Tree House

I had a vision of a tree house for Charlie and Carlos decided to make it a reality. The problem is that my vision of a kid's tree house was slightly different than Carlos'. I was thinking of...well a kids tree house - just a wooden framed thing that could be made in a few days. Carlos never does things half way. He is making this an indestructible house that Charlie can sleep in. It has tyvek, sheet rock and yesterday he asked what kindof flooring it should have!!! It's a 3x3 foot space - who cares what kindof flooring it has!! I just want it done before the end of the summer. Here is a picture of the roofer putting an actual roof on it.

Charlie got into preschool which is great news. I was worried about having to drive somewhere, but we got a call this week along with an invitation to go to the school's annual fundraising event. I'm guessing public school isn't really free....We planned to go only to find out that the tickets were sold out. Everything about pre-school seems to be competitive these days! When I told Charlie he is going to go to school next year he said "I'm going to cry." That's not the response that I was hoping for.

As for my bag of sugar, the transition from our bed to the crib has not been super smooth. He doesn't like to be alone in his crib and has been waking up frequently. We had a babysitter come over who said he woke up every 20 min! I don't blame him - I miss him too. Which is why in the middle of the night he usually ends up back in our bed. Unfortunately after a few minutes of cuddling he usually flings his arms wide taking up 3/4 of the KING bed. Sleep is definitely an issue in this house. Diego got another nasty cold which breaks my heart. It is especially bad timing because I'm leaving for Atlanta tomorrow. The only good thing about the kids having a cold is that I get to hear Charlie say "My nose is coming out" when he wants to blow his nose.

Carlos indulged me and let me run in races the last two weekends (though I can't say he was happy about it). This weekend was the Cherry Blossom 10 mile race and it ended up being a beautiful day with lots of blossoms. Here is a picture of the other 15,000 people I ran with:

Here is Charlie doing his heavy metal version of BINGO.

City Escape

Last weekend we decided to get some non-urban air so went out to Waterford and Harper's Ferry. It was nice to get out of the city and those trips always make me want to have a cabin somewhere. I think a simple getaway would be especially fun for the little monsters too after seeing how much Charlie likes playing in our tiny backyard. Maybe someday....

Here we are in checking out a massive easter nest at my aunt's house in Waterford. And strolling around Harper's Ferry.

As for the backyard...well progress has been slow. The fake weather reports warning of rain derailed our progress and so Charlie's tree-fort isn't done yet. But he still loves it. He takes crayons out and draws on the wall. He digs holes in the dirt (which should be grass) and uses the construction debris as an obstacle course. The other day Charlie decided he wanted to go outside and so put on the only shoes he knows how to put on himself - his fireman boots. The thing is that everytime he INSISTS on putting the boots on the wrong feet. Despite having the shoes on the wrong feet he demonstrated impressive soccer skills! He clearly favors his right foot, but then again it was his left shoe so I'm hoping this means he'll be adept with both feet! Now that I know he can kick the ball with some coordination I'm already dreaming up soccer drills for this summer.

This week has been hectic for work but it's ending on a good note because it's sunny, my brother got into business school and I finished my half-marathon in the time I had hoped for!

London & Philadelphia

Carlos survived 4 nights alone with 2 babies! Impressive! And they all seemed to be in a good mood when I arrived home. They were waiting at the front door as I walked up which was the most precious image. Charlie hugged my leg, told me that he liked me and then waited expectantly for a present. The last time I went to Atlanta I brought him back Fanta flavored chapsticks so when I told him I was going on another trip he thought about it and then asked "You bring me back some lipstick?" I guess trips = chapstick. I brought him back the bags you get on overseas business class flights filled with little treasures like lotion, chapstick, ear plugs, kleenex, etc and he could not have been more excited. He unpacked, repacked, unpacked, sorted and repacked that thing until it was bedtime at which point the only way I could get him in bed was to let him sleep with it.

To give Carlos a break I took the kids to Philadelphia for the weekend. Charlie loved having a big yard filled with toys (I still have no idea how my mom has more toys than I do). He was treated to a private fire truck viewing as the fireman brought the engine out and put the ladder up. On Sunday we went to a really neat playspace on Kelly Drive that is a wonderland for kids and is free! The outdoor playgrounds look even better so we'll have to go back when the weather gets warmer. One more reason to look forward to Spring.

Diego continues to by my little bag of sugar - he is so sweet! Nowadays he is tasting his way through the world. I don't remember Charlie eating everything the way that Diego does. He'll grab anything within reach (which is surprisingly a lot given his short arm span!) and put it into his mouth. Despite liking to taste everything he still doesn't love solid food. He is starting to tolerate it, but clearly doesn't look forward to the next bite. He is also very picky about wanting to eat from a bottle instead of nursing. I guess the view while nursing is too boring....He is sitting up like a champ so I often forget that he doesn't really know how to keep himself upright and I'll leave him be only to turn around and find him tipped over. He doesn't seem to mind much and I think it's pretty amusing. Here is Diego eating some blocks.

Charlie is doing some funny things like making up words. I hope it's normal. Today he ran around the house nearly screaming in a totally made up language. Carlos thinks it is a sign of creativity - I think it is slightly worrisome.

Goodbye to a Crappy Week

Last week was such a crappy week that I didn't bother to write. No one would have been smiling for pictures as we were all sick and tired - no one more so than poor little Diego. He was wheezing, coughing, running a terrible fever, couldn't eat anything....and of course not sleeping. Work has been busy so after pulling (what at least felt like) all-nighters I would stumble out of bed and get on 8am conference calls. Luckily I don't have to travel far to get to my office and no one could see me! We were so consumed with Diego's wheezing and Charlie's fever that we forgot it was our 4 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated that evening with bad news that Charlie didn't get into school through the lottery and so spent the rest of the evening looking into charter school options. At Friday's doctors appointment I found out that Diego dropped precipitiously to the 25th percentile for weight (I'm hoping it was just the illness). And the crappy week was capped off with Carlos' bike getting stolen from our back porch. Although the bike was nice we are mostly disturbed by the fact that some one maneuvered through a very narrow dirt path, open our backyard gate and walked onto our porch!

Unfortunately I think this week is going to be pretty bad too because I leave for London Monday-Friday and neither Diego nor Charlie are back to 100%. Poor Carlos has both babies for 4 nights!

At least we had a nice family weekend - not too exciting, but nice just to spend time together. We went to Ikea and Charlie loved roaming the store - which he did while singing at the top of his lungs. Here is a short clip:

We also went to Home Depot all together after a long hiatus (I haven't been in forever) and was reminded why we call it Second Home Depot. Literally all the workers know Carlos....Charlie especially loved riding on the dangerous cart and carrying 15 ft long trim pieces on his shoulder looking like he was about to pole vault. On the other hand Diego showed his dislike for the place by throwing up in the lumber section. Here is Charlie on the cart.

Here are the boys during our weekend ritual of eating breakfast by the fire.