Alejandro, Luis, Mary, and Diego

Luis's Turn

2011-02-08T09:49:00.004-05:00

(Photo not pertinent to story - but cute none the less)

It is Luis's natural tendency to come to our room, to my side of the bed, when he wakes in the night - whether it is 2a or 6a. Sometimes he wants to snuggle me (in my bed) and sometimes he wants me to snuggle him (in his bed). Sometimes he has "pee-peed in the bed" (though that hasn't happened in quite some time). But it's always my side. So on occasion, I tell Luis that tomorrow it's Mommy's turn to sleep in. This translates into: DO NOT wake me up in the morning. It took some getting used to, but he has figured it out - and most times, remembers in the morning and goes to Diego's side of the bed for his morning requests.

This morning, I was the first awake at 6a. I came downstairs to start the coffee, start the lunches and start the breakfasts, etc. I figured I had 15-30 minutes before Luis (or Alejo) woke up. The time ticked by and no one woke. I finished my morning work and still no one was woke up. It was glorious. I drank my cup of coffee in quiet.

Alejo woke up a little after 7a. And Luis came down about 7:30a. He peered around the corner, smiling from ear to ear, and said, "Today is MY morning to sleep in!!"

New PJ's

2011-01-15T23:55:00.002-05:00

Sippy Cup: Inaugural Try

2011-01-15T23:52:00.000-05:00

Alejo was very interested in the sippy cup, but totally unsuccessful in terms of actually drinking from it.

Alejo & His Momma

2011-01-15T23:49:00.000-05:00

Treats from the Dollar Store

2011-01-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

On one of their Father/Son outings, Diego and Luis made a stop at the dollar store. Luis was super excited to show me the funky/dirty fake teeth. Lucky for us, three sets came in a package: one for Luis, one for Diego and one for me. Luis wanted all of us to try them on immediately, some sort of family bonding experience. I'm not sure how it happened, but the picture shows it best: Luis and I wearing the teeth and Diego behind the camera!

Brotherly Love - Kinda One-Sided

2011-01-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

This photo was totally staged. I admit it. Alejo is so enamored with his big brother, watching Luis's every move and totally lighting up whenever Luis decides to show even the slightest bit of attention to Alejo. To reward Alejo's adoration, and a little bit to rub Luis, Diego likes to put Alejo on Luis - as he did here. Alejo loves (LOVES!) it and just smiles and giggles the whole time. Luis asks, begs, pleads, and then demands that Alejo be removed. In spite of his complaints, I must point out, Luis never does anything like push Alejo or anything else that might hurt him. Though he gets annoyed with Alejo sometimes, it is very evident to me that Luis loves his brother, too.

Exersaucer

2011-01-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

It's always a bit surprising to me how things sneak up on you. Alejo had only mild interest in the exersuacer at first. Then one day, I suddenly realize how much fun he's having in it, yet am unsure of when the change occurred.

More Lego Creations

2011-01-13T23:33:00.000-05:00

Luis spends at least some time almost every day building a new Lego creation. Here is an ambulance (note the Silly Bandz that holds the man to the "stretcher") and some sort of spaceship.

Alejo in the Baby Gym (and in Good Light!)

2011-01-12T23:29:00.001-05:00

An Afternoon with an Old Friend

2011-01-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

Luis has loved playing "Water Games" for almost as long as I can remember. Outside, it involves the hose and/or the watering can. Inside, it means playing at the kitchen sink. We haven't played in a long time, mostly because I tired of mopping up the water from the far reaches of the counter and from all over the floor. I told Luis "no" so many times, that he finally stopped asking. Until this afternoon. I'm not sure what made him think of it, and I'm not sure why I said yes. Probably had a lot to do with the fact that Alejo was sleeping and I needed a good 30-minutes to prep for dinner.

After one gentle reminder about not pouring water on the counter, Luis did a surprisingly good job of keeping the water mostly in the sink. In the first 5 minutes, he wanted to show me 15 different things. I explained that the main reason I agreed to let him play in the sink was so that I could get my own work done, logic I have used (unsuccessfully) on him in the past. Except this time it worked. He then played contentedly for more than 30 minutes (with minimal splashing).

As a VERY BIG added bonus, when he was done he asked (begged, practically) if he could clean the kitchen sink for me. You bet!

Ashley Wants a Turn

2011-01-10T21:28:00.000-05:00

This is the first time I've seen Ashley get IN the baby gym. It's kind of hard to see, but she has her own toy in there with her. Not sure what she was thinking...

Loving His Giraffe

2011-01-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

In the last week or so, Alejo has taken a very keen interest in this giraffe. Because it squeaks, Ashley and Luis are also very keen on it. Me, I'm not so keen.

SUPER Silly Straw

2011-01-10T20:41:00.000-05:00

Thomas and Lucy gave Luis this very clever build-your-own straws set for Christmas. Luis really likes the idea of it, but still has a few physics lessons to learn before he can get the most out of it.

Open House Day

2011-01-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Our rental house in Texas is back on the sales market, much to our chagrin. For the time being, we will stay here and hope that no one buys the house! Today, the owners had an Open House, to sort of welcome the house to the market. It was a miserable day weather-wise: very cold with a lot of rain. Regardless, Diego and I packed the boys up after lunch and headed out a local sports store. Turns out that Luis and Diego go there regularly as part of their out-of-the-house trips. Luis calls it "the indoor golf store".

We had two hours to kill, so we took our time perusing all the different sections, starting (of course) with the indoor golf. Not surprisingly, Diego has the best putting skills of the three of us. From there, we cruised through the winter sports section (a fairly small section here in Dallas!). Luis found this snowboard and it was love at first sight!

He cried a bit when we told him that we would not buy it for him!

Next, we moved on to the baseball section. Luis asked for one of almost everything and asked several times about when could he play baseball again? After two seasons of t-ball, I have learned that Luis likes the idea of t-ball much more than he likes actually playing. (As a result, I think we will sign him up for soccer this spring instead.)

In the end, it was in fact a skate board that we brought home with us. Stay tuned for photos of that!

School Projects - At Home

2011-01-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

As part of the study of Dinosaurs at school, Luis made a volcano using baking soda and vinegar. After watching one erupt at school, he was sent home with all of the ingredients to erupt his own at home. It took us a few days to get around to doing it - but it was worth the wait!

All the ingredients are assembled. Luis is so excited he can't stand still!

Pouring the vinegar in after adding the baking soda and the food coloring (he chose green, his favorite color!).

Luis LOVED watching the volcano erupt!!

A Blast from (Momma's) Past

2011-01-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Alexandra, the sister of Luis's friend was having a roller skating party. Having rented out the entire rink, Alexandra's parents very generously invited almost everyone they now (including us!). Luis and I packed up after breakfast to head to the rink. I told Luis he needed to wear tall pants as sometimes you fall when you roller skate and you want your legs to be protected. Before getting out the door, Luis dug up his bike helmet, to add to the protection level.

When we got to the rink, Luis and I were both pretty excited to skate. I hadn't been in a roller skating rink in 20 years, if not longer - not since the days of Kate's Skate in Rock Hill with my brothers and cousins. Turns out that roller skating rinks have not changed at all in 20 years.

Early on, Luis did a lot of falling

We got his skates (and helmet) on him pretty quickly. He then fell approximately 47 times in the next 8 minutes. And he totally lost interest (and his composure). We sat on the side - on those carpet covered mushroom like seat/tables - for nearly 30 minutes watching the other kids skate. Luis then decided to put one skate on and kind of test it out around the carpeted area. Another 30 minutes later and he had the confidence to put two skates on. I was totally amazed at the attitude shift that happened in that hour. On our second attempt at skating, when Luis fell down, instead of crying he said to me, "Mommy: Sometimes you fall down, but you just have to get back up and try again." It was rather amazing. And inspiring to me.

Keeping his balance

After about 10 minutes, Luis asked if I would skate with him. I was a little nervous about holding him up while I was on skates, but Luis's eagerness to skate with me was much more potent than a little fear. So I grabbed a pair of skates and we inched our way around the rink one time. It is in the top 3 all time great experiences with Luis.

Practically an old pro

In between skating sessions, they had a couple of contests, including a speed skate contest and a limbo contest, which I remembered from childhood. But the one that flooded me with memories was when we all got in a circle in the middle of the rink and did the Hookey Pookey. It was all so much fun!

Turns out that a camera phone is not particularly effective at capturing quickly moving things in very low lighting. I wish I'd had my good camera. Since Luis asked me to promise him that we will go back, maybe next time...

Alejo's Blanket

2011-01-04T14:35:00.001-05:00

While we were in Florida for Christmas, we received Alejo's blanket from Liz. When Luis was born, she made him a blanket, which is probably his most prized possession. I was excited for Alejo to have one as well. I don't have a full-size picture of it yet, just lots of pictures of Alejo nuzzling it.

