August, September, and October have been going by in a blur. Frisbee picked up for Daddy, Mommy started her semester, and Pablo started going to day care. Although there are just as many stories to tell about Pablo growing up, we ended up with fewer photos over this time period. As of writing this blog post, we have resolved ourselves to do a better job of taking pictures of our little one!
Where did we leave off... Oh yeah, August.
August started off with a trip to Houston for a baby shower in V's family as well as her church Bazaar. Pablo did all right on the car ride to and from Houston, but he actually likes travelling by plane better. Being stuck in the car seat for long periods of time is not his favorite activity. Mommy was excited for Pablo to spend time with his great-great aunt Leecha at the baby shower, and Pablo was the apple of his grandfather's eye at the church bazaar.
A couple of weeks later, Mommy had a class that lasted for a whole week in Houston. Mommy and Pablo flew to Houston, and Daddy joined them after returning from his frisbee trip to Seattle. We stayed for the whole week with Alice, John, and little Mia. Thank you so much for your hospitality!! Mia, thanks especially for sharing your toys with Pablo.
Mommy started her semester in late August and Pablo started attending his day care at the beginning of September. They had both gone to meet the teachers in mid August so seeing them again on the first day of school wasn't a complete surprise. After getting over the shock of Mommy leaving him in a strange place, Pablo decided that he loves playing with all the other kids at day care. Plus, they have different toys than the ones he has at home. This was a big change for Pablo, but probably a bigger change for Mommy. It was pretty tough for her to leave her little one when he wasn't 100% happy. Now, Mommy, Daddy, Pablo, and the teachers at the day care are all happy with the arrangement.
With the start of day care, Pablo also started his first bout with a head cold. It took just three days of day care for him to come home sick. Mommy and Daddy would spend the night sitting up with him so that his congestion wouldn't prevent him from sleeping. The end result was that Daddy wore down. 4 days after Pablo was sick, Daddy was sick too. Luckily Mommy has managed to stay healthy and help take care of her boys. Both Pablo & Daddy were better in a weeks time. I guess we should get used to this. :) And so goes August...
September gave us a few opportunities for travel...Pablo helped celebrate Zoe's first birthday party in Austin. The next weekend, we were back in Austin to cheer on Daddy and the rest of Chewbacca Defense at sectionals. The week after sectionals, it was back to the west coast for Bonnie and Jeremy's wedding in Hood River, Oregon. This has to be one of the most beautiful settings for a wedding in the world. The apple orchards were filled with apples ripe for the picking. The flowers were in full bloom. Mt Hood provided a scenic back drop to the ceremony and to the entire weekend. Did I forget to mention that Bonnie looked beautiful and Jeremy looked like... well, Jeremy. The wedding provided another mini Rice reunion. Arpi, Kate, Peter, Don, Judy, and KIEN (at 8 weeks old) shared a house with us in Hood River. We all agreed that we didn't want to leave. Only the LeToms acted on the impulse and stuck around the area for the rest of the week. Side note: you might think that at 8 weeks old, Kien was the youngest baby to fly to the wedding. Not so! John Reese (of "my friend John Reese" stories from Jeremy) showed up at the wedding with a 4 week old who also flew up from Texas.
October started with a bang (and by that, I mean Pablo getting sick again). This time, it was just another head cold, but Daddy managed to stay well while Mommy felt a little sick. The head cold prompted Mommy and Pablo to bail on the trip to Atlanta for Daddy's regionals tournament. Everybody in Atlanta was sad to miss Pablo, but happy that he was on the mend back home.
October has also given us opportunities to visit with friends. Brigitte came for a visit (along with her 2 very sweet kitties!) - we had a great time relaxing and shopping! Dana, Eric, and Lawson came over for some football and dinner on a Sunday afternoon. Pablo was really excited to see Lawson. He was chatting and chatting with him and he doesn't do that for just anybody. The next day, Romi dropped in for a visit on her fall break - what a treat! Pablo and Romi had lots of fun hanging out together! This week comes to a close with Mom scrambling to get her work done before the big Neuroscience conference in Chicago and hoping that her boys start feeling better (as they both now have the sniffles again). This week ends with Mommy, Daddy, and Pablo off to the Society for Neuroscience conference where Mommy and her research student will present their summer research and learn how to earn more grants! We will be sure to post some exciting pictures from Chicago!
That pretty much brings us up to date on Pablo's travels. Let's talk firsts!!
Pablo is eating like a champ now (2 jars of baby food, 1 cup of yogurt and some solid foods at his biggest meal). He sleeps through the night (most nights) and is down to one nap per day. He has been crawling for about 3 weeks now, and he LOOOOOOOOVES to be able to get around by himself. He also has a tendency to head for items/places that he shouldn't. Mommy is convinced that he is doing this in a mischievious way, but Daddy believes that it is simple curiousity. Since we never let him play with those items (ex. power outlets), they remain new and interesting to him. Of course, Mommy is right. :)
He loves "talking" to Mommy and Daddy. His favorite sounds include "bababababababa", "yayayayayayaya", and "dadadadadadada". He branches out with all kinds of other less intellible noises including growling and a high pitched highly expressive sound that can mean anything from "hey look at me" to "what's that thing" to "huh".
