Rhiannon's first Christmas

Rhiannon's first Christmas was equally as lovely and very Californian. On the 23rd, we went to the beach and on the 24th, the mountains for their first snow. Joaquin had a hard time at first with all those clothes and snow getting in various places, but we got his gear figured out and then he had a great time. It was very peaceful and we had a patch all to ourselves.

We did stockings and dinner on the 24th and slept in on the 25th. Presents in the late morning and then we hosted the Bunag Christmas in the evening. Rhiannon receive a staggering amount of clothes and Joaquin a staggering amount of toys. If last Christmas was the first that he really 'got it,' he really got it this year and started requesting trucks very early. I don't know how the parents of multiple children in multiple age groups do it. I feel we are bursting at the seems with all our stuff!

2011 has been a great year for us and 2012 promises alot of change. Feeling blessed and anxious at the same time :)

Our world travelers at 3.5 yrs and mos.

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind. We started in early November going to Birmingham and visiting my Dad and Grandma. My Grandma has gotten sick and it is sad to see someone you love in that state-forgetful, frail. She still has her sense of humor though and it was fun to get little insights like finding the candy she had stashed in her bedside drawer.

We had a few weeks home and then Thanksgiving. Rhiannon's first Thanksgiving was full of love and family as we went to my mom's house and she saw her first movie (Happy Feet 2, which Joaquin deemed "scary") and then lunch with the family and Amy. We did dinner with Gideon's family and it was a late night, but a good one.

Rhiannon turned 4 months old just after Thanksgiving and the day before we took off for Thailand and the Philippines. In that month, she got especially adept at rolling around-her favorite is (still) to try and barrel role off her chairs. Joaquin got his first real haircut-quite the adventure as he seemed totally ok with it until he was actually called to the chair which led to a complete panic. A woman in the shop had to hold Rhiannon for me so that we could actually cut his hair. But it was going to be hot, so off it came and off we went.



We had a great time in Thailand and saw so many incredible things. We spent most of our time in Chiang Mai and went to the Elephant preserve, the temple, the Queen's gardens, a snake show, night market, indigenous village. The real highlight of the trip though was traveling with my old roommate Heidi and her kids, ages 5, 4, and 3. It was so fun for us to see Joaquin really interact with kids his age and I'm sure we saw so much more than we would have on our own. A group that age can make anything fun when they get along together! I am also so blessed to have friends that seem to grow in step with me. Heidi and I haven't seen each other in 6 or so years and it was like not a second had gone by-we just had all these kids with us now!

The Philippines was a bit more difficult with Joaquin and visiting the older folks. He is not around older people very often and he was a bit scared. It's also hard because we stay at a very 'no touch' house and go to alot of adult restaurants. We had quite the scenario with him when we left and that it is always hard-you want people to see your kids the way you see them and when they act out like that it is a little heart wrenching.

Joaquin turned 3.5 years in Thailand and has only grown a half inch in the past year. His 2 big things right now are telling me that he's scared or afraid and that something will be too hard for him. We are working on getting more yes's, so his other thing that is picking up is "Well, I guess I can try." A few growing pains, but other kinks have worked themselves out. We don't get nearly as much backlash about going to school for instance.

Rhiannon turns 5 months tomorrow and she just seems to want to grow up really fast. She is putting everything in her mouth like Joaquin, but instead of sitting she wants to go right to walking and likes when we help her practice. She also seems very interested in eating and specifically goes for food to get into her mouth. We've also noticed that she is a little more particular about what she wants than Joaquin was at this age. She's been traveling pretty well, but we had a rough time on our last 6 hour flight from Korea to Thailand. If that had been Joaquin, I would have been able to breastfeed him back to happiness no problem. She is not so easily fooled. She is very even tempered until she wants something and then she will really let you know. If I am late getting to her she will even finish her complaint before getting what she needs.

Rhiannon at 3 months

Rhiannon turned 3 months on Friday and it's been a big month for her. Besides her first car accident and her first laugh, she has also figured out how to grab things, talks quite a bit more, and is definitely a mover. We never strapped Joaquin into anything because he never moved enough to worry about it. The other night, I left Rhiannon in her chair (which rocks) and she had rocked herself down so only her shoulders and head remained on the chair. She can also lift her head and shoulders from a lying down position. She's also begun teething...or at least sucking...all the time.