At this point, I won't leave it in the crib with him when he sleeps, as he still likes to smother himself. But hopefully it won't be long.

Thanks Aunt Liz!

Christmas Clean Up

2011-01-04T13:41:00.000-05:00

For a long time now, I have dreamed of being more organized with my Christmas stuff. Unfortunately, I rarely tap into that dream when it's time to take down the tree and put everything away. This year, however, I did it!

I saved a couple of the plastic boxes that apples come in for ornament storage. Turns out that it was the perfect thing! I got 90% of my fragile ornaments into the apple boxes. Putting the ornaments in the apple box was SO MUCH easier and faster than wrapping them all back up in tissue paper. The real test will come next Christmas when I get them all out again. Assuming that nothing gets broken, I will be thrilled.

The other thing that made Christmas Clean Up successful this year was that I actually did the whole house in the same day. This means that everything actually got put back in the proper box (something I have never managed to do in the past - with the result that I find random Christmas stuff in random drawers and boxes throughout the year).

All of this gives me hope that I may some day be more organized. Some day. I really, really hope.

Happy Birthday Party Day

2011-01-02T22:18:00.001-05:00

This afternoon, we had a few of Luis's friends over to celebrate his birthday. Whenever one of the wished him a Happy Birthday, he was to point out, "It's NOT my birthday today." So, we settled on wishing him a Happy Birthday Party Day, to which he was only slightly more amenable. We invited five friends over, and four of them made it: Caleb, Elijah (from PDO last year), Will and Colin (both carpool buddies at the Science School) - all from the neighborhood.

I brought down Luis's three "building toys" (blocks, legos, Gears) and told Luis that this was a Downstairs Party. The main activity was decorating cupcakes. That part was a hit, but I didn't manage to get any pictures of it.

Luis has long been wearing Super Chupies, as part of various super hero costumes. He has, on many, many occasions, offered to loan his friends some, but never with success. Well, not today. In the blink of an eye, all five boys were wearing Super Chupies and running around the house like crazy four year olds jacked up on too much icing and cupcakes (in that order), er Super Heroes.

All of the boys "suiting up"

This photo reminds me so much of the old Batman shows, where Batman and Robin would duke it out with the bad guys. This afternoon, it was a little difficult to tell who the good and bad guys were, though everyone was having a good time. It was also difficult for the boys to remember that the pushing and hitting and fighting was supposed to be pretend.

Luis, Elijah and Caleb (the knight)

Colin, Will and Elijah strike their best Super Hero poses. Will won!

Colin, Elijah, Luis and Will sporting their Super Chupies. Caleb was feeling a little camera shy.
I'm not sure how this game got started. I asked Diego to keep an eye on the boys in the front room for a few minutes. Next thing I know, he's dragging them all - all FIVE of them - around by his feet. They were squealing and shouting with laughter. Diego was exhausted. That was probably more than 175lbs worth of 4 year olds he was dragging!

Shortly after this, Diego moved the party outside, which was a brilliant move. It appeared that all of the sugar from the cupcakes and icing had hit the blood stream, and the boys had A TON of energy.

The boys playing in/on the fort

Will, Colin, Elijah, Caleb (hidden in the tire swing), and Luis

Bethany & Caleb

Elijah and Luis

Elijah, Will and Luis

Christmas in Dallas

2010-12-31T23:53:00.005-05:00

We took very few presents with us to Florida, and so, had quite a few to open when we returned. But we were all very, very tired - and so it took us a few days to get around to opening gifts.

Luis doing a little "ornament management" before we got started with the present opening.

Alejo was happy to watch from the exersaucer.

JuanFe and RC gave Luis this very cool Gears toy. Luis immediately started playing with it, and loved the way the pieces fit and work together.

One could make the argument that the bag that the Gears came in was just as fun, if not more so!

Luis made this leaf print at the Science School. It is even more beautiful in person than the photo conveys. It will definitely get framed and hung up! I'm very surprised that Luis managed to keep the contents a secret for more than two weeks!

Diego's siblings all give really amazing gifts. This smile for the Playdoh Star Wars set is genuine!
I got these golf clubs from a family in my neighborhood parents group. Diego and I both thought Luis would love them, but he had a pretty tepid reaction. Hopefully when he has the opportunity to play with them on the course (not in the house!), he will warm up to them.
Alejo got some great new bath toys from Liz and Jules. He prefers to think of them as chew toys...
The Star Wars Playdoh set from Liz and Jules was a big hit. Diego enjoyed playing with it and with Luis, as it brought back lots of memories of his own Christmases, getting Star Wars toys.

Florida: Tuesday

2010-12-28T23:44:00.000-05:00

As the days wore on, Eston warmed up considerably to Alejo. In a few more years, I think they will be good buddies!

Five days of playing with cousins ALL DAY really started to wear on Luis. He looked tired a lot of the time. He also spent a lot of time in his bathing suit.

Alejo continued to smile. And to gnaw on things.
Mom came in the kitchen and saw Franklin on the counter and promptly fussed at him. Turns out he was smooshing nuts for a cookie recipe he was making with Alison!
I can't remember what Bibi found to be so exciting, but I think it's a great picture!

(Not sure why there aren't any pictures from Monday...)

Florida: Sunday

2010-12-26T23:33:00.000-05:00

For Mom & Sandy's 31st (!!!) anniversary, we made them a binder with loads of photos, and presented it to them after a delicious celebratory dinner (Diego made steaks on the grill and Fettuccine Carbonera).

Florida: Saturday (Christmas)

2010-12-25T23:18:00.001-05:00

On Christmas morning, Santa brought Luis a pair of fireman boots. He LOVES them. LOVES them. When he first saw them, he asked me if they were fireman boots. When I confirmed that they were, he nearly squealed with delight, "I've ALWAYS wanted a pair of fireman boots!!" (Though he'd never actually asked for any.)

Luis sporting the boots, and holding the stocking that Aunt Jules made for him

Luis's other big present was a concrete truck. Luis had asked Santa for one - several times. Santa listened.

Alejo's happiness seems to know no limit.

Though he can strike a more serious pose from time to time:

Luis wore his boots most of the day. He tried to wear them in the hot tub, without success.

Much concrete was made that afternoon, mostly by Luis. Franklin, Eston, Solly and Diego also helped out.

Florida: Friday (Christmas Eve)

2010-12-24T23:00:00.000-05:00

Alejo does not seem to be on the verge of getting any teeth, but he is definitely in a "mouthy" phase. He loves loves loves to gnaw on almost anything he can get into his mouth.

Maggie really loves to be with Alejo, and both he and I love it too! She is very loving and attentive with him, really keying in on how he's feeling and what he wants. I love to watch him be loved so sweetly.

The weather continued to be a bit cool, so we continued to use the hot tub. I went on a walk with Mom, Randolph, Lauren, Eston and Maggie. When we got back, we found almost everyone in the hot tub - with Alejo looking on from his bumbo. It was a happy group!

In July 2007, I took LOTS of pictures of Maggie jumping off the dock at Lake Allatoona. Here is just one of her jumping into the pool at Marco Island.
We had our traditional Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve. While it was a pot luck affair, Mom did a great job of managing the big picture, and making sure we had an amazing meal to sit down to together.

Lauren rivaled Maggie in her sweet love for and attention to Alejo. He is one lucky kid/cousin/nephew.
In preparation for Christmas day, Maggie helped Bibi make the fresh-squeezed orange juice. With 13 people, we needed a lot of OJ. (In the end we supplemented with a gallon of store bought juice).

Family Photos

2010-12-23T23:39:00.000-05:00

The whole group!

Back Row: Randolph and Alison

Middle Row: Diego, Croom, Franklin and Sandy

Front Row: Eston, Maggie, Mary, Alejo, Lauren, Solly, Luis, and Dodie

Florida: Thursday

2010-12-23T22:45:00.000-05:00

We all arrived in Marco on Wednesday - coming from MD, DC, GA and TX. After such a fun time last time (2008) I was really excited about this trip. Everybody had bumped up a bit in age. Maggie Lou is 10, Franklin is 7, Solly is 5, Luis is 4 (his birthday was yesterday!), Eston is 2 and Alejo is nearly 6 months. With the arrival of Alejo, Eston has gone from Baby Eston, to just Eston.

Immediately, it was wonderful to be together. Luis was really excited to see his cousins (especially the one he refers to as his sister). And the cousins, it seems, were excited to see him as well.

The pool was really too cold to swim in, at least for the adults. And Luis was not allowed in the pool without an adult. The closest he really got was climbing up and down this ladder in the deep end. Maggie Lou, at 10, had more freedoms with the pool. While Luis was on the ladder, she was leaping into the (quite cold) pool and then dunking in the (quite warm) hot tub.

