Technical Difficulties

I have technical difficulties - my computer died, hard-drive dead and pictures gone. If you have seen the computer it is not the surprising that it is dead. It's been 4 long years for that computer as neither I nor the baby are very gentle with electronics. The good news is that Carlos used his magic at work to get some one to extract the pictures. The bad news is that I haven't figured out how to use Carlos' computer well enough to post to the blog.



In the meantime here is a photo of our next big project - the backyard! Unfortunately this was taken almost 2 weeks ago and it still looks the same. This video of him walking is also almost 2 weeks old but you get the point...

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Carlos and Carlitos enjoyed the week together while I was in Atlanta. Carlos even managed to get up for a 4am wake up call one morning. I got a quixotic and somewhat reprimanding gaze when I returned on Thursday - but after a few kisses he seemed to forgive me.

He is walking better, but he still looks like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as he teeters from side to side as he walks. And he still has a tough time precisely located his mouth. Here he is eating bread chunks. Often I think he has polished off half a loaf of bread only to find the majority of it in his chair or on the floor.






We went to a music and movement class at the neighborhood library and he had a blast. Imagine 25 kids from 11 days to 5 years old singing, marching and playing instruments. It was total chaos! Why anyone would give kids cymbals and drums is beyond me. After a few songs we escaped and focused on dismantling library shelves. There were a lot of books to take off the shelves, but some one has to do it...

I forgot to post this video of him trying to dance fast enough to keep up with Leslie. It's tough to dance that fast!

9 months!!

This week Carlito had his 9 month doctor's visit and - despite what everyone thinks - he seems to be getting skinnier! At least relatively... He is still in the 97th percentile for height, but only in the 75th percentile for weight! He dropped from the 95th percentile. He weighed in at 21lbs 13 ounces which was surprising to me as he feels a lot heavier. I noticed that my right arm is a lot stronger than my left from carrying him around all the time.

Carlitos continues to love to try to walk and we are trying to document his weekly improvement. Here he is using one hand.



He also likes to dance though he isn't so discerning about his musical taste (he'll even bop to his this crappy music) and he only has one dance move...


The big news for Carlos is that he will be home alone with the baby for the first time this week as I go to Atlanta. He already used up his mother and sister life lines. Hopefully it will be good bonding time.

Bizarro

I'm not sure who wins for most bizarre act this week between Carlos and the nanny. On the one hand the nanny put cologne on the baby!! Carlito smelled very aromatic (not poo) this evening and after a family hug Carlos and I both sniffed again, looked at each other and commented "she put cologne on him!" After bath time Sandra must have put Carlos' cologne in his hair and it was way overkill!

On the other hand Carlos hid a cake in our closet. Carlito and I may love carbs but Carlos is obsessed with chocolate cake. Last time he left it out and Sandra and her daughter Leslie helped polish off the cake in no time. Carlos wasn't happy about that and so this time he got smart and decided to hide the cake. The problem is that Sandra runs the house and so a hiding place isn't easy to come by. The cake ended up in our closet, inside a box, hidden under a layer of clothes!! I hope Carlito doesn't take after his father and start hiding his food.

Carlito is doing great. He loves to walk around and he specializes in the indoor 20 foot race down our hallway. He races in his walker down the hallway, often using the walls as bumpers and sometimes getting stuck. He hasn't perfected the three point turn yet so he just makes funny noises until we get him back on track. He also loves to dismantle his play mat. I guess he has gotten his father's affinity for DEstruction over CONstruction! Here he is having dismantled half of the mat.

Carb Lover

It appears that we have created a carbo-monster. Carlito loves to gnaw on, gum and eventually eat bread. He loves it so much that he held onto a roll until he fell asleep. He might look like Carlos but he has my love for carbs! I'm including a picture of him in is stroller asleep with his roll.

We went to Philadelphia for Easter where Carito got to participate in a neighborhood parade and Easter Egg hunt. He didn't really realize what was going on, but he loved checking out all the other little people. He is going to dominate next year's hunt! He also had an educational weekend with a trip to the art museum to see the Cezanne and Beyond show and various antique stores. Here is a picture of him posing on one of the antique store chairs - we decided it was a little too big for our dining room...

Luckily the sun came out for a nice brunch on Sunday with my parents.














After the thousands of photos we've taken of Carlito it seems that he now has a preferred pose for the camera. It is a strained smile

Hot Dogs and Beer

This weekend Carlito was surrounded by hot dogs and beer. He got to enjoy the fun part of a DC United soccer game - the tailgating - and also enjoyed a post-Cherry Blossom race BBQ. At the tailgate he got to kick the soccer ball around and tried to kick a puppy with little success. Anything that is on the ground he thinks is fair game to kick and that puppy was asking for it when he came to snuggle up next to the baby.

The Carloses didn't come out to witness it but I am very proud to say that I actually finished the 10 mile cherry blossom race. I've never been nervous about finishing a race before but given that it had been 1 year and a half since I had even RUN (!), I was nervous and planned my exit strategy at mile 5. The morning didn't start smoothly as I couldn't find my running shoes and had to put on three sports bras as a precautionary measure. But luckily the Nicolettis let me run with them which kept me going past mile 5.

On the house front we've spent the last 2 weekends trying to finish the front vestibule and come up with a plan for the back yard. Sad to say that neither one is done....But the baby loved being out back even if it is just dirt and construction debris...

Here is Carlito doing his version of peek-a-boo:


And here is my scream competition with the baby. Carlos says that I sound like a dying cat so you may want to keep the volume down:

Team House Work

Although Carlito likes being outside even if it's raining or freezing temperature - his mother doesn't so it's a good thing spring is arriving. To celebrate we walked to see the Cherry Blossoms this weekend and spent some time at the park. The sad thing is that I got my daily email about the upcoming Cherry Blossom race that I registered for and it turns out that I am supposed to be "tapering" now...I am not sure that I could taper any more given that I haven't started training yet...
Anyway, here is a him enjoying the swings at the park. I got him some outdoor shoes for cruising the playground, but they kindof cramp his style. He is getting used to them, but they must feel like moon boots on him.




We are in finish-working-on-the-house-before-our-jobs-explode mode. Unfortunately the baby isn't always a fan of home improvement projects. Carlos is accostumed to using me as his tool belt; e.g. instead of having the hammer, nails, screwdriver with him he likes to ask me to get them as needed. It wasn't until I gave him a tool belt and he still refused to use it that I realized it is his way of keeping me around. I am hopeful that with Carlito walking soon my job as minion will be replaced.