The Great American Vacation

Have you ever REALLY needed a vacation? Well, we did. We have not been out of town to get away for a long time, with Joel and all. We started planning this trip in May, when Jav went down to the condo to do his yearly cleaning and maintenance. He had wanted to take Gabriel with him, knowing that it would probably be the last trip to the beach in a long time. And possibly the last long trip with Jav's parents since his father's health is starting to decline. I suggested waiting until we could all go, and renting a minivan so that we could all comfortably travel down there. You see, I love my in-laws, not just for the help they provide with the kids, but just because. They are truly wonderful, warm and funny people and I have grown to love them in the last 8 years.

So we finally nailed down a date and started major planning. We thought the day would never get here, especially when both kids and then me came down with bad colds the week before leaving. We still had to postpone our trip by a day due to Joel. It's such a hard and long car trip even when the kids feel good, that I just didn't see it working at all when he didn't feel well. It was great that we could wait an extra day because I think it really made a difference on how he and I felt when we finally left Sunday morning. Here are some of the highlights:

We knew we were in for a long drive when Gabriel yelled out at the intersection of B.Stair and 820, "We're almost at the beach!" But really the kids did amazingly well. I overpacked, of course, so there was very little room for people in our van. But we made it to Fredericksburg just in time to meet with my Great Uncle and two Great Aunts. That was the whole reason for stopping there on the way, because they had never seen Joel and we haven't visited in about a year and a half. All of them are in their upper 80's so I really wanted to see them. Being tired from the drive, we didn't think to take the camera inside and don't have any pictures of Uncle Robert holding Joel on his knee, or Gabriel showing Aunt Lou and Aunt Gena his favorite car book. OR of Joel pulling up to a standing position for the first time ever on their ottoman. I'm still mad at myself about that. We ate dinner at Auslander, one of the more touristy German restaurants, but they have really good German beer, and it was fun. I wanted to leave really early the next morning, but was out-voted. So I resigned myself to just take our time and get to Padre whenever. We had some stress trying to get both kids to bed at the same time in the same room, but after about 30 minutes of laying down with them they were quiet.

For breakfast the next morning, we ate one of our best meals at a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that used to be a bar on the outskirts of town. Man, was that good food!!!! Traditional too. My father-in-law got menudo, and I think I would have even tried it. The tortillas were homemade. Just so, so yummy! Now that I think about it, I think it was the best meal on the trip. The next two pics are from there. I love the one of Joel dancing with his Tita, and I wish the one of Gabriel with the pinatas would have turned out better.

That second day was a LONG boring drive, as we all knew it would be. I passed some time with Gabriel showing him how to play air guitar, piano, drums, horns and just about anything we could think of while we were listening to his music. By the time we were driving through Harlingen (with still an hour before you get to the island), Joel had HAD it and couldn't figure out why Mommy was two feet away but couldn't hold him. It was so good to finally get there around 5:30. I tried to get the kids settled in while they all unpacked the van and brought in our tons of stuff. Jav took Gabriel down to say hello to the beach, with the promise that we would be seeing much more of it during the whole week. But then we realized at 7 that we still had to get groceries for the week. We decided to take both kids with us after we fed them dinner. Joel passed out sometime during our shopping trip, but Gabriel was wired. It was fun, though. How come even mundane grocery shopping is funner when you're on vacation? We got home and didn't get the kids into bed until 11 something, then all the adults ate dinner. What a long, hard day. But we were at the beach, so who cared?

Our first time to the beach with Joel didn't go well at all. He still had a bad cold, so runny messy nose that drives Mama crazy. Then, we didn't put sunscreen on them until we got down to the water. BIG mistake. It was an itchy mixture of sand and sunscreen, and it was really hot and we didn't have any shade. Jav was contemplating renting one of the big umbrellas and beach chairs when I decided that Joel just needed to go back to the nice air conditioned room and have a bath. He was much happier and immediately took a nap. The pic below shows a happier, cleaned up Joel back at the condo watching TV. Ahhhh. Jav and Gabriel stayed a little longer, but it was just really hot the first couple of days. We met a really nice couple, Jesse and Frida, from Texarkana while we were down that first morning, and saw them occasionally on the trip. After lunch I decided to try and get both boys down for a nap, something we did every day after that. The bedroom has huge thick drapes that don't let in any sunlight, so I started calling it The Cave. I always hold Joel during nap time, and it was so sweet to have Gabriel sleeping right next to us. Once when I woke up for a few minutes Gabriel had his hand on Joel's foot.