Maggie found that Alejo settled down nicely in the stroller, and would stroll him around inside.
That afternoon, we decorated Train Cakes in celebration of Luis's birthday. I made 3 batches of trains. Maggie helped out by making most of the icing.
Eston was more into the eating than the decorating.
Maggie and Franklin liked both the decorating AND the eating.

Brotherly Love

2010-12-21T22:41:00.002-05:00

There is lotsa love around here!

How Did He Do That?

2010-12-21T22:38:00.001-05:00

I put Alejo down on the baby gym and went into the kitchen to get a drink. When I came back, he was here:Alejo is so stealthy about his rolling over. No fanfare, no showing off, no sounds at all. And he rarely turns over when I'm looking.

A Work Day

2010-12-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

Luis "went to work" with Diego. What this generally entails is Luis getting dressed in his Work Clothes (tall pants and a button down shirt) and riding in to the office with Diego. About 35-45 minutes later, I come and pick him up. Diego had some work to attend to this morning, so he set Luis up to watch airplane clips on You Tube on his iPad - one of Luis's favorite things to do.I love that this picture portrays Luis with a big mug of coffee and Diego's badges, concentrating on what appears to be work.

Lego Creations

2010-12-21T10:29:00.003-05:00

I wrote earlier about how much Luis is enjoying his Lego's. Here are a couple more pictures of his creations (all original!). You can see his airplane, dump truck and rocket.

Superman or Joe Cool?

2010-12-20T10:18:00.000-05:00

Alejo - This Last Week

2010-12-19T16:50:00.003-05:00

Sunday, chilling in the bouncy seat

Monday, snuggling with Momma

Wednesday, waiting in the Bumbo

Thursday, enjoying a play in the exersuacer

Saturday, smiling up at Momma

We Are Still Here (Just consumed by daily life)

2010-12-19T16:47:00.000-05:00

Luis's School Birthday

2010-12-15T12:22:00.000-05:00

Luis with his Birthday Crown

On Wednesday, Luis celebrated his birthday at school. It was a busy day, as it was also the day that his class had their holiday party (the first of many years that Luis's birthday and holiday parties will be married, I am sure!).

I set out to make some train cakes for the class, like last year. While I remembered Jules being instrumental in the decorating and arranging of the cakes, I thought I had done a pretty good job on the baking of the cakes. Either my memory does not serve me correctly, or I have lost my touch. This year, the trains were a big mess, sticking to the pan in great clumps, and coming out in chunks. I was feeling a bit down about them. When I explained to Luis that he would be having round cupcakes because the train cakes didn't turn out well, he insisted on seeing them. So I showed them to him (I had saved them thinking they would still be nice to snack on). He inspected them closely and then turned to me and said, "Momma, those train cakes are just perfect for my birthday. They are yummy and sticky and delicious. And perfect. PERFECT." It was one of the sweetest things he has said to me.

Here is what Luis ended up with this year. The real treat, however, was that Diego went to school and joined Luis for cupcakes and the holiday party. Luis was surprised and thrilled to see Diego when he showed up. I really loved hearing Luis gush about how great it was later. Below are some photos that Diego took during the holiday party of the various crafts and games that were going on:

Circle Time with Ms. Carolyn

Crafts with Ms. Maria and Ms. Carolyn

Christmas Tree Time

2010-12-10T00:34:00.002-05:00

On Friday, Diego came home a bit early so that we could head out to get a Christmas tree while there was a bit of daylight left. Last year, we went to a fancy place that served hot chocolate and sold $250 trees under these big tents with bright lights and Christmas music (our tree, however, came from a dark corner out beyond the carols or the sparkely lights). This year, we swung on over to the local Home Depot and picked out a lovely 8-9" tree. A lot less fanfare for sure, but just as pretty!

On Saturday, after another trip to Home Depot to buy lights (which was after Diego spent about 2+ hours trying to make our old lights work (unsuccessfully)), Diego and Luis strung the lights. I left on Sunday for a case in South Carolina, and when I came back the tree was fully decorated. Now, it just needs some presents...

The tree is big enough that you can barely see Diego behind it - just his arm by the window

Luis, who loves to help, took up the position in the back corner to assist Diego with stringing the lights

Lego Seed Drill

2010-12-04T00:42:00.003-05:00

Luis got his first set of Legos last Christmas, a beloved present from JF and RC. Over the year, his interest has grown exponentially, as has his ability. He enjoys making various types of vehicles like fire trucks, helicopters, and ambulances. Often, he will get one of his books and use a picture as a model for what to make. Today, he made this "seed drill" that he saw in his book about farm tractors.

Though I took about a dozen pictures of the lego creation and it's inspiration, none of them seem to do Luis's work justice. There is an attention to detail that I find amazing - especially with the bigger size Duplo blocks. Luis's version of the seed drill has the "bucket" on the front along with the hose that moves the seeds from this front bucket to the plow-like attachments on the back. It also has the plow-like attachments (though that red piece is mostly hidden in this photo).

Luis spent a large chunk of his 60-minute Quiet Time working on this. He was Very Proud of his work - as was I.

Rolling Over?

2010-12-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

Alejo is giving serious consideration to rolling over, but isn't quite there yet. Soon, I suspect.

Rice Cereal: Daddy Gets A Turn

2010-12-03T13:02:00.000-05:00

Diego got to feed Alejo cereal this evening. As soon as I put him in the bumbo and put on the bib (on Alejo, not Diego), he got VERY excited. It seems as if last night's feeding made a big impression on him.

(An added bonus to our super tall kitchen counters, is that they are just the right height for) feeding Alejo.

Alejo Tries Rice Cereal

2010-12-02T22:37:00.000-05:00

In preparation for Alejo's and my trip to South Carolina (and the 12+ hour days he'll be spending with Mom while I'm in court), I started Alejo on cereal today. With Luis, it seemed like a much bigger deal; something that had been thought about and planned out in advance. With Alejo, it was much a whim. I waited almost another month to start Alejo on cereal. My main reason was that it added another complication to the day: Nursing is easy, and can with minimal fuss or equipment needed. Cereal requires bumbo's and bowls and spoons and my undivided attention (to make sure he doesn't choke or fall out of the bumbo). Undivided attention is hard to find around here these days (much to Luis's chagrin).

In general, it went well. Alejo seemed very eager to eat with the spoon, and did a pretty good job of actually swallowing a good bit of the cereal. I found that I had a hard time shovelling it in fast enough. I have a great video of it, but have not yet figured out how to post video from my phone to the blog. Sigh, someday.

What's His Name?

2010-11-30T23:13:00.000-05:00

Jeanette & Aaron Come to Visit

2010-11-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

Jeanette and her nearly 2-year old son Aaron came for a visit. Jeanette a plane voucher for a round trip and some vacation days to burn. Lucky us she combined both into a five day visit to Dallas! We hadn't seen Aaron since he was here last, in July 2009.

It was so wonderful to have Jeanette here for a long visit, where we could leisurely catch up on all that is going on (and really there is a lot going on). Aaron enjoyed playing in the back yard with Luis's toys. He enjoyed the fort, and spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to climb up the slide. That part didn't go so well.

Aaron loved the dump truck. Watching Aaron play with it, I realized that Aaron is almost the age that Luis was when we moved to Dallas. Wow - Luis sure has grown up a lot in the last two years!! (Of course, Luis has been telling people that he's already four years old since May!)

Luis made up some crazy game that included cutting up a plastic cup. Aaron tried desperately to play too and to figure out the rules. It was a bit like Calvinball (Permanent Rule: You may not play Calvinball the same way twice.) Poor Aaron never had a chance. Jeanette was sweet enough to mediate.

It isn't really a trip to Dallas if there isn't also a trip to Hunky's. We took Jeanette and Aaron there on Friday night. Aaron seemed to enjoy taking cues from Luis's rambunctiousness. Unfortunately, Luis did not take cues from Aaron on how to eat all of your dinner.

On Saturday, we went took the (bigger) boys to the zoo. It was good to get them outside and to run off some energy. Luis, however, was not at the top of his tour guide game: he was crabby and grumpy and uninterested in doing anything that anyone else wanted to do (unless they wanted to do the thing that he wanted to do, and even then it was a toss up!). Aaron, on the other hand, was generally agreeable to everything.

On Saturday afternoon, we walked over to visit Charlie, the neighborhood bunny.

Sunday was a quiet morning around the house. Jeanette and I tried to squeeze in the last bit of chatting, while the boys played in the back yard. Just before going to the airport, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Gloria's.

Alejo was with us for most of the weekend, but somehow didn't make it into a single picture. Sigh. It sure is tough being the second baby!

11/21

Luis, Alejo and Caleb

2010-11-17T22:28:00.000-05:00

Our good friends Bethany and Caleb came by for a visit. Luis, who loves to wear his pajamas (tall pants, no shirt), came downstairs wearing them after the boys played upstairs for a bit.

I'm not quite sure why, but Caleb really wanted me to take some pictures of him. Luis was not so interested.

