Fun in the Sun

Baby Charlie spent a week at the beach! We were in Emerald Isle - or SOBX as we learned - with Jamie, Bill and Baby Isaac and it was really beautiful with ocean views and ocean breezes. With gorgeous weather I couldn't have been happier, but of course the bugs some how found Carlos - and Carlos only. His legs are still recovering. ..Charlie seemed to like being beachfront although he was kindof grumpy and didn't eat much (two more teeth appeared today, but no molars). I don't think he remembers much about his last beach vacation to Hawaii as he was pretty scared of the sand for the first few days. He recently learned the word "No" and when we'd try to put him on the sand he would lift his legs up and say "no-no-no-no-no-no!!!" It was pretty funny. But by day 2 or 3 he was hunting for sea shells and digging in the sand. The soft sand was still pretty treachorous terrain and so he would take careful, calculated steps until he hit safer ground. He didn't get to go in the water beyond his legs as the waves were a little too rough and my safety officer decided it was best not to go in. Unfortunately his father failed to ever make him a sand castle. I guess a real house will have to do for now....

While the boys were hard at work with the pots and pans and throwing toys off the deck, the bigger boys decided to go on a fishing trip so that they could provide food for their families. Unfortunately, despite risking their lives in the open ocean, being subjected to the grueling sun and hours of continuous hard work fishing, the only thing they were able to bring back was a pretty decent southern accent imitation of the captain that took them out on their failed mission. (Editor's note: this paragraph was written by Carlos).

Despite the long drive home, I am still relaxed from the trip and definitely still a bit crispy from the sun. Other than the baby who fasted for all of us, we probably put on some pounds from all the amazing food and wine consumed. We ate seafood everyday which Bill the chef cooked up some pretty tasty ways including a to die for shrimp cake which I am still craving. YUM!

Party Part Deux

Baby Charlie celebrated his birthday once again by inaugurating our backyard BBQ. It was a hectic week beforehand as we were getting house 1 ready for new tenants and the backyard was not really BBQ ready as of monday...this is what the backyard looked like at the begining of the week....And then a shot from this friday.

Despite all that he had a great time at his birthday. He loved seeing all his friends, playing in the pool and grabbing bubbles. Actually the bubbles were a little frustrating as they disappeared everytime he tried to grab them. His favorite, of course, were all the fun presents. In the 24 hours after the birthday we bounced from one fun toy to another. The house is definitely a lot more fun for him and for me too...I'm determined to BBQ as much as possible in the remaining summer days.

Carlito Turns 1!

On Monday Carlito turned 1 year old! He and I went to Reno this weekend to visit Carlos' family and had a little birthday party. His eyes got wide when people starting singing Happy Birthday to him and even wider when he stuck his spoon in the cake and got a lick. He hasn't really had any sugary food yet so I didn't think he would necessarily like it....but no, it was love at first lick. He kept trying to get his spoon back in the cake.

He loved chasing the dogs around screaming "guh, guh" - his version of 'dog'. The little pug Missy liked playing an adaptation of catch with him, but the boston terrier Louis was terrified of him and would leave as soon as the baby came within sight. The only time the dog got close was when we went on walk and Louis got too tired to walk any further and Carlito let him hitch a ride in his stroller....Although Carlito doesn't like sharing much there was a lot of sharing as Carlito played with the dogs toys and Missy stole both his toothbrush and his pacifier. It was pretty funny when we saw her walking around sucking on the pacifier!! Cleaning her teeth seemed to be less exciting.

His favorite toy turned out to be a bear which sings a special rendition of "Will you still love me when I'm 64." He learned to turn it on by squeezing its hand and then stood there dancing and clicking his tongue. Hopefully this means he'll be more musical than Carlos and me.

Baby's hair

When I arrived home tonight from Atlanta Carlos told me he had a present for me. A present! wow! So I closed my eyes and held out my hand only to receive a hairball. Carlos cut Carlito's hair when he knew that I was far enough away that I couldn't stop him. He was determined to do cut it himself, despite my pleading otherwise. Carlito was asleep when I arrived so I have no idea what it looks like, but I'm not looking forward to it. Here are some shots with his curls and all, hanging out with friends, cousins and talking on the phone




This was the last week with Sandra and Leslie for two months and we hated to see them go. The entire family came over and brought him gifts for his (upcoming) birthday. He loves Leslie and below is a video of him trying to copy her.

Fun In Philly

Carlito and I celebrated July 4th in Philadelphia as Carlos suffered through work deadlines and house construction errands in DC. Guess who had the better weekend?! Carlito got to hang out with his cousin Wallis (20 months) and his new cousin Eli (2 months). Wallis was fun for him to watch, but for her Carlito was kindof a terror. While she would delicately and correctly play with toys, he would charge up to her and grab anything he could - often stealing her toys. He also got to see his uncles and aunts and loved walking around the kitchen working on unloading kitchen drawers as the big people made dinner.

We went to my old highschool Germantown Academy to play some tennis inspired by the 16-14 game absurdity of Wimbledon and then he ended up walking all the way around the track by himself. One lap must have been more than a 1/4 mile as he is terrible about staying in his lane. We were trying to figure out how far that must have felt for him and based on his 3" stride we figure that it was about 2 miles!

After a great weekend I had a hectic day with a last minute work event and no child care. That's a nightmare. Luckily the yoga ladies are the best and all volunteered to take on the Carlito challenge. Here is how Kathleen described it: "Good fun --- dancing, sharing, sympathy, crying, jealousy -- the works!" I think the pictures show it all:

oops!

Oops is the baby's favorite new word! Actually, his version is more like "utzzz" - but nevertheless he finds lots of reasons to say it. My favorite is when he leans over the side of his high chair and intentionally drops the spoon on the floor: "oops" he says and smiles.

He also LOVES being in his buddy Aidan's pool! Aidan turned 1 year old and the babies celebrated with a fun aternoon in the pool and happy birthday hats. Carlito hates hats, but he wasn't quite coordinated to get this one off....Aidan also introduced Carlito to the joy of cherries as seen in the photo in which Carlito is trying to steal Aidan's cherries. He definitely doesn't get the sharing thing yet - though he does like to offer us his food or his pacifier. I guess that's a start...

I spent almost a full week away from the boys! It was so long though the baby seemed to have had a good time without me. Unfortunately I think it meant the full day long meetings meant the end of nursing. bummer.

He got a box full of goodies from his abuela's and tia's trip to Bolivia. So cute! I'll give you one guess who gave him the shirt he is wearing that reads: "soy genial - como mi tia!"

A New Race

A new race is on: Carlos vs Carlito! Carlos is trying to get the backyard to be something more than a dirt hole before Carlito turn 1 year old. Any one care to make a wager on who will win?

Carlito is definitely turning into our little buddy - we go on little adventures, he helps around the house (see him loading the dishwasher) and he is starting to develop a fun sense of humor. He is also ceasing to be my cautious Carlito - He gets up and just walks out of the room! Before he'd drag me around by my finger as he preferred not to walk alone.

His new thing is waving goodbye - which is nice, but we miss his old fist in the air trick. He just stopped doing that recently - I guess it's too baby for him :) He is frugal with his waves and is more likely to give you a kiss than a goodbye wave. But here is a video of him - sorry for the terrible sound. I think he sucked on the camera and ruined the microphone...