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!

Joaquin is 2.5!

...or just over :)

Here's what our little boy is like at 2.5...

He is obsessed with Dora the Explorer, Season 3-yes, only season 3. We don't have cable and so he can only get Dora on netflix. Netflix only goes to season 3 and that is apparently the season where they changed their intro. So it is "swinging from the vines Dora" all the time at our house.

His obsession with Dora has provided him with all kinds of Spanish. Spoken regularly at our house now are "Hop on-Subon!", "Por Favor", "De Nada", "Buenos Dias!", "Oh si, mucho gusto!"

His memory is incredible...he told me all the houses in the neighborhood that were decorated last year and he was only 1.5 last year. Sure enough, when decorations went up, he was right on. His vocabulary is also incredible, at a much higher level than most 2 year olds. He corrects his own grammar, speaks in full sentences, uses complicated words, and plays pretend with full conversations between his trains.

He's also decided he does not need to sleep anymore, regularly staying up with Daddy after Mommy goes to bed. Two nights ago he didn't go to sleep until 1 am and even then he woke up at 7 asking, "Is nap time over?" He's also a bit shy and very hesitant around big groups, especially those that are noisy, which can be quite a challenge with Gideon's family :). We had a party the other day and with one friend he was all happy and smiles saying, "We're having a party!" With 4 friends it turned into, "I'm scared of our friends."

This year is our first year really celebrating a traditional Christmas with him. He has gifts under the tree and got a message from Santa Claus that he watched 10 times in a row. Merry Christmas anyone out there that reads this-I hope you and your family have as much love and joy as ours does!

Old Skool

Joaquin's favorite song right now is admirably old skool.

No pictures!

Joaquin picked up a big novel yesterday (one of Gideon's) while I was making dinner and said, "I'm going to read, once upon a time." He walked over to the dog bed, sat down, opened it and said, "Once upon a time...aw, there are no pictures!"

Our east coast jaunt

Gid, Joaquin, my mom, and me just got back from a trip to the east coast--mostly New York--which was great fun. The event was Dylan and PJ's wedding, which was lovely and touching. PJ asked Joaquin if he knew what he just saw and Joaquin's answer was simply, "a wedding." How beautiful it would be if Joaquin grows up in a world where it would just be a just that, that simple!

Anyway, the ceremony and party were touching and personal and I feel very lucky to have kept in touch with such wonderful friends for so long. We also felt very lucky that the wedding was in CT. What a beautiful place! The topography reminded us quite a bit of Birmingham...but on steroids. Everything was just 'more.' The leaves were turning (Joaquin: "We're in the jungle!") and the food was beyond good. Best ice cream we've ever had served right out of a building next to the farm housing the cows that produce it! And can you really beat wine tasting while picking organic raspberries?



After an idyllic time in CT, we headed to NYC where we had an action filled week to see the sites, some shows, and make our way in the gloomy weather. Joaquin loved the 'Big' piano at FAO Schwartz (some tears and convincing to get him away from that) and walked across the entire Brooklyn Bridge by himself.



He also did some flirting with the waitresses at the Russian Tea Room--"how you doing?"...seriously. They also had opera playing and Joaquin turned to ask the hostess what she was singing. This opened us to the wonders of traveling with a cute child as the hostess than invited us up to the private--and extremely opulent--rooms. Have you ever seen an 8 foot tall glass bear with fish in it juggling golden balls? Because we have. How about a 12 foot tall golden tree with 1.5 foot long Faberge eggs? Check!



One of my favorite experiences was seeing Rock of Ages with mom. Great show, lots of fun--and at the end this guy comes out, announces he's the lead singer of REO Speedwagon and gives an impromptu concert! They stay after and the band gives special props to the lead we saw that night, who apparently got the call that he was going to make his Broadway debut at 6:08 that evening...for an 8 pm show. One of Gid's favorite moments was the church near the WTC site, which is quite the testament to humanity.



And my favorite shot of the trip is this one, which is just so poignant to me given Gid's status as a naturalized citizen and the opportunities or potential for opportunities our son will have. I don't know that it has as much poignancy to Gid and maybe I am just being dramatic, but I like it :)

Patriotism and gay rights in one posting? You betcha!

Grandparent's Day

Sunday was grandparent's day, which seems like a bit of a manufactured holiday to me since it also seems relatively new, but I suppose no more manufactured than mother's or father's day. I thought I'd use the opportunity to write about Joaquin's relationship with my mom. Besides weeks when we have been out of town, Lola Elle has come over every week. Since I've been back to work, she picks him up once a week early from day care and they go home to have fun.



When he first started 'calling' people on the phone, it was Lola ("Lola? Bring me hot dogs!"). Now he does all kinds of fun things because of her.

• Every time he climbs something, he puts his arms up and shouts "I am king!"
• He sings the Young Frankenstein version of Puttin on the Ritz. So imagine (in regular voice) "If you're down and you don't know..." followed by (Frankenstein voice) "Puttin on the Ritz!"
• Whenever he wants to get down from something, even when he's irritated, he says "Get down, get down, jungle boogie!"
• When you ask him what day Lola picks him up, he'll say "Tickle Tuesday"
• And he's been sick lately and when I ask him to blow his nose he says, "Up your nose with a rubber hose!"
• When he gets out of the spa and wants a towel, he says "Want to wrap you up in my love?"
  

They have such a special relationship, which is such a blessing--for him and for Gideon and I!

Trash Money!

Here's Joaquin doing 'happy face'. He also does sad face and surprised face.

Joaquin has begun to personify things and play pretend. Here are two exchanges from the weekend:

1. (To the dime he found under his slide) "Oh, hello trash money! Would you like to slide? Thank You! You're welcome!" (Send dime down the slide)

2. (To the bubbles I am blowing while he's in the turtle pool) "Hello bubbles! Stay right there! Would you like to play with weeds?"

And this one is about a month old now, but it's funny. He pulled 2 wine bottles out of the recycle bin and brought them into the living room (at the same time--this kid is strong!). He put them on the table and said, "This one is for Joaquin, this one is for Daddy!" One of them was actually a sparkling juice, so he was actually right.