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

Another trip to the salon

Diego got his seventh hair cut this week! AND he turned A YEAR AND A HALF yesterday! While we were driving yesterday a song came on the radio that we listened to as he was being born ("Beautiful Day" by U2) and I looked back at my big boy sitting in the car seat and couldn't believe my eyes! He has changed so much in just the past few months and it was been such a blessing to watch him grow into quite an amazing little boy.
A trip to the salon was long overdue as his hair was very long. He does remarkably well when he gets his hair cut. He loved watching the video that was playing, naming all the fun things around him and the squirts of cool water on his head. There was another boy next to him who screamed the entire time he was in the chair and Diego just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about because he thought it was pretty cool himself.
For awhile now he has enjoyed putting my slip-on shoes on and stomping around the apartment. Today he discovered that he could get Papi's boots on and he loved it! Well, one boot anyway. He stomped around saying "shoe...shoe...zapato...shoe"




















FLASHBACK: July 26, 2006:

All play and no work!

Being a stay-at-home mom is a busy job and there are very few days when we abandon the “to-do” list and just have fun! Yesterday was one of those days! Ricardo needed the car so Diego and I did things that we wouldn’t usually do on any given week day. After breakfast we walked to Barnes & Noble (about a 15-minute walk) to read and play with the choo-choos. Diego loves their train table and could spend an entire day playing with it. I picked up some Baby Name books and browsed through them while Diego played for over an hour – it was great! We came home for lunch and a quick nap (he’s only been sleeping for an hour lately) and then headed to the pool, in the “moto,” of course. I lathered him with sun block and we dove in. We had a blast splashing around and playing our fun pool games. Even with a thick layer of sun block, I don’t like to keep him in the sun for long so we only stayed for about 25 minutes and headed back home. He had a nice long bath, I had a shower and we were out the door again. We walked to the mall to have ice cream and play on the cars there. They rent out little shopping cart push-cars, but Diego loves sitting in them and playing with the steering wheel. We shared a strawberry ice cream and then he played in one of the cars for at least 20 minutes. He waved “hi” to all the people going by, he called out to the babies, he laughed with the big kids walking by and he thought he was hot stuff, sitting there in his very own car.
It felt like a true summer day. It was nice to get into slow gear and spend the day laughing, playing, having fun, exploring and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Summer Fun

We've enjoyed a weekend of summer fun in Atlanta. On Saturday morning Diego and I headed to the pool to "kick-kick." (Papi had to go to work for a little while) Whenever we drive by the pool he says "Piscina, kick-kick" and wants to go. We don't go that often because the sun is too strong during the day so we can't stay very long. His favorite mode of transportation to get there is his "moto." That is what he calls his push-tricycle and he LOVES riding on it. It is the perfect distraction from the painful farewell to the swimming pool at the end of our "kick-kick" session. He holds on tight and keeps his feet in place for the whole ride.
We came home for his nap and when Papi returned we drove to Historic Roswell to have tea at an adorable teahouse. Diego enjoyed a delicious smoothie that the owner prepared especially for him. From there we went to a nature trail along the river and enjoyed a beautiful walk. Diego insisted on walking and loved kicking the sticks and rocks and watching the ducks and birds on the river.



Diego LOVES his smoothies!!! He drank this whole thing.


The beginning of our stroll along the river





A Sunday afternoon stroll around the neighborhood in the "moto"

What's new

The past few posts have been mostly pictures, and not many updates so I thought I would let you know what our lil’ monkey has been up to.
His newest and cutest is “cuddle.” He used to give us cuddles when we were holding him (still does), but now when we are standing up, he runs up to us from behind, puts his arms around our legs and says “cuddle” while leaning his head into our legs – it makes us melt! Or sometimes he will just grab an arm and say “cuddle” and give us lovin’. I think he does it often now because he has realized how much we love it!
Another new cuteness is his phrase “Alli Esta!” (“there it/he/she is”). When he plays peek-a-boo, he will cover his eyes with his hands, then remove them and yell “Alli Esta!” Or if he loses sight of something and then catches it again, he will get excited and say it.
It has been fascinating to watch how his little brain is grasping the concept of two languages. He has started to use Spanish and English interchangeably. Sometimes he will look at a dog and say “Perro, Doggy.” Or if I say to him “Adonde esta tu nariz” (where is your nose) he will point to it and say “nose.”
As we’ve been thinking of names for his little sister we’ve been testing them out on him and it’s so cute how he says them. He tries so hard to say any word we tell him to and does a great job at retaining the words and meanings.
It wouldn’t be fair if I only shared the cuteness, I also have to say that Diego is becoming more and more rebellious. He is developing quite a personality (which is wonderful to watch blossom), but with that comes more challenges in parenting him. We have had to take a serious approach with our discipline and have been much tougher on him just the past week. He is too good of a boy to become a spoiled brat and it is in our hands to ensure that we guide him properly!
Here are some fun pictures from the past week…



It was a rainy day today so we ate popcorn and watched "Happy Feet." It was the first time Diego sat down and watched TV with us. Since we don't watch TV and only see movies, he's usually in bed by that time. It was also the first time he dug his hands into a bowl of popcorn - he LOVED it!



We started Gymboree a few weeks ago and took Papi on Saturday so he could see what all the fun is about!

Diego's favorite part of the class is BUBBLE TIME!




He is trying to master the skill of feeding himself. Applesauce and yogurt don't make good practice tools, but he sure has a good time trying. You wouldn't be able to tell from the picture, but he did get a fair amount into his mouth.



Mommy's big helper!!!

GRAMMIE'S VISIT

I forgot to post a couple of pictures from Grammie's visit a couple of weeks ago. She came to Atlanta to be here for the gender-revealing ultrasound, and of course, is thrilled that it's a girl! Diego loved being with Grammie and calls her "Yammie."
The last picture is from when I watched Mara Kate and her and Diego loved watching Baby Einstein together!

GOOD TIMES OUT WEST!

We're back from California and had a wonderful time. Diego had an absolute blast! This is a speedy post because I have lots of cleaning/laundry to do while Diego naps, but I wanted to share some great moments from our trip:


Diego's first ride on a carousel - he loved it!


Group photo in Sonoma




Danny styled his hair while Corey kept him still - he broke into tears right after this picture, but the cool do was worth it (see below)




Diego's favorite part of the wine tastings were the yummy crackers! (mine too!)




Having a blast on the slip n' slide in the backyard of the house we rented






Making friends with the kitty









Shhh - don't tell anyone he picked grapes!