Back to school

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