Customer in Training

Diego is finally eating cereal!!

It seems that we have unleashed a shopping monster! After 2 years of watching his parents do the shopping Charlie acted like a natural when he got behind the cart. Luckily the cart wasn't that big or else we would have ended up with half the grocery store. Even with a small cart we left with about $10 worth of stuff that we didn't want. At one point I was picking something out and heard him ask "mommy, I like this?" He was hugging a whole chicken that must have been at least half the size of him.

I also let him make his own PB & J sandwich this week. As you can see - not much ended up on the bread. Anytime he got a clump of peanut butter out of the jar he couldn't resist sticking it in his mouth. He needed a lot of water after that exercise.

We went to Philly to visit grandma last weekend to give Carlos a break after 3 LONG nights alone with 2 kids! We had a great time visiting grandma and going to a kids playspace and the Franklin Institute. The big heart is still pumping and looks like it still has the same coat of paint as when I was a kid...Charlie really loved the place and tried to negotiate hard when it came time to go: "Ok - ok - ONE more time at the train" and after another visit to the engine he said, "ok - but ONE more time at the airplane THEN we can go." This went on and on. Despite a great weekend (or maybe because of it) the ride back was terrible. Diego kept crying and anytime he seemed to calm himself or cried himself to sleep Charlie would scream "AHHHH!" to wake him up and the crying began again. I stopped twice to give them a pep talk and settle their non-word, yet very vocal dispute but Charlie continued scaring Diego anytime there was a lull in the crying. This went on for all but 30 miles of the trip. I was pissed and told Charlie he was a jerk. To which he laughed and said "I'm not a joke." Clearly he didn't know what jerk meant despite my less-than-sweet voice. Here are some pictures from the Franklin Institute including one from the photo booth there.

Brotherly Love

It's crazy to think that little Diego is already 5 months old! What happened to my newborn?! He has been rolling over for a few weeks now, but really only to avoid tummy time. If, by accident, he rolls onto his stomach he looks annoyed and quickly goes back to his back. He doesn't have much of an urge to move anywhere else. Charlie takes his job as Diego's biggest source of entertainment somewhat seriously. As part of his brotherly duty Charlie "reads" books for Diego, plays music for him and dances for him (as shown below). Another part his brotherly duty seems to be tormenting him already. He gets really close to Diego's face and kindof kisses him yet kindof scares him and kindof rocks him in his bouncey chair yet kindof bounces him towards whiplash. I'm still not sure if he is acting out of love or spite. Diego does his younger brother duty of annoying Charlie by grabbing at him whenever possible. It especially annoys Charlie when we are reading books at night.

I've been trying to find more mutually enjoyable excursions. Given that our lives revolve around our children I figure that we should find things to do and enjoy together - other than just looking at trains. Art museums seem to be a good joint activity so last weekend we went to the National Gallery of Art. Charlie sat for a while in a class meant for 4-7 year olds talking about Alexander Calder but it was clear that it was over his head. The teacher asked the kids to describe what makes a painting different from a sculpture. Charlie is pretty good about identifying sculptures, but verbalizing it is definitely beyond him. So after 15 minutes he decided it was time to move on.

This week I was in Atlanta for work and well....it was pretty tough on everyone - mainly Carlos. Trying to coordinate 2 kids going to sleep is tough especially when one of them is out of diapers!!!! Poor Carlos had to pack the kids in the car at 8pm to go to the store to get diapers. On top of that Diego didn't sleep well. It was a long few days for Carlos....

Insomnia and Rice Cereal

When it comes to sleeping Charlie out-smarts us everytime. For the last month he has been refusing his naptime 50% of the time and thus turning into a little gremlin by 5pm. When he couldn't open his door he would pace around looking for distractions. Then he realized that he could enter his little closet and turn the light on which made finding distractions easier. So we moved his toddler bed against the closet door (no door just a frame) and that lasted for about a day. He found that he could crawl under the bed to enter the closet and turn on the light and find something to play with. So we put up a barricade and moved the bed against the barricade which was against the closet. He figured out a way to push the bed over and push the barricade away and slip into the closet. Once we successfully blocked the closet he turned his attention to opening the door to his room. After days of flagarantly leaving his room and declaring himself awake he learned that he wasn't supposed to leave the room so he'd crack the door open and state some demand. He would peek out and say "I want to read a book" or "I did a poo and need to be changed" or "I want the blanket"....So we put something on his door handle so he couldn't open the door. With no where else to turn he got packages of diapers, stacked them on top of each other and climbed up to turn on the overhead light. MAN! Babies always win!

