The Funny Things He Does

We have moved on from Elmo. Well, maybe not "moved on". But we have started watching something else. Clifford. I'm so excited! For a while, Luke would wake up in the morning and b-line it to the TV so he could watch Elmo. Then he let me put in Garfield, the movie, and somewhat watched it. And then he started letting me put in cartoons and some tv shows with good beginning credit music like "Puss in Boots", "Hop", and "Psych". But now he's officially started watching another show and that's Clifford. At least it's educational. I'm so proud of him. When I was little, there was only Sesame Street or Mr. Rogers, and I didn't like either. I ended up watching The Land Before Time and Beauty and the Beast and Winnie the Pooh over and over again.
Ah, sweet success.

Now for the cute things that he does... well, he says names in the most adorable way. Mommy and DaDa are a given. He calls my sister "Maaace" and he'll shout down the hall or up the stairs for her all the time. Grammy still sounds like Mommy. He used to call John "uh-duh". No idea where that came from. Abuelita is "a-Ma e e" (supposed to be Mama Lily). Tish, the dog, is like my sister in that every time he says her name, it's like he's shouting it. He pronounces Jul really well. Interesting because Jul doesn't like kids (or doesn't show it) and we don't hang out, so I don't know how Luke even retained that information. And of course, if he can't say your name - he just says yeah. Aside from the names of people, Luke is learning food, colors, and animals. He knows apples (everything red and round is an apple), cereal, leche, jugo/juice, agua (sometimes mixes up leche and agua), crackers, cookies, frutas, eggs, pizza (tee-pa), purple, puppy, kitty, bear, and bug. He also likes to call out "door" every time he sees one. And sometimes "car". I think, just so he can inform me that that's what it is.

Yesterday, I brought out my old gymnastics mat so Luke could jump from the Pilates stools to the mat and do forward rolls etc. Grammy taught him all that. And it really wears him out for bed time. He would jump from the stool to the mat and roll off the mat and run to me and say "Mommy mommy" right in my face so that he knew I was watching him. His expressions are priceless!

I don't know if this is "cute", but he also picks his nose and makes messes and afterward says ew. Even though he is a boy, I have taught him well. He picks up his mess if he dumps food on the floor. He'll wipe up a spill. He'll throw his trash away, and he'll put his dishes in the sink when he's done (which is more than what Aldo or myself have done).

A cute, little gentleman has been molded and here's to age 2. I love my son so much. When he's running in circles so fast, having fun, and the whole time I'm thinking he's going to hit something because he's not paying attention and he can't run in a straight line whatsoever... it's moments like that where I know I am completely gone. I am no longer my former self. I am a mother, a wife, and completely in love with this family. Sheesh, I went the whole time without getting sentimental.

All Things Elmo

Yes, Luke is now hooked on Elmo. First thing in the morning, that's what he wants to do. Watch Elmo. This originally started in Texas when we were visiting family. We hadn't thought to bring toys. Oops and Duh! So we had to run by a store and Elmo seemed good. He didn't like it. He didn't even want to play with it at the time.
After a few months, I went through this shock of - oh my gosh, how do kids learn anything?! I'm supposed to teach my child how numbers, colors, letters, naming things, sounds, etc. and I just didn't know where to start. I asked my sister-in-law, who has two boys of her own that are only a little bit older than Luke, and she said that it just happened. They watched educational shows and asked when they wanted to know. So in a panic that Luke wasn't getting anything, I brought home "Elmo", "Barney", "Dora", and some other stuff. And Elmo stuck. First time I put it in, he sat right down and watched the full show.
Now he knows all or most of the characters' names and what they like. On the good side, he's learned about animals, food, exercise, etc. It's also opened us up for potty training. Luke received an Elmo potty. It flushes and laughs. And an Elmo potty book and we've watched the movie together on how to potty. It'll happen when he's ready. Right now he's scared to sit on it naked. He's also watched the Elmo sharing movie. Not working yet. (I think he's entering into the Terrible Twos early... he got in trouble the other day for hitting a little girl and later pushing her into the wall in SUNDAY SCHOOL!)
So if you're wondering what has been going on with us lately - it's Elmo.