In the afternoons we decided to hit the pool since it was entirely shaded by about 4:30. I debated about putting Joel in the water, but decided it was ok as long as his head didn't go under. He loved floating around with Mommy. Jav and I took turns working with Gabriel on all he had learned in swim class this summer. Then we would all get cleaned up and bring in takeout for dinner. We only went to one nicer (kind of a stretch) restaurant, Blackbeard's while we were there. One funny thing Gabriel did during dinner one night was start talking like a robot. Completely out of the blue. We were having trouble understanding him and everyone was getting kind of frustrated because he wouldn't repeat anything in regular talk, just robot talk. All of a sudden, he said, "I'm freaking everybody out" in robot talk, and we all died laughing and couldn't stop. I don't know where he heard that, but just the fact that he understands things and knows the exact moment to say them amazes me. He has impeccable comic timing.

The next morning at the beach went a little better, but Joel still didn't like it too much. We stayed long enough to see something really cool, though. A pod of dolphins were making there way along and we could see them jumping up out of the water as they went. I started noticing Joel messing and pulling on his ears on this day, but he still wasn't really fussy so I held off on getting the antibiotic filled. That afternoon in the pool Joel discovered that if he kicked his legs like he loves to do on the ground, the water would splash really high! We got some funny video of that. Jav and his Dad drove to the airport in Harlingen to pick up Tia Sandie, who was going to spend the rest of the trip with us and ride with us back home. That night Gabriel had alot of trouble going to sleep and started saying he wanted to go home. I think he was just over tired and wanted his bed.

Each day we woke up a little later. I can't believe how much sleep I got on this trip. I decided to try feeding Joel before we went down to the beach and he fell asleep. Tita agreed to watch him while I went down with Jav, Gabriel and Sandra. What a fun morning we had. The weather had turned (the heat spell in FW broke the day before with a high of 77!!!), and it was cloudy and the waves seemed much bigger. We had a blast jumping in them. Then build a sand castle. I didn't want Tita to deal with a fussy Joel so I went back after a couple of hours. He seemed to be messing with his ears even more, so Friday we filled the prescription the the doctor had given us before we left. It turns out now that we're back home and he's still messing with them that his hair has grown long enough to keep hitting the back of his ear.

That night after dinner Jav, Gabriel and Sandra walked down to the beach with a glowstick to look for crabs. They got to see quite a few creatures, including one that we all now call Sandworms (from BeetleJuice) that Tia Sandie ran from without any regard for anyone else but herself. She was telling them to run from the "big, rattley funny-looking things". How comforting! I really wanted to go, but decided to stay and get Joel to sleep. A dad and his daughter (Gabriel's age or so) had been catching hermit crabs and she showed hers to Gabriel. Once again, Gabriel had a blast.

Our last day at the beach sadly came. And with it brought a pretty fussy Joel. So I didn't go down to the beach that last morning. Sigh. But I got another nap with Joel in the Cave. Aaahhhhh. And did some packing. Jav decided to shell out the dough to rent an umbrella for the day in case his parents wanted to go down later in the day. Tia Sandie stayed down there all day. She and Gabriel were getting really good at sand castles by now. We all had a late lunch and after a brief quiet time for Gabriel went down to the pool. Jav and Gabriel swam and swam while Tito, Joel and I watched. There was a girl walking around in a bikini who came up to show us her three-month-old. What do women do to themselves to lose that much weight that fast after giving birth? Whatever it is, I didn't do it!!! We all went down to the beach to say goodbye to the ocean and take some pictures. We wanted a good one of Joel sitting in the sand just like the great one we got of Gabriel when he was 13 months old (and we ended up using it for Christmas cards that year). But Joel wouldn't look up, the sun was too bright, and started to eat sand. Which made him upset because it didn't taste good. So no great picture. Plus our camera started washing out all the outside shots. We must have hit a button or something.