Pablo loves day care. He still really wants to walk. He loves watching the big kids play. He likes pepperoni. He still doesn't like vegetables (he only eats them when mixed with fruit or yogurt). He is beginning to want to feed himself more and more (which makes for messier and messier meals). He is recognizing more people now. He loves his doggies. He still really loves Frances. He loves her so much, he stashed her keys the other day so she had to stick around longer looking for them. He gets excited when he sees his Abuelitos and his tia Syl. Let's not forget Mommy and Daddy. He seems to know who we are. :)
November will bring more travels - this time back to Houston to spend some quality time with Grandpa Jay, Tia Michelle, and other Houston relatives and friends. We are excited to share Thanksgiving with the Martinez family and to see what Pablo thinks of his 1st Thanksgiving Lunch! ;) Mmmm....Turkey!
Here are the pics
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Midsummer night's dream
I know we have been over due for a post for a while. Don't worry, we won't short change you on the photos. The links for the June and July photos are at the end of the post.
So our little boy has grown up a lot over the past two months, and he has also become quite the traveller. We are just amazed at the little person he is becoming...mommy cries on a regular basis because her baby is slowly turning into a little boy before our eyes. It's amazing to hear him explore his voice (you should hear some of the noises he makes and faces to go along with them). And he just keeps getting longer and longer...he quickly moved from 6mon. clothing (which he must of worn for about a week) into 9-12mon. clothing! Needless to say, he's growing into a very healthy boy!
As for his summer fun, we finished off May with a trip to Houston for Memorial Day and for his grandfather's birthday. The weekend ended back in SA with V getting into a fender bender near the house. Fortunately, Pablo was at home with Daddy that evening so no worries about him being hurt. The other driver was at fault and he had insurance so in the end, every body was ok and it was a slight inconvenience for us.
The following weekend we went to Austin to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Hoo Dat Tom (aka Kien Le Tom...Don and Judy's newest addition to the family). Pablo had a great time hanging out with all the Austinites as well as a Californian and some Houstonians who made their way into town. He also learned a new song, which quickly became a family favorite, "Don Gato"!
Then back to SA where Pablo attended his first family graduation. Cousin Robbie graduated from high school and will be attending Texas A&M in the Fall. Pablo slept through most of the dinner like a champ and woke up with just enough time to say hello and congratulations! Congratulations Robbie!!.
The rest of June was filled with visits from Grandpa Jay and Tia Michelle and our good friend, Mary Beth. Pablo loves when people come to visit! Later that month, Pablo returned to Austin where he partied like a rock star at Max and Casi's wedding. Actually, he managed to stay quiet (mostly) during the ceremony, make a huge mess during dinner, then pass out in the bridal changing room with mommy. All in all, it was a successful night. Thanks Max and Casi for such a fun time!
June also brought our 1st Father's Day! I know, I know, not as important as Mother's day, but we still celebrated with some tacos and friends at breakfast. All in all it was a great Father-son morning where we played at the local fountain park in the water. The Mackie's, Karia's, and Tom's all joined us. Good times!
July began with a bang where Pablo moved his show nationwide. I am talking coast to coast. For the fourth of July weekend, we all travelled to Boston to hang out with Fernando, Laura, Izzie, and Leo. After hanging out in Harvard Square with our friend Rhonda, we headed up to Maine to stay at Chez Reese. Lots of mud walking, kayaking, croquet, scavenger hunting, good beer drinking, and general relaxing was had by all. We also celebrated a big B-day for Laura!!! She received a lot of nice gifts, but the best one might have been Izzie's invention of the baby sea gull dance. (I think we have video, but no pictures...). It was great for the Acosta cousins to hang out - definately a summer tradition! At the end of the trip Pablo also visited with Naomi (mommy's old roomie) and Theresa. All in all...a very nice trip...not to mention the beautifully cool weather.
Pablo did great on the plane. No direct flights from SA to Boston so there were 4 flying legs of the trip. On each leg, Pablo was able to sleep for some or all of the time. He didn't make a big fuss at all (although an extremely dirty diaper change on the tray tables just before landing avoided one potential fussy spell) and won the hearts of his fellow travellers with his good looks and his ability to not cry. :)
Since Pablo passed his first long plane trip test, we decided to see if it was a fluke by taking him to the west coast for a mini Rice reunion. BBRAG 2009 was held in Big Bear, California. We met up with all but one of the travellers who were on the Alaska trip in summer of 98. In attendance were, Terry and Arpi (our hosts), Kate and Peter, Carrie and Hutch and Grant, and an unannounced Jeremy and Bonnie (soon to be married). Unfortunately, due to the impending arrival of Hoo Dat, Judy and Don couldn't make it. We also missed Uncle Damien (the lone member of the Alaska trip who couldn't make it).
At BBRAG, Pablo watched Grant's every move with something close to envy. Yes, our little boy can't wait to be able to move around on his own. So far, he has only managed some furniture assisted scooting and a ton of rolling over. He's on the verge of crawling but, really really wants to walk.
He enjoyed hiking and the baby pool, but even though he kept a decent sleep schedule, the time changes were starting to catch up with him a little bit. Pablo did a fair bit of co-sleeping on this trip and Mommy and Daddy knew that some serious schedule adjustments would need to be made once we got home.
