if you can't handle, or would rather not view graphic images!

The exaggerated excitement upon completion.

The wipe.
A thorough examination of the goods.

The reward: getting to flush by himself.
The proud mama!

Beau's new goof face!

Squint your eyes and stick out your two front teeth. That's Beau's new face. Where did it come from, you may ask? I have no idea! What a dork!

Pool Days

Here on St. Kitts, a bunch of the moms and I get together every Thursday with the kids for some fun in de sun. We go swimming together at one of the pools in the area. When I got here in January, some of the ex-pat moms were getting together, but only a few people showed up, but now even non-moms show up because we're just that much fun to hang out with!!! The group includes Ross spouses and UMHS (one of the medical schools) spouses.

How can you look so sad with so many hats on your head?

Poor Beau was under the weather for over a week. He felt pretty miserable, despite having every hat he owns on his head, and an awesome pimpin' terry cloth robe on.

Abbey's Visit - Part Deux

Abbey visited our little island in the sun for a week in September. As always, we loved having her here. She arrived on my (and Diana's) birthday, and we did some birthday bingo with Kristen, Janae and Kori. With all of the birthday luck around her, Kori won the jackpot!!! I guess it isn't rigged for Kittitians to win like I previously thought!It was so nice to bring Abbey back to all of the places I've discovered since her first visit here in January! We went to Gong Beach, the fruit market near port, Ballast Bay for snorkeling, Fisherman's Wharf and Pride of India - Thursday night buffet. She also got to do some "Yoga with Jessie" at the Ross gym.

We also went to some old favs-- like Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack.

Abbey made friends with little kids and puppies.

And of course, no trip to St. Kitts is complete without a night of fist-pumping and tree-swinging at Ziggy's. Here we are with Shawn and Kristen, pumpin' it up!

Maybe I should explain this last picture... better yet, maybe I shouldn't. $5 EC if you want swing tree. Only $5 EC!!

Third Semester

After an EXCELLENT trip to California over our August/September break, where we saw Granny Etta, the Sagers and all of the California cousins, Andrew's third semester at Ross is underway. It's strange to be less than half-way done, and feel like there's so much more time to go, while knowing that next semester we'll be half-way done, which sounds like there's not much time at all left. I guess it's just unusual to be somewhere temporarily, with a specific ending date.

Beau is growing and learning so much lately. He cracks us up with the way he's learning to "talk." I know it seems ridiculous to list the words that he says because he says new words every single day, but for some reason I feel like stopping time and listing them here. Otherwise, I'll never do it! Here is Beau's vocabulary. Some of them have only been uttered once, and he won't repeat them, but THAT COUNTS!

Here are the regulars:

Mama, Dada, Up, Down, Ball, Hello, Hi, Bye Bye, Uh-oh, Bubble, Pool, Flower, Bird, Meow, Cat, Moo, Woof, Bah Bah, Ooh Eeh (Monkey Sound), Car, Bath, Purple, Blue, Yellow,

Here are the one-timer/shockers:

Patricio (who is his classmate... Andrew and I didn't hear it ourselves, but it was alleged by his teacher at daycare, and Beau's third favorite person in St. Kitts, Alem), Backpack, Diaper, Outside, Bathroom, Belly button,

He may only say these words, but he understands EVERYTHING I say! I'll tell him to go get his bubbles, and he'll walk right over to the closet where we keep them. Also, Andrew and I send him back and forth on "errands." Like, "go bring Mommy this cup." And he does it! He's like our little house elf.

He is also growing so much developmentally. Any time he hears music he starts shakin' that thang! He loves walking up and down stairs on his own, and looking underneath things.

I also took a giant step for me today by FINALLY buying a fresh fish here... and hacking off the head all by myself! I have been wanting to buy fresh (and refrigerated) fish on this freakin' ISLAND for the nine months that I've lived here, and finally found a good place today. The Basseterre Fishery Complex on Bay Road has really nice looking fish. I got a 2.5 lb Red Snapper for $37 EC (about $15 US). After I dramatically hacked off the head and tail, I cut it in half and seasoned it with butter, dijon mustard, fresh Thai basil from our plant, parmesan cheese and a little Kosher salt and pepper. Tonight we're going to BBQ it. I hope it comes out as good as it tastes in my head!

