Tuesday, November 30, 2010

What do you do?

12-2am Sleeping.

2-2:15am Nursing, checking tweets, checking email. Realizing I didn't Cyber Monday and wondering if I missed anything good.

7am S up for milk. Quietly chat with Douglas about weird evening with boys.

7:15am S poops and then pees all over me while nursing. Leave warm bed, change diaper. Come back to bed and realize neck pain has set in. Again. Weird.

7:22am Boob 2. Douglas thinks about waking Joaquin to bring him in to me. I convince him otherwise. He showers. S is awake for real so we hang in bed and he kicks me.

7:54am 'Mami, I'm awake!' from Joaquin's room. He's soaked too. Change pajamas for, uh, other pajamas. He tells me he slept 'great!' and Papi slept with him a while and on and on then mentions his tummy was hurting. Explains weird night a bit.

8:00 - 8:30am Douglas brings me coffee and cake (Blame tango students! It's leftovers from class) to bed and we set up Joaquin in chair for special treat of Handy Manny with his oatmeal. Sebastian continues to lay on bed and kick me and talk. (Normally Joaquin eats with Douglas in the kitchen for some boy alone time, but he has to get out and get to a company to pick up some tooling he won in an auction)



8:30am I sneeze eleventy billion times. Get Joaquin out of high chair and cleaned up (get his vitamin from kitchen and notice giant pile of cat throw up. yeah) and move him into my bed bc S is fussing. Ready for nap. S on my shoulder for rocky bouncy attempt at nap-dom. Drinking cooled off, almost cold coffee. Check weather on iPhone. Consider first call to cops about Barking Dog Hell. Don't bother.

8:35am S is down. Swaddle, put in co-sleeper. Set up camera, grab phone and coffee cup. Joaquin is playing in his room waiting on me to finish up. Pass through kitchen and see throw-up and ignore a second time. Consider unloading dishwasher. Don't. Refill coffee cup. Likely won't drink it. Walk in J's room. Oh! A Poop. Change him.

8:56am Construction play time commences. Also considering what food to make today. And checking board I moderate. And checking Twitter. My job at construction is to fix the crane repeatedly. Considering leaving house later bc we have guests coming tomorrow to play. Note: considering is usually the extent of the action on any given item.



9:13am Friend sent tweet that Allegro coffee was BOGO at Whole Foods. Sealed deal we go today!

9:19am Joaquin puts on his hat bc I won't leave his hair alone.

9:27am Joaquin takes hat off. Tells me 'don't tickle my hair anymore'. Making shopping list while doing crane work.

9:44am Scratching Joaquin's back. (More, mami!) Discussing Christmas and scissors.

9:53am Sent text to Douglas a text to bring Christmas stuff home tonight from 'storage' at his company. Joaquin sitting on my lap and telling me I don't have a big belly anymore. I have a little belly now. Considering buying him a pony. Do boys want ponies!? Also Boob Alarm just went off. Ouch.

9:55am Getting off Joaquin's floor. Groaning noises. Going to unload dishwasher, get Joaquin a snack of pomegranate seeds, radio on, clean up cat throw-up because Joaquin noticed it, add to shopping list, set-up coffee pot for tomorrow, discussion about being careful climbing and cracking head and teeth coming out and not being able to eat snacks without teeth and can I have milk from the 'fridger' and Sebastián is still asleep. And Fruta Fresca just came on radio and can I tell you how much I love Carlos Vives.

10:30am Got Joaquin dressed. Discussion about minding and behaving bc the Insane Bug started up. Going to get myself dressed which will wake baby, but he's been stirring and kicking in the swaddle.

