part 1: the people * part 2: the place * part 3: semana santa * part 4: the waterfalls * part 5: the beach

Sorry it has taken so long to write about our trip! We really did have a wonderful time, truly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip. I’m so glad we got to go!

We were in the Dominican Republic from March 28th until April 7th. I set up some posts to auto-post while we were gone, just in case you wondered why there wasn’t a huge break. For blogging purposes, I decided to break up the retelling of our trip into categories instead of doing it day-by-day, diary style. There will be five posts total so hopefully it doesn’t overwhelm everyone too much! Check out all the pictures here (well not *all*, just the top 197 of the 775 total I took!).

Teresa (who I call Tree) and her husband Daniel moved to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic after graduating from college. Tree and I were roommates for two years when we lived in the dorm, and have remained good friends since. They have two boys: Jeremiah (2 1/2) and Timmy (7 months). I’ve mentioned before that Timmy is two days younger than Savannah! Jeremiah and Timmy were both born in the Dominican, and this was my first time meeting Timmy!

I was really interested to see how Savannah would react to someone her own age. Well, she really loved him. Every time she would see him she would get really excited and wave her arms and grin. I don’t know that he was quite as impressed with her as she was with him…

One thing I was hoping that Timmy would influence Savannah is with tummy time. She HATED being on her tummy, and therefore wasn’t moving around like 7 month olds tend to do. Timmy is the opposite – he loves being on his tummy, and will scoot anywhere and everywhere. The day after we got down to the DR, we decided to try something new. We put a mirror on the ground and put Savannah on top. She was really interested in her reflection, and Timmy helped out by showing her how to push up with his hands. That was the beginning of getting her used to being on her tummy!

(She still doesn’t love it, but she at least will tolerate it for a little while now! And she even rolled over a few times!)

In return, Savannah tried to teach Timmy how to sit (she has excellent sitting skills). Timmy is not patient enough to just sit still and work on those muscles! He wants to go, go, go! Hehe

(Also you’ll notice that Savannah is close to 2 lbs heavier than Timmy, and I think slightly taller.)

It was cool how similar they were, though! These pictures were taken at the same meal:

They both were all about putting everything in their mouths!

We brought down Easter bunny hats for Timmy and Savannah. We had quite a time trying to get a good picture of both of them! Mostly we had trouble with Savannah simply staring at Timmy and not looking at the camera at all!

Finally! (They’re both so cute!)

Poor Timmy was teething while we were down there. One evening while we were at the beach, he got really fussy. I had finished my meal so I took him so Tree could finish eating. Savannah did not care to be left behind so I ended up walking up and down the beach with both babies!

I have a new respect for my cousin who has twins!

We can’t forget Jeremiah, of course! He entertained us with his cute words and actions. At one point, we were at Tree’s house and the babies were playing on the floor. Jeremiah picked up all the toys and took them away from Timmy and piled them around Savannah. Timmy was left going “hey, what about me?!” It was SO cute!

Savannah learned a lot from Timmy and Jeremiah! She does a lot better on her tummy, and she also started saying syllables when she babbles. She goes “ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” or “ba-ba-ba-ba-ba” now. It’s so cute. :-)