Everyone but Joel and I decided to drive down to the souvenir shop before dinner to shop for people and get a picture of Gabriel in the shark's mouth. (No beach trip would be complete without it!) A friend of Tia Sandie's from college, Gilbert, came by to say hello, meet Joel for the first time, and then take Sandra out for dinner. We got the kids to bed after dinner and started packing everything up. This was a sad time because Jav is trying to sell the condo and this will probably be the last time to visit, other than cleaning up once it sells. He stood on the balcony for a long time, and I knew his heart was aching. Buying that condo had been a dream of his for a long time and he has so many happy family memories there, not just from his immediate family but of relatives coming up from Mexico to stay, and then finally of me and the boys. But it is becoming more trouble and expense than it is worth, and it's something we have to do in order for me to keep staying at home for now. All I could do was give him a big hug.

We left for San Antonio the next morning, with everybody a little melancholy about going home. And about that 7 hour drive. Ugh. We stopped for lunch at what's quickly become a favorite of mine: Bill Miller BBQ. It was here that Tia Sandie decided she finally figured out who Joel reminded her of: John Wayne. We had a really good laugh over that one. Then we had one of the funniest things on the trip happen when everybody was loading up in the car to leave, but it really was one of those "had to be there" moments and is too elaborate and confusing to explain. We all had tears rolling down our face when we finally headed out again. Those are the moments we'll remember for the rest of our lives, and how stories get passed down.

When we arrived in San Antonio, we unpacked the car and decided to rest and clean up a bit before heading across the street to Mi Tierra's (pictured above) for dinner. We had some issues with our hotel room. I found a beer bottle cap on the floor, and then we noticed Joel's little feet were BLACK from crawling around on the carpet for only about 15 minutes or so. YUCK!!!!!! We didn't let him down again after that. We could only hope that the bedding was cleaner than the floors (something we just tried not to think about). On a lighter note, one of the neatest things on this trip happened when Jav discovered the little guy below, a bat, living up under the second floor roof of the motel. Gabriel is really into bats right now so was really excited to see an actual one on this trip. We never saw it fly away, but once it got dark he was stretching out his wings like he was going to start his nighttime hunting. It was amazing how much bigger he got once his wings were all untucked.

We had a fantastic time at dinner, then walked around the marketplace for awhile. Tia Sandie bought Gabriel a little guitar. We watched some kids riding the mechanical bull. We stopped and listened to a mariachi band, which Gabriel loved. I danced with him for two songs, which we both loved. I really couldn't believe Joel was maintaining any sense of calm though all of this considering he still didn't feel well, but he seemed to love seeing all the colors and hearing all the sounds. We made our way back to our rooms and ate churros for that special sugar rush just before bedtime. Gabriel kept wanting to play his guitar so we had to bribe him with watching TV until he fell asleep. We found a Lenny Kravitz concert that he and Jav watched until he finally conked out.

The next morning some of us had been hoping for a really good breakfast before heading home, but the wait anywhere was 45 minutes plus since we got going so slowly. We walked around the main indoor market place, and Gabriel's Tita bought him a real set of bongo drums (he had a toy one that he had torn up playing with real drumsticks at home). We had one last pass around the outdoor market, then loaded up and headed home.

I don't think Joel will remember this trip, but I'm sure Gabriel will remember much of it. It was very special to take with Jav's parents and sister. I really want to take a trip with my parents sometime in the future because it just makes that grandparent/kid relationship even closer to spend that much time together. (What a shameless hint, Mom!)

Four Years Old!

Where have these four years gone? Happy birthday to my sweet Gabriel, who continues to amaze me every day. I love you sooooooooooooooooo much!

Too young to drive

I'm happy and singing, just driving my bus. "The wheels on my bus go round and round..."

Hey Zoe, get outta my way!!!!!

Honk, honk. HONK, HONK. LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

License revoked! But at least the cat is okay.

Sense memory-summer

My neighbor Helen (who is in her seventies and just the neatest person) and I got to talking about memories on the way home from the grocery store a few months ago. She thought it was remarkable that a certain smell can conjure up another place and time. I've been thinking about our conversation alot lately, and realize that all of our senses can hold memories. I wanted to get some of these logged. This first post will cover memories about summer, which is quickly coming to a close this year.