Joaquin's speech continues to grow with leaps and bounds; he is such a great communicator. His favorite colors are blue, green, and pink and he is obsessed with all things construction. He can tell you a backhoe from an excavator to a digger and, right now, he wants a street sweeper for Christmas.

My favorite thing between them right now happens when Rhiannon is upset. Joaquin will come to her in a super syrupy voice and say, "Aw, what's wrong baby girl? Nothing?" The sing-songey tone he uses to say nothing is hilarious.

First laugh/first car accident

Not on the same day, but blessingly close together. First laugh on Monday, 10/17 at 2.5 months old, courtesy of Daddy's tickles:




The car accident happened the day before and she actually slept through it. Thankfully, none of us were hurt although it had the potential to be very, very bad. It definitely makes things like first laughs that much sweeter.

Joaquin is a bit obsessed with car crashes now and talks about them in the car quite a bit. It is so hard to see your child that fearful over something so serious. Beyond that, Joaquin is in another language phase, picking up all kinds of words and playing with them. He said an idea was fabulous and that I loved him verier mucher.

Rhiannon at 2 months

Rhiannon turned 2 months on Wed and like her brother, we celebrated with her first plane ride. Hers was to Portland for a wedding and she did very well. Not quite as invisible as her brother, but happy for both rides. At 2 months, Rhiannon still likes to sleep alot, but we're also getting alot more smiles and talking. I remember Joaquin would make noises that sounded like 'I love you.' Hers sound like 'good' when she is happy. In Portland, we also took her first trip to the beach, which I thought was ironic given her LA birthplace.

Joaquin is doing really well now. We have definitely turned a corner and our sweet little boy is back. He loves his baby sister.

Catching up

This maternity leave feels so different from my first. I'm sure I am romanticizing it, but what I remember with Joaquin are these long stretches of time in the swing singing to him and mentally planting my garden. This time, I feel like it has taken these 8 weeks I've had just to 'catch up' with what should be our normal life. Things like getting through food in the fridge that's been there for a year because it's not something we usually cook. We've also spent some time 'fixing' some bad habits or starting some good ones with Joaquin that we hadn't done because-frankly-we were too tired working. Eating at the table and brushing teeth in the morning are the biggest examples. A friend once told me that it took her 2 weeks to reach some sort of equilibrium in her house after a 2nd child...it has taken us about 2 months for me to feel like I've got it somewhat together...I guess better late than never!

Rhiannon at 6 weeks

Is just starting to give us genuine smiles and they are splendid! Rare, but splendid! She has great control of her head and looks older than she is. I compared her foot to Joaquin's footprint that we made in the concrete when he was 4 months old and they are the same size. People ask me how many months she is instead of how many weeks. And just like Joaquin, I am getting stopped all over to be told what a pretty baby she is. A woman at the doctor's office today actually stopped her phone conversation to tell us. She's still sleeping well, but still only when we hold her or if she is completely and utterly exhausted. She has started to get a little colicky at night, but not too bad. I think she just likes being up and walking around at that time.

Memory is fickle

I know Rhiannon looks different than Joaquin, but I didn't realize how different until I compared their 1 month pics!

Joaquin:













Rhiannon:

Rhiannon at 1 month

Rhiannon was 1 month on Sunday. We went to a Dodger game (they lost) and sat in the sweltering sun for about 20 min. before seeking shade. Thank goodness we were on the 3rd base side where the shade actually came. Rhiannon has very long fingers and very long feet. Her feet art the length of the outside of my thumb and her finger nails have had to have been cut every week so far. She is rolling over 1/2 way regularly and smiles are occasional. She will sleep as long as she is held-even at night. She doesn't cry often-just a complaint to let us know what's wrong and she stops. When I look at her overall, she reminds me of Joaquin and she makes some of the same faces, but when I look feature by feature, they don't look anything alike. She is darker skinned and fairer haired. Her eyes are more almond shaped where his were round and she has my mouth where Joaquin definitely had Gideon's. She is also quieter than Joaquin, which is strange because she coo'ed quite a bit in the hospital, but that has stopped. Overall, an easy, easy baby...we seem to be good at making them :)

3 weeks 5 days

...is what it took for a breaking point for Joaquin. After a pretty nasty tantrum from which he was calming down (because we didn't drive by the cement mixer plant after picking him up from pre-school because she was wailing and needed to be fed) I asked him if sometimes it was hard to have a baby sister. He said, "No.... Maybe sometimes it is hard at home. Maybe I want her to go back in your belly."

