While Dad was Away...

For Carlos' birthday I gave him a vacation away from us!  We sent him to San Francisco for a week to hang out with his sister and eat good food and drink good wine.  While he was away the kids were actually pretty well behaved and we planned lots of fun activities.  His absence also reinforced why I like the Hill and the school community a lot - everyone wanted to help out in some way...usually by holding the baby :).

The boys have been begging to go to a baseball game so we went with Cici's family on Sunday.  Shockingly they actually made it through all 9 innings!  And Sofie slept through all 9 innings!  And even more crazy is that I actually enjoyed it!  I should admit that the boys got to eat cotton candy which probably kept them happy for a few of those innings.  Luckily the Nationals won.  

The weather was so beautiful over the weekend that we spent the whole day outside trying to get them exhausted for bedtime.  After t-ball on Saturday we were wandering around and ran into Charlie's friend from school who invited us to see their renovation project.  As I went upstairs to compare construction notes with her the boys hung out in the basement apartment with Charlie's friend.  When I came back down they were no where to be found.  I did finally hear some squeaking noises and found them eating sugar packets under the parents' bed. pretty funny sight. The rest of the day Diego asked when we could go back to Ry's house to eat sugar.  uh - how about NEVER?!

they did get a treat for being so good - charlie chose ice cream and diego  picked out a carrot ginger cleansing juice!

that is supposed to be a spiderman climbing balloon

We drove up to Philly for Monday where they got to play kickball, soccer and basketball (sometimes all mixed together) in my mom's backyard.  The boys can't get enough of kickball these days.  The rules are basically that you ask them how they want the ball thrown (slow and bumpy or fast on the ground), they kick it and they always get a home run.  Whenever we go to Brent and start playing kickball kids come out of the woodwork and inevitably it becomes too big and competitive so we drop out.

Sofie is so great. I totally adore her - she is sweet and doesn't seem to mind her brothers' over zealous hugs and kisses.  Well...except when she is taking a bath and Diego turns the cold water on.  She was relaxing in the sink (where i have her take baths now) and I was singing to her when Diego reached up and turn on the freezing cold water!  poor girl - she screamed bloody murder.  Her sleep is getting slightly better - she has been sleeping from 8:30pm - 2am which is pretty good.  After that it gets sketchy until the boys get up around 7am....

Adjusting to life with 3

My blogging delinquency isn't due to a lack of family events to share, but rather that by the time we actually get everyone in bed I am already half-asleep.  We are still in survival mode, but it feels like the boys are getting back to their normal selves and we are adjusting to life with sofie.  The boys don't wake up that much at night anymore (e.g no bed wetting in a while) and luckily they still adore Sofie.  The tough part still is coordinating bedtime and I don't really have the energy to cook dinner for us anymore.  We either eat the kids' leftovers or put oil and vinegar on lettuce. that's it.

On my last week of maternity I tried to spend as much time with Diego as possible.  I figured it was my only time to focus on Diego so Sofie, Diego and I went to the aquarium, the air and space museum by Dulles, the trolley museum and the zoo.  We had such a good time together.  Diego is so pleasant when he isn't around his brother!  At the zoo his favorite things were the water misting machine and the carousel...go figure.  He LOVED the trolley museum even though it was just a single running trolley and a little miniature trolley set.  The aquarium was cool too although again he mainly liked looking out the windows at the boats going by.  Good use of the $30 entry fee:).  He eats interesting food, loves to help with Sofie and laughs a lot.  ohhh my little bag of sugar.


Charlie was super excited for the Capitol Hill Classic race this year.  Some how I managed to get all three kids out the door by 8am on a Saturday to go cheer for Carlos running in the 10k.  Charlie's advice to Carlos before the race was "daddy, pass the person in front of you."  I thought that was pretty good.  We found our spot along East Capitol and got there in time to see the winners (and carlos) go by.  Charlie stood on the side faithfully cheering for all the runners and giving high fives to willing participants.  He then took his race very seriously and lined up in front with his friends Cici and Joseph.   The week before I timed him doing a 400 around a nearby track - 2:32 min.  Carlos ran with him and I guess somewhere around the 200 meter mark he got tired and started quoting the little train that could "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."    Pretty cute.   He has also been really into t-ball which is hysterical given my aversion to baseball.