As I am writing this, our electricity just turned off! Oh the joys of living in St. Kitts! At least I know that my gas grill will work tonight!

Second Semester

Second semester, out of seven, is almost over, and despite being a tough one for Andrew (frequent tests, late classes, dog walking obligations, etc.) it's been a great one. Recently I realized something about first semester (or rather, the first period of time living on this island) -- you don't know squat! I really underestimated how much more knowledgeable I'd feel returning to the island, and how much better that would make me feel about living here. I came back here knowing what to expect in terms of keeping myself busy, getting things accomplished and taking time to relax and really enjoy where I'm living.

I have been keeping busy teaching yoga at the school gym three days a week, which has the added bonus of getting me in really good shape. I have met a lot of great people in the process, like professor's spouses, more student's spouses and the other regular gym-goers. I've also enrolled Beau in the daycare program at the Ross Preperatory School a few days a week, which gives me time to do all of the things that Beau doesn't find so fun -- cleaning my place, food shopping and laundry. Beau LOVES his school, and especially his one teacher, a.k.a., his Black Mommy. :) I have also made a lot more plans for myself with the other mothers and their kids, and the other VIPs (student/professor spouse group). Even if it's just to hang out by a pool or go to a local beach, activities like this make my life here so much richer.

I knew I liked St. Kitts, but this semester I have really started to love it here. Of course, anything that is worth loving can be worthy of hating at times, and I still get frustrated by the limited selection at the grocery store and the over-priced goods. But I really feel a bond with the island and even the people -- the cool, aloof until you break the ice Kittitians -- which makes me feel like I'm on the "right" track in life.

Here are some recent photos showing our life down here:

This was taken on Beau's 1st birthday -- June 7th. We went to school in the morning to celebrate with all of the kids. Then we had a nice lunch with Daddy-o.

I made my first attempt at baking homemade cupcakes for Beau's class to celebrate his birthday. That night, after dinner, we let Beau feed one to himself. Apparently it's a tradition to let your 1 year old feed himself dessert. This tradition was definitely worth trying! Obviously I'm too much of a neat freak to let him do this clothed. I think I already had the bath filling when we took this picture!

Beau had an incredibly unique experience of meeting a leatherback sea turtle that had just hatched. The students and other residents here make a big effort to preserve these endangered animals by monitering the eggs and protecting them from birds and other predators the day they are born by releasing them at night to crawl into the water. They are beautiful creatures, and without knowing exactly what was happening, I think Beau understood what a rare experience this was!

As you can see, Beau is still loving the water! When we go to the beach, he crawls head-first towards the waves!

In June we went to Beaumont Park, the horse racing track in St. Kitts. Beau loved seeing the horses race by. He can't say many words yet, but he "neighs" just like a horse surprisingly well!

And our biggest update is that Beau has learned how to walk!! Since second semester began, Beau has been practicing his walking skills with the little walker that his Aunt Stacey gave him in the picture below. We would bring him out to walk by the "Seawall," which is a little lounge area in front of the ocean that borders our community, every day. He was getting really good at it. On July 1st, one day before Andrew's birthday, I noticed that Beau was standing in place without holding onto anything. When Andrew got home from class, I said, "look at Beau's new trick!" Andrew, being the genius that he is, pointed out that if he could stand on his own, maybe he could walk on his own. So we tried sitting a few feet apart and sending Beau back and forth between us. Lo and behold, he did it!!

On July10th, at our friend's pool party, Beau stood himself up on his own, and began walking. We have decided that July 10, 2010 is the official day that Beau became a bipedal. Congratulations, Beau!

Trip back to New York

During Andrew's first break, we went home to New York. We bounced around from Roslyn, to Brooklyn, to New Jersey, and saw tons of friends and family. Despite being a little under the weather, Beau was THRILLED to see so many people. He is such a social baby!