The smell of chlorine in swimming pools makes me think of summer evenings at the Y with my Mom and brother, where lots of times we had the giant pool almost to ourselves. Years later when I was going through much turmoil in my first marriage I would walk my dog Stanley past the apartment swimming pool and be calmed by that smell. When Gabriel plays in the sprinkler I am taken back to several different backyards where we would take what my Mom called "shower baths" in the sprinkler.

I think food smell memories are the strongest. One food smell memory takes me to our summer trips to visit relatives near Corpus. My Aunt Sarah was a wonderful cook, but something about her green beans were magical. They were picked fresh from the garden and simmered with onion and bacon, and you could even smell them cooking outside where we played on the tire swing. Mouth-watering! And yet another one takes me to Fredericksburg where we used to stay with my Aunt Lou and Uncle Robert. When we woke up in the morning, the smell of breakfast cooking always lured us to the kitchen. But it was the smell of my Aunt Lou's homemade brown bread toasting that I will always remember. I think those trips turned me into a toast junkie. When I need to be comforted after a bad day I can always count on the smell of bread toasting to calm me.

And finally, this isn't a smell but a feel. Whenever I walk on thick St. Augustine grass, I am transported to my grandparents' backyard where my brother and I would spend countless hours playing croquet, having handstand contests or exploring my grandfather's wood shop. I can feel the cool grass beneath my bare feet, taste the pink lemonade and smell my grandmother's freshly washed linen hanging on the clothesline. Summer, summer, summer.

After the boy of summer is gone

Gabriel and I dancing to a mariachi band in San Antonio. More about our trip to come.

Even though my kids are too little for REAL back to school blues, I still feel a little sad that Gabriel goes back to Mother's Day Out next week. I am amused by the fact that I was slightly terrified when the summer started. How was I going to cope with those Tuesdays and Thursdays that normally kept him busy most of the day? Well, we have had such a fantastic and fun-filled summer that I can't keep up with everything we've done.

We had zoo trips, with and without Joel. All of which were fun. We had a FW Museum of Science and History visit. We had the funnest 4th of July weekend, with a parade, a Ranger game, and Toy Story 3. We had his best friend's Lenah's birthday party. We went to a dancing dinosaur show. We had a terrific visit from our NJ friends. We had two weeks of swim lessons. We had Joel's baptism and barbecue. We had family birthdays and tons of grandparent time. We had three play dates in one week. We had our fantastic trip to the beach. And there were things on my "list of things to do" in my head that we never got to, like visit Daddy for lunch one day.

But sometime during the summer, I realized that I was craving some "do nothing" time. So I started making sure we had a little more of it. Time to just sit on the floor and enjoy this boy, who is no longer a toddler. Time to get down the Sesame Street car repair shop down and turn it into a dinosaur playground. Time to gather every emergency vehicle we can find and make our own 4th of July parade. Time to key up the Ting Tings on the Ipod and jump around the room until we collapse in a heap on the floor. Time to sit on the porch swing and watch the orange butterflies that now come back every summer flitting around the yard. Time to just hold him, because he is growing up so very, very fast, and doesn't want to sit still for long anymore.

I've loved every stinking minute of it, and I am sad to see it go.

Comparing cowboys

Our newest little cowpoke.

Gabriel at 8 months

Gabriel now.

Little ecosystems

I'm a true believer in the power of ecosystems. If you don't meddle very much with nature, things happen as they are supposed to.

I can't believe people buy the Ortho, Round Up or Scotts this and that, and thereby believe in the theory that if you kill absolutely every living thing in your yard then you will be happier and it will be a better place. I'm actually surprised that these products are still allowed to be sold because of what ends up getting in the groundwater.

We never put pesticides or weed killers in our yard, and have used only organic fertilizer since we moved into this house. We stopped getting rid of wasp nests with bug spray. As a result, we have a thriving population of "good" creatures that keep the "bad" creatures under control. We have geckos the size of small gators. I have seen possibly three cockroaches around our house since we moved in 5-1/2 years ago. We have the geckos to thank for that.

