Catching Up

I'm not quite sure how 16 days have passed since my last post.  It might be the biggest gap I've had since Luis was born.  March 19-23, Luis and I went to South Carolina for McDow Thanksgiving in April (started this year because we didn't all make it to Rock Hill for T-giving in '08).  With the exception of Randolph, Lauren, Eston, Diego, Jeff and Nellie - everyone either made it home for the weekend, or committed to staying in town.  We had family dinners, family lunches, family play, family runs, family visits to the barn, and more family meals.  It was a great weekend, though slightly chaotic at times.  There were 16 children (from Luis's generation) between the ages of almost 2 and 13 - and 15 of those children were 8 or under.  I didn't take my camera with me and have not one single picture.  Luckily, other people took pictures and you can see them here and here.

Also, as part of that trip, Luis and I drove up to Durham on that Friday to visit Gigi.  As an added bonus, Mom and Sandy were there also.  The driving to visiting ratio was not so good (6:2.5), but it was great to see Gigi.

Sitting here, it's hard to think of what the updates are on Luis.  He had a couple of rough weeks of sleep, and is back on a good schedule.  But people with kids don't want to hear that he's still sleeping 7p-7a at night and 2-3 hours during the day.  :)  

Luis is going through, what I call, a Forrest Gump stage.  If Luis is going anywhere, he is running.  He likes to run around the house, run around the yard, run down the sidewalk.  Last week, we walked to the park to feed the ducks - Diego, Luis, Ashley and me.  After the ducks were fed, Luis ran around the small lake (think 1/2 the size of College Farm -for those of you who've been to RH), and then ran most of the way home (stopping, of course, to hold hands when it was time to cross the streets).  When Diego takes him running  in the jogger, Luis likes to get out near the end, and "run in" with Diego.  

Luis is also in a sensitive phase.  For 4 days, his favorite book was Cenicienta - a Spanish version of Cinderella.  Diego read it to him in Spanish, and Luis doesn't blink.  But when I read it in Spanish, Luis says, "Momma, TALK to me.  TALK to me."  It took a while to figure out that he wants me to read to him in English.  The other night, I was doing this - loosely translating the Spanish version.  When we got to the part when Cinderall runs off (after the clock strikes midnight) and the Prince (el Principe) doesn't even know her name, Luis asked, "Principe little bit sad?"  I told him yes.  Luis asked, "Principe ki-ing (crying)?"  I said yes.  "Pricipe ki-ing because little bit sad?"  Yes.  Then, Luis burst into tears.  He cried for several minutes.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "Luis little bit sad."  The next day, he requested Cenicienta for both stories at nap time and asked to take it in the car when we went out.  After that, Cenicienta got "misplaced" and we've since moved on to Jorge Curioso.

Luis is now going to school 2x per week and seems to really like it.  There are several parents who have kids in the Parents Day Out program with Luis, who also have kids in the preschool.  There is 30 minutes between when PDO lets out and when the school does.  Luis and I have started joining 4-6 other parents and kids who congregate on a sunny hill on the side of the church.  It's great fun for both of us - Luis running with the kids and me chatting with the parents.  Thank goodness for school!

Luis still loves to "cook" and "help me" in the kitchen (as in "Mommy, I use (s)tool and help me").  Juevos (eggs) are his favorite thing to make - and he can almost crack the egg by himself.  As an example of learning what you see, Luis also likes to stand at the kitchen island to eat his snack - a habit I am not encouraging.

I haven't measured Luis's height since his 2-year check up, but I'm sure he's getting taller.  For one thing, wearing the same shorts that he wore last summer, he has A LOT more of his little legs showing between the bottom of the shorts and the top of his socks.  When standing on the ground, his eyes are almost even with the dining room table.  And he can almost put his hands on top of the kitchen counter (remember, they are SUPER tall - 40" I think).

These days, Luis laughs a lot.  He likes to make jokes and be silly and get others to laugh too.   He has silly ways of asking for things and we have lots of games we play together.  

I absolutely love that he has one-on-one relationships with lots of people here, much like in Mumbai.  When we leave the gym, he tells Todd (my trainer), "Hasta Manana-na-na-na-na-na-na" before busting out in giggles.  Luis likes to share candy (and cookies and chocolate) with Kyle & Tim next door.  Luis likes to blow bubbles with our New Friends - the kids across the street.  Luis likes to help Rosie & Blanca sweep & vacuum.  And he likes to look at pictures of airplanes with John (a guy at our gym who often has his laptop there - and used to be in the Air Force).He likes to help Julie (another neighbor) garden, using her special "little rake".  Luis has his Granddaddy's (and Uncle Dodie's) memory for names and faces and stories.  He knows who is at the gym based on the cars out front.  He knows which way to go to drive to the Digger Park or to see the Concrete trucks.  

He is also being very polite - more times than not using "please" and "thank you" without being asked.  Of course, it isn't all perfect.  Last week, we were playing outside with our neighbor Holly and her dog Blue.  Luis, who was tired, walked up to Holly and said "YOU GO HOME!"  He said it again.  I told him that he was speaking rudely and probably hurt Holly's feelings.  He thought for a minute and said, "YOU GO HOME please".  Slowly, slowly we're getting there.

All in all, he continues to be a delight.  I am really enjoying this stage with him and am a little sad that he won't be age forever...