Caleb has been very interested in Alejo since he was born. When he comes over, he asks to hold Alejo, and asks me lots of questions. Here, he asked if he could have a picture taken with Alejo. Luis was suddenly much more interested in having HIS picture taken. And Sibling Rivalry starts early!

M-U-D

2010-11-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, after Kristin left, Luis asked if he could play outside. I said, "Sure". He asked if he could play with the water hose. I said, "Sure". He asked if he could build a rain forest. I said, "Sure". I was tired. I was very tired. The idea of Luis entertaining himself was a very pleasing idea. Even more so because Alejo, who was desperately tired, would not go to sleep and was, instead, screaming his head off in his bed.

I had no idea how much mud he was going to make, or that he would want to submerge as much of himself as possible in it.

I reminded myself that ALL of Luis's clothes are machine washable (and that I buy Oxyclean at Costco, in 10-lb boxes), for exactly this reason.

But mostly I reminded myself that few things make me happier than when Luis is this happy.

And boy was he happy. (But Alejo was still screaming, still tired.)

While he was self-contained in the mud, I set some chicken to thaw in water in the sink (it was 5p, and I suddenly realized I had no idea what was for dinner). I went back out to check on Luis. Took some pictures. Listened to how, exactly, it is that you build a rain forest. Assured Luis that the clothes could be washed. Listened to Alejo crying on the monitor. Ran back inside to get Luis a drink.

Annnnnnnnd realized that I had left the water running in the sink. And the stopper in. There was water everywhere. On the counter, on the floor, in the drawers, on the shelves, in the microwave, in the dishes in the drawers. My heart stopped at the sight of all of that water.

And Alejo was still screaming. As I was standing in the kitchen with very wet feet, Luis decided that he needed to come in to get that drink. Covered in mud. DRIPPING mud. Suddenly, it was not just Alejo who was screaming.

I'm not sure what happened after that, as it was literally a blur. But I mopped up all of the water (more than 5 gallons!) from the floor and the shelves and the drawers (and the microwave!). I got Luis's muddy clothes off and in to soak in the laundry room - being very careful to turn of the water when the sink was not quite half full. I got the mud scrubbed out of Luis's hair and between his toes and in his ears.

And eventually, Alejo fell asleep.

Who's Zooming Who?

2010-11-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

(Seems a bit ... corny? to take a picture of Diego taking a video of Alejo - but I think it's a cute photo anyway!)

Baby Gym: A Family Affair!

2010-11-07T21:56:00.000-05:00

Alejo is not a big fan of Tummy Time, and usually fusses the moment I put him down. So I was a bit surprised today when not only did he not complain, he seemed almost happy!

Later on, Luis wanted in on the Baby Gym action!

Luis wanted to pose with Diego and Alejo.

Then, he wanted to pose with Momma and Alejo.

(Too bad we couldn't get a picture with ALL of us!)

Happy Kids!

2010-11-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

Rainy Day

2010-11-02T20:26:00.000-04:00

There is something that I really like about this picture of Luis's teacher walking him to the car on a rainy day, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Four Month Check Up (Two Months ago)

2010-10-26T20:01:00.000-04:00

Alejo had his 4 month check up, and as it turns out, he is still perfect delightful in every way. His stats are as follows:

Weight 14lb 7 oz (50th %), Length 26" (80th%), and head circumference 16 3/4" (65th%).

At the same age, Luis's stats were:

Weight 14lbs 14oz (50th%), Length 26 1/2" (90th %) and head circumference 16" (30th%).

Comparing the numbers, what is the most interesting is how a small change in measurement makes a huge change in percentile.

For comparison, here is Luis at 4 months

Alejo is doing great. He is happy and cheerful and easy going. He fusses only when he's tired or hungry, and even then it's barely a peep. He sleeps through the night many nights, other nights waking up about 4a to nurse. I don't mind a bit, because then he'll go back to sleep until about 8a or later. This allows me to get Diego and Luis ready for their days while Alejo snoozes.

I find it noteworthy that Alejo's eyes are still blue. Dark, crisp blue. With Luis, I really, really hoped he would have green eyes (like his mom), but that was not to be. Now, I am wondering if Alejo might end up with blue eyes (like his grandfather). It is not statistically probable, but it is possible.

Alejo has not yet "organized" his day sleep, which is on my list of things to encourage. His night sleep is great. Fantastic. Terrific. Lengthy and predictable. But day sleep consists of mostly an hour up and an hour down. When I tried to express this as a concern to the pediatrician, he simply asked: Would you rather have good nighttime or good daytime sleep? The answer, of course, is I want both. But if I had to chose, I'll take what I have.

The picture above suggests that he is on the verge of rolling over, but I don't really thing that's true. And I'm not so eager for him to reach that milestone. All things in good time...

Rescue Scene

2010-10-13T13:55:00.000-04:00

I am often impressed with Luis's imagination (a quality he definitely got from his dad!). Yet still, every once in a while, he really catches me off guard with what he creates. This morning, he called me in to the front hall to see what he had made. I knew he had his fire truck in there, which is not unusual. I knew that he had been in there a while playing, which is also not unusual. But when I came in to see his handy work, a bit unusual.

This rescue scene is much more realistic than the ones he has created in the past, somehow more complete.

With the sun streaming in the front door, it's a little hard to see the fire fighter up at the top of the ladder, with the water nozzle turned on the imaginary fire. Note the traffic cones between the trucks to delineate the area where the rescue guys are working.

It took Luis a while to get the firemen's little hands to grasp onto the handlebars on the truck. Looks like he's got it all figured out now!

This is Luis explaining all of the components to me, including the airplane to fly any hurt people to the nearest hospital.

Who Is That Blue Eyed Baby?

2010-10-12T13:53:00.000-04:00

Baby's eye color often changes during the first year, and sometimes even later than that. Luis was born with blue eyes, but his were green before three months. Alejo is just over three months now, and his eyes are SO blue. Makes me wonder if they might stay that way...

Hasta Luego Aunt Jules

2010-10-06T11:05:00.000-04:00

Jules left today, and we are very sad (despite that totally delightful smile on Luis's face). We are not sure when she'll be back - but everyone hopes it will be soon!

So Many Cute Faces!

2010-10-05T23:01:00.000-04:00

(Some days it's hard to chose just one)

Sunday Morning

2010-10-03T22:49:00.000-04:00

Just a quiet Sunday morning. Diego took first shift with the kiddos while I got a wee bit more sleep.

We've Been in Texas Too Long

2010-10-02T22:54:00.000-04:00

Alejo - An Update

2010-09-06T22:36:00.004-04:00

Alejo had is 2 month check up last Monday - hard to believe it's already been 2 months. But as I type this, I also feel like he's always been with us; it's a little hard to imagine him not here.

He got a clean bill of health from the pediatrician. His stats are: 11lbs 14oz (50%), 24.5" height (90%) and 16" head circumference (60%). Luis was heavier, shorter and had a smaller head at the same age. I'm a little surprised at how Luis and Alejo's weight changes. Luis was heavier at birth and Alejo was heavier at 10 days and 2 weeks. Now Luis was heavier at one month. Consistently, Alejo has a bigger head...

Alejo is such a sweet, sweet baby. He is calm and easy going almost all the time. He has little squeaks when he's hungry or when he's got a poopy diaper, but that's about it. Alejo loves to cuddle and will curl up on my chest or shoulder and snooze away as long as I'll hold him.

I know it won't last much longer, but he still has days where he sleeps almost all day and all night. Of course, he has some days now where he is awake almost the whole day. Those days are a bit tough, as it requires a lot of baby-holding. It's still really hot here (over 100 degrees every day until last week), too hot to use my Ergo carrier for baby wearing. The good news is that Alejo never had his days/nights mixed up. Regardless of what happens during the day, Alejo always sleeps well, in his crib, at night. He wakes up between 1-3 times in the night, but is rarely awake for more than 15 minutes. While I look forward to when it's just one time per night, I find it hard to complain because the awake time is so minimal.

With all the sleeping that he's doing, I find it difficult to bathe him. I think he went almost two weeks from when he got home from the hospital until his first bath because he was never awake long enough at a time when Diego or I could do it (first bath post to come). We've gotten a little better about it, but certainly not the regular schedule that Luis had.

And speaking of "not the regular schedule that Luis had", this phrase really applies to all of Alejo's life. I'm pretty sure that at this stage of Luis's life, he had a well-defined schedule, including a bedtime routine. With Alejo, I feel lucky if we actually change him out of his clothes into PJ's before bedtime! When Luis was this age, Diego was already working in India, and I had not gone back to work at HITT. Meals were just for me, and were often things like cereal or sandwich or frozen something. So my only focus was Luis (and Ashley & Muffles). It wasn't hard to be more structured and focused about Luis's schedule. This time around, I've got a 3 1/2 year old to play with and teach, a part-time job, and a family to feed and keep in clean clothes. Alejo's easy-going-ness, in a way, doesn't help promote a schedule. When he's hungry, I feed him and when he's tired, I put him to bed. So far, it's been working. I'm hoping that with the start of Luis's school tomorrow, we can ALL get back on a more regular schedule. Honestly, I'm just not quite sure how to squeeze in making dinner, eating dinner, bathing Alejo, bathing Luis, reading stories, nursing an putting Luis and Alejo to bed in the hours between 6-8.