10:35 -11:09am Got dressed which included putting on some make-up which includes Joaquin doing the same with pretend make-up. Discussion about eyelashes and eyebrows. Discussion about mascara. Baby still sleeping even though we are in the room. Get clothes from dryer and start folding waiting on S to wake. Give J one thing at a time to put away. Do walk-thru whole and pick stuff up. Each pass thru kitchen think these three things 1) Joaquin's poop diaper in trash is stinking up the house 2) that's a good song on the radio 3) ???? I forgot the last thought. Finish laundry. Am surprised he's still sleeping through us in room. Eventually wake him up - yes, really - and change diaper and put warm clothes. Sit down to nurse at 11:09.



11:09 - 11:19am Fighty nurser. Milk spray. Concerned bc Joaquin is making a bed in the glider in the nursery and discussing sleeping there. He went and got baby oso and toys. Wonder about tonight bc of insanity with last night. Worried he is scared in his room suddenly bc he's talking about sleeping in his 'baby room'. ???? Milk spray. Fighty nurser. Typos galore while writing this on iPhone and wrestle nursing. Agree with Joaquin he can watch potty DVD in truck. Final push to get out the door in the cold. Coats on, go.

11:21 - 11:27am Got Joaquin's shoes gloves hat coat on. My boots on. Baby pooped! Diaper change time. Also remembered 3rd thought was SHUT UP DOG when I walked back in kitchen.



11:39am In car letting it warm up. Boys in. Cursing wind and cold and wanting a garage and remote start. And a garage. And a tropical island. And it's not even Dec 1. Also I have eaten nothing but a slice of cake today. And my neck hurts. Ok. Going.

12:02 - 12:10pm Nursing S in car at Whole Foods. Oy. Got fussy in drive bc he didn't get enough earlier. Bc of wrestle nursing. Joaquin is watching potty DVD. I am catching up on Twitter and email and board. Ok. Fought more. Putting him in sling and going in. This may end badly. Am starving!!



12:52pm Done! Got everything on the list. Heading home now. S fell asleep in sling in the store, but transferred to car seat easily - still sleeping. Pain in neck now makes me want to cry. Cannot move head either way.

1:16pm Home. Now to get all of us up 3 flights and get lunch for Joaquin. He ate mango slices in the store and a kids clif bar and water. I bought sushi for myself. Also friend called and will stop by later.

1:50pm Joaquin ate peanut butter and jelly, milk. I wolfed sushi while unpacking groceries and putting chicken in crock. S snoozed in car seat on kitchen floor. [SHUT UP DOG, POOP SMELL KITCHEN, UGH, NOT DADDY YANKEE] Now standing by changing table and letting S kick and stretch. Friend on her way over. Unlocking door so she can let herself in. Joaquin in bed listening to favorite African lullabies. Going to change S's diaper and get on bed to nurse. Ariel will let herself in and come hang with me!!

2:00pm Nursing, checking email, twitter and board. Ariel's here.

2:20 - 3:30pm Sit and visit on my bed. Off and on try and nurse fighty nurser. He falls asleep on me.

3:35pm Joaquin is up. Go hang out in living room. Talking around/over him. Not as much fun. Again nursey fighting baby. Big Baby Gas! Small Poop!

4:33pm Ariel leaves. Flip chicken in crock pot. Fussy Fu Fu baby. Joaquin to his room for not minding or listening. Cried about three things in a row. Refused snack. Drank milk.

4:36pm Trying again to nurse to nap. Biting! Super baby fusses. My neck is killing me. Won't nurse without biting - milk spray. Not hungry. On shoulder bouncing so I check email, board, Twitter and catch up with world hoping he goes down.

4:53pm Moved to nursery for glider to furiously rock screaming baby. Burping sad hurting screaming baby. Repeatedly asking Joaquin to play nicely in his room so I can get S down. Then will play construction with him. Am starving again. Clearly don't eat enough. Am also waaay behind on water today.

4:57pm Take pic of S to see if he's awake bc he chilled out but seems tense still. He's awake.



5:10pm He's asleep. Take back to our room, swaddle. Leave. Walk in Joaquin's room to put wheel back on dump truck. Poop! Change third poop diaper of his today. 5th total poop diaper of the day. While changing it, S wakes. Hear big baby crying. 10 minutes of sleeping??? Leave Joaquin and ask him to put his pants back on himself.

