Happy Halloween!!!

Wow what a day we had today.

It is Halloween today....the first one I've ever celebrated. This morning, I dressed up in costume as a San Diego Charger fan. It was rainy outside so we had a fire in the fireplace and Mommy made some hot apple cider.

Then....Aiden and Linda came over and we carved pumpkins together. It was SO fun!! My favorite part was scooping out the insides of the pumpkin (oh and trying to eat it....it is so yummy. Mommy tells me that this is why I keep getting stomach bugs....eating things like the raw insides of pumpkin.....what does she know....it's gooeylishes!) I even got pumpkin in my hair! I got my costume sooo gooey that I had to change into an orange t-shirt with black pants. Not a costume but at least I was in the Halloween colors. Shei Shei was a giraffe today.

In the afternoon, Priya came over and we all went to the circus together. We met Amy and Pray there.....and lots of my other friends were at the circus as well. Oh, and my biological brothers were there! How cool!!! My favorite acts at the circus were the ones where the people were flying through the air on rope and stuff.....oh how I want to be able to fly.

Tonight we had a special dinner of pumpkin soup and we watched Peter Pan together as a family. Mommy almost NEVER lets me watch TV, so this was a treat. I love Peter Pan....everyone flies and I think that this is the coolest. Even the boat flies....could there be a more perfect movie? OK....it did have one flaw, there was no actual airplane in the movie....a bunch of kids and a fairy and a boat flying around....but no airplane. Still it was pretty cool. Happy Halloween everyone...hope yours was as fun as ours!!

The Runs....

I'm a bit under the weather today with an African tummy bug. Mommy is a bit worried, but thinks I'll be fine as long as I stay hydrated. Mostly, it just kinda hurts and I feel cranky and yucky.

However, the silver lining is that potty training is on the back burner until this is cleared up...so I'm off the hook for a few days....whew!!!

Jacarandas in Bloom

Aren't they beautiful??

This is a street near our house.

This is our backyard. Samantha, our leopard tortoise loves to eat the purple leaves....yummy!

Potty Training

I am well on my way! Today is 4 days in a row with no accidents in my pants! I stopped wearing diapers two weeks ago and have been doing pretty well. Mommy is VERY proud of my big boy skills and tells me every chance she can what a very big boy I am.

Now, if only we could get back to the U.S. where the selection of underpants was a little bit cooler. Oh well, at least they aren't diapers!

Shei Shei is my forever sister today

I'm so happy today and everyone in the family is cheering. Shei Shei passed adoption court in Tanzania today and the judge gave the order that she will now be part of our family. I'm so happy. Of course, she's been my sister all along, but now its legal.

Tonight, we had some friends over to celebrate the happy news. While I was going potty on the potty chair in the bathroom, I heard Shei Shei begin to cry! I panicked and started calling out, 'done, done' so that I could quickly get off the potty chair and run out to the front room crying out, "Shei Shei....Shei Shei", run right through all the grownups in the room, so that I could get quickly to her side and give her kisses and make sure that she's ok.

After all, I am her official big brother, it's my job to make sure she's ok!

Welcome to the family Shei Shei....we're so glad you are here.

Playdate with Aiden and Sophia

Sophia's mommy teaches younger kids like us at the international school here in town. So...she has a really cool classroom. Mommy and I and Linda and Aiden and Sophia and Sam all got together over the weekend to play at Sam's classroom.


We had the most fun splashing away at the water table with all the water toys....boy did we get soaked! Then we liked to play in the dirt afterward, ensuring that we were caked in mud. Mommy seemed slightly distressed, but I thought it was the coolest. Seriously, she need to lighten up...it's only a little mud.

Lilian's visit

My birth mom, Lilian came over for lunch today and for a visit. It was fun to see her. Whenever Lilian comes for lunch mommy gets enough lunch for everyone, and David, Osmund, Jane and Jenny join us for lunch. It's really fun to have everyone sitting around the table and laughing and talking. Osmund, Uncle Gogo and David are always joking around and getting into trouble with Mommy who says that they aren't role modeling good behavior for me. Whatever that means??? They are always laughing, so it must be pretty good behavior right?

Wiggle Worm

Today was a 'play at the house' day. No major outing planned...just the family hanging out together. I kind of love these days.

Mommy decided it was time to pull a trick out of her hat (or her closet) and brought out the Wiggle Worm. This is something she brought back with her from her last visit to the States....so it was time to try it out.

Boy did Shei Shei and I have fun....the worm wiggled and we giggled and that made Mommy and Uncle Gogo and even Osmund laugh and laugh at us.

Wiggle Worm rocks!!!

I love airplanes!!

Let me rephrase.....I ADORE airplanes! They swish through the sky, make a fabulous noise and are generally about the coolest thing around.

I can hear them coming from miles away. We can all be outside eating lunch, and suddenly I will call out, "airplane" and point to the sky. Mommy often looks around confused, but inevitably, the noise will slowly get louder and there is, in fact, an airplane in the sky. I just have supersonic hearing and know before the rest of the laymen that it is up there.

Oh how I do love airplanes. Mommy even sometimes takes me to the small airport near our house and we can sit out on the tarmac and watch planes taking off and coming in for hours on end. I have a very patient Mommy. ;-)

Twiga's truce

Twiga and I have come to a truce. Actually, we really love each other.

OK, we always have...but its take Twiga a little time to trust me. She has never been very comfortable having me around.

However, I love my Twiga so much! I always want her around. Every day when Mommy goes to work, she leaves Twiga in her room so she doesn't get in the way during our morning activities. When Mommy gets home, I run right to her door and tell her to let Twiga out.

And, now Twiga is trusting me. She even rolls over onto her belly when I come around so I can rub her tummy. The reason that she trusts me though, is because I am so careful to ALWAYS be gentle with Twiga and to only pet her softly and nicely and to give her gentle kisses. Now she knows that I'm her friend....and she is mine!

Hangin with Shei Shei

Well, it's been a rough few months at the Bowman household. Mommy seems quite upset, quite often. But, I'm having a great time and am not really impacted much by the stress. Mommy still makes time to play with us and Shei Shei and I have great time hanging out!

Shanga House

Today we had a brunch celebration for Mommy's birthday. It was fun to see everyone and even though it was for Mommy's birthday, I had the most fun, I think! ;-) We rode around the grass in wagons and played!

Happy Birthday Mama

Today is my Mommy's birthday! She has had a rough few months and is just not in the mood to celebrate. We did have a nice day together and dinner out with the family. In any case, I'm sorry she's having a tough time, but I'm still awfully glad she's my Mommy.

I love to sing the happy birthday song. I sing it to everyone, but today it will be specially for Mommy:

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear Mama,

Happy Birthday to you

WHOOOOO!!!! (that's my favorite part)