Starting about 2 weeks ago (maybe about August 21), Alejo started to smile. Not the I-have-gas smile, but the OH WOW - HUMAN INTERACTION smile. It's really beautiful and totally contagious. He smiles not just with his mouth, but with his eyes, his cheeks, his whole face. Yesterday, before we headed out to the Zoo, Diego was telling Alejo about the animals we'd see (in Spanish). Apparently Alejo was totally delighted by this, just smiling and smiling and smiling.

Alejo spends a little time each day in the baby gym. It is mostly to by me some time to finish making breakfast/lunch/dinner or to give Luis some one-on-one time. Lucky for me, Alejo seems to enjoy it there. He will now grab on to some of the hanging toys and cling (as if for dear life). He gets tummy time about every third day or so. Just when I feel a bit guilty about not doing it more often, I remind myself that he's had pretty incredible neck strength for more than a month now. Now, when you support his back while sitting, he can hold his head up pretty much on his own. Diego is eager to try out the bumbo, but I think we've got a bit of time before he's ready for that.

[Picture posts to follow in the next couple of days.]

A Sweet, Sweet Evening

2010-09-05T22:55:00.004-04:00

Tonight, Alejo joined Luis and I for Luis's going to bed routine. Luis re-arranged us all so that both he and Alejo could see the book. Occasionally, he would lovingly reach over and give Alejo a little pat. When stories were over, we had the following conversation:

Luis: Mommy, can Alejo have a sleep over with me tonight?

Me: Not tonight. When he gets older we can.

Luis: Please Mommy? He can sleep with me and if he cries, I'll make him feel better.

Me: That's very sweet, but not tonight.

Luis: OK. If he cries, I'll come get you and you can give him some milk and then he'll feel better. OK?

Me: Not tonight sweetie.

The very next conversation:

Luis: When Alejo gets bigger and becomes my big brother, will we have another baby?

Me: What do you think?

Luis: YES! And this time, let's have a little sister.

Me: Do you like babies?

Luis: Yes!!

[Note: Any comments that re-ask the question about more babies will be deleted.]

A Special Breakfast

2010-09-02T23:00:00.005-04:00

Despite the fact that Luis's fall school has not yet started (that happens next week), we still seem to have slightly hectic mornings. Between making coffee for the grown ups, breakfast for everyone and lunch for Diego all before 8:00a, I find myself a little tired when Diego walks out the door for work.

This morning was no exception, except that I hadn't gotten around to my own breakfast yet. And I was hungry! The moment that the door closed behind Diego, Luis turns to me and invites me to play Super Heroes. I declined. Then he invited me to do a puzzle ("Because you REALLY like to do puzzles, right Mommy?"). I declined.

Luis: Well then, who is going to play with me?

Me: Luis, I will play with you in a bit, but right now I'm going to have breakfast. This morning I've made Daddy breakfast, I've made you breakfast, I've given Alejo TWO breakfasts, and I've made Daddy's lunch. Who is the only person who hasn't had breakfast yet?

Luis: You?

Me: That's right. So before I do anything else for anybody else, I am going to have my breakfast and do my puzzle (really, two puzzles - crossword and sudoku).

Luis: What are you going to have for breakfast?

Me: Apple with peanut butter.

Luis (running into the kitchen): Mommy - tell me where you keep the apples so I can get it for YOU.

His sweet, sweet offer just about took my breath away, and made me tear up a bit. Luis is certainly a loving, affectionate child, but this was the first time I'd seen him extrapolate on his own to do something for someone else.

Luis-isms

2010-08-29T00:25:00.003-04:00

Today at the zoo, Luis was running around with his friend Luka, mostly chasing 5 & 6 year old girls. He runs back to the table at some point and tells me that he is a police man and he and Luka are trying to round up those boys (and points to a group of kids). When I ask him, "And how is that going for you?", he responded, "Not so good".

Today, Luis was running around the house, showing Jules and I how quickly he could run. "Mommy, I'm FAST. I'm faster than a spa... spe... really fast bullet!"

On Friday, Luka was over for a play date (we're spending a lot of time with Luka these days). Both boys were in a time out of sorts for saying "stupid" - they had to get out of the little pool in the back yard, and sit at the picnic table. Once I had them settled on opposite benches, Luis says to Luka, "So, tell me a little about your day".

Last night, Luis was having a big tantrum at bedtime (mostly from being so tired after his 4-hour play date with Luka (see above). He was, as we say in this house, using his rude words and his rude voice and making bad choices about his behavior. When I called him on his behavior, he said to me, between big sobs and tears, "Mommy stop it! You are antagonizing me!" I had to turn my head away so as not to laugh where he could see me!

A different Way to Ask

2010-08-12T00:36:00.002-04:00

Monday, Luis and I were at the zoo with his friend Luka, and my friend Lea Ann (Luka's mom). We ended up all sharing our lunches, kind of continuously grazing. It became clear very quickly that Luka had much more desirable things in his lunch.

Luis, ever the polite child, saddled up next to Lea Ann and said in his most charming voice: Miss Lea Ann, can you borrow me something from Luka's lunch?

(And she did. It scored him some Doritos.)

Seizing the Hug

2010-07-31T12:17:00.003-04:00

Last night, long after Luis's bedtime, and after his one-more-hug-and-kiss, and actually, long after I assumed he was really asleep, I hear the thump thump thump of him coming down the stairs. He paused on the landing and peeked around the corner to find me on the couch, nursing Alejo.

Mooooooom, can I give you one more hug and kiss?

No Noodle, I'll come up in a minute.

Luis dutifully (surprisingly) scampers back up the stairs to his bed. After getting Alejo settled in his bed, I head up to Luis.

Momma, Can you snuggle me?

I start to say know, that it's late, that it's WAY past his bed time, that he already had his "one last" hug and kiss. But then I remembered something I'd read recently about how fast kids grow up, how small the window is where they WANT to be hugged and kissed and snuggled. Somehow having Alejo - so small and tiny - has reinforced this notion of how quickly the time goes.

So instead, I crawled in to bed with Luis. He snuggled in close to me, I wrapped my arms around him and we talked about our day. He squeezed me and I squeezed him. He told me that he loved me. I gave him one last "last hug and kiss". And then one more after that for good measure.

I hope that in 10, 20 or 40 years that I can conjure back up the events of last night, to remember how sweetly Luis asked for some love and generously he gave some to me, too. And in the mean time, I hope that I take Luis up on his offers more often.

More than a coincidence?

2010-07-25T14:00:00.002-04:00

Today, like many days in the last week, just as I give Luis his last hug and kiss before his nap time, Alejo, who has been sleeping in his crib, starts to make his little squeaking sounds. And if history is any indication, Alejo will be awake until approximately 3 minutes before Luis wakes up from his nap.

I should count my blessings that both boys are good sleepers. And I do. I just wish that there were more days where they slept at the same time...

Muffles-Cat

2010-07-22T23:44:00.000-04:00

The church where Luis goes to "school" has a family of cats it takes care of - the matriarch of whom is the spitting image of our old cat Muffles. It isn't often that we see her walking to school, but when we do, we always stop for a visit.

[If you look closely, you can see that Luis has a little Matchbox fire truck in each hand. Luis enjoys some sort of Show and Tell each day at school - bringing in a toy (or more likely, some piece of his super hero costume) to show his friends.]

First Bath

2010-07-21T23:36:00.001-04:00

I'm a little bit embarrassed that Alejo is three weeks old and we are just giving him his first bath at home. It's true that he doesn't really sweat or get into things -he isn't playing in the sandbox with his brother. Still, three weeks seems like a long time. A big part of it is that Alejo is such a great sleeper that he is hardly awake long enough to get a bath in! I wanted to Diego to do it with me, but this made it a bit more difficult to coordinate the time (around meals and Luis's bedtime routine).

Generally speaking, Alejo was pretty unimpressed by the whole event. He sat quietly for the soaping up and the rinsing off. As soon as we had him out of the tub and onto the towel, he started to really shiver, and then to cry. It was a little too cold for him.

A Busy Sunday for Alejo (2 1/2 Weeks)

2010-07-18T17:52:00.000-04:00

Alejo has two great tricks so far - eating (as evidenced by his weight gain in the last two weeks) and sleeping. He practices his sleeping about 22-23 hours per day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.
A close third, as far as his tricks go, is Being Cute. I may like this trick best of all. Of course, I may be a bit biased...
You can barely see Diego's foot at the bottom of this picture. With all the sleeping that Alejo does, it is a rare moment that he needs to be soothed by both the vibrating bouncy chair and a little extra bounce from a foot.

