Seizing the Hug

Last night, long after Luis's bedtime, and after his one-more-hug-and-kiss, and actually, long after I assumed he was really asleep, I hear the thump thump thump of him coming down the stairs. He paused on the landing and peeked around the corner to find me on the couch, nursing Alejo.

Mooooooom, can I give you one more hug and kiss?

No Noodle, I'll come up in a minute.

Luis dutifully (surprisingly) scampers back up the stairs to his bed. After getting Alejo settled in his bed, I head up to Luis.

Momma, Can you snuggle me?

I start to say know, that it's late, that it's WAY past his bed time, that he already had his "one last" hug and kiss. But then I remembered something I'd read recently about how fast kids grow up, how small the window is where they WANT to be hugged and kissed and snuggled. Somehow having Alejo - so small and tiny - has reinforced this notion of how quickly the time goes.

So instead, I crawled in to bed with Luis. He snuggled in close to me, I wrapped my arms around him and we talked about our day. He squeezed me and I squeezed him. He told me that he loved me. I gave him one last "last hug and kiss". And then one more after that for good measure.

I hope that in 10, 20 or 40 years that I can conjure back up the events of last night, to remember how sweetly Luis asked for some love and generously he gave some to me, too. And in the mean time, I hope that I take Luis up on his offers more often.

More than a coincidence?

Today, like many days in the last week, just as I give Luis his last hug and kiss before his nap time, Alejo, who has been sleeping in his crib, starts to make his little squeaking sounds. And if history is any indication, Alejo will be awake until approximately 3 minutes before Luis wakes up from his nap.

I should count my blessings that both boys are good sleepers. And I do. I just wish that there were more days where they slept at the same time...

Muffles-Cat

The church where Luis goes to "school" has a family of cats it takes care of - the matriarch of whom is the spitting image of our old cat Muffles. It isn't often that we see her walking to school, but when we do, we always stop for a visit.

[If you look closely, you can see that Luis has a little Matchbox fire truck in each hand. Luis enjoys some sort of Show and Tell each day at school - bringing in a toy (or more likely, some piece of his super hero costume) to show his friends.]

First Bath

I'm a little bit embarrassed that Alejo is three weeks old and we are just giving him his first bath at home. It's true that he doesn't really sweat or get into things -he isn't playing in the sandbox with his brother. Still, three weeks seems like a long time. A big part of it is that Alejo is such a great sleeper that he is hardly awake long enough to get a bath in! I wanted to Diego to do it with me, but this made it a bit more difficult to coordinate the time (around meals and Luis's bedtime routine).

Generally speaking, Alejo was pretty unimpressed by the whole event. He sat quietly for the soaping up and the rinsing off. As soon as we had him out of the tub and onto the towel, he started to really shiver, and then to cry. It was a little too cold for him.

A Busy Sunday for Alejo (2 1/2 Weeks)

Alejo has two great tricks so far - eating (as evidenced by his weight gain in the last two weeks) and sleeping. He practices his sleeping about 22-23 hours per day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.
A close third, as far as his tricks go, is Being Cute. I may like this trick best of all. Of course, I may be a bit biased...
You can barely see Diego's foot at the bottom of this picture. With all the sleeping that Alejo does, it is a rare moment that he needs to be soothed by both the vibrating bouncy chair and a little extra bounce from a foot.

Two Weeks Later - Luis's SISTER Arrives

As part of a last minute plan, our very good friends from Seattle, David, Erika & Skylar, came for a short visit right after Mom and Sandy departed (see these other posts for visits with the Stader-Tulls). David had a meeting at Love Field (with Diego!) and Erika & Skylar came along as well. They arrived in time for breakfast on Friday morning, and left so early Sunday morning that we all said our goodbyes the night before (I think it was a 6a flight out!). In between, we had a great, great time.

Erika taking a turn holding Alejo

Luis has long referred to Skylar as his sister. (In fact, when I was about 36 weeks pregnant, Luis was talking about her at school, asking his teachers if they knew he had a sister. They thought that I had gone into labor early AND had a girl - what would have been two big surprises.) While sitting outside, waiting for them to arrive on Friday morning, Luis stretched the family analogy to add that Erika is my sister and David is Diego's brother. While not technically correct, I would definitely call the Stader-Tulls family!

In two short days, we read books, did art projects, swam in the pool, had naps, went to a birthday party for Caleb (Luis's friend), ran around the house, took turns holding Alejo (even Skylar and Luis got in on this), talked, shopped, played golf (the men), and generally enjoyed each other.

Luis loving on his "sister"

Skylar sometimes didn't love it as much as Luis did

Luis also spent a large amount of time "pinching" people with his "clippers" (his souvenir from his trip to the Science Museum with Bibi & Grandpa Sandy).

