Devotional gathering at Bahá’í School...

Little busy bee...

This month Enna-Marie turned three and a half yrs. old and is a busy girl. She still goes to pre-school from Sunday to Thursday and to her ballet class every Tuesday, plays at home and sometimes she's out playing with friends, listens and dances to music, does a lot of coloring (and maze too which she just learned lately), cooks with daddy, helps mommy to do some chores at home, visits the beach every other week, and just enjoys her time being with us.

wearing daddy's short pants



















brushing her teeth



















learning to fold some laundry clothes

baking a carrot cake

playing at the beach with Elfida

biking her "big bike" in the balcony

dressing up with lingerie

having fun with Carmel at the beach

quenching thirst from "ice drop" (Filipino version of popsicle)

laughing with Farid while daddy plays with them

performing together with her co-pre-schoolers at the End of the Year Bahá’í School program

with her new friends at ballet class (can you spot EM?)

biking with Carmel

at the mall wearing huge crocs shoes

at a friend's swimming birthday party

playing beach ball with Rodrigo

kids in gan waiting to be picked up by their mommies

Big Girl indeed!

We've been back to Haifa for more than a month now and thought of updating you all on what has been happening with us lately, especially with our growing daughter Enna-Marie.

First we decided to stop the use of the pacifier which Enna-Marie used for eight months after being weaned from mommy's milk. We told her she's a "big girl" now and that "big girls" don't use paci. She agreed and got excited when we suggested to have a little 'paci-cutting' ceremony. We helped her cut the nipple of the paci, so that she would know it wasn't working anymore. She only asked for it 2-3 times without crying and she was perfectly fine since then.

Second we moved her from her crib to a big bed, we bought a guard-rail and placed it at the side so she can't fall off the bed. We are happy that she likes her new bed and she tells us that she is now a "big girl" and not anymore a baby. Of course, her newly afforded 'freedom' means that she occassionally would come out of bed when she's supposed to be sleeping, but on the whole she seems to have been dealing with this change quite well!

Then third this month, we decided to bring her to kindergarden (Gan in Hebrew). It is a privately owned nursery, and you may remember seeing some photos of the Gan that we posted earlier this year. We decided to bring her earlier than we originally planned, which is when she turns three in December, since we can see that she is very independent and is ready to mingle and socialize with other children. Also since there are two other children from the World Centre who are also going to this school for the first time, one of which is even two weeks older than she is, it helped us in deciding to bring her as we know it will be easier to adjust altogether to this new environment. So far, she is doing fine in school, meeting new friends, doing some arts and crafts, learning music and some Hebrew words, playing with friends. And most importantly, she is happy!

The last new thing that she recently learned is using her potty-going to the bathroom. She basically one day initiated it herself and has wanted to use it more and more ever since. By now she is not wearing diapers anymore during the day (oh she loves wearing panties or underpants), but only at night. The teacher and the assistants at school have also greatly helped and encouraged her in this process.

We are so happy and impressed with these milestones and we so much enjoy seeing her develop every day and watch our little one growing into "big girl" Enna-Marie.

Here are some of her recent photos...

cutting her pacifier

showing her new bed

smiling for mommy at kindergarden's first day of class

painting with her new friend Rodrigo

here she is back to Rose Garden class

swimming at the balcony with Tara & Lillian

another photo with her girlfriends at Rose Garden

imitating mommy when she saw her singing & playing guitar

happy smile

content smile after eating dinner

telling a story to mommy

eating ice cream with Rodrigo

Enna-Marie started attendng Baha'i School as well this month

snack time at Baha'i school

with friends Aliyah & Layla at Gan

First day of Bahá’í School

Here are some photos of the first day of the Bahá’í school (pre-school) held at the Family Centre last 22 September. We had a wonderful class, the teachers did so well and so as the children (well only two came, Aliyah and Milan, but it will be eventually around nine or ten total by the end of the school year). The lesson for that day was about purity.