There can't possibly be any more weekends of travel in July, right? Well, we actually chose to stay home for a weekend. Since we didn't travel anywhere, friends came to visit us! This was great because Mommy was home alone with Daddy in Tampa. The week started with a visit by the Lastovica's, Aunt Romi, and finished with Zack and Candace who joined us for the last weekend in July. We had a blast!! I am not sure if we convinced them that having a baby was easier or harder than they imagined, but Pablo may have spoiled them since he was on his best behavior that weekend. In addition to all the temporary visitors, Pablo has a new friend to hang out with every day...Frances! Frances joined us for a 12 week internship in SA. Pablo has a little crush on Frances...as he does on most cute girls he meets. It's been great for us to have a friend to hang out with at night and a new friend for Pablo. Welcome, Frances!
So... about that schedule thing. This past week, V and I have been making a concerted effort to get Pablo on a more regular sleep/eat/play schedule. This is especially important as Pablo will be starting daycare or "school" (as mommy likes to call it) in September. And every teacher in our family has told us often how important a good nights sleep is for a good day at school! We have taken all the advice that our friends have ever given us (not to mention all the books we've read) and put together the Acosta method. Basically, we follow the method that Angel outlined for us when they were getting Aiden to go to sleep (Thanks Angel, Roscoe, and Aiden!!) It has been tough on Mommy and Daddy, but Pablo has been able to put himself to sleep each night (with a little crying). Since doing so, he has slept through the night every night. We hope this keeps up, but with less crying (he was down to under 15 minutes of crying last night). He does better going down on his own for naps (usually under 5 minutes and he is out). It makes both V and I sad to hear him cry at night, but we know it is for the best. What we like best about this sleep plan was that although we are not allowed to pick him up, the time intervals are shorter so that we can comfort him more through patting his back and telling him how much we love him. That makes everything so much easier. So far, I have been the one to put him down each night, and Mommy is a little scared to do it on her own. She may need some moral support during my next frisbee trip so be alert for the phone call. :)
That's a brief summer journal for little Pablo. I think he is a silver elite member on Continental at this point. On one of our flights this summer, he was upgraded while V and I were not, go figure. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let him ride in first class alone so he was sent to the back with the rest of us. ;)
He had lots of fun visiting all of his friends and family. Thanks to everyone that hosted us or took us to the airport or gave Pablo a hug on his travels. We really appreciate it.
In terms of baby news, Pablo really really wants to move on his own, crawling or walking. He likes pulling himself up on his play table. He still loves his baby bouncer (which is now on the tallest setting). He is down to two naps a day and has recently been sleeping through the night. He loves loves loves swimming, especially at his Abuelita's neighborhood pool. He loves going to Baby Time at the Library on Monday & Wednesday and can't wait for Music Together to start up again in September. He recently visited one of Abuelita's line dancing classes and he had a blast (mainly because he gets tons of attention from all the line dancing ladies). He started eating strawberries and tears into them like his Daddy tears into Bacon (I'm a little scared to see what it will be like when he actually eats bacon...). He is still a Momma's boy, but Daddy is clearly in second place if you only count humans (fourth place if you count the dogs and I am steadily losing ground to Frances). He loves taking his nightly bath and looking at himself in the mirror. He loves his bedtime story (Goodnight Moon) and another favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear (which we read at least 50 times on one of the flights). He loves getting post cards (mostly he loves eating them - thanks Tia Michelle, Sonny, & Isabella!). Mommy downloaded some cool iPhone baby apps so Pablo now thinks her iPhone is his toy. He rides in his stroller without the baby seat (this is old news, but I am not sure if we mentioned it before). He regularly downs 6 ounces of baby food/rice cereal mix followed by strawberries in addition to all of his daily milk. He likes the whirling dervish dance in Fantasia (hmm, loud fast music, why would he like that). :) He loves typing on a keyboard at the computer. He loves pressing buttons in general. If there is something that you don't want him to put in his mouth, he loves putting it in his mouth (ex. rocks and dirt at SA frisbee pickup). He loves jumping off the edge of the bed and having someone catch him, although he almost immediately tried to jump off even if there is noone to catch him (Daddy definitely did not teach him this trick). Vegetables are not his favorite thing (I am actually sad about this, but we are working on it). He is not sure whether he likes the taste of salt. So far, the answer is no, but he keeps thinking about it. We could go on and on about all our favorite things about Pablo...but you can see for yourself...Enjoy the new pics!
Signed...Pablo's Mom & Dad
June - click here
July - click here
So our little boy has grown up a lot over the past two months, and he has also become quite the traveller. We are just amazed at the little person he is becoming...mommy cries on a regular basis because her baby is slowly turning into a little boy before our eyes. It's amazing to hear him explore his voice (you should hear some of the noises he makes and faces to go along with them). And he just keeps getting longer and longer...he quickly moved from 6mon. clothing (which he must of worn for about a week) into 9-12mon. clothing! Needless to say, he's growing into a very healthy boy!
As for his summer fun, we finished off May with a trip to Houston for Memorial Day and for his grandfather's birthday. The weekend ended back in SA with V getting into a fender bender near the house. Fortunately, Pablo was at home with Daddy that evening so no worries about him being hurt. The other driver was at fault and he had insurance so in the end, every body was ok and it was a slight inconvenience for us.
The following weekend we went to Austin to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Hoo Dat Tom (aka Kien Le Tom...Don and Judy's newest addition to the family). Pablo had a great time hanging out with all the Austinites as well as a Californian and some Houstonians who made their way into town. He also learned a new song, which quickly became a family favorite, "Don Gato"!
Then back to SA where Pablo attended his first family graduation. Cousin Robbie graduated from high school and will be attending Texas A&M in the Fall. Pablo slept through most of the dinner like a champ and woke up with just enough time to say hello and congratulations! Congratulations Robbie!!.
