Finally....

I blame it on a whirlwind trip to the US, adjusting back to life in Dhaka, and celebrating the fun of Halloween. At least we have tons of fun photos to make up for the hiatus.

The trip to the US was fantastic. Like every time we go, we wish the trip had been longer.   Family and friends are spread out in all corners of the country resulting in us completing 12 flights within 2.5 weeks. Phew.  Granted 8 of those flights were taken just to get us from Dhaka to Houston, but still, I think we'd like to spend a little less time in airports.  Enough complaining though...We had fun! 

Right after we got to Houston my best friend from high school and her family came to stay with us for the weekend.  We utilized the pool next door to get in some swimming and also enjoyed watching their 7 month old son and Henry start bonding, over none other than a few games of roll and catch the ball. 

The next week was filled with lazing around the house, exploring Houston, and, of course, dining on great food.  Unfortunately Scott's dad, "Dada", had to go on a business trip the first week we were in Houston.  This meant that Henry and Scott's mom, "Gigi", had ample time to hang out.  Henry quickly took to requesting piano lessons letting only Gigi be the one to teach him.  Eventually, if Gigi wasn't around, Henry would reluctantly let Scott or me play with him. 

 Other indoor favorites included refining his stacking skills with a new set of blocks.  His set in Bangladesh has only 9 blocks and I think he enjoyed the added challenge of adding pieces to the stack that grew taller than him. I'll admit I helped - but just a little.  Without doubt he eventually found various balls to kick, roll, throw, bounce, catch, put in a bucket, pour out of a bucket, and...stick on his fingers.

 

He also managed to find some plates:

And discover the absolute goodness of Dada's famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Despite all the fun indoors, I think Henry's favorite activity, and one that we grew to love - and continue to do here in Dhaka, became hunting for acorns.  My oh my, from sun up to sun down if we sat idle for more than 7 minutes Henry would point to the door and say "acorn?".  Although he loved to pick up as many acorns as possible to bring back to the house, it was easy to add to the adventure by counting how many pumpkins (and ghosts) we could find.  It always amazes me how many times kids can do the same thing over and over and still feel that the activity is fun. We must have counted the ~13 pumpkins in the cul-de-sac perhaps 77 times, each time just as new and surprising as the last.

Spoiler alert - Dada and Gigi are bringing a basketball hoop toy for Henry when they visit in a few weeks.  Support for the present from when we hung out at Scott's friend's house:

 

 

We also had a morning at the zoo. Henry planned the trip well. He fell asleep in the car to the zoo, stayed asleep while Scott and I walked through all of the exhibits and woke up right in time to feed a giraffe 3 lettuce leaves.  The first leaf was easily consumed. The second leaf made for a great photo op.  By the third leaf the giraffe chose to include Henry's hand in the tongue wrap; Henry was shocked to find out the giraffe's tongue was a little more intense then Guinness's tongue. After the feeding Henry got a tour of all the best spots that Scott and I had scouted earlier in the morning, including the elephants, monkeys and birds.

When Dada got back there was no delay in Henry showing how much he had missed him

For the second weekend we went to Chico to spend time with my mom's family and to meet my sister's 4 month old daughter.  Spending time with everyone was so special and completely enjoyable.  We loved singing along at a concert my cousin gave for my grandma and her friends, relaxed breakfasts with mickey mouse pancakes, perusing the books at my cousin's book store on the Square (Lyon Books if you're ever in the area), bonding with cousins, first cousins once removed, and second cousins, and...
The chickens, many varieties of them, at my cousins (they also had a cage of finches that was fun):

Hours by the waterfall and stream my aunt and uncle landscaped into their backyard. I suggest everyone put one of these in!

 Kaylin and Henry devised a very efficient system of gathering rocks, divvying them up once they were back on the bridge, and taking turns throwing them in to watch the splash.

Of course, playing with balls

Playing with babies

Exploring the farmers market - especially the pumpkins

And, dining on a wonderful meal at the Sierra Nevada Brewery where Scott enjoyed the Sampler composed of 16 2oz beers

For the final weekend Scott and I went to Pittsburgh for a friends wedding and left Henry with Dada and Gigi.  They had an amazing time together made all the better because they went to a 1 year birthday party for the son of my best friend from college during which there happened to be an air show based out of a nearby airport. Although kids love to dress up, they were all the more inspired since this was a Halloween themed party.

Last but not least, Scott's favorite accomplishment of the trip....Teaching Henry to not only say "Touchdown" but to also associate the celebration with a dance.  This new found skill won Henry, and us, brownie points during our layovers on our trip back to Dhaka when we tried to catch a few games in the airport lounges.