Twice now, I have caught little lizards drinking from our shallow water dishes. That's why I think it's alright to meddle a little bit with nature, and help them out with some water during the dry times. I also see bees, wasps, and other bugs taking drinks, and we all know how important these little guys can be in the big pollination picture now.

And of course, we have a thriving bird population. I think waking up to the short little "chirps" of our cardinal couples is the nicest alarm clock you could have. I always get panicky when we have long, hot, dry spells like the one we're in. I worry about things I have no control over, like the ducks in our shrinking duck pond I mentioned in an earlier post. Then I realize that all I can do it make sure our little ecosystem around our house is well taken care of. And it appears to be thriving.

Funny

Nope, not sleepy at all. Rarin' to go!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

My eyes weren't closed. Really, I'm not tired!

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Swim class

Gabriel just completed nine swim lessons in 11 days. I was not too jazzed about this intensive method. I originally thought it might be better to take a class in which he went once a week through the whole summer. Considering we don't have anywhere to swim regularly, I was afraid he wouldn't retain anything and the whole thing would be a waste of money. But Jav's sister had told us about Mr. Bryan, and how everyone who had taken from him had nothing but really wonderful things to say about him. So we decided to give him a shot.

Well, he is more than wonderful, he's a miracle worker. After two lessons I began to realize that this man really had a knack for getting kids to have fun, and therefore lose all fear of the water. There's only two kids per class, and Gabriel's swimming buddy was Nathaniel (pictured above), who turned 3 in May and was a little wisp of a kid. By the end of the two weeks, Gabriel was swimming underwater for short distances, could jump in on his own (with alot of trepidation, but still), could touch the bottom and swim up by himself at 5 feet deep, and could float on his back really well. Nathaniel was doing even more, probably because he had already been swimming in his neighbor's pool all summer. But the best part about it was the look of pure joy on my son's face the entire time he was in the water. I don't think I've ever seen him so continually happy. So I am now a believer in Mr. Bryan. He holds the kids, makes corny jokes that they love over and over again, builds their confidence and knows how to motivate with patience and understanding. I now think the other method leaves an entire week for them to doubt their abilities, so they start every class a little nervous. We're going to have Gabriel in two back-to-back sessions next summer with Mr. Bryan (an entire month of lessons), and that boy will know how to swim afterwards. I don't have a single doubt now.

Too fast

We had Joel baptized last night - finally! We had put it off this long so that his godparents from Mexico could be here. But because of all the flooding in Monterrey and around the border, they couldn't come after all and we had to ask my brother and Jav's sister to stand in as proxies for them. And considering our priest, Father Paul, believes in total immersion (which we went along with after much deliberating), Joel did really well. He was so shocked that it took him all three dips in the water before he worked out his scream. But he calmed down relatively quickly. It was a great service, and we had everyone to the house afterwards for barbeque and it was SO much fun.

I had spent all week trying to clean house which is relatively impossible with a baby and a preschooler. Somehow it all got done, and Jav and I worked like trojans all day yesterday to try to get everything ready before we had to get ready for Mass. I was determined, however, to relax and have a good time once everyone got here, and that's just what I did. My Mom suggested I channel my maternal grandmother (Mamaw), who used to throw parties quite a bit. She would never panic about anything, and would just have some wine and thoroughly enjoy herself. I did pretty good and I think everyone else had a good time, too.

Joel is losing that baby thing waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too fast. Of course size-wise he never really had that baby thing. And my gosh is he getting bigger. I can't wait to find out what he weighs and how long he is at the nine month check-up. Actually yes I can wait. As I said, it's all going too fast. But the biggest change is in personality, and how all of sudden he has a distinct one. He protests if you take a toy away from him. He's finally started babbling again and if he's awake, he's talking. He's trying to clap his pudgy hands together and gets so proud of himself when he gets even a little close. He is so laid back compared to the way Gabriel was. Gabriel had swim class for almost two weeks and Joel would just hang out with me, sitting on a beach towel playing with a water bottle or whatever I gave him. Sometimes he fussed a little if I didn't have time to feed him before we left the house, but all I had to do is hug him a little and he would stop. He's just the BEST baby. When he does get mad about something, he invariably says, "mama" really clearly.