Despite his sleeping issues Charlie is 90% back to being a total delight. Unfortunately that 10% monster seems to come out anytime we want to get out the door or get back in the door. Yesterday we took him to a pool - he kicked and screamed when we tried to leave the house and then kicked and screamed even louder when we tried to leave the pool.

Here he is trying to use the breastpump with his belly button

And trying out Diego's toys.

My bag of sugar Diego remains as sweet as ever. Last night he was snuggled in my armpit in bed (where, to be honest, he ends up most nights) and I awoke to a little hand caressing my face and two beady eyes looking up at me. I'm guessing that he was actually just trying to grab my nose in search of something to eat, but it was a nice way to wake up.

This weekend I tried giving Diego rice cereal and he HATED it. His face puckered up and then he pursed his lips and refused any more. Here is his face after he tasted it and then not letting me get any more in....

Here are Charlie and me trying to get Diego to giggle.

Santa Came to Town

Christmas was so fun and the kids make it magical. It was exactly how I imagined it with shrieks of excitement and all. We were in Philadelphia where Charlie had fun playing with his cousins Wallis and Eli. On Christmas morning we kept them in the kitchen until everyone came downstairs and then they ran into the living room.

They dove at a model train set and a house that my mom made; Eli let out a scream that was almost youtube worthy. The house was all home made and came with people, furniture and 2 cars and it looked a lot like our rowhouse actually except that it had a 2 car garage....:)

The kids had so much fun opening and playing with presents. And there were even more toys to play with at my dad's house. Surprisingly there was no meltdown despite delayed naps and over stimulus.

Abuela is fostering my dreams of a boy band by getting Charlie a guitar and drums sticks. Check out charlie's unplugged version of B-I-N-G-O! He is a virtual one man band now. He has finger drums, regular drums, a guitar that plays songs, a regular guitar, a keyboard and he goes back and forth.

Unfortunately Charlie has been refusing his nap and given that he is no longer in a crib he paces around his room. The worst is that he can now open his door so he walks into the hallway and declares "I'M AWAKE!!!" He says it with so much joy as if we should be proud of him. Ugh - I can't give up his naptime.

Charlie and Diego Elves

I couldn't resist 'elving' my children: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/G279mo0WMD4RtcOj1v08

Cars for Everyone

Charlie enjoying a candle-lit dinner at his table

Diego at his 4 month doctor's visit

Charlie in Diego's crib!

Charlie is definitely ready for Christmas. Apparently Santa is getting him a car present. And when I asked Charlie what presents we should get for other people he did not hesitate one bit: "cars and trains." Cousin Wallis gets a "little car", tia Veronika gets a "train", tio Seth gets a "car" and Abuela and Grandma get a "huge car" and so on. I guess that makes Christmas shopping easy!

It seems that my sweet Charlie may have come back though he still often refuses his nap, is bossy and when tired he takes irrational behavior to a new level. But he is very affectionate and demands a kiss and a hug anytime we even climb the stairs. When I come down to visit on work days and then have to go back upstairs I need to ask his permission and reluctantly he'll say: "ok -mommy - you go work - you go have a call 'hello,hello, hello.'" I guess that's how he perceives my work - I spend the day on the phone saying hello....

Diego continues to be my bag of sugar. He had his 4 month appointment this week and is exactly average - he weighs 15 lbs 2 oz which is the 50th percentile. His height and head are also exactly 50th percentile! So much for my fat babies! Even though he is smaller than Charlie was he seems to be supporting my theory that 2nd babies are tougher than their first born siblings. He got 2 shots at his 4 month visit and didn't even cry. He did cry however when he got hit in the head by a flying bottle (which Charlie may have thrown....). His sleep seems to have regressed - he used to be waking up at 4:30-5:30am, but recently he is up and ready to cuddle at 1:30am. And he certainly needs to be put to sleep at 7-8pm. We found that out the hard way when we brought him to a Christmas party. He screamed bloody murder for 20 minutes out of exhaustion before collapsing asleep. Other than that he has taken to his index finger and finds peek-a-boo increasingly funny. He has no interest in rolling over or crawling. Here he is at his doctor's appointment.

I've been having flashes of life with Charlie in 10-15 years- it's like I can already imagine him as a teenager. Last weekend he went to his first CD "release party" - literally it was a release party for kids music in a black box theater - and I could imagine him going to concerts as a teenager. He wanted to get up and dance but wouldn't let loose so just swayed his hips - like he didn't think it was cool to dance too much. And then there is the way he wears his hats - he pulls them almost entirely over his eyes so he can barely see. What is that? Sounds like an obnoxious frat boy in math class! Here he is at the CD party