Luis in his super hero costume with the "clippers"

Skylar is going to be a big sister to a little brother in mid-November, as Erika is pregnant. I think that David & Erika were pleased for Skylar to get a little "practice" with a newborn to get a sense of what they are like, how teensy they are, and that they don't really "do" anything. Alejo, for his part, was very willing to be held by everyone, and hardly made a peep the whole time they were here.

Skylar showing off her baby-holding skills

The second night, Luis somehow convinced David & Diego (who were doing the bedtime routine) that he and Skylar should be allowed to go to sleep in our bed. It had something to do with the fact that Skylar would be leaving so early in the morning - but I missed the details. I was highly, highly skeptical of the situation, but wanted to back up Diego who had already said yes. Quite shockingly, they went straight to sleep with nary a peep from either of them. Very shocking!

Luis and Skylar zonked out on Saturday night.

Luis's Newest Sleeping Companion

Here are Luis and Giraffe-y (the Giraffe) enjoying a nap together - at least for a few more minutes until I wake Luis up. Giraffe-y was a gift from Bibi and Grandpa Sandy from their zoo trip.

Growing, Growing

Due to his jaundice issues, I took Alejo back to the pediatrician on Tuesday to check his bilirubin level. His levels were fine and the pediatrician saw no need to follow up with any treatments - which was great.

What was shocking to me was Alejandro's weight - 7lbs 12oz. I didn't expect him to be back at birth weight, much less a couple of ounces over. I guess he is officially a growing boy!!

Grandpa Sandy Joins the Fray

Bibi, Grandpa Sandy, Luis and The Clippers (the souvenir from the Science Museum)

Sandy was scheduled to arrive on Monday (7/13), but due to inclement weather, he didn't make it in until Tuesday. Luis was VERY excited about his arrival! On Wednesday, Mom and Sandy took Luis to the Zoo in the morning. Luis came back in time to eat some lunch and crawl in to bed - between the running around and the heat, he was exhausted. On Thursday, they took him to the Science Museum - which was also a big treat. To top it off, they got lunch at Hunky's afterwards. Luis was in HEAVEN!

Luis took this picture for us

Luis, Grandpa Sandy and the helicopter memento from the Zoo

It Was Bound to Happen...

It only took 13 days for Luis to say, "I think we should take Baby Alejandro back to the hospital. I don't want a little brother any more." Sigh.

I posted this on Facebook the day he said it. The comments I got back were awesome!

• • 

    Juliana Rincon Parra and what did you tell him?

    July 13 at 5:59pm · ·
  • 

    Mary McDow Rincon ‎"we will talk about it more later."
    
    Mary M Rincon

    July 13 at 6:04pm via Email Reply · ·
  • 

    Meg Coward If it makes you feel any better, my cousin Persis's son suggested after about that much time that they give his baby sister to the trash men. ;)

    July 13 at 6:10pm · ·
  • 

    Leah Emet Schier My brother said the same about me

    July 13 at 6:25pm · ·
  • 

    Eileen McCarty Branham My sister's 5 and 2 yr olds slept in the bed with her until her twins were born. When someone asked my niece how she liked the babies, she said "I want them to go away so I can have my space in the bed back"

    July 13 at 6:32pm · ·
  • 

    Juliana Rincon Parra Runs in the family, my mom says :P

    July 13 at 6:49pm · ·
  • 

    Sarah Saelinger Rimicci I have a friend who's sister was born when she was around 2-3. After a few weeks, she got tired of her sister, found a box and put her in it... She thought it was time to ship baby back to where she came from!

    July 13 at 7:22pm · ·
  • 

    Lauren Weatherly McDow Awww. 13 days already? Time is flying!

    July 13 at 7:37pm · ·
  • 

    Cara Taylor Terreri Did you tell Luis you occasionally thought the same thing about him? ;) There are days (the really bad ones) when I wonder if hospitals accept "returns."

    July 13 at 8:02pm · ·
  • 

    Stacey Bliss Densberger LOL! Well you knew it was going to come at some point! Wish I could tell you it will be the last time you hear it, but I am fairly certain you will hear that again.

    July 13 at 9:11pm · ·
  • 

    Clarkson McDow That is what Thomas said about me.

    July 13 at 10:35pm · ·

    
    

    • 

      Juan Felipe Rincon You could tell Luis that you lost the receipt for Alejo and that they don't issue store credit...

      July 14 at 8:08am · ·

      
      

2 Week Check Up

Alejo had his two-week check up on Tuesday (a day early). By all accounts, he is doing well. He weighed in at a whopping 8lbs, 8oz - nearly a pound up from his birth weight! He was 21" with a 14 3/4" head. His weight is at 45%, and both height and head circumference are 50% (though I hardly think of him as an "average" child).