Our new balance

When we would talk about how easy Joaquin was people would always say something about how difficult the next one would be. I hated that and always thought they were mistaken as our impression of Joaquin's easiness had just as much to do with us (I thought) as it did with him. I'm happy to report that we either hit the baby jackpot or I was right :)

Rhiannon has her own little quirks that I guess you could consider difficult. One of the main differences between her and Joaquin at her age is that she's a spitter and projectile vomitter so far. But that's not really difficult...baby spit doesn't smell and I feel so bad for the little thing when she turns all purple and then let's loose. She is an easy sleeper as long as she's being held. We're trying to be better about it so we don't paint ourselves into a corner again, but 50% of the time I end up falling asleep with her before putting her down.

Joaquin is, overall, doing great with her. We have had a few snags like when he wanted me to hold him and I was feeding her. I told him he was a great big brother and he responded with, "I'm not a big brother, I'm just a little boy!," which, of course, made me cry a little bit. He's also started having some tantrums, although I think that has to do more with age than the baby. The other day, trying to head off a tantrum, I asked him if he wanted to go play in his sandbox and he said no. Gid asked him the same thing a few minutes later and he said, "Remember this is the day that I told mommy no"--wow...very dramatic with squinty eyes and everything! Overall though, he is doing great. We spent 15 minutes this morning just kissing and hugging the baby. She cried the other day and I caught him in our room trying to move her bassinet out to the garage so he could get her help. I came into the living room the other night and he was leaning over her saying over and over again, "I love you baby!" It is very sweet and it just confirms his innate sweetness.

Rhiannon turned over last night at 2.5 weeks, which just seems way too soon. I would have loved to have had awhile longer with blissfully safe couch napping.

Rhiannon's birth story-Part II, the arrival

We get to Kaiser around 9:30 pm and check in. I am nearly 4 cm dilated and not going anywhere without a baby. Gid calls the family and my mom starts to come down. What a blessing this is; we missed her during Joaquin's birth and although I had great help, it's just different having you mom there. This time, no one else decides to come down and this is also a great blessing. I just have Gid and my mom in the room along with a great staff and the experience ends up being very peaceful. We are checked in and moved into the room at the end of shift. I have one nurse who seems a little...out of it? She doesn't engender great faith. At one point she tells me she is going to stick my heart monitor below my 'boobies'...really? Boobies?

My epidural is called for and Gid is sent out of the room. This ends up being the worst part of the entire birth for me as the nurse anesthetist can not get the epidural in. She blames it on my mild scoliosis and tries at least 6 times...my guess is more like 8. Of course, you continue to have contractions during this time and even though they give you a local numbing agent, I am still getting that giant needle stuck in my back. I've still got my favorite nurse with me and she's not doing anything to help or change it and I start to cry. I don't think they are related, but the nurse anesthetist finally calls in the attending, who gets it in one try and then explains to me that I might be 'a little sore' because they had to try so many times. Gid had run into my mom in the hall and saw the attending and knew that could not be good news (he was right, of course). After some corrections for nausea, I am feeling fine and actually end up with a very good epidural...not too much to not push, but enough where I am not feeling pain.

My doctor is actually on call that night and comes into see me. The shift also officially changes and we now have an awesome nurse. We're instructed to try and get some sleep while I labor...ah, the joys of an epidural. When the nurse comes in an hour or so later though, I am having different kinds of contractions and she checks me to find my water bag is just hanging on the outside. It looks like a white silly putty container and they decide to let it break on it's own while they get me ready to push. All the lights come back on and our night of sleep becomes a short nap. I finally start pushing at about 3:30 am and after getting over the initial weirdness find the mirror very helpful in knowing 'where' to push. After an hour of pushing they put a bit of pitocin in as the baby's head is having a hard time coming out. Rhiannon (or baby girl Garcia as we didn't have a name yet) is born at 5:03 am on Thursday, July 28.

