Times, they are a changing

So I took too long off from blogging...

We celebrated Erin's 1st birthday on Sun, Aug 16th. Just family and some close friends came over to watch Erin eat a huge piece of chocolate cake! (Pics to come) I think she had an upset tummy for the next two days, but she didn't complain! She is getting cuter everyday. She started walking about 11 months, and now she is toddling all over the place. She still takes such labored steps and seems little bow legged at times. I believe that I may have passed on the "graceful" gene to her - she is always bumping her head, tipping over, or falling flat on her face! She does mind, but she is relatively resilient. She's pretty courageous though, and very perseverant. When she wants to climb somewhere or grab something, she finds a way to do it! If she wants down, it is impossible to keep two hands on her. I think she is rejoicing in her new found activity and "freedom" because she can do so much more on her own. It is quite nice to see Vincent playing at his train table (from Nana and Papa) and watch Erin walking over to him and all around it and even playing independently by his side.

That brings me to how the two of them interact. Erin ADORES Vincent. She is happier when she sees him, she smiles and laughs brighter when he's around. I've got to believe it's partialy because he has always been there, and she will not remember a time without him. Vincent can be naughty (can he ever) and push her or hit her or other things that make her cry, but often it doesn't phase her and it hasn't yet changed her good opinion of him. I try to encourage a good relationship between them. I give them compliments to say to each other, ask them to share, remind them to say thank you for sharing (obviously, for Erin I say it for her). Before every nap, Vincent gives Erin a kiss and now has started giving her a blessing, the same way we give him a kiss and the sign of the cross on his forehead before bedtime. I think it's even part of Erin's naptime and bedtime routine and signals that it's time sleep. The smile and the look in her eyes is priceless.

More about the two of them later! More short posts, more frequently.

Erin got her haircut on friday the 13th. She was also six months old. I realized her half birthday will always be on day before Valentine's day. Next week, we'll get her six months pictures taken. Will post when I have them!

me...Want...FOOD!

Erin has been eating rice cereal for about two months now, and last week we started her on the stage one veggies. She LOVES food. I think she gets excited that she's eating at the table (in her bumbo - thanks, Rachel and family!), and she gets to eat alongside the rest of us. Vincent is very cute about saying "bebe wice ce-ro" (because she eats rice cereal). But now, even when we are out or don't get her rice cereal ready fast enough, she is very vocal about joining us. If she wants what we're eating, she very quickly works herself up and even screams until we give her a little something to gum around. We went to Taco Bell with Mark's family for lunch today, and she went from non-stop screaming to calm and relaxed as soon as she had a piece of plain tortilla in hand. I don't think she ate very much of it, but she let some disinigrate in her mouth before dropping most of it on the floor. Sometimes how vocal and opinionated she seems to be makes me think she might be a little pistol. But too soon to tell.

Vincent woke up so happy today. Mark was already dressed for church when he rescued Vincent from his crib. V was concerned at first that I wasn't visible to him immediately, but all smiles when he saw me getting ready for church. Mark asked him what today was and he said "Sunday! Go to church!" Usually he is much less excited about being confined and quiet for an hour or more. He did really well today, though. We sat in new spot, still near the back exits so we can dash for it if he's acting up. Maybe a new spot helps him, gives him new things to look at. We sat on the end, as is wise to do for quick escape for disciplining or diaper changing. On the other side of our row was a column, so Vincent was confined, but also had a little space to himself. And the 8 o'clock mass is never crowded. Maybe 1/4-1/3 of the mass, Vincent was very consumed with watching a little boy who was in the cry room (we sat just outside it). It was like his own little boy televsion! Plus, kids just love to watch other kids - amazing how we are attracted and influenced by our peers. Mark also did a great job today with V's mass book. He'd show him the page that corresponded in which we were participating, so he spread the pages out pretty well during mass, and also seemed to keep him engaged for a couple minutes at a time. But really, it just helps when he's feed, rested, and in a good mood. *phew!*