Last week I had to get a little upset with him when he kept biting me on the shoulder (he has a really hard time when he's teething). After the first couple of quiet tries didn't work, I had to raise my voice quite a bit. He burst into tears. It was then that I had confirmation of how opposite his personality is from his brother, who was never too concerned if I got mad at him. Sensitive!!! Joel is starting to get into watching Baby Einstein more, and does some crazy half-running, half jumping moves all through a showing. I've got to catch it on video. Along with the clapping attempts and the sweet way he looks at his daddy when he comes home from work every day.

Gabriel is mostly happy with these changes. He just doesn't like it when Joel grabs one of his toys and starts chewing on it. Joel still can't quite get his crawler to work, and keeps scooting backwards and getting frustrated. If I'm not in the room, Gabriel will bring him a toy (or two or three or four) to console him. Mealtimes are getting more and more fun with Gabriel trying to get a laugh out of Joel. It doesn't take much! You'd think I wouldn't still be marveling over the fact that I am lucky enough to have had two of these wonders.

Buddies

4th of July weekend

Saturday morning: Waiting to head to the neighborhood parade.

Waiting to see if we would actually see the parade. They almost decided to not have it because of the weather.

The main reason we go every year.

Saturday night: Ranger Game! The rain held off for Joel's first game and the only one we'll probably make this year.

If you leave the third level just after the last strands of Cotton-Eyed Joe, you will run into Captain on the first level concourse. It's happened twice now. Just make sure you wipe off your humidity-filled camera lens so it won't look like your child is shaking hands with Captain in a fire.

Sunday afternoon: Gabriel watching Toy Story 3. He did great, but I was a blubbering sniveling mess.

Monday: Lunch at Philip and April's for a belated Father's Day and April's belated birthday celebration. Gabriel was determined to spend time with Uncle Dave, which we thought was so sweet. First he tried to get him to come play with him, but Uncle Dave didn't seem to want to. So he settled for a book reading on the couch.

All of the cousins!

Comparing boys

The boys at around 7-1/2 months. Lots of differences, but somehow the same.

Joel has his own baby language he's perfecting. Lots of grrrrs and bwas and a very sweet "ha" that might be Hi. When he gets excited he yells, "Heh". Lately when he starts to get upset he does a constant motorboat, so it's hard to take him seriously. His big ole chunky legs just kick and kick and kick some more. It doesn't matter if he's playing or excited or angry. He's starting to sit up for longer chunks of time. but still can't get his crawl to work. It's almost painful to watch him trying sometimes.

He is such a good little guy and hardly ever fusses unless he's just really tired. I would read a book and sing to Gabriel at bedtime every night (and still do). With Joel I watch the DVR'd Jeopardy while I feed him. The second kid sure does get short shrift. He gets so sleepy afterwards that he just wants his bed. If I try to sing to him he gets mad. Gabriel didn't want me to put him down. Joel wakes up alot at night. It varies from twice to four times a night, and I think it's mostly because of his tummy being upset due to something I've eaten.

Joel loves to be messy. Gabriel is a bit of a neat freak. Gabriel was a huggy baby, but Joel is even worse. He loves to be kissed, squeezed, tickled, almost to smothering. His absolute favorite thing to do is play peek-a-boo with his clothes (that I'm either about to put on him or I've just taken off of him). We couldn't believe it when we realized that's what he was doing. He covers his face up and his little hands just shake with anticipation, and then he waits for me to say, "Where's Joel?" Then he pulls it down and I shout, "There he is!" And he smiles and smiles.

The sweetest time we have together is during Gabriel's naptime. I bring him into our bed and feed him and sometimes we sleep. It's the most relaxed I have ever been in my entire life. I can see now why it's so hard to stop breast feeding. I was going to stop after six months, then it turned into a year. Now I think I might keep trying to do that nap time feeding and maybe the before bed one for awhile longer after he turns a year old. It's going to break my heart when I have to stop.

Last weekend

Gabriel with the white tigers behind him.

Joel saddled up at Lenah's party (on a saw horse).

Gabriel riding the zip line.

At the newly renovated Museum of Science and History with Bennett.