5:15pm Go rescue baby from Swaddle of Terror. Back to nursery. Rock rock rock.

5:21pm S asleep again. Will attempt 5:10pm again.



5:26pm S down. Put Joaquin's pants on him. ;-) Set him up in kitchen for water painting while I make D's salad for tomorrow lunch, take chicken out of crock, drink huge glass of water, and another, slam down chips and hummus, set up plate of food for Joaquin's dinner so it's ready to go, put away all the plastic drying on dishrack. Joaquin eats more pom seeds.



5:52pm Screaming sad S. Short nap! Go get him and sit down to hold him at kitchen island while J paints more. Read Twitter and email. Evaluate things I didn't get done: trash out, diaper champ emptied in nursery, cookie dough made.

5:59pm Sebastian poops. I mean, really! That's 6!! Joaquin is now eating pom seeds more than painting. I am on third glass of water. Leave D a voicemail checking in. J is done and off to change S poops.

6:05pm Tummy time, finally a milk chug from S, Joaquin sitting on nursery floor repairing things. Like the play mat.



6:20pm Bitten! No biting, baby! Smiles when I tell him No biting, baby. I suck, I smile back. And then kiss him. No wonder I get bitten. Poops! SEVEN total now. Joaquin requests On the Road Again over and over. I give in.

6:30 - 7pm Joaquin has dinner - crock pot chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts and butternut squash and apple sauce. Tells me next time no squash, just sprouts. Alrighty. I mobile deposit tango class checks, drink more water. S chills in bouncy seat eating his hands. Empty kitchen trash and set outside FINALLY. On The Road again plays non-stop. Wipe down counters.

7pm Handy Manny Christmas show on for Joaquin, we pile on our bed. D calls. Home around 9-10pm. Yeah! Last push of the day. Nursing S and he's chugging again.



7:25 - 8pm Pajamas on both boys. Teeth brushed. Snuggle on bed a few minutes more and discuss good day. Joaquin asks about my 'cute bra' and asks to please do the hooks (nursing bra-he can see straps under my tank) a few times. This is something he would do all day if I would let him. Head to his room and all rock together while listening to African lullabies. Tuck him in. Back to my room for what has become longest put-down ever for Sebastián. Concerned that Joaquin is going to have weird night like last night with two wake-ups and shrieking between 8-11. Please no!

8:01pm On my bed, S kicks me, eats hands. I wait for his patience for those two things to wane. Turned on Tv and will let E! News run on pretty much mute.

8:09pm Nursing S again. He's not fighting! Emailing all the photos I took today to myself. Hoping I remember log-ins to blogspot since I haven't posted in forever. I do not think Brad Pitt is attractive. Lip-licker. Extreme neck pain. Do you think an ibuprofen would have helped!? And why 12 hours later do I think of this?!

8:24pm Joaquin is asleep. More worry. This is what happened last night. That's very fast to fall asleep. Worries he will wake/shriek. Sebastián totally out after nursing. About to attempt swaddling but know he won't stay down. This is part of very weird evening schedule we have going. Let's see what happens. .... Yeah. No. Awake. But upset. Hold me, mami. Go visit with friends online while putting him up on killing neck and shoulder, bouncy bouncy bouncy.

8:41pm Dozing on me over. Commence hollering. Deliver a new boob. He's truly tanking up. And I just hit Starving again. I am really bad about not eating when busy. Now the shakes kicked in. Arg.

8:57pm Swaddle S, put him in co-sleeper. Do not expect him to stay. Grab laptop and rush to kitchen. Micro food. Load and dump all minutes into draft in blog. Download all pics. Start slamming food.