The rest of June was filled with visits from Grandpa Jay and Tia Michelle and our good friend, Mary Beth. Pablo loves when people come to visit! Later that month, Pablo returned to Austin where he partied like a rock star at Max and Casi's wedding. Actually, he managed to stay quiet (mostly) during the ceremony, make a huge mess during dinner, then pass out in the bridal changing room with mommy. All in all, it was a successful night. Thanks Max and Casi for such a fun time!
June also brought our 1st Father's Day! I know, I know, not as important as Mother's day, but we still celebrated with some tacos and friends at breakfast. All in all it was a great Father-son morning where we played at the local fountain park in the water. The Mackie's, Karia's, and Tom's all joined us. Good times!
July began with a bang where Pablo moved his show nationwide. I am talking coast to coast. For the fourth of July weekend, we all travelled to Boston to hang out with Fernando, Laura, Izzie, and Leo. After hanging out in Harvard Square with our friend Rhonda, we headed up to Maine to stay at Chez Reese. Lots of mud walking, kayaking, croquet, scavenger hunting, good beer drinking, and general relaxing was had by all. We also celebrated a big B-day for Laura!!! She received a lot of nice gifts, but the best one might have been Izzie's invention of the baby sea gull dance. (I think we have video, but no pictures...). It was great for the Acosta cousins to hang out - definately a summer tradition! At the end of the trip Pablo also visited with Naomi (mommy's old roomie) and Theresa. All in all...a very nice trip...not to mention the beautifully cool weather.
Pablo did great on the plane. No direct flights from SA to Boston so there were 4 flying legs of the trip. On each leg, Pablo was able to sleep for some or all of the time. He didn't make a big fuss at all (although an extremely dirty diaper change on the tray tables just before landing avoided one potential fussy spell) and won the hearts of his fellow travellers with his good looks and his ability to not cry. :)
Since Pablo passed his first long plane trip test, we decided to see if it was a fluke by taking him to the west coast for a mini Rice reunion. BBRAG 2009 was held in Big Bear, California. We met up with all but one of the travellers who were on the Alaska trip in summer of 98. In attendance were, Terry and Arpi (our hosts), Kate and Peter, Carrie and Hutch and Grant, and an unannounced Jeremy and Bonnie (soon to be married). Unfortunately, due to the impending arrival of Hoo Dat, Judy and Don couldn't make it. We also missed Uncle Damien (the lone member of the Alaska trip who couldn't make it).
At BBRAG, Pablo watched Grant's every move with something close to envy. Yes, our little boy can't wait to be able to move around on his own. So far, he has only managed some furniture assisted scooting and a ton of rolling over. He's on the verge of crawling but, really really wants to walk.
He enjoyed hiking and the baby pool, but even though he kept a decent sleep schedule, the time changes were starting to catch up with him a little bit. Pablo did a fair bit of co-sleeping on this trip and Mommy and Daddy knew that some serious schedule adjustments would need to be made once we got home.
There can't possibly be any more weekends of travel in July, right? Well, we actually chose to stay home for a weekend. Since we didn't travel anywhere, friends came to visit us! This was great because Mommy was home alone with Daddy in Tampa. The week started with a visit by the Lastovica's, Aunt Romi, and finished with Zack and Candace who joined us for the last weekend in July. We had a blast!! I am not sure if we convinced them that having a baby was easier or harder than they imagined, but Pablo may have spoiled them since he was on his best behavior that weekend. In addition to all the temporary visitors, Pablo has a new friend to hang out with every day...Frances! Frances joined us for a 12 week internship in SA. Pablo has a little crush on Frances...as he does on most cute girls he meets. It's been great for us to have a friend to hang out with at night and a new friend for Pablo. Welcome, Frances!
So... about that schedule thing. This past week, V and I have been making a concerted effort to get Pablo on a more regular sleep/eat/play schedule. This is especially important as Pablo will be starting daycare or "school" (as mommy likes to call it) in September. And every teacher in our family has told us often how important a good nights sleep is for a good day at school! We have taken all the advice that our friends have ever given us (not to mention all the books we've read) and put together the Acosta method. Basically, we follow the method that Angel outlined for us when they were getting Aiden to go to sleep (Thanks Angel, Roscoe, and Aiden!!) It has been tough on Mommy and Daddy, but Pablo has been able to put himself to sleep each night (with a little crying). Since doing so, he has slept through the night every night. We hope this keeps up, but with less crying (he was down to under 15 minutes of crying last night). He does better going down on his own for naps (usually under 5 minutes and he is out). It makes both V and I sad to hear him cry at night, but we know it is for the best. What we like best about this sleep plan was that although we are not allowed to pick him up, the time intervals are shorter so that we can comfort him more through patting his back and telling him how much we love him. That makes everything so much easier. So far, I have been the one to put him down each night, and Mommy is a little scared to do it on her own. She may need some moral support during my next frisbee trip so be alert for the phone call. :)
That's a brief summer journal for little Pablo. I think he is a silver elite member on Continental at this point. On one of our flights this summer, he was upgraded while V and I were not, go figure. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let him ride in first class alone so he was sent to the back with the rest of us. ;)
He had lots of fun visiting all of his friends and family. Thanks to everyone that hosted us or took us to the airport or gave Pablo a hug on his travels. We really appreciate it.