 

After the race we walked to H st to test out yet another crappy taco place in DC and then played mini-golf at H St. country club.  It was fun, but a total hazard - who knew playing mini-golf could be so dangerous -  balls and clubs were flying everywhere!

Sofie brings me total joy (and little sleep).  She is so sweet and loves to be held and be the center of attention.  She started smiling really early - I think around 10 days old and hasn't stopped.  She loves her brothers and I'm sure she'll adore her dad once he starts paying attention to her!  Little babies aren't really his thing.  I'm back to work which means we've had to figure out schedules between her and Diego.  I feed her before they go out, pump a bottle for her while they are out in the morning and then feed her when they come back from Diego's nap.  It's okay though we clearly both prefer nursing over the bottle.

We had a nice mother's day: swimming, brunch and paper airplane flying.

As for Carlos and the house...well maybe it'll get done by the 4th child (though Carlos often reminds me there will not be a 4th child).  Neither our bathroom nor my office are done.  It certainly is not for lack of effort on his part it's just that he is always way too optimistic with his timing.

Sofi is 1 month!

Sofi weighed in at a hefty 11 lbs at her 1 month appointment.  She has gained 3 lbs over the last month which  seems like a good amount, but she isn't as chunky as Charlie was.  She does however share Charlie's and Diego's odd receding hairline phase.  She is almost bald to the middle of her head and then has a good tuft of dark hair at the back.  She is super sweet and loves to be held.  I guess at some point that will get annoying, but for now I am enjoying it.  We go on long walks in the morning with her in the bjorn and she sleeps the whole time.  As soon as I try to put her down she screams!

Charlie and Diego still adore her - to the point that it is a bit of a safety issue and certainly a germ issue.  Diego sneezed directly on her face the other day and we are waiting to see if she gets his nasty cold.  I feel badly telling them to stay away from her because I want to foster their adoration, but they both have this gross lingering cold.  Despite their affection for Sofi they still seem to be acting out - Diego wants me to carry him more now and Charlie's whining has reached a new level...

This weekend we enjoyed the good weather and spent most of the time at nearby parks playing sports.  Friday we were at Yards Park for the first summer concert and it was already a zoo.  On Saturday Charlie played T-ball on The Hill for the first time while Diego supervised the micro-little league t-ball team of 2 years and under.  Both of them loved it.  Charlie also rode his bike for the first time without training wheels!  He had NO interest in taking off his training wheels until he saw his friend Joseph riding on Friday night.  Saturday Carlos took him out and he did it.  I was shocked that that was all it took.

Here he is falling over....

Sunday was soccer, swimming and dance recital. The dance recital was at this theater/church (yes that's a real thing) on 8th St and it was packed!  Of course Charlie was the only boy at the dance recital so I thought the combination of a packed house and no other boys would be a recipe for disaster.  But he did great and enjoyed himself!  Then again I did bribe him a bit by promising him frozen yogurt if he did it...All the other moms took thousands of photos of their daughter's "first dance recital."  We didn't.  I probably won't be able to do that even when Sofi is of dance recital age.

Popsie

My grandfather, whom we called Popsie, passed away two weeks after Sofi's arrival.  I hope she will embody the same good nature, joy of life and love of family that my grandfather was known for.  Last weekend we went to his service in Cleveland and Sofi helped me with a reading.  So many family and friends came out for his service which was very special.  The weekend was as much a celebration of family and his life as it was a memorial.  Charlie and Diego had so much fun playing with cousins Wallis and Eli and Toby as well as with their aunts and uncles.  Sofi got passed around from one surrogate grandparent to another.  She seemed to really enjoy the attention.