We had just our awesome nurse, the doctor, and a surg tech in the room with me, my mom, and Gideon. This time, they followed our birth plan and put her on my chest immediately with the blood and the gook and everything, which was wonderful. I expected her to be slimy, but she was actually a little sticky or tacky. She stayed on my chest for about an hour before they came in to do her tests and clean her up. Because I had gestational diabetes during this pregnancy, they tested her blood sugar which was dangerously low and had to give her formula, which was a little sad for me. After she was ok, she weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 10.1 oz. I say whopping because everyone had guessed what she would weigh while I was in labor and once we saw her. Because Joaquin was only 7.2, most guesses were far lower and everyone, including our nurse, was a bit shocked. With that we were finally released and sent to our room at about 7:30 am to get some sleep. We didn't have guests until much later in the day when Shirley, Bobby, and Estella came by and then later still when Gid went to go pick up Joaquin from pre-school and bring him in. We went home the next day at about 3:30.

This experience seemed much 'quieter' than Joaquin. Less people around, late at night, the same crew for the most part. Besides the botched epidural, a very nice experience again and less hectic.

Rhiannon's birth story-Part I, the dog days of summer

How different this pregnancy was than Joaquin's. People always tell you that each one is different, but not having anything else to benchmark with, I was continually surprised when things didn't go the same way. I was much more uncomfortable this time around and she rode so low that I thought for sure I would go early (like I did with Joaquin). I made sure everything was 'done' at 38 weeks and then 38 weeks passed...and then 39 weeks passed...and then I was at 39 weeks and 5 days and I was still going in for my doctor visit. When I made that appointment I thought there was no way I was ever making it in for that one and suddenly I am in my doctor's office 2.5 cm dilated and him on the phone with labor and delivery asking me if I was ready to go in to be induced. Truly you cannot plan for these things... After getting over the initial shock, I asked if I needed to be induced and found out that, no, he would let me wait until 41 weeks if I did bi-weekly non-stress tests; the first having to be that day. If it didn't go well, I was to be induced immediately; if it did, I could go home and wait it out.

Gid had Joaquin for the day and they were quite surprised when I came home. Gid had spent the morning psyching Joaquin up for a day of fun--first, a movie (Joaquin had just been to his first, Winnie the Pooh, a week ago and really liked it. He had been disappointed however, because we told him he was going to see Cars and when we got there Cars wasn't playing. Daddy was going to take him to see Cars), then a trip to Adventureplex, this indoor playground Mommy had bought a coupon for. After some discussion about what we wanted to do (did we want to get induced? should we get induced? no, why we were now panicking?) Gid takes him off with the cell phone close at hand. My mom comes with me for the non-stress test and we find out she's doing just fine in there. Kind of a cool experience too as my mom hadn't gotten to do any pregnancy stuff yet for Rhiannon or Joaquin...they did the heart monitor and an ultrasound although she was too big to really see anything more than the top of her head.

I wake up on July 27, my due date...and nothing. I'm scheduled for another non-stress test the next day and it will be the same deal, if it's fine, go home and if it's not, stay and get induced. If I go home again I have another doctor's appointment on Monday and I'll be induced within a few days. It's also my first official day off from work as I have put in my disability papers for my due date (not expecting to really go that late) and now I have to take off or go through paperwork again. That's ok...I'm tremendously uncomfortable at this point and have been for weeks. I only sleep every other night because every other night I am exhausted from not sleeping the night before. The baby feels so low that walking feels like she's just going to slip out on her own. I have the day to myself and I'm just waiting and laying around until I get bored and decide to go out and garden a little. People say that you get a burst of energy right before you go into labor and I don't think this was my experience. Yes, I gardened, but I had to take alot of breaks. It wasn't so much a burst of energy as it was me finally getting rid of some fatigue a week or so before. Instead of wanting to nap all day, it changed for me to being able to do some light chores again.

I had also been having contractions at this point for a few weeks, but light contractions and I knew they weren't the real deal. As I'm gardening though, the contractions gradually gain steam. After I break they keep gaining steam and I start thinking of my game plan if I do go into labor. I decide to continue my day for awhile with the calculation that I waited for Gid for about 4 hours at home before going in for Joaquin; surely I can do the same this time. I go to Sam's Club with contractions about 6 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long each. I had gotten there too early that morning and wanted to make sure Joaquin had his milk if I did go into the hospital. I picked up Joaquin and we played outside for a bit. The mail lady came by and inquired when I was due...it's quite fun to tell someone you are due today and when she inquired further, I told her I thought the baby was coming that night as I was having some contractions. During this time, I carried the cell phone with me to time contractions on an app Gid had gotten me. Not much change and, at that point, I didn't remember how long or close contractions were supposed to be before you went in to the hospital. I called my brother and Gid to be on standby but told both of them they could wait it out.

