Jasmine van Zoest

Warm days and cool nights, fall is finally here. It's been hot and dry, but it is also nice to have some cooler weather. This weekend, we'll be at a pumpkin patch-pick... we hope to get some good pictures and lots of pumpkin carving fun.

Pumpkins, pumpkins, they are everywhere. There were oodles of pumpkins available for the picking. With fall officially here, we headed out to San Diego’s best pumpkin patch at Bates Nut Farm. People, people everywhere… they were sorting through piles of pumpkins, but we headed out to the patch to pick our own. We wandered through several patches, but we left empty handed.

Today is also Jasmine’s 9 months birthday. She has been amazing to say the least. She waves bye-bye to people, can say: “oh boy”,”yeah”, and knows who the label for “mama” and “papa” should be placed on. She is also imitating actions she’s seen from the past. She understands “no” pretty well and most of the times listens to Mama and Papa.

This is a note to self and to the future so that when asked, what did I do when I was nine months old or when did I started to walk, I hope to be able to use this as a reference.

This week is completed busy with numerous amusements. Jasmine will be at a photo sitting session tomorrow and this Sunday, we are heading out to Disneyland with aunt Jenny, Nancy, uncle Drew and uncle Johnny. It’s our last opportunity for the year to be with Aunt Jenny.

What has Jasmine been doing recently? She isn’t walking yet, but she is able to stand on her own a lot longer now (at least 10 seconds). When she’s tired of standing she’ll bend her knees to sit down. She is also very alert and aware of her environment. This makes raising her challenging, as she isn’t afraid to expression her opinions either. She has been able to play patty-cake, and climb down the bed/sofa quite well; although she’s not an expert. She also manages to climb downstairs with more confidence as long as mom and dad is in immediate vicinity.

Tomorrow, we look forward to the photo sitting sessions and we hope the pictures turn out well. Good night and good luck.

It was, indeed, magical. Jasmine watched the main street parade and went on several rides. She loves the Haunted Mansion and the ghost that pops up at the end of the ride. She loves Mr. Toad, It's a small world, and many more. And she loves watching the kids feeling empowered and madly running around. The real world did not apply in Disneyland. The kids were free from the adults; they can do whatever they want. No adults say "no" to kids when in Disneyland and Mama & Papa, Aunt Jenny & Uncle Drew didn’t either. All the kids looked so happy and Jasmine was happy too.

Aunt Jenny, good luck with your missions and thank you for giving Jasmine the opportunity to experience an independence that breeds imagination.

Jasmine is getting ready for flu season this year. She’ll have her first flu shot in three weeks.

This upcoming week, we have an appointment to review her photos that she took at last week's photo sitting session. I hope the pictures turn out well. Jasmine had a lot of fun and was climbing all over the place. Not sure if the photographer had enough time to snap good shots of her. And it’s 2.5 weeks until she turns 10 months old. Already she is becoming an expert at climbing down things such as the crouch and stairs. It’s also fun to wake up in the morning these day because Jasmine greets us with “hi!”. She’s the most preciously little girl ever. Is it every possible to love her too much -- probably not.

There is a mini sample of the photo sitting pictures. They turned out much better than we could have anticipated. These pictures capture Jasmine's personality and beauty in a natural way, without the forced studio sessions. We love her natural expressions, her smiles and her pure enjoyment of taking these pictures.

Look for more releases in your mailbox this season.

We brought Jasmine the above pushing car, so she can walk more steady.

Today, Jasmine and Mom finished sending a special package to her cousin Emmi. We hope Emmi will fit into it and that her parents approve of the gift.

As for Jasmine, her upper teeth finally came in. Now she has four teeth in total. She has been helping Mama and Papa dress her. When it started, Mama does not recall but Papa said she has been doing it with him for months. So Mama was, once again, asleep when it happened. Nowadays, she loves to throw things out of her reach and say "Uh Oh", and "Okay". They are her new favorite words, besides "Hi!".

We have chores to do, so have a wonderful and safe Halloween Weekend.

Hiya! Trust you're enjoying your halloween weekend. It has been fun for Jasmine as well.