Two Weeks Later - Luis's SISTER Arrives

2010-07-18T17:27:00.000-04:00

As part of a last minute plan, our very good friends from Seattle, David, Erika & Skylar, came for a short visit right after Mom and Sandy departed (see these other posts for visits with the Stader-Tulls). David had a meeting at Love Field (with Diego!) and Erika & Skylar came along as well. They arrived in time for breakfast on Friday morning, and left so early Sunday morning that we all said our goodbyes the night before (I think it was a 6a flight out!). In between, we had a great, great time.

Erika taking a turn holding Alejo

Luis has long referred to Skylar as his sister. (In fact, when I was about 36 weeks pregnant, Luis was talking about her at school, asking his teachers if they knew he had a sister. They thought that I had gone into labor early AND had a girl - what would have been two big surprises.) While sitting outside, waiting for them to arrive on Friday morning, Luis stretched the family analogy to add that Erika is my sister and David is Diego's brother. While not technically correct, I would definitely call the Stader-Tulls family!

In two short days, we read books, did art projects, swam in the pool, had naps, went to a birthday party for Caleb (Luis's friend), ran around the house, took turns holding Alejo (even Skylar and Luis got in on this), talked, shopped, played golf (the men), and generally enjoyed each other.

Luis loving on his "sister"

Skylar sometimes didn't love it as much as Luis did

Luis also spent a large amount of time "pinching" people with his "clippers" (his souvenir from his trip to the Science Museum with Bibi & Grandpa Sandy).

Luis in his super hero costume with the "clippers"

Skylar is going to be a big sister to a little brother in mid-November, as Erika is pregnant. I think that David & Erika were pleased for Skylar to get a little "practice" with a newborn to get a sense of what they are like, how teensy they are, and that they don't really "do" anything. Alejo, for his part, was very willing to be held by everyone, and hardly made a peep the whole time they were here.

Skylar showing off her baby-holding skills

The second night, Luis somehow convinced David & Diego (who were doing the bedtime routine) that he and Skylar should be allowed to go to sleep in our bed. It had something to do with the fact that Skylar would be leaving so early in the morning - but I missed the details. I was highly, highly skeptical of the situation, but wanted to back up Diego who had already said yes. Quite shockingly, they went straight to sleep with nary a peep from either of them. Very shocking!

Luis and Skylar zonked out on Saturday night.

Luis's Newest Sleeping Companion

2010-07-17T18:11:00.001-04:00

Here are Luis and Giraffe-y (the Giraffe) enjoying a nap together - at least for a few more minutes until I wake Luis up. Giraffe-y was a gift from Bibi and Grandpa Sandy from their zoo trip.

Growing, Growing

2010-07-17T16:36:00.000-04:00

Due to his jaundice issues, I took Alejo back to the pediatrician on Tuesday to check his bilirubin level. His levels were fine and the pediatrician saw no need to follow up with any treatments - which was great.

What was shocking to me was Alejandro's weight - 7lbs 12oz. I didn't expect him to be back at birth weight, much less a couple of ounces over. I guess he is officially a growing boy!!

Grandpa Sandy Joins the Fray

2010-07-15T16:22:00.000-04:00

Bibi, Grandpa Sandy, Luis and The Clippers (the souvenir from the Science Museum)

Sandy was scheduled to arrive on Monday (7/13), but due to inclement weather, he didn't make it in until Tuesday. Luis was VERY excited about his arrival! On Wednesday, Mom and Sandy took Luis to the Zoo in the morning. Luis came back in time to eat some lunch and crawl in to bed - between the running around and the heat, he was exhausted. On Thursday, they took him to the Science Museum - which was also a big treat. To top it off, they got lunch at Hunky's afterwards. Luis was in HEAVEN!

Luis took this picture for us

Luis, Grandpa Sandy and the helicopter memento from the Zoo

It Was Bound to Happen...

2010-07-13T18:03:00.000-04:00

It only took 13 days for Luis to say, "I think we should take Baby Alejandro back to the hospital. I don't want a little brother any more." Sigh.

I posted this on Facebook the day he said it. The comments I got back were awesome!

- Juliana Rincon Parra and what did you tell him?
  July 13 at 5:59pm · ·
- Mary McDow Rincon ‎"we will talk about it more later."
  
  Mary M Rincon
  July 13 at 6:04pm via Email Reply · ·
- Meg Coward If it makes you feel any better, my cousin Persis's son suggested after about that much time that they give his baby sister to the trash men. ;)
  July 13 at 6:10pm · ·
- Leah Emet Schier My brother said the same about me
  July 13 at 6:25pm · ·
- Eileen McCarty Branham My sister's 5 and 2 yr olds slept in the bed with her until her twins were born. When someone asked my niece how she liked the babies, she said "I want them to go away so I can have my space in the bed back"
  July 13 at 6:32pm · ·
- Juliana Rincon Parra Runs in the family, my mom says :P
  July 13 at 6:49pm · ·
- Sarah Saelinger Rimicci I have a friend who's sister was born when she was around 2-3. After a few weeks, she got tired of her sister, found a box and put her in it... She thought it was time to ship baby back to where she came from!
  July 13 at 7:22pm · ·
- Lauren Weatherly McDow Awww. 13 days already? Time is flying!
  July 13 at 7:37pm · ·
- Cara Taylor Terreri Did you tell Luis you occasionally thought the same thing about him? ;) There are days (the really bad ones) when I wonder if hospitals accept "returns."
  July 13 at 8:02pm · ·
- Stacey Bliss Densberger LOL! Well you knew it was going to come at some point! Wish I could tell you it will be the last time you hear it, but I am fairly certain you will hear that again.
  July 13 at 9:11pm · ·
- Clarkson McDow That is what Thomas said about me.
  July 13 at 10:35pm · ·
  
  Juan Felipe Rincon You could tell Luis that you lost the receipt for Alejo and that they don't issue store credit...
  July 14 at 8:08am · ·

2 Week Check Up

2010-07-13T16:46:00.000-04:00

Alejo had his two-week check up on Tuesday (a day early). By all accounts, he is doing well. He weighed in at a whopping 8lbs, 8oz - nearly a pound up from his birth weight! He was 21" with a 14 3/4" head. His weight is at 45%, and both height and head circumference are 50% (though I hardly think of him as an "average" child).

Dr. Curry noted how much control of his neck Alejo has and how well coordinated he is for his age. He told us to skip the one month check up and just come back at two months. I was a little surprised and asked if he was sure. Dr. Curry said, "He already moves like a 2-month old, he is clearly eating well and gaining weight, and with Luis at home you've got a good track record as a parent." Felt like I got a Gold Star from the pediatrician!

Alejo snoozing on Bibi's lap

For comparison data, check out Luis's 2 Week Check Up post here. I find it interesting that at 2 weeks, Luis was 4oz over birth weight while Alejo was 15oz over birth weight. I hope Alejo doesn't keep out-pacing Luis at this same rate!

(Lots of people have noted that they have significantly fewer pictures with subsequent children than they had with their first. This is the only picture I have of Alejo in the last five days. Guess that it's true for us as well...)

World Cup!

2010-07-12T16:56:00.000-04:00

Since this blog will (hopefully) be a keepsake for our family of our adventures and milestones, I feel that I must get in at least one post about World Cup. This year, for the first time ever, Diego has watched every single World Cup game. He records them on the DVR and then watches them when he gets home in the evening. Diego goes to great lengths to avoid hearing details or scores about the games so that when he watches them at night, he doesn't know the outcome in advance.

On the weekends, Luis will join Diego on the couch to watch some games. Luis always asks Diego which team they want to win (the red team or the blue team, for example - he goes by colors, not countries). He has figured out that the goalie has a different color jersey than his teammates and that the refs have yet a different color. And, he can yell GGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL in a way that makes Diego proud. It's fun to watch. Alejo arrived in time to catch the tale end of the tournament this year - getting a few games.

Even Bibi watched a few with us. For the final game with Spain, Diego made a delicious paella that we all enjoyed.

Bibi Arrives

2010-07-11T16:09:00.000-04:00

Bibi Croom arrived Tuesday evening (July 6th - Happy Birthday Bibi) and has been a godsend since she arrived! She is taking great care of each of us - reading stories, doing puzzles and playing with Luis; holding and loving on Alejo; keeping me company, cooking yummy meals and helping me with my boys. Mom did sweet things for including trips to the grocery store when we were suddenly out of milk, staying home with a sleeping Alejo so I could take/pick up Luis from school, ironed all the stuff in my ironing pile, made and froze lasagnas and casseroles to enjoy after she'd gone. She brought me nice treats from Annapolis. One night, she kept both boys so that Diego and I could go out for Sushi dinner - just the two of us. It was wonderful having her here.