When Joaquin finally sits down to watch Mighty Machines, I look up information on contractions and going in. Wow! I am alot closer than I thought I was. Contractions at this point are about 4 minutes apart and over a minute long, definitely within the limits of going to the hospital. I call my brother back and tell him to come over and get in the shower (I stink because of the gardening). Gid comes home while I am in the shower and Nate calls at the same time. I hear, "What's up? I don't know...babe, are we going to the hospital?" and I tell them, yes, time to go. Joaquin during all of this is very nonchalant. I tell him Mommy is going to the hospital to have the baby that night and that Uncle Nate is coming to stay with him. After reassurances that I'll come back after the baby, he goes about his business. I tell Gid we still have time and that he should get a shower and eat. Gid has had a long day at work and is exhausted. Poor thing as we are in for a long night...

Joaquin at 3

When someone asks me about Joaquin, the first thing that comes to mind is how verbal he is. That might not sound as distinguishing from other 3 year olds as it did when he was 1 and 'very verbal' meant he had a big vocabulary. But when I sit down and think about it, maybe the proper way of describing it now is how eloquent he is in his speech. He says things like, "Oh my!", "He will be delighted!", and "That's so interesting" and it is always "No thank you." He corrects his own grammar and entertains himself by quoting his books-the whole book-while he plays. Lately he has been very interested in us naming the author and illustrator of the book so he can start his quotes with the title, author, and illustrator and then quote the rest of the book. His memory is incredible-this is not a kid you can say that you'll do something with the night before and hope that he will forget because he definitely won't.

He loves trucks, trains, and cars right now almost to the exclusion of all other toys. My mom's house is mecca right now because it's got construction happening on all the surrounding streets-so we get to get up close and personal with all those big CAT trucks. On the way home from school we have to look for daddy's car wash on each trip and the only name that has come out of school is apparently the only little girl who plays with the Thomas set.

He sings to himself and kisses and hugs the baby (my belly) regularly. He is very excited about the baby coming and sharing his room with her. Our brother in law recently had a baby and he keeps saying that he is his best friend and that he'll be able to hold mommy's baby all the time. He also seems to think that my belly button either is the baby or is the portal to the baby or something...he won't talk or kiss it unless the belly button is on display.

Finally, and this has been going on or evolving for quite some time now, but I don't think I've put it up here, he's gotten very particular about his grooming and clothing. The pants wars continue at our house in the morning and he will only wear clothes that are soft. That usually translates into Nate's old t-shirts. The latest hair cut and any kind of sunscreen application require a physical tackle and a 2 man team, but he's also doing more on his own...brushing his teeth and hair for instance. He is definitely opinionated about these things and likes to be comfortable!

Pre-school

So long without blogging...is it because we didn't have alot going on? Exactly the opposite, as you might expect, let's start with Joaquin's transition to pre-school...

We got an unexpected phone call in April that a spot had opened up in pre-school, which we had him on a waiting list for and really weren't expecting an opening until summer. Choosing a pre-school had been such a daunting task and our first, first-hand lesson in the inequities of education and how much you earn. Nicer schools seem SO much nicer and you start to question your value of money over how much you value your child. I study all this stuff...I knew that he just needed a good place to play and grow and I was still sucked into the class wars. Logic and years of research finally prevailed and we were soon getting a call from Gid's work based pre-school. We knew he was ready to move...him asking us if the price was right and being able to quote the entire Nick Jr. schedule was evidence enough of that...but it didn't make it any easier.

The first few weeks were hard. He told us he didn't like his teachers and started saying, "but I belong at home." He even started to tell me about a dream he was having in which he was on a rocket ship, but he didn't want to leave me...the first time he has ever talked about a dream and not a huge jump or psych background needed to figure that one out. It got more complicated when he got sick...an inevitability with a new school...but a simple cold lead to an ear infection to a really damaging ear infection, and he ended up sick for almost a full month.

It's now been about 2.5 months and we still have some days when we struggle in the morning, but the move has been so positive for him. He has less interest in TV in general now, his vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and he randomly breaks into songs that we don't teach him. They are having a summer 'camp' session now and last week they had a reptile show, so he got to tell us how much the 'big snake' (read: a python that went across his entire class' laps) tickled.