9:12pm Crying S. Grap laptop, gulp 2 more bites, put food back in micro so poop-touching cats don't get it. Unswaddled Sebastián. Plop on broken neck shoulder - still never took a med for it. Mentally agree sleeping babies weigh way more. Also note that this waitress way of doing things (you know, consolidate, be efficient, be doing 4 things at once) is totally my way of
life. Since 8/23/2010 for sure. And also since 11/17/2007. But all day non-stop now. Makes it hard to just sit and be. Kendra is on Tv on mute. Look at monitor. Joaquin hasn't moved since he fell asleep. This worries me. Three years in and I still fret over his sleep. That 8 month stretch of no more than 22 minute naps really gave me PTSD, I think. No joke. He sleeps like a champ at night but that screaming was odd and I am clearly worried it will return.

9:23pm Think I can put S back down!? He's totally out and dead weight on my shoulder. Want to go finish gulping food.

9:25 - 9:52pm S is down and swaddled. I eat the rest of my food (not enough) and edited the post, loaded photos. Realized I have a lot of S and J's and sometimes Sebastián has the accent and sometimes not and do I care.

9:53pm Pour a class of wine. It's been open a few days but it's drinkable. Sauvignon Blanc. Eat three Geneva cookies in rapid succession. Farking Farking Farking. Dog is still barking. And S just squealed from our room. It's 9:59pm. I am tired.

10:10pm S has squealed a few more times. I have eaten 5 more Geneva cookies. Douglas may be home soon. Or not. He had to stop and buy cat food bc the cats don't get Whole Foods chow. Considering the day. Now snickering to myself. I have two more hours to journal and likely will be up for them. But I don't want to. I am done. If Douglas comes home, he will rub my neck, I will tell him I love him and I will be happy. Joaquin was so very good today. S was fussy, but the poor baby hasn't been fussy more than 10 hours his whole life, so whatever. No big deal.

I love my family. Tomorrow we can do it again differently. But really, it's kind of all the same.



Oh and Hi. I just took a giant break from my blog. And now I am back. Because my friends at Twitter inspired me to do this. Being a stay at home mom is a breeze.

'Night.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

4 minutes of tricks I can do

This video equals: I forgot to take video for a while, so let's see if we can get Joaquin to do a bunch of tricks at once.

It started off with Douglas doing the Big Stretch after dinner and Joaquin joining him. So I grabbed my camera and asked Douglas to please re-stretch. He did. And then you get this. Four minutes of weird.

And this isn't even close to all the strange things we ask him to do.

It's hard to say what my favorite is. Is it me asking him to "do" lobster and him say "rico!" (delicious)? It is the MAMA! that comes after Por Favor? Maybe the fact that he takes more syllables to say Por Favor than any person ever in the history of por favor-ers? Or the fact that we can make him do anything if we bribe him with "applejiss".

Whatever. I can watch it over and over. But then, I am the MAMA!

Amor, A-meow: The Video

Starting earlier this summer a song was being played over and over and over on our Sirius tropical station. It's Fernando Villalona's Yo Soy Aquel. And it's Joaquin's first favorite song. Maybe because it was overplayed, or maybe because it has an awesome "amor, amor, ammmmmmmmmmmor!" lyric in it.

Whatever caused it to hit a chord with him, it did. And since it was on heavy, heavy rotation he heard it at breakfast, in the car, at lunch, in the car, in the car, in the car, in the car, at dinner and apparently in his dreams. He sang himself to sleep many a night this summer "Amor, Amor, Ammmmmooooooor!" So so sweet. And his little pursed lips made it even better.

And then. One day. He changed it up. "Amor, A-meow!"

It's how he sings it now. And if he doesn't want to sing it when you ask, he still will, but he will really rush it. So here's the video from last night (I waited way too long to get this) and he starts off with the rushed version and then gets into it for a while.

First Haircut!

The bird's nest in the back of his head from the car seat rides just finally got to be too much. I mean, really really too much. It was a big dreadlock after each trip and a lot of conditioner and combing each night in the bath.

So last week, we went and got a haircut.

A very fancy haircut in a place that costs twice as much as Papi pays for his!

