Luis & Daddy

The Terreris Visit

This weekend, our friend Jason, Cara, Evan (2 years) and Grant (2 months) came for a visit. Jason, like Diego is an FIT grad. We met them when we were all living up in Virigina. Now, they live in Peachtree City, GA. (You can check them out at their blog, In The Moment).

The Terreri's fit right in to our hectic schedule of playing at the beach, playing in the pool, and playing in the front yard with chalk, bubbles an the baby pool. Jason and Diego also got in two rounds of golf.

Evan and Luis had a good time together. Luis really seems to enjoy having other kids around. Evan didn't seem sure what to do with all of Luis's affection. Luis would walk up to Evan and hug him while Evan was in the middle of doing something. Once, when Luis was hugging Evan, Evan said, "Be careful." Turns out it was good advice as they both fell over shortly there after.

Despite only being 2 months old and having few parlor tricks, Grant was a BIG hit. Luis must have said "Baby" a thousand times over the weekend. It was the first thing he asked about when he woke up and the last thing he wanted to see before bed. He gave Grant hundreds of hugs and kisses. Yesterday, Luis even stated his love for Grant.

Catch & Release

On Friday afternoon, Luis caught his first lizard. It was living in our bathroom. It's a little hard to tell if Luis or Diego was more excited. Me, I'm just impressed he didn't squish the little lizzard!

Bub-ba

"Bub-ba" is Luis's word for almost all things water related. It started with bubbles in the tub. Then it was the tub, the water in the tub, taking a bath, etc. When we got here, the pool was lumped under the general category of bub-ba. Then, there are bubbles that you blow. While I would think it a bit confusing that bubbles are also the things that you can blow with the soap-water and a wand, Luis didn't mind adding another definition to bub-ba. Luis really enjoys blowing bubbles. So much so, that we spend a little time everyday in the front yard blowing bubbles. Inspired by some cool bubble paraphanalia that my mom has, I bought this thing that makes really, really big bub-bas. Here, you can see Luis chasing after one (it's just to the left and a little above his head).

Though an exciting development for Luis happened on Friday. We went over to Steve & Marianne's house. Luis got out into their back yard and said "Poo". Which means pool. He sometimes still calls the pool "bub-ba" but mostly it's poo. Pretty cool, we think.

Luis's Pool

Luis isn't enjoying the big pool as much as we'd hoped. I'm not sure if he's afraid or if he just doesn't like the fact that he can't play in it with his toys the way he can in his little pool. Whatever the story, yesterday we inflated his little pool from Mumbai. And he loved it.

Brought out the hose, and it felt like old times (except here, he has to wear a bathing suit while the pool is in the front yard).

The "fog" on this picture is the condensation on my lens from bringing the camera outside and taking a picture immediately. It's kinda humid here...

We Miss You, Pauline

Yesterday, I showed Luis some pictures from Mumbai. When I showed him this one, he said - un-prompted "Pa-Ine". I cried. Big tears. Luis looked at me and then at the computer screen again. Pa-Ine. Then he made the "I love you sign". I told him that Pauline loves him too. If only he could have told her before we left.

Getting Our Exercise

One thing Diego and I both wanted to do in Florida was to exercise daily. And so far, we've done really well. I walk and Diego runs or bikes (he got his tri-bike back from Jason). Luis almost always accompanies the walker/runner. The canopy provides shade well, but it doesn't help much with the glare. Diego bought Luis this batman hat that does help. Luis also wears it to the beach.

Water Safety

Diego bought Luis this Personal Flotation Device. Luis loves it. Well, he loves fastening the clips. He isn't so keen on wearing it. Details, minor details. At least it fits and it works (we tested it out in the pool today)

More Beach (Slow Internet)

Beach Pictures - Part 1

(having problems posting - more pictures to come)

A Few Pics from Florida

1. Luis in the pool

2. Ashley, just out of the pool, kissing Luis

3. Our house
4. & 5. Luis enjoys the sunrise

Great Grand-daddy

On Sunday, Randolph & Lauren, Luis and I went to visit Grandfather in the afternoon. He was having a good day and it was fun to see him. But what I loved most was him seeing Luis. Luis is great-grandchild #13 for Grandfather. Lauren is expecting GGC #14. It's exciting to know Luis will have another cousin soon - and one that will (eventually) be close in age (less than 2 years apart).

So Many Things to Love

Luis loved the slide at Emily's house best. He also enjoyed bath time.

Luis LOVED Thomas's Jag a lot. I suggested that Thomas buy one for Luis. Thomas said he'd figure out how many master points Luis would have to win first...

Luis LOVED the dogs at Lucy's house. Oliver Boliver Mutt is the Chocolate Lab and Maddie is the Black Lab.

