Last week was a rough week for lil’ Diego because he was quite sick. He is completely well now and back to himself. Despite having a 104-degree temperature at one point, a fever for two full days, sores in his mouth and no appetite at all, he was such a trooper. From Tuesday to Friday his diet consisted of ice cream, chocolate milk and honey nut cheerios – all of which are big treats in his world. He was thoroughly spoiled all week so this week is a reality check for him. He is only allowed to have his “gee-gee” (blanket) in his crib, but while he was sick he carried it around with him all day long. He also got away with mischief that would usually result in discipline, but mommy didn’t have the heart to punish her sick lil’ guy. He was generally in a good mood and enjoyed playing around the apartment, but would get spells of fussiness and get very clingy and just want to be held (which was fine by me since I love cuddling my lil’ monkey). He was back to himself on Saturday and we had a fun weekend as a family.
This whole episode has resulted in a habit that we’re not sure what to do about…music! He was having a hard time sleeping so we played music every night (THANK YOU Tainte Paige!) and now he demands it at all times, especially before nap and bedtime. I’ve never been a supporter of letting children sleep with music so of course now my child won’t go to sleep otherwise! We just let the CD play one time through and then it stops, but he asks for it to be turned on again as soon as he wakes up. We are going away this weekend so I think we will leave the stereo at home and use this time away to get him used to sleeping without music again. It’s so cute how he asks for it, I’m not sure how to spell out his word for “musica,” but it’s something like this: “inga.”
Another fascination he has as a result of trying to get him to sleep through the nights is a star-nightlight. He says “luz luz estrella” (light, light, star) when he wants it to be turned on (which is pretty much all day long).
On Saturday we went out for a stroll to one of our favorite parts of town. We stopped at a new ceviche place so Ricardo could try the ceviche. Diego was as happy as can be because there was a big area of dirt and flowers next to our table so he pushed his train through the dirt the entire time we were there. He was a mess afterwards! After church on Sunday we had brunch with some friends and Diego had a blast playing with his buddy, Luke.



He went crazy with his paints last week. He now asks to paint at least once a day and rubs his hands together to mimic rubbing paint on them.





Pushing his train through the dirt on Saturday afternoon.








Luke shared all of his crayons and toys with Diego and they loved playing together

We're back!

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. I’ve had very annoying computer problems and it is running as slow as molasses. This is the first time in over a week that I’ve uploaded any pictures because I wasn’t even sure it would let me – but it did!
We’ve had a very busy past couple of weeks. Tio Diego left last Saturday and lil’ Diego was sad to see him go. He insistently called out his name for 3 days after he left and now still asks for him at random times throughout the day.
Last Saturday we went to Deven’s 1st-year birthday party and Diego was asked to participate in an Indian tradition. As you will see in the pictures, they had him dress up and partake in a ceremony. The grandmother later explained to me that it was a custom that they do so that the boys will be life-long friends. Diego did not like putting the outfit on, but once he saw the attention that it drew, he was happy.
This past week has been a very social one with lots of playdates, lunches with friends, visits from friends and a dinner out with Papi.
We bought Diego his first Thomas train yesterday and he is choo-choo crazy! Before Papi even lifted him out of his crib this morning he was asking for his “choo choo.” He takes it everywhere he goes and carries it snuggled in his arms like a girl would carry a baby doll. I’ll get a picture of it this week!
We are in our third and final trimester of the pregnancy! I’m still feeling great and am getting more and more excited to meet our baby girl. Diego has done really well with all the babies that we’ve come in contact with over the past few weeks so I hope he is as eager to nurture his sister! I have 12 close friends (you know who you are!) who are pregnant right now so it will be wonderful for Alexia to have so many buddies her age!


The doodle pad is a new favorite - he entertains himself for long periods of time drawing, erasing, drawing, erasing...


Reading to himself in the morning


He likes to sit on the counter when I'm cooking. He swiped these carrots off the cutting board and loved nibbling on them.


All dressed up with Deven, the birthday boy





Tio Diego's last day in Atlanta


Watching TV with Caitlin


He had a blast at the pool with Addie


So cute!!

Atlanta Aquarium

Uncle Diego and I took lil' Diego to the aquarium last week. It was the first time he had been to the aquarium here in Atlanta and he LOVED it. He must have said "Fishy" and "Pescado" a hundred times each! He was fascinated by the massive tank that has 20,000+ fish and stayed pressed up against the glass for at least 20 minutes. He was afraid of the beluga whales and didn't even want to look at them. After we made the complete trip around the aquarium we decided to take him back to the massive tank since that was his favorite and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it - he wouldn't even look at it! I guess he was all fished-out - who knows! Tio (Uncle) Diego and I had a blast watching his face light up with all the new things to see and Tio gladly carried him all about. Diego loves having Tio with us and will be very sad when he leaves. In the mornings when he wakes up he now asks for "Tio" along with "Papa" and "Mami." He runs into the study where Tio is sleeping to check on him and then carries on with his morning activities. We've decided to call Uncle Diego "Tio" for now because we don't want Diego to get confused if we start calling someone else by his name! Next time we see him, he will be old enough to understand that they share the same name.

A trip to the mountains

We've had a fun and family-filled week. Ricardo's mom arrived from Miami on Friday night and his brother, Diego, arrived from El Salvador on Saturday night. Diego will be with us for 2 weeks and we're thrilled to have him here! Mima (Ricardo's mom) was only here for 4 nights, but we had a great time. On Sunday we drove up north and stayed at a wonderful B&B for the night. We went to hiking trails, waterfalls, walking paths and the lake. Diego was as happy as can be being outdoors for 2 days. I thought I had taken more pictures, but I'll post what we have...



This was a small stream at the bottom of the waterfall and he played in this same position for at least 20 minutes - he cried when we picked him up to leave!







Enjoying hummus and crackers on a picnic table - he had the best seat of all!





Swingin' away with Mima