We had quite a weekend last weekend. Friday I took both boys to the zoo for the first time when Jav's Mom got sick and couldn't keep Joel. It was cooler and rainy and we got there when it opened. All the animals were out and active. It was so much fun! Even when we got rained on I just told Gabriel to pretend we were in the actual rain forest and he loved it. We rode the zoo train for the first time, too, but now I realize it's not the same train as the one that goes around Trinity Park (and the one Jav and I grew up riding). This one just goes from one end of the zoo to the other.

Saturday afternoon we went to the birthday party of Gabriel's oldest friend, Lenah. She is three months older than him. They met when Gabriel was two months old. I have never written about her in this blog because every time they get together Tia Sandra takes Gabriel to meet them, since Lenah is the daughter of his Tia's good friend and former roommate, Jacqueline. They have had lots of play dates, and went to see Elmo Live together. We decided it was high time that we joined him on one of the get togethers, which was her 4th birthday party. She had it in a gymnastics gym, with a couple of staff members on hand to take the kiddoes around to the different equipment. For a long time Gabriel didn't really participate, but then he saw the zip line and decided it was time to have fun. Then he went back to enjoy the long, skinny trampoline. It was a really fun party and nice to meet the rest of Lenah's family. It was weird because even her grandparents knew Gabriel.

Then Sunday morning Gabriel and I went to the FW Museum of Science and History to meet another couple and their little boy, Bennett, from our neighborhood Mom's group. This group is kind of a joke. There are about 10 moms on the group site but only two of them and me participate. The funny thing is that one of the reasons our neighborhood won Fort Worth Neighborhood of the Year was because of the Mom's Group. Our newsletter editor makes it sound like about 30 moms participate every time we have something planned, but in reality it was just two moms. I was out of commission for about a year being pregnant and then having Joel. But I decided it was time to reconnect with this group, which is in danger of disbanding due to the disinterest. We had a good time, and only really saw the Children's Museum area the whole time we were there. I want to go back and explore to see if the ticket prices ($14 for adults, $10 for kids) are as ridiculous as I'm thinking or if it's worth the money. I remember when it was free to get into this museum. Sad.

We're right in the middle of another crazy busy but fun weekend. More later!

Birds

I didn't pay much attention to birds before I lived in the rent house. Before that they were just creatures who made too much noise some mornings and woke me up. My appreciation for them started growing when I realized just how many different types lived around me. I hung up a feeder in the front yard and would catch myself staring at it for long periods of time. Then my walks with the dogs around the neighborhood heightened my interest, because I started listening to their calls. By the end of my time at the rent house, I could distinguish cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, grackles, crows, and hawks. I loved hearing the sound of the whippoorwill during the night, and would occasionally get to hear an owl. The screech owls had a really neat call, sounding like little horses.

I now find them all fascinating. So much so that I could even find myself as a true birdwatcher, binoculars in hand and field journal in backpack. I constantly listen when I'm out in the yard and would love to learn more calls. There is a bird that migrates here every summer that has such a crazy call. It's really loud and seems to silence other birds, like when hawks cry out, but it's not like any hawk call I've ever heard. I know he's big, but he always flies over really high and likes to sit in the tops of trees so I haven't been able to get a really good look at him. He's really good at staying camouflaged. I heard him for the first time this morning, and smiled to know that he is back again this year. I'm determined to figure out what kind of bird he is.

My grandfather always had bird books so that they could look them up if they saw a new one, or if one just happened to come up in conversation. My parents continued the tradition and have a really big National Geographic bird book on their shelf. One day Gabriel was rummaging around for something to do, and tried to pull that heavy book off the shelf my himself. We helped him get it down, thinking he would want to give it right back once he saw that it was just a bunch of bird pictures. He sat on the floor and looked through the whole thing, asking questions all along. This impressed my mother so much that she gave him a smaller version of the book to take home.

He looks through it often, and has his favorite pages. He loves the page with the condor and vultures for some reason. He loves seeing anything with bright colors, and has always loved cardinals. But the neatest thing about it is that he will run to it to look one up if we see a new one in the yard. I told Jav during dinner one night that I saw a ruby-throated hummingbird drinking from our feeder, and Gabriel forgot he was eating dinner and hopped up to run and get his book. I love this, that he is such a curious child and wants to know more. I guess it just runs in the family.