I loved seeing the horses. Short Stop (pictured here with Luis) was a big hit. Luis "hugged the horse" and "kissed the horse" about 10 times each. He has a lot of affection for animals.

On The Road (Again)

After a whirlwind Wednesday morning, Luis, Ashley, the new car and I started south - though, the first day we only went the 50 miles to Northern Virginia. It was a bad sign that Luis cried almost the whole way; I wasn't looking forward to the next 950 miles...

We planned to stay with Sarah, but it turned out that Matthew had some viral infection that included high fever and vomiting (Sarah found out today that he has Strep!). We quickly changed our plans and stayed with Emily Poulin instead! It was great to spend time with her, her daughter Maggie (21 months) and their dogs. (Emily is due with baby #2 in ~ 10 days.) Luis loved all of Maggie's toys, loved Maggie, loved the dogs, and loved having a friend to bathe with. But when it was time to sleep, he wasn't so much loving his setup. So he tossed and turned with me in the guest bed. I don't think either of us slept well OR long (Luis was up by 5:15a).

After breakfast at the Pancake Place with Sarah & Will, we headed south. Turns out that Heather couldn't meet us for lunch as planned, but I thought we'd stop in Richmond anyway. However, Luis was sound asleep when we hit Richmond, so we kept going. Instead, we had a nice lunch at the NC Rest Stop just over the border. We ate next to a family from Atlanta with 5 kids between 2 and 8 years old. The older kids threw the Frisbee for Ashley until she couldn't stand up any more and the 2 year old (twins) provided Luis with all the entertainment & fascination he could take. I enjoyed talking to the parents - he owns his own residential construction firm.

We pressed on to Carrboro to visit Abby, Piers, Charlotte (3) & Cyrus (10 mo). Again, Luis LOVED having other kids to play with and LOVED all the toys and LOVED the group bath. It was a great stop and just what I needed to push on to Rock Hill. Well that and the super-big, very sugary iced coffee I picked up at the drive-thru Starbucks (my new favorite thing in the south - beating out Sweet Tea).

So far, it's been a quiet and relaxing day. Luis slept great last night and during naps today. At lunch with Thomas & Lucy, Luis got his first stranger-compliment on his behavior: As we were leaving, a man at the restaurant told me what a "well-behaved son" I have.

This evening, we'll go out for Pizza (Luis's favorite - seriously). Thomas will then head out for bridge and Luis, Lucy and I will go out to the barn to see her horses. I promise to post pictures (probably when I get to Atlanta). Tomorrow, we head out about mid-day for Atlanta, where we'll spend two nights before heading on to Florida.

Busy Week!!

I didn't mean to let a whole week go by without a post. But, well, it did. And it was a busy week! Luis had a combined 15-mo/18-mo check up. His stats were: height 33 3/4" (85%), weight 25lbs (35%) and head circumference 18 1/2" (15%). I don't think of him as a tall skinny kid with a little head - but I guess that's what the numbers suggest. The more important part of the visit was that Luis seems to be really healthy and doing great. I suspected as much, but I always appreciate the validation from the pediatrician...

I finished our taxes. I actually enjoy doing our taxes. But this year it was really hard. I could get into the details of why and how, but I am certain that I'm the only one who cares...

I finally put together the rocking horse from Ikea. Still a big hit!

Diego took Luis out to play with this super cool bubble-wand-thingy. It's hard to say who liked it more - Diego or Luis. "Bubbas" or bubble is one of Luis's words.

We went over to Erika & Dave's for lunch on Saturday. (This is "Peruvian Erika" and her (new) husband Dave - not to be confused with Erika & Dave our friends in Mumbai.) They have two chiuauas and a whippet. Luis was fascinate. But he may have liked their hose more. It's hard to say. Erika - one of the best cooks we know - made us ceviche for lunch. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Sarah, Matthew & Will Rimicci came over for a play today. We had a nice lunch and then a fun swim in the neighbor's pool. It was a short - but very nice visit.

This evening, Diego dropped Luis and me off at Carmax on his way to BWI. He was flying down to Melbourne Florida where we've rented a house until 19 July. He moves in to it tomorrow morning. Luis and I bought a 2005 Toyota Camry. We'll be taking on a Southern Road Tour starting Thursday, hitting Richmond, Durham, Rock Hill, Atlanta and at least one town with a play ground between Atlanta and Melbourne. At the moment, I don't have pictures of either the house or the car, but will have plenty over the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow we are going to Fairfax in the morning to see Dodie's new house. We're going to Washington DC late morning & (I hope) early lunch to see Maggie Gumbinner, her girls, Will's girls and Mary Ann (all at "Cousins Camp" at Maggie's house) and then receiving Sam & Mary Beth - my good friends from Bombay who are here in the States for a visit. In between all of that, I have to pack our stuff for Florida. Looks like it's another busy week ahead of us!