The day after she arrived, she kept Alejo so that I could take Luis to Hunky's after school for a treat - just the two of us!

Turns out that a whole piece of red velvet cake AND a chocolate milk shake was too much for the two of us. Though we did manage to finish both of them off, neither of us ate very much at dinner.

Luis was very excited about her arrival, asking for several days if today was the day. And upon her arrival, he loved on her everyday! Bibi stayed in the guest house and kept a few of Luis's presents out there, including a very large firetruck floor puzzle. Luis must have gone out there at least once a day to work that. About half way through her visit, Luis started going out early (EARLY) in the morning to "snuggle with Bibi until the sun comes up". (Bibi will receive some extra special treats in heaven for allowing that so many days in a row!!)

A New Version of Luis the Super Hero

2010-07-08T12:07:00.000-04:00

Luis and Diego like to watch old clips of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc. on YouTube. Luis, always with an eye for detail, noticed that many of the super heroes have, as Luis described it, "super chupies on the outside of their pants". [Chupies is the Swahili term for underwear.] So in an attempt to be more authentic in his costumes, Luis uses this pair of blue "super chupies" when he dresses up now. Note also the addition of the "well" part of the oil spill (turns out that the toilet paper holder is much more fun as a super hero gun than it is as an oil well).

Arts & Crafts meets Current Events

2010-07-07T18:37:00.000-04:00

Luis brought this home from school; it was his arts and crafts project. I made several attempts to guess what it was, but was wrong every time. Finally Luis just told me: Mommy, it's the OIL SPILL!

(This is not Luis's first exposure to the BP oil spill in the Gulf...)

2010-07-06T21:47:00.000-04:00

Ashley meets Alejandro

2010-07-06T21:46:00.000-04:00

Luis & Alejo

2010-07-05T18:11:00.000-04:00

(So far) Luis has been an attentive and loving big brother. He is eager to see what Alejo is doing and to understand his wants - which are currently limited to nursing, new diaper, and being held. Luis was very clear from the time he found out I was pregnant that he was not willing to help with diapers. And the nursing is really all on me. So Luis likes to help with the baby holding. He asks often to hold Alejo, and usually remembers on his own that he must was wash his hands before holding Alejo. Of course, Alejo's tricks are few and Luis's attention span is short, so these moments are short. But they are sweet, and I am treasuring each of them.

Saturday 7/3/10

Sunday 7/4/10

Monday 7/5/10

Welcome home snuggles for Alejo

2010-07-04T16:27:00.000-04:00

Sunlight

2010-07-04T15:25:00.000-04:00

When we left the hospital, the pediatrician told us to keep Alejo near windows (and sunlight) for the rest of the day, to help with the bilirubin issues. So, we put Alejo in the same place as all the other things in the house that need sunlight:

Super Lauren Saves the Day!

2010-07-04T09:48:00.000-04:00

(Luis took this picture!)

Mid-May, Lauren volunteered to come out for a short visit soon after the baby was due to arrive. I was feeling a bit scared about how I would manage a new born and a 3.5 year old, and gratefully accepted her invitation. We planned for her to come out on July 1, as I was sure the baby would be early. And in the end he was, but not by much (1 day!).

Lauren holding Alejo

Lauren arrived Thursday afternoon, coming straight to the hospital, where she immediately charmed Luis! (And she brought him presents!) She played with him, cooed over Alejo, and chatted with Diego and me. When Luis started to get a little antsy (turns out that babies are sort of boring and hospital rooms have lots of rules!), Lauren walked Luis down to McDonalds, where they got ice cream together. It was great! When Diego took Luis home, Lauren stuck around to keep Alejo and me company.

Turns out that an inflatable beach ball is a pretty good toy to have in a hospital room - no damage done, lots of fun had.

Friday morning, Lauren escorted Luis to a friend's birthday party so that Diego could escort Alejo and me home from the hospital. Luis was thrilled to have his Aunt Lauren to go with. Then that night, she cooked a delicious shrimp dinner for all of us adults. In between she helped me organize baby clothes, changed several poopy diapers, played with Luis and held Alejo. I'm so thrilled that she came - especially in those first few days.

Luis LOVES to take pictures with my camera, and took this one of Lauren in the hospital

Everyone was sad to see her go home on Saturday morning...

Lauren, Alejo and Mary, just before Lauren left

Leah Comes to Visit

2010-07-03T23:21:00.000-04:00

Leah (who kept Luis the night that Alejo arrived) came up for a visit on Thursday night - and very sweetly brought me the most delicious chocolate milk shake. Luis considers Leah to be his friend (not just mine). I hope that some day, Alejo feels the same way!

Mom & Alejo

2010-07-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

Alejo - Day 3

2010-07-03T15:12:00.001-04:00

This is group of pictures taken of Alejo on Day 3, our last day in the hospital. We both feel like Alejo looks a lot like his big brother.

Diego made the awesome collage (below) of Luis pictures shortly after Luis was born. In fact, I think that the pictures were all taken while we were still in the hospital. Do you see the family resemblance?

Our New Family

2010-07-03T15:00:00.000-04:00

A big thanks to Lauren for taking these pictures for us - the first ones of our new family!

Glow Worm Alejandro!

2010-07-03T14:49:00.000-04:00

At his 24-hour check up in the hospital, Alejandro's bilirubin level was high, indicating that he was a bit jaundiced. The pediatrician ordered "some time under the lights" to help. When the nurse brought him in to me at 2:30a (keep in mind that he was 24-hours old at 1:30 in the morning!), he was glowing this unearthly blue and green glow. In my exhausted stupor, I didn't even ask the nurse what was happening!! Never-the-less, she explained the elevated levels, the procedure, and how to keep Alejo in between the lights while he slept and nursed. Luis had been a little bit jaundiced, but had not required light therapy. Turns out that male babies are more prone than female babies, and second babies are more prone than first babies (learn something interesting every day!).

Hospital personnel all seemed to try to reassure us that the jaundice was normal and would pass with the light therapy. But neither Diego, nor Alejo, nor I were at all concerned about the lights.

The bassinet set-up looked kind scary - each of the tubes provide UV light to a heating pad-like pad, one he laid on and one was on his belly - and the two tied together to make a UV-Alejo sandwich.

His therapy included a little mask to protect his eyes from the lights. All bundled up like this, he looks kind of surreal.

This picture is kind of dark, but really shows what Alejo looked like at night, all bundled up in his UV lights.

Twenty four hours later, his levels were down, the lights came off and we went home. In the mean time, we got some pretty cool pictures of our "glow worm" baby. We did have to do a follow up with our pediatrician a couple of days later, and everything looked great.

Alejo - Day 2

2010-07-03T14:14:00.000-04:00

Day 2 was much like Day 1 - Alejo slept about 23 hours of the day and had short nursing sessions in every couple of hours. He also cooled his jets under the UV lights. Diego came up (after staying home with Luis and getting him off to school), Lauren arrived, and I laid in the bed.

Alejo - Day 1

2010-07-03T13:47:00.000-04:00

Alejo's first day was pretty uneventful. Diego went home before breakfast to see Luis and change clothes (he had a big meeting he hoped to get to). Alejo slept. Diego came back up to the hospital to see us. Alejo slept. Diego went home to get Luis so Luis could meet Alejo. Alejo slept. Luis checked out every button, gadget and item in the hospital room. Alejo slept. Diego took Luis home for dinner and bedtime. Alejo slept. He did wake up a few times to nurse, but then it was always right back to sleep.

Diego had a little nap, too - it had been a long night for all three of us.

Alejo did open his eyes for a few minutes, just enough time to get a couple of good pictures. Then it was back to sleep.

Super Smart Luis

2010-07-03T11:06:00.000-04:00

When we went to the hospital (because I was in labor), my friend Leah came to stay with Luis. We had talked about the plan with Luis for a couple of weeks - to help minimize the chance that he'd freak out if he found Leah in our bed one night with Diego and I gone. We talked about how babies come whenever they are ready, and that we won't know when until it's time. We talked about how sometimes babies come in the middle of the night. We told Luis that the baby would be born at the hospital, and that Daddy and Dr. Reyes would be there to help me. We also explained that Luis would be able to come up AFTERWARDS to meet the baby and visit with Mommy. He seemed to be pretty hip to the plan...

The night Alejo was born, Luis came in to our room about 2a, and woke Leah up to ask if he could use "mommy's potty" to go to the bathroom. He didn't actually acknowledge that it wasn't me in the bed, or that Leah was there. After using the bathroom, he went straight back to bed. About two hours later, he came back in and woke Leah up again. She said, "Guess what Luis? You have a baby brother now! Your mom and dad are at the hospital!!" Luis didn't even blink and simply said, "I KNOW! That's why you're here."