Winter 2011

I know... I haven't been doing well at all. Well, here's to getting back in gear and keeping up blog. Eventually I hope to turn this into a book so we can go back and read it and see kind of what was going on at the time and have a few good stories. My mom always remembers the ridiculous ones. I say funny stuff all the time... mispronounce words, the use of sarcasm, etc... but for some reason the only thing she can remember me ever saying as a little girl was the "dish ran over the spoon" nursery rhyme. And it's just not funny. And also, I'll have a few pictures for myself in case the future kids decide to steal them or tear them up (like me and my sister did). AND.. there will be a family history/story. My grandmother used to tell us stories of her when she was little or of her working at the shop and getting married and so on, but none of that is written down. Granddad also tells great stories, and we've always talked about putting together a memoir or something, but it never happens. At least, I'll have something to leave a legacy.

So to catch you up...
We had Thanksgiving at our house and a lot of people were sick, so I was kind of let down. Because I'm always excited to laugh and play games, but there just weren't enough people. Or time. Afterward, we went to Veronica's and planked with the family. There was some drama, but everyone there had a wonderful evening.
Christmas was intense. We ended up going everywhere. We had plank wars against the El Paso familia and totally defeated them. Abuelito even planked! In his cowboy hat and boots! Then for the rest of the night we played charades at Tia Olga's house. The next day, Christmas, we went to early morning service, came home and went back to sleep, then woke up again and opened presents here. It was a lot of fun because we decided (or I decided) to make presents instead of buy them. I made Maecy a make-up frame holder thing and a hairband holder too and for mom pillows. Maecy made magnets and shirts and scarves. Luke made "I love you" hands. And John was here too and he made us really cool scarf holders shaped like hearts. I forgot what mom made... I think she didn't have time and ended up getting us clothes. ?? Anyway, that was a good start to the day, but at lunch we went across the street for not long at all and snacked on food and punished Luke a lot, and finally went to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Dinner, as always, was delicious. And Luke played with Hailey's little boy, somewhat sharing his cars and the noise-makers.
Finally Zac and Rose visited around New Years. We went through our entire year with them, starting off by celebrating their birthdays with cookie cake, giving them Valentine's and April Fools gifts, showing them video of I guess Cinco de Mayo beats, throwing fire crackers at each other in the garage for the 4th, planked outside and pet horses, and ended back inside for a belated Halloween and Christmas. I think they really enjoyed themselves. We always have fun when they come over. Hopefully we'll be able to visit in the summer sometime and swim in the ocean.

So, you are officially caught up. And all this week I have been sick with the flu and rearranging the entire house. Tomorrow is my last day of sorting things and throwing away the junk. It's shown me what it would be like to be a stay-at-home mother, minus the being home bound due to the highly contagious part, but all in all - I think I would like it.

Happy Halloween Lil Monster

We took Luke trick or treating for his first time ever. I made his outfit myself (and I think it's going to be the only year I do that... didn't save us money like I thought it would...). At first he was supposed to be a dinosaur, but he didn't know how to make a dinosaur sound. But when we ask what a monster says, he'll put up his hands and make monster noises.
Luke was fantastic keeping on his hat and tail. He even carried his own pumpkin in and held it out for candy. We were planning on going to all the family and friends', but it was dark when we first started so that plan went out the window. First stop: Grammy's (upstairs). I don't think she was ready because she took some candy from our refrigerator to give to Luke. I made him knock on the door and everything. He was so excited he started jumping around the room like a little crazy person.

Second stop: the library. I'd been telling them all week about this outfit I made (idea from pinterest.com) and I had to show them. And Luke is special to them, so it was more of a requirement.

Final stop: Abuelita's. We visited Abuelita, Veronica, and the boys for a little bit. We tried to go to a community trick-or-treat thing, but they closed right when we got to the door. By that time it was late, so Aldo bought me a bag of Reese's (which was all stolen by the moochers upstairs) and we went home. I'd say the holiday was a success.

i Viva El Paso !