After church, Vincent and Erin had almost an hour of play together. We put E down for a nap, but she is having trouble sleeping the past couple days. I thinks he must be teething because she goes down the same as usually and then wakes about 45 minutes into her normal 2 hour naptime. Her gums do feel swollen to me (or is that my imagination?). So we gave her some tylenol and let her play with V while waiting for it to take effect. He loves to let her bounce up to him (with Mom doing the bouncing of course), and say "Got me! got me!" in between giggle fits. Then they'd lie side by side, she stares at him with what seems to be admiration or wonder, and he hugs and hugs her (pretty gently too). If I tickle both of them, they just have fits together, but E will not laugh unless V is laughing too! They are very sweet together usually. I hope that's a trend that will continue for a long, long time.

Wuv Yoo Too

The more I blog about the kids, the more I notice things about the kids that I want to write down. Last night two nights I was hoping to blog, but I just couldn't stay awake! While I always say the kids grow too fast, I am looking forward to the time Erin is sleeping through the night. She does sleep a lot (probably 13-14 hours a day), but it's split up into three naps during the day, and she still has two feedings at night (one at 11pm and one at 3am). We don't always help her process of sleeping through the night - she is fun to play with at night! She's all coos and giggles after she wakes up and after she eats. Even though we're often desperate for sleep, we love having quality, one on one time with her.

Last night we had a barbeque. Yes, it rained all day and night, but we had already bought a bunch of steak and asked my family, Mark's mom, and Christian's family to come over. Mark had the grill going under our balcony and we had an inside picnic. With all the rain we got in the past few days, Vincent was getting frustrated being inside all the time. Thursday when Mark came home, Vincent ran over to the back door, looked out through the blinds, and said "W-ain off!!" with great gusto. At the barbeque last night, I retold this story, and everyone laughed so hard. Vincent took this as his cue, and repeated "W-ain off!" at the top of his lungs again and again. Sorry, kiddo, it's funniest the first time - but I love thinking of it over and over again.

Speaking of family, Vincent hasn't had Nana and Papa (my parents) over to babysit as much since Mark's been home. The other day, I called my parents, and I asked Vincent if he wanted to talk to them too. "yeah, yeah." When on the phone, he asked my dad "Papa, p-ome my house?" and I heard my dad tell him they were coming on Friday for dinner. This wasn't the answer Vincent wanted so he kept asking "Papa, p-ome my house now?" He listened to my dad for a little while, but pretty soon was asking for Nana. My mom gets on the phone, and he repeats "Nana, p-ome my house?" She basically says what my dad was saying. Then he says "ahtie Jewie?" (my sister). She wasn't home, but it made me wonder what he was thinking. I think when he realized he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted, he just asked for another family member! When my parents hung up with him, they said "Vincent, I love you" so I told him to say "I love you" too (I've been trying to get him to say that for awhile now). He's used to me saying "you" when it means "me" from his point of view. So he quickly coos back to them, "Wuve me"! What a ham!

Dog Train

Vincent loves music - listening to it, dancing with it, making music with any device close at hand, but singing is a skill he hasn't acquired yet. A few days ago we ran arcoss a really nice book with a CD that a woman I work with gave me after Vincent was born. The title is "Dog Train" and being into Trains (notice the capital T) and dogs, that's the song he's always calling for every time we're in the car. That's been accentuated this week because Mark has been out of work, and the whole fam has been driving me to school on Mondays and Wednesday, twice a day. Three times on the way there, three times on the way back, twice a day. That's a lot of "Dog Train".

The point of this story is that Vincent's starting to sing the words. Not in time, not on key, but it's really cute to hear him say the words: "dohg trahn...long, low wih-cell...dark, dark, dark...high, high wih-cell" and he starts about 1 second after the words and hurries to catch up. It's wonderful to hear him singing and that music brings him so much joy.