And he was so very good the entire time.

Here's some footage.

Where we started. Big. Frizzy.


First cut done. Ok. Deep Breaths.


It tickles!


I don't know. I am not sure this is the right thing to do!


FLUFFY! Your styling is FLUFFY!


Check out the sweet ride at the salon.


ALL DONE!


I think I may like it.


Two days later. Mama-styled version. :-)

Friday, June 19, 2009

SummerDance last night.

Well, it's like his favorite thing ever. Dancing to music. And staying up past his bedtime. (Ok, favorite that's a tie with kicking a ball around!)

Last night was the first tango in the park for SummerDance and we dusted off the Ergo Carrier just like last year. Of course, he's bigger!! Taller and much heavier. But he's also stronger and I don't worry about him acting like a dead weight to swing around. He loves it and he's safe.

He rode on me the entire night and I am a bit sore this morning as a result. That was 2 hours of dancing with a little break in the middle to eat some grapes and cheese and stretch his legs.

Needless to say, he loved it. And it's fun to see people react to a threesome tango family. One couple came up to us and said they have a photo of us dancing at the Cultural Center when I was pregnant. And now they have one of us with the kiddo, too.

Joaquin and I danced with Papi and two other brave leader souls were willing to take us on as well.

It was great!

The family that tangos together, sweats together. Super humid. Super wet. Super curly.



My boys.








And a couple more photos since I am dedicated to practicing with my camera.

This is from Monday, June 15. Cafe Gelato.




And this is from this morning. Putting on his chapstick.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

First day of Soccer. Consider it an early Father's Day!

Well, I took over 200 photos from this grand event. First, I swore to keep practicing. Second, I knew we needed to document, document, document the event. I hope Joaquin doesn't feel the pressure, but he needs to get a full ride to a very good school on his soccer (nay, futbol!) skills. So we started him at 18 months. That's about when you learn that soccer practice has 45 balls, bubbles and all parents on the pitch chasing you around, too. I figure we can learn about offsides in week 3 or 4, right?

Let's state the very obvious. JOAQUIN LOVED IT! It's the combo of one of his favorite things ever (balls) with the doing something with Papi, with .... well, it was SUMMER on the first day and we have been waiting around for summer for like... uh, a year.

Perfect, glorious day. We love soccer.


Where can 18 month olds learn to play soccer in Chicago?


Papi put my kit on for me. Apparently I don't get to wear my Honduras uniform. Boo!


All suited up. This one may last for a year or two! And yes, that's an Extra Small.


Doing drills with papi. He loves Coach Nikki!

Working on his Game Face.


One of the best parts of the practice was stacking cones.


Future scholarship recipient.


They got stamps on their hands at the end. He's never had a stamp. He loves stamps now.


My favorite little boy and my favorite shot of the day of him.

And a final shot of the mother of his crazy hair.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Practicing with my camera after taking a lesson

On Friday I got to take the entire day off to run around with my camera and try and learn new stuff. It was so much fun and I learned a lot. I took a class with Rachael from Metropolitan Images. She's the gal that took my maternity photos and Joaquin's first year milestones.

So after a full day class I vowed to keep my camera close at hand. Today I grabbed it for some photos after getting back from Target with his brand new first pair of Converse. And then I lugged it out of the house in the diaper bag, too.

Tomorrow we have the first day of soccer practice (the idea of this makes me laugh! this is the first day of disorganized running around in the park with other 18-24 month olds!!) and I will have my camera at the ready.

So just because I know Rachael will be hassling me if I don't practice, here's what I caught today.

New Shoes! Papi picked them out!



Checking out the flowers on the balcony.



Trying to get back inside and go and dance with Papi. Is his class over yet?!



Getting smart.



Mami asked me to do a Kitty Meow! Twice.



(Notice furrowed brows of plaintive kitty face during meow!)


Doing a jump dance with a kitty toy in hand. Aka: Freaking out.





And a self-portrait I took during the class.