El Paso was a blast! Mostly because I was able to hang out with my hubby and son for four straight days in a row. It started off like any trip. Granddad drove us to the airport.. in the wrong direction. Luckily we made our flight. And didn't have to worry too much about getting in with Luke's milk, medicine, food, etc. Luke slept for a good part of the ride and woke up at the end. As long as he had a bottle in hand, we were ok. We were laid over in Chicago forrevverr. But running around the airport wore Luke out, so he slept for the entire second flight.

We stayed with Aldo's mother's side the first night. Very laid back and don't speak much English. They took us to the market (very cool!), where we drank aguas and ate some real chalupas and Mexican dulces. We stayed up all night - because that's what Mexicans do - playing Just Dance on the wii and singing karaoke. The next day it was pretty much the wedding and meeting Aldo's dad's family. A whole nother story that lot. It's where Aldo's crazy side comes from. Even though the wedding was in Spanish, it was beautiful and I cried. The reception was so much fun. Every time you got on the dance floor they handed out another prize: glow sticks, balloons, cowboy hats, masks, etc.

Pina, Melon, Manzana, etc.

 in a sombrero

On the way home Luke slept the entire first airplane ride. The second was the most eventful. He was awake the entire time. In the very beginning, the older man in front of us sat his seat back. I'm thinking - that's just dumb... I knew Luke was going to go straight for the tray on the back seat once he caught sight of it. So he started slamming it open and shut while the man slept in our lap. And when I told him "no", he pointed out the old man's bald spot. Grabbed his hand before he touched it. I'm sure the guy wouldn't have appreciated it. So I handed him over to Aldo, and in the meantime he found the light switch overhead, and turned it on and off. Then played peek-a-boo with the two businessmen behind us. Near the end of the flight, he started crying. We finally figured out that he wanted ice chips (for what we later found to be his molars coming in). Thankfully the ride ended and mom picked us up and took us home.

Texas is wonderful. A whole bunch of brown, but a lot of flavor. Still there's no place like home.

Word Association

The life of a full-time, working mother. We blog at midnight because there's no better time to do it.
Anyway, I had to post this before Luke learns something new. Earlier this month we have been babysitting a friend's dog named ChaCha. Luke calls her "caca", as well as any other dog, or animal for that matter. And sometimes he just randomly says "caca". It's kind of funny since Aldo's family speaks Spanish, but I don't want him going to school and get in trouble for calling homework "caca". Well, we bought my mother-in-law a puppy for her birthday. Luke was calling him said name, which wouldn't work because he's a boy... so I've since then been trying to teach him the word "puppy".
Last week, Aldo and I were just talking like usual on the couch, about our day at work, etc. and one of us said the word "puppy". Without a second to pause Luke said, "caca". I know that's not what I was trying to teach him... but I was so excited because it's like word association! Or idea association! I don't know... But it lets me know that what I'm teaching, he's understanding. And keeping in his mind until later it comes up again, and he recognizes it! Ah, sweet success.
That's my story for the night. I will probably have more as this weekend is my birthday and also a holiday, so three day weekend. And also next week we are preparing for Aldo and Luke's first ever airplane ride to Texas!
Until then, good night.

P.S. He has eight teeth and counting. There are four coming in on bottom right now... and the last two were full of endless drool baths. Two of them are molars!

Time At The Pool

After my first week of working full time, I had the entire weekend off. It was full of course.
We went to Schlitterbahn with our youth group (a water park much like Oceans of Fun), and took Luke too.
It was such a blast! He was actually able to ride every ride. We pretty much stuck to the wave pool though. And in between we would travel over to the baby pool, where he would go down the pirate slide. It was long and fast, and at the end Luke would smile and growl, and clench his fists. It didn't matter if he got splashed in the face or not. I think it's a sign that he liked it.
The craziest moment was when we were letting him walk around in the kiddie pool. We left his life jacket on because he kept trying to run into the deeper end and he would lose his balance and fall forward. Anyway, after squatting down several times to splash in the water, he decided to lay back and raise up his feet. Our 14 month old was floating on his back in the water. All on his own. It was unbelievable to me. He must be a natural water baby because I have never heard of any kid doing that.