In terms of baby news, Pablo really really wants to move on his own, crawling or walking. He likes pulling himself up on his play table. He still loves his baby bouncer (which is now on the tallest setting). He is down to two naps a day and has recently been sleeping through the night. He loves loves loves swimming, especially at his Abuelita's neighborhood pool. He loves going to Baby Time at the Library on Monday & Wednesday and can't wait for Music Together to start up again in September. He recently visited one of Abuelita's line dancing classes and he had a blast (mainly because he gets tons of attention from all the line dancing ladies). He started eating strawberries and tears into them like his Daddy tears into Bacon (I'm a little scared to see what it will be like when he actually eats bacon...). He is still a Momma's boy, but Daddy is clearly in second place if you only count humans (fourth place if you count the dogs and I am steadily losing ground to Frances). He loves taking his nightly bath and looking at himself in the mirror. He loves his bedtime story (Goodnight Moon) and another favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear (which we read at least 50 times on one of the flights). He loves getting post cards (mostly he loves eating them - thanks Tia Michelle, Sonny, & Isabella!). Mommy downloaded some cool iPhone baby apps so Pablo now thinks her iPhone is his toy. He rides in his stroller without the baby seat (this is old news, but I am not sure if we mentioned it before). He regularly downs 6 ounces of baby food/rice cereal mix followed by strawberries in addition to all of his daily milk. He likes the whirling dervish dance in Fantasia (hmm, loud fast music, why would he like that). :) He loves typing on a keyboard at the computer. He loves pressing buttons in general. If there is something that you don't want him to put in his mouth, he loves putting it in his mouth (ex. rocks and dirt at SA frisbee pickup). He loves jumping off the edge of the bed and having someone catch him, although he almost immediately tried to jump off even if there is noone to catch him (Daddy definitely did not teach him this trick). Vegetables are not his favorite thing (I am actually sad about this, but we are working on it). He is not sure whether he likes the taste of salt. So far, the answer is no, but he keeps thinking about it. We could go on and on about all our favorite things about Pablo...but you can see for yourself...Enjoy the new pics!
Signed...Pablo's Mom & Dad
June - click here
July - click here
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Month full of firsts
Well, almost another month has past and Pablo is still setting personal bests in almost every aspect of his life. He had a new biggest poop (and I think I am the definitive expert on the size of his poops) among other things.
Most importantly, it was Pablo's first Mother's day!! We took Mom out for a nice dinner on Friday night at a Puerto Rican restaurant called La Marginal. We loved the food and the atmosphere, but Pablo got a little fussy before we left. We bought Mom some wind chimes for the back yard which she loves. On Sunday, we went to church where Pablo had a poop that managed to escape his diapers. Luckily, I was able to catch it in his hand before it got all over the church carpet (Yuck!!!). After cleaning up and finishing mass, we went out to lunch with his abuelitos Acosta and his Tio Abuelos Guerra. His cousins Lisi and Monci were there too. At the restaurant, Pablo repeated his diaper defying pooping skills in his abuelita's lap. This kid has talent.
He really enjoys splashing in his baby pool. The water always seems cold to mommy and Laura, but Pablo likes it just fine. Sadly, the pool is very small and I have not been successful in my attempts to sit in it. I can see swim classes just around the corner for our little guy. Unfortunately, given my swimming genes, Michael Phelps' records are all safe from Pablo.
He loves to eat, but Mommy's milk is still his favorite. We started giving him some baby food and he loves to put his hands on the food end of the spoon as we try to feed him. Some of the food does make it into his stomach, but judging by the carnage after a "meal", I would say it is about a 50-50 proposition. Now that we are using the little booster seat, it allows him to sit up and it makes it slightly easier to feed him, but the results are still the same.
Lately, he has been sleeping well at pretty consistent intervals (two 3-4 hour stretches). Despite our best efforts, he still goes to sleep between 11P and midnight. If we manage to get him to go to sleep before that, he wakes up within an hour or two and is ready to play. I don't know if it was our fault or genetics, but we have a night owl on our hands. The past two nights, he has surprised us with long streches of sleep (a six hour stretch two nights ago, an 8 hour stretch last night). We know not to get our hopes up, but we can't help it. :) Once we get a consistent long stretch of sleep, we can work on starting it earlier and earlier. If that doesn't happen before Max and Casi's wedding, then Pablo can stay up later with his Uncle Damien!!
Let's see, here are some of the highlights:
- first time to roll over (front to back)
- first time to eat baby food (peas, then carrots, then sweet potatoes, then apples - pears and bananas are next)
- first mother's day
- first time sitting up in the stroller as a big boy (no car seat)
- first time sitting in a "high" chair (it's more of a booster seat)
- first time to sit behind home plate at a baseball game
- first picture with Mr. Buddy
- first time meeting his Tia Abuela, Sandra
- first time meeting lots of Austin folks including Marisa and Stew
- first dip in his kiddie pool
- first time wearing a Wisconsin t-shirt (Thanks, Dana)
- first wedding shower (Congrats again Max and Casi!! see you in a couple of weeks)
- first time the doggies came up to him to snuggle (he LOOOOOVED this)
- he likes to pet the doggies, but we have to be careful to keep him from pulling their fur
Here is the link to the pictures and a couple of bonus links to some video of our little guy performing his tricks:
Photos
Pablo rolling over take 1
Pablo rolling over - bird's eye view
Most importantly, it was Pablo's first Mother's day!! We took Mom out for a nice dinner on Friday night at a Puerto Rican restaurant called La Marginal. We loved the food and the atmosphere, but Pablo got a little fussy before we left. We bought Mom some wind chimes for the back yard which she loves. On Sunday, we went to church where Pablo had a poop that managed to escape his diapers. Luckily, I was able to catch it in his hand before it got all over the church carpet (Yuck!!!). After cleaning up and finishing mass, we went out to lunch with his abuelitos Acosta and his Tio Abuelos Guerra. His cousins Lisi and Monci were there too. At the restaurant, Pablo repeated his diaper defying pooping skills in his abuelita's lap. This kid has talent.