Then he asked if he could snuggle her, climbed in the bed and went right back to sleep!

2010-07-02T21:45:00.000-04:00

2010-07-01T21:44:00.000-04:00

Luis y Alejo se encuentran por primera vez.

Welcome Alejandro Rincon!

2010-07-01T12:26:00.000-04:00

Wednesday evening (June 29), I was feeling a bit poorly after my 40-week exam that afternoon (at which time my body was clearly getting ready for labor - 3cm dilated - but showing no immediate signs of it). I took it easy, and after getting Luis to bed, laid down on the couch for a rest. At 8:30, I realized that the "crampy" feeling I was having was happening ~ every 5 minutes. So I turned on the stopwatch function on my watch to get a better understanding of what was happening. And I sent a text to my friend Leah to put her on notice (she was our person to stay overnight with Luis should we need to go to the hospital). An hour later, I was having strong contractions every 4 minutes. I called the OB at 10, who suggested I take some Tylenol and call her back in 30 minutes. I told her I'd already had some Tylenol and that I was pretty sure I was in labor. She consented that I could head to the hospital "to see what's going on".

Leah came over and Diego and I headed out to Baylor at 10:30p. By now, the contractions are so strong and regular that I am sure I'm in labor. When I get to the hospital and they ask "how often" about the contractions I say "Very". They get me checked in and into a room. They get me on the fetal monitor to see how baby is doing, and then they check my progress. I was 8 cm dilated! The nurse assured me that my doctor was on her way and would be here soon. I told the nurse I was more interested in how soon the anesthesiologist could get there. My ideals of an epidural-free birth had vanished somewhere around 10:15p when the contractions had me doubled over.

The short version is that both the anesthesiologist and the OB made it in plenty of time. Despite an episode where baby's heatrate dropped during delivery, Alejandro Rincon was born at 1:39a. He weighed in at 7lbs 9oz and was a little over 20" long. Diego and I were both taken aback by the fact that Alejo was the spitting image of his big brother when Luis was born. In fact, Diego was with the nurses who were cleaning Alejo off and commented, "I've seen Luis make that face - TONIGHT at dinner!" And it's true. We both see a lot of Luis's features and Luis's expressions in Alejo's face.

[I am happy to share the "long version" of the story with anyone who is interested!]

Continuing to play Catch Up

2010-06-24T23:43:00.003-04:00

I really, really am trying to get caught up with the blog, so that I can then try to stay current with the blog. To that end, I added fourteen new posts today, capturing May 2010 for the Rincons. I realize that April is missing, as is June - but hopefully not for long.

Today marks 39 weeks of my pregnancy, and really, I think the baby could come any day (or, it could be another 10 days, who really knows??). But I'd like to get caught up before then, because I think it will be MUUUUUUUUCH harder to catch up afterwards.

Enjoy the new pictures and stories, and stay tuned for more!

Did I mention that Luis likes to read the Wall Street Journal?

2010-06-08T22:02:00.002-04:00

Today at school, Luis's class was discussing things that float and sink. When the teacher held up a plastic boat and asked Luis if it would float or sink, he said, "Float! Just like the oil in the ocean."

Along the same lines, when I turned the TV on this morning, Good Morning America was on and Matt Lauer was interviewing President Obama. Luis immediately said, "Look Momma, it's Barack Obama!" I commended him on this. Then after listening a minute to the interview, Luis asked, "Is he talking about the oil?"

(On a humorous note, Luis says 'oil' like a real East-Texan would - oeeeeel.)

Luis's Posse

2010-06-02T23:57:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, this isn't the clearest picture, but it is great in that it shows so many of Luis's friends. On the last day of (the spring session of) Luis's Parent's Day Out program, most of the kids in class met up at Toddler Park for a play date. In this picture, you can see (from Left to Right) Benjamin, Logan (red head), Collin, Luke and Luka. There were a surprisingly large number of boys in Luis's class this year!

A "Fire hose" for Luis!

2010-05-31T22:59:00.000-04:00

Luis can spot someone using a hose from a block away. He recently noticed that our across-the-street-neighbors had a very cool hose attachment that made it like a low-pressure washer; though Luis thought it made the hose much more like a fireman's hose. Dave, the neighbor, very kindly allowed Luis to spray all of the plants, the concrete, both cars and most of his house with this "fireman's hose" before I wrangled Luis back across the street.

On his next trip to Home Depot, Diego picked up the $2 attachment for our hose and presented it to Luis, who then spent close to 45 minutes "putting out fires" in our back yard. Not the most conservative use of water, I'm afraid, but it did result in one EXTREMELY happy boy!

Zoo Trip!

2010-05-30T23:21:00.004-04:00

There is a new exhibit at the zoo, Giants of the Savannah, that JUST opened. We went this morning for a quick trip to see this new area. We knew it was going to be hot, so we went early. Unfortunately, we'd have had to be there at 4a to arrive before the heat.

This new exhibit is towards the back of the zoo, meaning that we had to walk past lots of OTHER exhibits to get there. Exhibits that Luis was also interested in seeing. Exhibits that were distracting us from our mission. Exhibits that wasted precious minutes as the mercury was sky-rocketing.

By the time we got to the "main event", Diego, Luis and I were all sweating profusely and were all slightly annoyed (Luis that he kept getting dragged away from the thing he was looking at and D & me for having to drag). But it was worth it! The exhibit was fantastic!! We saw lions, cheetah's, giraffes, gazelle, zebra, and ostrich!

I was about to melt and in desperate need of a bathroom, and wondered in to one of the places that sells food. It turns out that this restaurant abuts the lion enclosure. I quickly discovered that 5 of the lions were lying up against the glass wall of the restaurant, presumably trying to cool off, just like I was. I scurried out to get Luis and Diego so that they could also enjoy this great view of the lions.

You don't have to see Luis's whole face to see how cool he thinks this is!

One of the things you can do is to feed the giraffes. What it really means is that you can spend $5 to buy 3 pieces of romaine lettuce and then elbow your way to the fence, and hope that the giraffes are still hungry. Luis loved it!!

Back in the summer of 2008 while in Florida, we went to the Brevard County Zoo. It was interesting to go back to that post and see Luis feeding the giraffes two years ago, wearing the same batman hat (and seem him just as hot as he was today!).

And, as Diego pointed out, it was so hot and humid that you truly felt like you were on an African Safari!

Not Sure What to Title This One!

2010-05-30T22:45:00.002-04:00

Despite the rising temperatures (it was in the low 90's yesterday!), Luis still really, really likes to wear his winter coat outside (and his tall pants, and his long pajama pants, and his fleecy pj's, etc.). Take this picture for instance. It's hard to tell, but under his winter jacket is a fleece pj top. And he is again wearing his rescue shoes. Despite the rain, the temperature in this photo is in the upper 80's!!

35 Weeks

2010-05-29T22:37:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to be better about getting pregnancy shots. But so far, I'm taking them myself, which doesn't make it any easier. This is right at 35 weeks - and I'm definitely showing! For a comparison shot, here is me a 34 weeks when I was pregnant with Luis. With the clothing being so different, I find it hard to compare, personally.

The last week or so has been tough - due to some minor swelling, I can no longer wear my wedding or engagement ring, and I'm down to just 2 pairs of shoes. These things happened last time, so I wasn't so surprised. But a couple of days ago, I woke up, put my contacts in, and realized that I couldn't really see out of my right eye. Got a new contact for that eye, and still everything was fuzzy. Took me a few more minutes to realize that this was another side effect of pregnancy swelling - that my eye ball had change shape just enough to render my current contact prescription "invalid" for me (not sure of the right word, but the bottom line is that everything was suddenly blurry!). I'm not looking forward to a month of just my glasses. The last time I bought new glasses was just after Luis was born. The prescription is way out of date AND the glasses don't fit well (easily slip down my nose every time I look down). Sigh. A small price to pay for a new life - or so I keep telling myself!!

I'm still trying to catch up on blog posts, and am posting a bit out of order. I am hoping to get a little more caught up over the weekend. At my last OB appointment (35 weeks!) my doctor told me I needed to be off my feet and resting more. This is bad news in terms of caring for Luis, Diego and the house, but it may be good news for my work with Thomas and updating the blog...

Ready to Rescue

2010-05-26T22:56:00.000-04:00

Luis is wearing his rescue shoes and rescue goggles in case someone is stuck in the tall tall grass - he can rescue them. So says Luis.

Luis the Fashionista

2010-05-16T22:33:00.000-04:00

Luis really does do a pretty good job of picking out his clothes. Diego and I joke a bit about his affinity for black turtle necks and long sleeved black shirts, but that seems to be what he likes. He picked this outfit out on his own.

As we were walking down to climb the small magnolia tree in a neighbors yard, Luis stopped at this fire hydrant and asked me to take his picture.