 

I stopped by the library of congress to go through Charlie Taft's papers in search of a few old photos of Popsie.  Here he is as a young boy (bottom row - 2nd from left), a young man and as a great grandfather of (now) 8!

Sofi is almost a month now and I can't say life is getting back to normal, but we are all surviving...:)

Sofia Etienne Arrives!

Sofia Etienne Taft Vazquez arrived April fools day at 5:50pm, weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz.  We all absolutely adore her - especially her big brothers!!

I thought she was coming Friday March 29th in the early morning as I was up with false labor from 3-6am....but she didn't appear.  Then I was hoping to coax her out on Easter Sunday as my mom was visiting...but that would be too convenient.  I guess she was determined to be an April baby.   On Monday April 1st I took Charlie and Cici to their spring break soccer camp and stayed there doing work.  I have very distinct mental snapshots from the day and one image is from my first contraction at 10:40am when I was helping Cici change from her cleats to her sneakers. I remember looking down at her feet with one cleat and one sneaker thinking that by the end of the day I'd probably have a baby.  After soccer I dropped Cici off, battled with Nationals fans for parking near our house on opening day and called my mom to come back down.


For the next few hours Carlos worked on tiling the bathroom while I cancelled a few meetings, wrote a few emails and posted soccer pics on the blog.  Around 3pm I decided that, although my contractions were still only 7-8 minutes apart, I was feeling significant pressure in my lower back and rush hour was fast approaching so I told Carlos to stop working.

By the time we got to the hospital around 4pm they said I was 9 cm dilated.  The doctor on duty was headed into a C-section so they told me "just don't push."  Great - thanks!  By 5:30 or so I told them that crossing my legs wasn't going to keep the baby in any longer and the doctor did magically appear.  She broke my water and then quickly suited up.  20 minutes later Sofia arrived and cried immediately.  I was so happy to see her - she seemed magical from the start.  It was so nice to stay in the hospital for a few days with just the baby and be in denial of the reality of 3 children!   I even asked for "late check-out" from the hospital!!  We were indeed late leaving as we couldn't decide on a name (again!!).  Charlie, Carlos and I convened in the hospital room and voted between two names.  In the end Charlie won and he even nicknamed her 'Sofie'.

The boys absolutely adore Sofia - to the point that I worry about them suffocating her.  Even though they like her a lot they are acting out like crazy too.  Charlie has been wetting the bed and crying a lot. Diego throws more temper tantrums.  I'm hoping this will pass...Luckily Sofie is a little angel to make up for the other two.

The transition to three has been made easier by all the amazing help from people.  We've had meals made, meals delivered, help with the kids, great hand-me-downs and gifts of new gear for her.  It's so amazingly generous and helpful because I barely prepared for her arrival!   

Carlos filled the house with flowers when I came home from the hospital

A gift from a colleague who works at Martha Stewart:)  

40 weeks!

Diego doing head shoulders knees and toes....well kindof....

Looks like we have an april baby!  I has hoping she'd come during my mom's visit for Easter but clearly March just wasn't for her.  I can't say April fools is the best timing though.

This weekend we went to the kite festival on the mall after stopping at Costco to get Charlie a superhero kite.  He wasn't interested in our $9.99 chinese dragon kite anymore and opted for the $12 spiderman kite!  Due to the cherry blossom mayhem Carlos dropped off the boys and me at the Washington Monument.  We must have looked helpless because the family next to us came to our rescue and got the kite in the air.  Here is Charlie at the controls.  

 

Sunday was Easter so my mom and Mary came down with bunnies in the backseat.  The weather was yuck and Charlie woke up at 5am with some mysterious stomach illness..oh, and our backyard is a construction zone so we had an indoor easter egg hunt.  

This morning I took Charlie and Cici to their spring break soccer camp.  It was pretty cute.  The paranoid mom that I am wouldn't leave them so I sat and watched the whole time.  Charlie gets very serious and earnest about following what the coaches say.  Here they are doing drills and  "juggling."