He really enjoys splashing in his baby pool. The water always seems cold to mommy and Laura, but Pablo likes it just fine. Sadly, the pool is very small and I have not been successful in my attempts to sit in it. I can see swim classes just around the corner for our little guy. Unfortunately, given my swimming genes, Michael Phelps' records are all safe from Pablo.
He loves to eat, but Mommy's milk is still his favorite. We started giving him some baby food and he loves to put his hands on the food end of the spoon as we try to feed him. Some of the food does make it into his stomach, but judging by the carnage after a "meal", I would say it is about a 50-50 proposition. Now that we are using the little booster seat, it allows him to sit up and it makes it slightly easier to feed him, but the results are still the same.
Lately, he has been sleeping well at pretty consistent intervals (two 3-4 hour stretches). Despite our best efforts, he still goes to sleep between 11P and midnight. If we manage to get him to go to sleep before that, he wakes up within an hour or two and is ready to play. I don't know if it was our fault or genetics, but we have a night owl on our hands. The past two nights, he has surprised us with long streches of sleep (a six hour stretch two nights ago, an 8 hour stretch last night). We know not to get our hopes up, but we can't help it. :) Once we get a consistent long stretch of sleep, we can work on starting it earlier and earlier. If that doesn't happen before Max and Casi's wedding, then Pablo can stay up later with his Uncle Damien!!
Let's see, here are some of the highlights:
- first time to roll over (front to back)
- first time to eat baby food (peas, then carrots, then sweet potatoes, then apples - pears and bananas are next)
- first mother's day
- first time sitting up in the stroller as a big boy (no car seat)
- first time sitting in a "high" chair (it's more of a booster seat)
- first time to sit behind home plate at a baseball game
- first picture with Mr. Buddy
- first time meeting his Tia Abuela, Sandra
- first time meeting lots of Austin folks including Marisa and Stew
- first dip in his kiddie pool
- first time wearing a Wisconsin t-shirt (Thanks, Dana)
- first wedding shower (Congrats again Max and Casi!! see you in a couple of weeks)
- first time the doggies came up to him to snuggle (he LOOOOOVED this)
- he likes to pet the doggies, but we have to be careful to keep him from pulling their fur
Here is the link to the pictures and a couple of bonus links to some video of our little guy performing his tricks:
Photos
Pablo rolling over take 1
Pablo rolling over - bird's eye view
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Happy Easter - Buona Pascua!
It's hard to believe that only a year ago we were in Rimini, Italy finishing up our month long honeymoon that included Rome, Perugia, and the Amalfi Coast. It was No Tsu Oh's last year at Paganello. And now a year later, we begin new family traditions with little Pablo. April in San Antonio, is a party - beginning with Easter & ending with Fiesta. Pablo was a champ - surviving both exciting occasions (even if he didn't really attend many events)! This month also marked his first plane ride (SA to Houston and Houston to Austin). Before we get to that, let's catch up on some of the bare essentials such as sleeping and eating. Did I mention sleeping?
Despite what all the books say about finding a schedule for your baby by the 2-4 months, we are well on our way to the fifth month without a schedule. However, in stead of beig struck down by the parenting gods, we have been given warm words of encouragement from our friends and family. All of that being said, we are quite happy with the amount of sleep Pablo is getting. It is just hard for us to have a good idea of when it will occur. We can easily tell when he is tired. We can even predict it. We just don't know the secret combination of actions and environment that will get him to sleep before he reaches the dreaded "overtired" state. He seems to get there on a nightly basis. For now, let's say that his bed time (meaning the time he goes to sleep at night) is anywhere from 7PM to 2AM. After his first sleep, he gets up for a quick feeding and then sleeps for another 3-4 hours. It's amazing how well we have done thus far sleep wise. It's also amazing how much one can write about baby sleep habits. (V made me cut out about 8 paragraphs of really in depth sleep analysis so maybe the amount written here is not that amazing).
Food wise, he is a prima donna. Only mommy's milk (and anything you mix it with) will work. He liked the rice cereal that was mixed with mommy's milk, but the water and formula concoctions received the extreme "YUCK" face time and again. Despite his breast milk preference, he is extremely interested in us when we are eating normal food and I am pretty sure he has already stolen some bacon off of my plate when I wasn't looking (I won't make that mistake again).
Pablo's first plane ride was really easy for Daddy. Daddy stayed in San Antonio while Mommy flew to Houston with Pablo. Way to go Mommy!! Pablo must have inherited his parents' travelling genes because he handled the trip like a seasoned traveller. After their visit with Abuelito Jay, his cousins, and some of V's grad school friends, Pablo and Mommy flew to Austin to meet up with Daddy at Centex. Thanks Punk, Colleen, and Marley for sharing your home with all of us.
