Post Vacation

What fun! It was tough to travel with a 6 month old who doesn't sleep in a moving car or anywhere really other than a crib or bed. She didn't do anything all that exciting while she was there except work on her crawling. Still VERY slow and angry. She moves around in a circle and backwards more than she does forward. Xavi on the other hand went to Parc Safari in Canada with his cousin Connor! He went out everyday to look at his grandparents frogs and goldfish (taking along a green net in hopes of catching one). He hiked and picked up salamanders and toads. He saw tent caterpillars and bear poop (that was really exciting but he wanted to see the actual bear - no thanks!). He went swimming with grampa and played a new favorite game, pretending to run away from alligators and sharks. He celebrated his "three birthday" early with his grandparents and friends and just hung around. Everyone had a great time and Xavi was fantastic on the plane. He wants to get back on it again. The toughest part was how loud he was on it..."mami, where's Connor?!?", "mami, where's oma and grandpa??!?!", "Mami, sing me a song?!?!", "wow! we're falling!! (as we land)" . We did get a 24 hour stomach bug while we were there...from Connor's parents....but it was worth it to see them and have Xavi and Connor get to hang out again. Surprisingly the kids and oma never got sick...weird...??? Sorry, guys if you're reading this now. We didn't have the heart to tell you earlier...REALLY it was well worth it to see you three! And the kids never got sick so it's like it never happened, in my opinion.

We also caught up with our friends Liz and Jason and their two beautiful daughters, Alaina and Gina. Alaina is a riot! We only wished we could spend more time with them. That's baby Gina below...Alaina is in the swing with Xavi. I'm pretending I own that boat - next summer, Liz, boat rides on the lake! Can I tell Alaina's funniest moment? She wants to pee standing up like a boy...and can do a pretty darn good job of it, but it looks hilarious! You certainly have your hands full with that one!

Now that we're back we're finishing up the move - we're settled but there are some things in a the house that need to go in storage. Husbands shouldn't be allowed to have basements or garages! One more day until Xavi returns to school, mami to work and Caro begins daycare! I'm stressed about all of this happening at once and Daniel is away for the week. Sigh. We all miss him and I'm not sure how I will get ready while I also get the kids ready. Plus I have to plan a third birthday party this week! Next Sunday Xavi turns three. So exciting and so sad that he's getting older (inevitable, I know, it's a weird mother thing I never understood until now). He is so excited about his party. It was warm over the weekend but now is raining and cool. I guess summer is over. Will post pictures over the week of the party, when I am caught up with sleep!

Before Vacation

We're 98% done with our move. That last 2% is killing us though. We didn't really pack...we just grabbed stuff every day and brought it with us. Xavi helped too but ended up packing things like our keys or wallets then going to bed. It didn't actually help. We would end up blaming each other for moving these things during the organization process on this end. But we're onto him now. So if you're wondering why we even need that last 2% of stuff if we've been living without it for a little more than a week, join the club - we are thinking the exact same thing! Lots of c-r-a-p going to the trash in the coming days. Sorry about the spelling but these days it has become a habit, a part of our daily speech. The other day Daniel was recounting some outrageous story (I don't even remember what it was) and I said "shut up, no way"...the next thing I hear is "shut up!" out of xavi's mouth. I've been so good about so many other words too. He also yells "WHAAAAT" at the top of his lungs when I call him and I've realized that I don't like that. My dad used to complain about us doing that as kids and always wanted us to respond with the more polite "mande?" which I thought was BS. It literally translates to "order me?", which didn't jive with my (and probably not my three sisters) american feminist mentality (at the oh so wise ages of 13-19), but really is only a polite way to respond to someone. I think I have to work on that with Xavi (maybe Caro will catch on if Xavi does), much to my dad's delight. Xavi is also asking "what's that?" about everything! We haven't moved on to "why?" yet but I see it coming down the road - eek! Vacation began today for him and he is anxiously awaiting his upcoming flight to NY to see his grandparents. He talks about it all the time and when he's done he looks at me and asks "Do you want to come with me, mami?" ...he may take the baby too...they're getting along like brother and sister. One minute they love each other, the next minute they start rough housing and I hear myself say something my parents would have said "this is going to end in tears!" and sometimes it does....but not always.

Carolina doesn't know what's up, just that she gets to see her big brother all day and loves it (most of the time). She has a bit of a runny nose, is doing really well on zantac and not throwing up much at all. I'm hoping she can come of the medication by Christmas break. She'll be 10 months old and fully on solids by then, I think. I didn't get this on video but she "crawled" for the first time today. That sort of army crawl babies do first, where they push off with their feet, pull with their hands and drag themselves on their bellies (maybe even a little on their faces if they don't pick up their heads - which she did, but she was on a soft blanket). She did it ever so slowly and angrily until she moved a few inches and reached the remote control to the TV! Hurray. It's always the remote, isn't it. I have a video of Xavi going for it on our bed when he was about the same age (?). It was exciting but lasted so long that I didn't actually think she would do it and she was POed - can you tell? There are days where I swear she is practically having a 2 year old's tantrum at 6 months!! Oh yeah, she is 6 months old today. Oh and it's Mari's birthday! Happy Birthday, old lady!

Moving Craziness

We're moving and surrounded in mess - fortunately it's less than 15 blocks away. Don't have time or space for pictures, but here's one while Caro and I took a break. We'll finish up here and travel to see the grandparents in NY so that may be the next time there are more pictures. Oh and it's starting to get chilly already...in August! What's that about?

AND I missed her 6 month appt in this craziness so we'll have to wait until September to post stats for her, but I'll also have Xavi's three year stats by then!

Two Things

It turns out that Caro was upset about her milk because her ear was bothering her...she was tugging at it the rest of the day and still today. I took her in to see the doc and they (doc, intern, med student!) said it wasn't an ear infection, thankfully, but she did have fluid in her ear that could be bothering her just as much. Will go away on it's own.

Though Caro sits very well these days (better picture to the left), she doesn't crawl. Here is the problem: you can't leave her sitting on her own because she will lunge at some object or person (read: Xavi) and land on her face. I sit close to her or hold her hand to catch her before the face plant when she's on the floor. When she's on the bed or some other soft surface I let her go to see how/what she does. Still hates being on her belly and will roll back onto her tummy. She will occassionally roll over onto her belly when she is trying to reach something. Then roll back onto her back. She may skip crawling, I've decided. Really shows no interest at all right now.