Fight it!

Gabriel waiting for the garbage truck to go by where he can see it from the back yard.

Gabriel was getting ready to go spend an afternoon with Jav's Mom last Monday and I had told him to find some shoes. He came out with one blue croc and one tan croc on and announced he was wearing two different colors today. I loved this so much, because it was totally his idea, and because it shows an attempt to fend off some of the OCD that I know he has inherited from me. I know he has it, but that's a whole nuther post.

Every day this week he has come out with two different colored crocs. We have been getting great smiles at the grocery store and the library when people notice his feet. One man said to his wife as they passed us, "I bet he has another pair just like that at home." and chuckled.

TV

Before I had kids, I was soooooooo judgemental when it came to parents letting their kids watch what I considered to be too much TV. I usually would not say anything out loud, but my inside voice was all high and mighty talking about me never letting my kids watch very much TV.

Oh how things change once the reality of having children slaps you silly. I started letting Gabriel watch a half hour of TV just after turning six months old. It quickly became an hour. Then for a long time I tried to only let him watch an hour in the morning and and hour in the evening while I cooked dinner. This is still my idea of enough TV for a three year old. The only time he got more was when he was sick.

Now we just sort of "let the TV time fall as it may" each day. There are those days, you know the ones? Where I don't even have the energy to turn it off. It's just comforting to know that it's on, as if there's another person helping me take care of my kid. At least Gabriel still doesn't watch anything with commercials yet. Just PBS and Nick Jr. And movies. He usually sticks with one movie for two to three weeks, so we get to know them really well before they have to step down to their replacement. Right now we're on Hercules. I could sing you all the songs if you wanted me to. They pop up in my dreams at night.

I just started letting Joel watch, especially after finding the Baby Einstein DVD's we had put up when Gabriel got too old for them. How could I have forgotten them, as many times as we watched them? Gabriel is also enjoying seeing them again, and the two of them together are just so cute. Joel only sticks with a whole half hour if Gabriel is watching with him. But it just gives me a chance to cook dinner without feeling quite so rushed, which is nice.

So my attitude towards TV has softened, and hopefully I'm not ruining my kids' imagination. My favorite thing to watch during the day now is an episode of Jeopardy, to prove to myself that my own brain is not fried. And even though I don't think he understands a word, Gabriel likes to watch with me, proving that to a kid, any TV is good TV.

Joel

He has a farm animal puppet glove on his head. Gabriel put it there and told me to take a picture.

The top half while sitting in his new jumper.

And the bottom half. Wow.

I love this picture.

Joel (a.k.a. The Pudgelet) had his first big belly laugh last Sunday. We finally got Gabriel's Bozo Bopping Bag blown up from Christmas (!), and every time he punched it and it wobbled back and forth Joel just squealed and laughed with delight. Which of course made Gabriel belly laugh too. It was so darn cute! Joel can't take his eyes off of his brother if he's in the room.

He has his first tooth that's finally broken through on the bottom. I'm thinking another one is one the way the way he's gnawing on everything in sight. He's starting to communicate more with little noises (and big loud noises too). He is such a sweet and affectionate baby and loves to be kissed. He's trying to kiss back but all he can do is lunge at your face with his mouth open.

I think he may be days away from starting to crawl. This morning I found him in his crib on all fours for the first time. Usually he's just propped up with his arms and his legs are straight behind him. Then later at my mom and dad's he started rocking back and forth and my mom said, "Uh oh. He's about to take off!" All of a sudden my floors seem even more full of pet hair then they actually are with the thought of him sashaying around the house face down. Ugh.

His days of being a little helpless baby are over, which makes me a little sad even though it also makes things much easier. At least he still has that baby smell. I wish I could bottle it. I could take it out and remember these wonderful days even when he gets the sweaty boy smell.

Makes perfect sense.

I'm trying to teach Gabriel the days of the week. So today during breakfast this was our conversation:

Me: "What day is today?"

Him: (I thought he said) "Monday"

Me: "Good! And what day comes after Monday?"

Him: "Tuesday".

Me: "Excellent! Then what's next?"

Him: "Threesday."

And I realize that he's actually been saying "Oneday" instead of Monday all along.

I love that kid.