Dr. Curry noted how much control of his neck Alejo has and how well coordinated he is for his age. He told us to skip the one month check up and just come back at two months. I was a little surprised and asked if he was sure. Dr. Curry said, "He already moves like a 2-month old, he is clearly eating well and gaining weight, and with Luis at home you've got a good track record as a parent." Felt like I got a Gold Star from the pediatrician!

Alejo snoozing on Bibi's lap

For comparison data, check out Luis's 2 Week Check Up post here. I find it interesting that at 2 weeks, Luis was 4oz over birth weight while Alejo was 15oz over birth weight. I hope Alejo doesn't keep out-pacing Luis at this same rate!

(Lots of people have noted that they have significantly fewer pictures with subsequent children than they had with their first. This is the only picture I have of Alejo in the last five days. Guess that it's true for us as well...)

World Cup!

Since this blog will (hopefully) be a keepsake for our family of our adventures and milestones, I feel that I must get in at least one post about World Cup. This year, for the first time ever, Diego has watched every single World Cup game. He records them on the DVR and then watches them when he gets home in the evening. Diego goes to great lengths to avoid hearing details or scores about the games so that when he watches them at night, he doesn't know the outcome in advance.

On the weekends, Luis will join Diego on the couch to watch some games. Luis always asks Diego which team they want to win (the red team or the blue team, for example - he goes by colors, not countries). He has figured out that the goalie has a different color jersey than his teammates and that the refs have yet a different color. And, he can yell GGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL in a way that makes Diego proud. It's fun to watch. Alejo arrived in time to catch the tale end of the tournament this year - getting a few games.

Even Bibi watched a few with us. For the final game with Spain, Diego made a delicious paella that we all enjoyed.

Bibi Arrives

Bibi Croom arrived Tuesday evening (July 6th - Happy Birthday Bibi) and has been a godsend since she arrived! She is taking great care of each of us - reading stories, doing puzzles and playing with Luis; holding and loving on Alejo; keeping me company, cooking yummy meals and helping me with my boys. Mom did sweet things for including trips to the grocery store when we were suddenly out of milk, staying home with a sleeping Alejo so I could take/pick up Luis from school, ironed all the stuff in my ironing pile, made and froze lasagnas and casseroles to enjoy after she'd gone. She brought me nice treats from Annapolis. One night, she kept both boys so that Diego and I could go out for Sushi dinner - just the two of us. It was wonderful having her here.

The day after she arrived, she kept Alejo so that I could take Luis to Hunky's after school for a treat - just the two of us!

Turns out that a whole piece of red velvet cake AND a chocolate milk shake was too much for the two of us. Though we did manage to finish both of them off, neither of us ate very much at dinner.

Luis was very excited about her arrival, asking for several days if today was the day. And upon her arrival, he loved on her everyday! Bibi stayed in the guest house and kept a few of Luis's presents out there, including a very large firetruck floor puzzle. Luis must have gone out there at least once a day to work that. About half way through her visit, Luis started going out early (EARLY) in the morning to "snuggle with Bibi until the sun comes up". (Bibi will receive some extra special treats in heaven for allowing that so many days in a row!!)

A New Version of Luis the Super Hero

Luis and Diego like to watch old clips of Batman, Superman, Spiderman, etc. on YouTube. Luis, always with an eye for detail, noticed that many of the super heroes have, as Luis described it, "super chupies on the outside of their pants". [Chupies is the Swahili term for underwear.] So in an attempt to be more authentic in his costumes, Luis uses this pair of blue "super chupies" when he dresses up now. Note also the addition of the "well" part of the oil spill (turns out that the toilet paper holder is much more fun as a super hero gun than it is as an oil well).

Arts & Crafts meets Current Events

Luis brought this home from school; it was his arts and crafts project. I made several attempts to guess what it was, but was wrong every time. Finally Luis just told me: Mommy, it's the OIL SPILL!

(This is not Luis's first exposure to the BP oil spill in the Gulf...)

Ashley meets Alejandro

Luis & Alejo

(So far) Luis has been an attentive and loving big brother. He is eager to see what Alejo is doing and to understand his wants - which are currently limited to nursing, new diaper, and being held. Luis was very clear from the time he found out I was pregnant that he was not willing to help with diapers. And the nursing is really all on me. So Luis likes to help with the baby holding. He asks often to hold Alejo, and usually remembers on his own that he must was wash his hands before holding Alejo. Of course, Alejo's tricks are few and Luis's attention span is short, so these moments are short. But they are sweet, and I am treasuring each of them.

Saturday 7/3/10

Sunday 7/4/10

Monday 7/5/10

Welcome home snuggles for Alejo