After Centex was over, Pablo's attended his first easter egg hunt and it was a huge success. Big thanks to Homie, Molly, Adelaide, and Duli for hosting!!! Abuelitos Acosta made it up from San Antonio. Miguel and Danielle also made it into town on their way back to Dallas. A good time was had by all!! Big props to Pablo for winning the cascaron battle against his Mommy (with Daddy's help). Mommy swore to get even, but it hasn't happened yet and neither Pablo nor I are holding our breath.
We finished the last weekend in April by avoiding all Fiesta related events (mainly to avoid crowds and traffic) and heading to the zoo with Dave, Carol, and Noah Gee. It was Pablo's first trip to the zoo and he promptly fell asleep. Noah loved looking at the animals, but he really loved pressing all of the buttons on the vending machines. Before we left, Pablo woke up in time to see the elephant and the rhino and to say good bye to his new friend Noah. FYI: we are newly minted zoo members so if any of you folks want to visit us in SA and head to the zoo, we are game!!
Things we wouldn't trade for the world:
Pablo talking when you change his diaper
The way he laughs when you tickle him
Discovering a new game that makes Pablo laugh
Discovering that the new game that makes him laugh stopped making him laugh
Discovering that the afore mentioned non-laughing game makes him laugh again
Basically, any time Pablo laughs
The way he snuggles on your shoulder when he falls asleep there
The way he is super happy (usually) when he wakes up
The way he loves to take a bath
The way he is fascinated by new things (which is almost everything)
The way he loves to watch the dogs
The way he loves being outside
The way he loves to play with things using his feet
The way he still grasps onto your fingers
The contented look on his face when he is full
The gallons of drool he produces
And....
The cute pictures
Despite what all the books say about finding a schedule for your baby by the 2-4 months, we are well on our way to the fifth month without a schedule. However, in stead of beig struck down by the parenting gods, we have been given warm words of encouragement from our friends and family. All of that being said, we are quite happy with the amount of sleep Pablo is getting. It is just hard for us to have a good idea of when it will occur. We can easily tell when he is tired. We can even predict it. We just don't know the secret combination of actions and environment that will get him to sleep before he reaches the dreaded "overtired" state. He seems to get there on a nightly basis. For now, let's say that his bed time (meaning the time he goes to sleep at night) is anywhere from 7PM to 2AM. After his first sleep, he gets up for a quick feeding and then sleeps for another 3-4 hours. It's amazing how well we have done thus far sleep wise. It's also amazing how much one can write about baby sleep habits. (V made me cut out about 8 paragraphs of really in depth sleep analysis so maybe the amount written here is not that amazing).
Food wise, he is a prima donna. Only mommy's milk (and anything you mix it with) will work. He liked the rice cereal that was mixed with mommy's milk, but the water and formula concoctions received the extreme "YUCK" face time and again. Despite his breast milk preference, he is extremely interested in us when we are eating normal food and I am pretty sure he has already stolen some bacon off of my plate when I wasn't looking (I won't make that mistake again).
Pablo's first plane ride was really easy for Daddy. Daddy stayed in San Antonio while Mommy flew to Houston with Pablo. Way to go Mommy!! Pablo must have inherited his parents' travelling genes because he handled the trip like a seasoned traveller. After their visit with Abuelito Jay, his cousins, and some of V's grad school friends, Pablo and Mommy flew to Austin to meet up with Daddy at Centex. Thanks Punk, Colleen, and Marley for sharing your home with all of us.
After Centex was over, Pablo's attended his first easter egg hunt and it was a huge success. Big thanks to Homie, Molly, Adelaide, and Duli for hosting!!! Abuelitos Acosta made it up from San Antonio. Miguel and Danielle also made it into town on their way back to Dallas. A good time was had by all!! Big props to Pablo for winning the cascaron battle against his Mommy (with Daddy's help). Mommy swore to get even, but it hasn't happened yet and neither Pablo nor I are holding our breath.
We finished the last weekend in April by avoiding all Fiesta related events (mainly to avoid crowds and traffic) and heading to the zoo with Dave, Carol, and Noah Gee. It was Pablo's first trip to the zoo and he promptly fell asleep. Noah loved looking at the animals, but he really loved pressing all of the buttons on the vending machines. Before we left, Pablo woke up in time to see the elephant and the rhino and to say good bye to his new friend Noah. FYI: we are newly minted zoo members so if any of you folks want to visit us in SA and head to the zoo, we are game!!
Things we wouldn't trade for the world:
Pablo talking when you change his diaper
The way he laughs when you tickle him
Discovering a new game that makes Pablo laugh
Discovering that the new game that makes him laugh stopped making him laugh
Discovering that the afore mentioned non-laughing game makes him laugh again
Basically, any time Pablo laughs
The way he snuggles on your shoulder when he falls asleep there
The way he is super happy (usually) when he wakes up
The way he loves to take a bath
The way he is fascinated by new things (which is almost everything)
The way he loves to watch the dogs
The way he loves being outside
The way he loves to play with things using his feet
The way he still grasps onto your fingers
The contented look on his face when he is full
The gallons of drool he produces
And....
The cute pictures
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Babbling baby boy
Well, only a week and a half have gone by since the last post, but we had to share the news.... Pablo is a talker (noone who has played ultimate with me ever would have guessed ;) ). He loves to babble on and on about his day and about how much he loves his home with his Mommy and Daddy and Tahini and Jasmine.