It's also fun and amazing for us to see how much these little ones already come with. While anti-social might not be the right word, he still has very little interest in playing with other children. They made crowns the other day and he didn't wear his (although he held it) even though all the other kids did. Same with the jumper-wouldn't go in because it was too noisy. I have to admit part of me loves this little stubborn streak of individuality in him.

Photos are his first school photos. When we got these, he said "I look sad."

Gideon's birthday

We're starting to plan Gideon's birthday and so I asked Joaquin what we should give him. I thought I'd get an answer similar to what he said my mom should get...and it was similar, but not exactly the same.

Gifts, and presents, and boxes of STARS!

First movie

Joaquin watched his first full length movie last night in which he knew nothing about the character or the story-- The Ant Bully. It was mediocre at best, but Gid gave it 4 stars anyway because of the nice experience we had. He has watched Thomas movies before, but this is the first time we've put something on and he's watched it all the way through without knowing the characters or having several 'preview' runs (i.e. 20 minutes, then 40, then...).

He also started telling me "As I said, ...", which is pretty funny. Here's an example from the weekend:

J: Sailboats are scary
A: Why are sailboats scary?
J: As I said, sailboats are scary because they come to me at night and they scare me

My mom's birthday

My mom's birthday is coming up, so I asked Joaquin what we should get her. He said, "Gifts and presents and boxes full of choo-choo trains!"

We are definitely at the point where we can have full conversations with Joaquin, which is really fun and very telling at some times. Since we have gotten back from Texas, he has told me that he is bored at daycare, which we have kind of guessed, but it is a totally different thing to hear it from his mouth. Who knew he knew the word bored?

He also tells us that he knows all about things ("I know all about [insert whatever he's excited about here]"), goes to the bathroom by himself and shuts the door for privacy, hates wearing pants, can calm himself down when I ask him to, and can be reasoned with.

I'm having a hard time writing this blog lately. I've been trying to figure out why and what I've come up with is that our lives now don't seem as much of a series of 'events'...i.e. first words or walking or whatever...rather, it's much more of a comfortable evolution. So it's a big deal that I can say, "Joaquin, I need you to calm down now" and he can take a deep breath and do that, but that's just the latest on a process that we've been working on for a long time. I think it's harder to write about the process as it just melts into every day life. It's no less rewarding and in some ways, it's more rewarding to see this beautiful evolution...nevertheless, it does make it more challenging for me to revisit the blog :)

No blogging in 2 months

I have not blogged in over 2 months. Is it because nothing has been happening? Quite the opposite...these 2 months have been beyond busy. In truth, every time I think of returning here I get overwhelmed with the prospect. Inevitably, I will forget something and then do I go back and edit? Do I add a new out of synch post? Should I even attempt to address the past two months? I like to think of myself as easy going, but this kind of self examination harshly points out a few perfectionist tendencies.

We've had a great and busy 2 months:

Christmas: This was the first Christmas that Joaquin really got Christmas, although not completely. It took us a few hours to get him inside and even longer to open presents. Then he didn't care if it was him that opened presents, just that someone opened presents...one of my favorite memories is Nate opening up some powder and Joaquin asking us what it was for. We told him it was for your behind (the powder is called 'Monkey Butt') and Joaquin promptly pulled down his pants and said, "Put it on my butt!" This ended a bit when Joaquin started opening presents for himself, and especially when he opened his Thomas the Train track set. After that, he didn't want to open any presents and, in fact, we didn't finish opening his presents until the next day around dinner time. I think this year left quite an impression on him though and we shouldn't expect that next year. He regularly gets excited about Christmas now along with presents and candy canes and asks to watch Frosty the Snowman every once in awhile. Great Christmas-so much fun.

Joaquin broke his leg: I'm not exactly sure what happened as I was in the bathroom. I think he got his foot caught on one of the throw rugs. It was his top foot bone that had a piece broken off. They actually did not catch it at first and we had to go back...he got the cast the night of the 30th and had broken it on the 26th. He is a tough kid...he had already started walking on it. He ended up getting the cast off in about a month, but it was a rough month for us. The first few days were filled with begging and crying to take it off and then he went back to as 'normal' as he could. Normal for a 2 year old active boy though is pretty physical and Gideon and I had our share of bruises from that cast being flung all over. So happy to see that go!

More to come...maybe starting is the first step :)...

Joaquin's contribution to the Christmas tree this year!