What's His Name?

Jeanette & Aaron Come to Visit

Jeanette and her nearly 2-year old son Aaron came for a visit. Jeanette a plane voucher for a round trip and some vacation days to burn. Lucky us she combined both into a five day visit to Dallas! We hadn't seen Aaron since he was here last, in July 2009.

It was so wonderful to have Jeanette here for a long visit, where we could leisurely catch up on all that is going on (and really there is a lot going on). Aaron enjoyed playing in the back yard with Luis's toys. He enjoyed the fort, and spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to climb up the slide. That part didn't go so well.

Aaron loved the dump truck. Watching Aaron play with it, I realized that Aaron is almost the age that Luis was when we moved to Dallas. Wow - Luis sure has grown up a lot in the last two years!! (Of course, Luis has been telling people that he's already four years old since May!)

Luis made up some crazy game that included cutting up a plastic cup. Aaron tried desperately to play too and to figure out the rules. It was a bit like Calvinball (Permanent Rule: You may not play Calvinball the same way twice.) Poor Aaron never had a chance. Jeanette was sweet enough to mediate.

It isn't really a trip to Dallas if there isn't also a trip to Hunky's. We took Jeanette and Aaron there on Friday night. Aaron seemed to enjoy taking cues from Luis's rambunctiousness. Unfortunately, Luis did not take cues from Aaron on how to eat all of your dinner.

On Saturday, we went took the (bigger) boys to the zoo. It was good to get them outside and to run off some energy. Luis, however, was not at the top of his tour guide game: he was crabby and grumpy and uninterested in doing anything that anyone else wanted to do (unless they wanted to do the thing that he wanted to do, and even then it was a toss up!). Aaron, on the other hand, was generally agreeable to everything.

On Saturday afternoon, we walked over to visit Charlie, the neighborhood bunny.

Sunday was a quiet morning around the house. Jeanette and I tried to squeeze in the last bit of chatting, while the boys played in the back yard. Just before going to the airport, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Gloria's.

Alejo was with us for most of the weekend, but somehow didn't make it into a single picture. Sigh. It sure is tough being the second baby!

11/21

Luis, Alejo and Caleb

Our good friends Bethany and Caleb came by for a visit. Luis, who loves to wear his pajamas (tall pants, no shirt), came downstairs wearing them after the boys played upstairs for a bit.

I'm not quite sure why, but Caleb really wanted me to take some pictures of him. Luis was not so interested.

Caleb has been very interested in Alejo since he was born. When he comes over, he asks to hold Alejo, and asks me lots of questions. Here, he asked if he could have a picture taken with Alejo. Luis was suddenly much more interested in having HIS picture taken. And Sibling Rivalry starts early!

M-U-D

This afternoon, after Kristin left, Luis asked if he could play outside. I said, "Sure". He asked if he could play with the water hose. I said, "Sure". He asked if he could build a rain forest. I said, "Sure". I was tired. I was very tired. The idea of Luis entertaining himself was a very pleasing idea. Even more so because Alejo, who was desperately tired, would not go to sleep and was, instead, screaming his head off in his bed.

I had no idea how much mud he was going to make, or that he would want to submerge as much of himself as possible in it.

I reminded myself that ALL of Luis's clothes are machine washable (and that I buy Oxyclean at Costco, in 10-lb boxes), for exactly this reason.

But mostly I reminded myself that few things make me happier than when Luis is this happy.

And boy was he happy. (But Alejo was still screaming, still tired.)

While he was self-contained in the mud, I set some chicken to thaw in water in the sink (it was 5p, and I suddenly realized I had no idea what was for dinner). I went back out to check on Luis. Took some pictures. Listened to how, exactly, it is that you build a rain forest. Assured Luis that the clothes could be washed. Listened to Alejo crying on the monitor. Ran back inside to get Luis a drink.

Annnnnnnnd realized that I had left the water running in the sink. And the stopper in. There was water everywhere. On the counter, on the floor, in the drawers, on the shelves, in the microwave, in the dishes in the drawers. My heart stopped at the sight of all of that water.

And Alejo was still screaming. As I was standing in the kitchen with very wet feet, Luis decided that he needed to come in to get that drink. Covered in mud. DRIPPING mud. Suddenly, it was not just Alejo who was screaming.

I'm not sure what happened after that, as it was literally a blur. But I mopped up all of the water (more than 5 gallons!) from the floor and the shelves and the drawers (and the microwave!). I got Luis's muddy clothes off and in to soak in the laundry room - being very careful to turn of the water when the sink was not quite half full. I got the mud scrubbed out of Luis's hair and between his toes and in his ears.

And eventually, Alejo fell asleep.

Who's Zooming Who?

(Seems a bit ... corny? to take a picture of Diego taking a video of Alejo - but I think it's a cute photo anyway!)

Baby Gym: A Family Affair!

Alejo is not a big fan of Tummy Time, and usually fusses the moment I put him down. So I was a bit surprised today when not only did he not complain, he seemed almost happy!

Later on, Luis wanted in on the Baby Gym action!

Luis wanted to pose with Diego and Alejo.

Then, he wanted to pose with Momma and Alejo.

(Too bad we couldn't get a picture with ALL of us!)

Happy Kids!

Rainy Day

There is something that I really like about this picture of Luis's teacher walking him to the car on a rainy day, but I can't quite put my finger on it.