Erin is getting exposure to music a little bit too. Uncle Chris and Auntie Carmen gave her a little piano for Christmas. Mark sits behind her (she's starting to sit up pretty well - she's strong!) and helps her play the piano. On top of that, my mom and I have been singing to her, and just recently she started to coo back. It's a different sound too, then her normal vocals, very soft, very sweet, and I'm excited for her to start singing full time. The other day, I was singing "On the Good Ship Lollipop" with Vincent and Erin, and suddenly I hear a soft, sweet, lullabye voice. It was coming from our little Erin!

One day at a time...

The goal of this blog is to journal about our children, to remember the cute, silly, and just plain memorable things (that I probably won't remember because I feel like I loose brain cells daily).

Mom, you have successfully guilted me into this ;-)

Vincent says more words every day. Yesterday he surprised us with "bay-be muhn-or" as we heard her start to stir downstairs through this convenient technology. It's also memorable to hear how he mispronounces words, like "wee-haw" when he's riding the rocking horse his great-grandparents gave him and upfide down. Crazy also how my brain starts to automatically translate these words so that I don't even hear his mispronounciations sometimes. But there are also moments that he is completely speaking his own language, going on and on, but I just look at whoever's around and smile and shrug. One thing's for sure, his exuberance is child-like in that it's full of wonder and passion. That always keeps me smiling.

Probably I will talk a lot about how different Erin is than Vincent. Today, staring at Erin, I was just thinking about how my intimate understanding of my children grows each day. I don't really know these children that grew inside me for nine months - at first. While I feel very close to them, would sacrifice anything for them, it takes many days and months before I realize that I love who they have become. Someimtes, I feel concerned that I won't love them after I get to know them, but I also love them before I know them - no more or less than I possibly can. This idea will take more hammering out.

Erin has a thing for raspberries. Not the fruit, the tongue noise. Today, even when she was crying, she was making raspberries. Funny girl. Just now, Mark told me that she did a "flash in the pan" move on him. She started stretched her left arm straight out to the side and started waiving it around. Then, when he looked at her left hand, she swiftly took his glasses with her right hand. Clever girl!

Til next time...

Happy Halloween!

This year was the first year Vincent had a "trick-or-treat" Halloween. We had an early dinner, and Vincent could tell something was up when I said we'd go upstairs to put on his costume. I don't think he understood "costume" but he got excited to do something different after dinner. Vincent was a "super-hero" (Roboman - or Oboma - if you ask Auntie Carmen ;-). Auntie Julia came over and dressed up too as a dark fairy. It took a long time to get everyone ready. Vincent had his costume on, and I felt like I was running around looking for little things (and mostly Mark was finding them!). Finally the basket, the horsey flashlight (thanks, Jenny Rodriguez!), the camera, and a cape were all assembled.


Then, Erin had to be dressed and fed too. She was much less interested in going out.


Vincent's sharing his superhero wisdom with his sister.

Vincent had on a glow in the dark necklace (thanks, Auntie Julia). It was his kryptonite to keep him on the ground ;-) We spent all of about 20 minutes outside. The neighbors across the street had treats especially for Vincent - they baked pumpkin cookies for him and had a gift of playdoh, candy, and those grow-in-water toys. We saw a couple other neighbors, but most of our neighbors had the lights all dark already! There is only one other family on the street with kids, and they are much older. I figured they might be at a party or out with friends. In any event, it was just the right amount of trick-or-treating for Vincent. I was pleased to see that he was hesitant to approach strangers' doors and didn't want to talk to them. I hope this inclination will keep him safe (as we teach him more too), but maybe next year he'll understand the uniqueness of Halloween. There is one neighbor on 23rd that has LOTS of Halloween decorations, the big blow up kind. He got scarred by the ones that moved and lit up! I never know exactly how he'll react to new things - it's like we're exploring right along with him.

Erin got to meet some of our neighbors too, but she was a little fussy and was more relaxed at home. She'll have her own "first" halloween some other year. I'm excited for our kids to go at their own pace. No rush - it seems to go by fast enough on its own.