We had a doctor's checkup yesterday where he talked the whole time the doctor was talking to Mommy and Daddy. Although, we are not quite sure yet, Veronica is almost certain that he said Tahini today. Who would have thought his first word would be the name of our doggie? I guess it comes from the amount of times we say "Tahini, no". :)
In addition to this astounding development, Pablo also went to his first baseball game. We saw the San Antonio missions play an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres. If you look closely through the pictures, you might catch a glimpse of the missions tried and true mascot, The Puffy Taco. (Growing up, I seem to remember that the Puffy Taco didn't have any arms, but he has arms now. So disappointing...) Pablo loved the game, but mostly loved hanging out with a high school buddy of mine and his family (Scott, Katharine and their two sons Canaan, and Max). He loved watching to see what the two little boys were doing. Come to think of it, I am not sure how much of the game he watched.
In any case, I just had to share. Here are a few more pics...
We had a doctor's checkup yesterday where he talked the whole time the doctor was talking to Mommy and Daddy. Although, we are not quite sure yet, Veronica is almost certain that he said Tahini today. Who would have thought his first word would be the name of our doggie? I guess it comes from the amount of times we say "Tahini, no". :)
In addition to this astounding development, Pablo also went to his first baseball game. We saw the San Antonio missions play an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres. If you look closely through the pictures, you might catch a glimpse of the missions tried and true mascot, The Puffy Taco. (Growing up, I seem to remember that the Puffy Taco didn't have any arms, but he has arms now. So disappointing...) Pablo loved the game, but mostly loved hanging out with a high school buddy of mine and his family (Scott, Katharine and their two sons Canaan, and Max). He loved watching to see what the two little boys were doing. Come to think of it, I am not sure how much of the game he watched.
In any case, I just had to share. Here are a few more pics...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
2more months gone by...
Yes, it has been almost two months since our last post. That's 50% of Pablo's lifetime at this point. I guess we should post more often. Now, that we are getting the hang of this parenting thing, we should have more time to do so. All of our friends who are parents have let us know that the first four months are the hardest part and the rest will be a breeze. ;) (Ha ha)
Pablo updates (in no particular order):
He can roll from his back to his side
On his stomach, he lifts his head like a champ, then cries because that's all he can do...
He drools like he is trying to solve San Antonio's water shortage all by himself
We think he might be teething (the "normal" teething times are out the window since he was born with two teeth)
He is very aware of his surroundings
He has crashed his first frat party (it was for frat boys and their parents, but Pablo's smile got us in the door no problem... the Gaffneys helped too)
He can sleep for hours at a time....
... but likes to do so during the day
He loves hiking as long as he is being carried facing outward
He loves watching his dogs
He loves watching TV (but he is only allowed to watch the Spurs)
He met some new friends:
- Isabella and Leo - his cousins
- Shiv - Gautam and Nisha's son
- Zoe - Kyle and Mo's daughter
- Adele and Flora - Tal and Jenna's children
- Lollie and Jason and Jacob - his Houston cousins
- his Great-Great Aunt Leecha
- and lots more friends and family from College Station to Houston to SA
He started a Music Together class that he looooooves (his parents like it too)
He gave his Dad a birthday gift (a card with his super cute picture and a shirt full of drool)
His favorite person in the world is his Mom
He was good at cheering up his Abuelito Jay in the hospital after his successful quadruple bypass surgery
I feel like I am forgetting something....
Oh yeah, the pictures. Take a look:
Pablos 3-4 months
Pablo updates (in no particular order):
He can roll from his back to his side
On his stomach, he lifts his head like a champ, then cries because that's all he can do...
He drools like he is trying to solve San Antonio's water shortage all by himself
We think he might be teething (the "normal" teething times are out the window since he was born with two teeth)
He is very aware of his surroundings
He has crashed his first frat party (it was for frat boys and their parents, but Pablo's smile got us in the door no problem... the Gaffneys helped too)
He can sleep for hours at a time....
... but likes to do so during the day
He loves hiking as long as he is being carried facing outward
He loves watching his dogs
He loves watching TV (but he is only allowed to watch the Spurs)
He met some new friends:
- Isabella and Leo - his cousins
- Shiv - Gautam and Nisha's son
- Zoe - Kyle and Mo's daughter
- Adele and Flora - Tal and Jenna's children
- Lollie and Jason and Jacob - his Houston cousins
- his Great-Great Aunt Leecha
- and lots more friends and family from College Station to Houston to SA
He started a Music Together class that he looooooves (his parents like it too)
He gave his Dad a birthday gift (a card with his super cute picture and a shirt full of drool)
His favorite person in the world is his Mom
He was good at cheering up his Abuelito Jay in the hospital after his successful quadruple bypass surgery
I feel like I am forgetting something....
Oh yeah, the pictures. Take a look:
Pablos 3-4 months
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Welcome to Pablo's baby blog
We are switching from a website to a blog so that it is easier for us to post notes about our little baby boy Pablo. In addition, it will be easy for you to sign up to have updates emailed to you automatically. For a look at the original website, checkout: http://sites.google.com/site/pablosbabywebsite/
Here are the latest albums for Pablo pics:
Enjoy the blog and don't forget to sign up for email notifications by clicking the link below:
Get to Pablo's Baby Blog by Email
We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoy writing it!!
Here are the latest albums for Pablo pics:
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| Pablo's first Christmas |
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| Pablo's First Two Months |
Enjoy the blog and don't forget to sign up for email notifications by clicking the link below:
Get to Pablo's Baby Blog by Email
We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoy writing it!!
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