It was quite the culture shock going home. Andrew and I couldn't stop oohing and aahing over all of the "nice" Hondas and Toyotas, let alone the Mercedes and BMWs! Hey, it's all relative when a 1999 Rav 4 is the nicest car you've seen in a while.

Aunt Stacey threw Beau and Shira a combined 1st birthday party for all of the families to attend. It was not only beautiful, with delish food courtesy of Granny Etta, but also the best opportunity for us to see everyone we loved while we were home for such a short time. Thanks, Stacey! It was the best 1st birthday present ever!

We also got to meet all of our friends' babies-- aka -- Beau's future girlfriends.

But the best part was that we were genuinely excited to be in St. Kitts when we got back. Andrew and I chugged a Stag (local beer) and jumped in the pool with Beau within the first 15 minutes of getting home.

Family visit

Our last visitors over first semester were my parents and sister, Lindsay. We had such a great time showing them what it is we actually do here (what do we do here?). In addition to our normal swimming, playing and napping routine, we did a lot of Marriott brunches (think fat kid in a candy store), beach bar lunches, afternoon beers or pina coladas, and then evening meals at all of the restaurants I've been wanting to try for 3 months. What is the common thread? FOOD!




Beau had the best time with his Grandpa and Nana.

And Lindsay just doted on him the whole week. She bathed him, fed him and got lots of cuddling time in. He was loving it after so many months away from her!

They also got to see his newest tricks-- crawling properly (thanks to the soft mat Grandpa and Nana brought him from home) and pulling himself up to standing!

NEVIS

We took the ferry to Nevis to celebrate our friend Kimalee's birthday. We headed to Nesbitt Plantation, a heavenly beach on the North shore. We spent the day swimming and lying in the most picturesque hammock.


After an awesome meal at the beach restaurant, we had some St. Kitts and Nevis-sized cupcakes, care of Cache. Then we had the rare pleasure of watching Kimalee get drunk.

Sager Visit

Stacey, Adam, Shira and Yael came to visit us for one week from FREEEEEEZING cold New Jersey to sunny St. Kitts. It was such a great week for all of us, but especially Beau who seemed to thrive having his cuzzies around all day. Whenever the kids were all together, it felt like total chaos, but it was such a blast to see them feeding off of each other. In the midst of being trampled on and suffocated by his bigger, tougher cousins, Beau was just smiling and laughing and admiring the way they crawled and walked with such ease! In fact, I think they inspired him to get better at scooting across the room, which he now does at quite a good clip.

We brought the Sager family to all of our regular digs, including Friday night volleyball at Timothy Beach.

We even managed to have an adults-only night at The Spice Mill, down at Cockleshell Beach. We danced and partied until the wee hours of the morning... well maybe only 12:01 AM, but still.

They couldn't stay out of the warm, beautiful water! Stacey was so sun and fresh air-deprived, that she developed a sort of tick over the week. She'd randomly start muttering "perfect... perfect... perfect" when she was swimming in the ocean or playing with the kids in the sun.

It was a divine week for all of us, and we'll never forget it! Next time, 2 weeks!

End of Abbey's Visit - Caribelle

The rest of Abbey's trip here was fantastic! Beau got so much quality Abbey-time, it was awesome. While she was here, we also made an amateur film. It was so much fun to have her to bounce ideas off of and get creatively inspired. Thanks, Muse! You can see our film by clicking on the title of this blog post.

Abbey's visit so far...

Abbey came to visit us on January 20th for two weeks. We are half way through her trip, and having a great time. In the last week, we brought her to Reggae Beach, Shipwreck, the Marriott and of course, the Atlantic in our backyard. We went out to Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack on Saturday night, and were fortunate enough to hear our neighbor, Bob doing karaoke. She met Beau's buddies and got to go on the crater hike, where you hike to the top of the volcano. Here's Abbey drinking a pistachio snow cone served up by Sweet Elroy.

This is the view into the volcano from the top of the 5 hour crater hike.

Abbey has been touring around and seeing the amazing sights of St. Kitts.

Today we all ate at Kittitian Roti. Rotis are delicious, incredible, hot, curry Indian wraps. Abbey is IN with Beau because she lets him sample everything she's eating/drinking/touching.