Dog Festival

After the Kite Festival (and a nap and a snack), we headed back out to the Dog Bowl.  It was basically a dog free-for-all held on the field of the Cotton Bowl.  I decided not to Ashley - a hard decision.  But it would have been too much excitement & stimulation, not to mention to much running around for her.  It was almost too much stimulation for me. 

We saw dogs of all shapes and sizes - lots of pretty dogs and lots that were, well, not-so-pretty.  Luis, true to his style, was very interested in petting (and hugging and kissing) many of the dogs.  He would get a bit overwhelmed when a pack of dogs would run by too close, on their way to a wading pool, a tennis ball or simply chasing the dog in front of them.  And true to my style, I hunted out all of the Aussies (and Border Collies).

Luis seemed to particularly like this little doggie.  It took a while for the dog to warm up to Luis - but eventually he sat in Luis's lap for several minutes and even gave Luis a sweet kiss.

Kite Festival

Sunday morning, we headed out to the Annual Japanese Boat, Kite & Lantern festival in nearby Irving.  Diego bought a small kite for him and Luis to fly and we went out to the grassy area to fly the kite and watch the boat races.  Luis was only mildly interested in the kite or kite flying; he was much more fascinated by a golf ball he found on the ground or the fact that we let him put the trash in the trash can.  Oh well, such are outings with a toddler.

  

Before heading home, we indulged in some "fair food".  Diego got his biennial corn dog (and then remembered why he only eats them every other year).  I got egg rolls (because we were at a Japanese festival).  Luis got Cheetos (because they were free).

Luis Picks His Own Clothes

Most days, I chose Luis's clothes for him.  Occasionally, he'll protest my choice in shirts and request something else.  Last weekend, he picked his own outfit from the hat to the boots.  Nice job, Luis!

(PS - Jeanette:  The digger shirt is still a favorite, 6 months later.  It fits fine, but I might need you to look for it in a 3T)

Wrong Sport

Luis called these his "soccer clothes".  More like golf...

A Handsome Boy

(the glasses are mine - Luis likes to "wear them like Momma")

The Advantage to Golf in Your Own Yard

Diego and Luis like to hit a few golf balls before dinner.  Sometimes, they have to wait until after dinner and Luis incorporates it into his "run around half naked" game.

A Recurring Punch Line

Luis (standing in his closet): I'm going POOP.

Me:  Should we change your diaper?

Luis:  No, give me some PRIVACY.

Afternoon Activity

At the end of our block, a company is doing some extensive work on the utilities.  I say extensive not because I know the scope of the work, but because it's duration:  it's been going on for more than a week.  At least four times now, Luis and I have walked down to watch.  We bring our snacks (usually popsicles, as it's starting to get hot) and a drink - and sometimes Ashley, and sit in the grass in the yard immediately in front of the work.  And we sit and watch the construction.  

We watch the excavator push steel plates around and the track hoe move the pile of dirt back into the hole.  We watch the men sweep the street and shovel the dirt.  (We mostly go late in the afternoon, so they are finishing up the work for the day.)  Luis provides a running commentary for all that he can describe (that man wears a blue hat, that digger is pushing dirt, that digger is little but this digger is big, that digger is putting dirt in dump truck) and asks questions about the things that he doesn't (Where is the dirt going?  Why are there three diggers?  What is that man doing?  Why does that man have a white hat?  Why is there a hole in the street? What's that pipe for?).  

The first time we took our front row seats, the men seemed to be a bit nervous about our presence.  Two of them immediately put on their (I'm sure, OSHA-required) safety vests.  But they've warmed up to us over the week;  they now smile at us and wave back when Luis waves.  Amongst each other, they speak Spanish.  So each day when we leave, Luis waves to them and shouts, "HASTA LUEGO MEN".

Luis & The Cougars

I posted about our evening out with Mark, Natalie & Baby Josie here.  Then, I got this picture of Luis and his "new friends" from Diego (it was on his phone).

A trip back East

Luis, Diego and I went back to Annapolis on 4/25 for my grandmother's service.  Diego had to come back to Dallas on Monday night, but Luis and I stayed another week (until 5/3) to visit with friends and family.  Despite having a week in the greater DC area, it was a busy time and we only got to visit a fraction of the people we'd hoped to see.  

I was surprised at how much he remembered.  That he remembered feeding the birds at Mom's house, ice cream at the sushi place, who slept in which room at Midge's or where Sarah keeps her playdoh wasn't so unusual - they are all things he did (and loved) many, many times in the fall.  That he remembered that there are tanker trucks along a certain road between Dodie's house in Fairfax and our house in Falls Church was astounding to me (as we turned onto the road, a good mile before the fuel farm, Luis asked, "Momma, where tanker trucks?").  That after seeing a fox at mom's house on Sunday morning, Luis said, "I saw a fox at Solomon's house" in OCTOBER blew me away.  I guess he has his Granddaddy's memory.

Luis did amazingly well with the whole trip.  At one point, he slept (and napped) in five different beds in 3 days!  Despite all that was going on, Luis didn't miss a single nap - though many of them were several hours later than normal.  These days, he's only allowed to have his Baca (his pacifier) when he's in the bed.  By the end of our trip, he was carrying around his baca and blanket almost the entire day, he was so exhausted.

He definitely rallied when we got home on Sunday afternoon.  In the course of about two hours, he physically put his little hands on almost every toy he owns.  He was clearly glad to be home.  And on Monday, he took a 4-hour nap - something we both needed!!

Bibi Croom & Grandpa Sandy

In between all of our visits with friends and (extended) family time, we had a wonderful visit with Bibi and Grandpa Sandy.  Luis had a clear (and correct) memory about life at Bibi's house - from the Fisher-Price castle that she has to feeding the birds to Grandpa Sandy's lawn mower to the great swing set/playground next door.  There were a few changes - instead of the pack-n-play, he slept on the "big bed".  Instead of using a booster, he sat in "Solomon's chair".

Bibi made us many, many great meals.  She read Luis lots of fun books.  And one day, we went down to the water to feed the ducks. Grandpa Sandy "helped Luis" fill the bird feeders, took him out to see the tractor (several times), and worked on Luis's musical rhythm singing 60's classics.

Juan Fe & RC

Juan Fe & RC picked us up from Sarah's house on Saturday morning (5/2) and drove us back to Annapolis (we were without our own car).  Along the way, we stopped to see their renovation project (they gutted RC's townhouse to exterior wall and are building back a very beautiful, very modern place).  We arrived in Annapolis just before lunch.  Normally, Luis would have crashed the moment he was done eating.  But in order to maximize his time with JF & RC, I "allowed" Luis to have an entire ice cream sandwich and two thin mints for dessert.  Turns out, that sugar when a long, long way.  After lunch, we went next door to the neighbors "playground" as Luis calls it - they have a HUGE jungle gym with tire swing, rope ladder, monkey bars and slide, as well as a full-sized trampoline.

The trampoline was the biggest hit and Luis spent about 40 minutes jumping on it.  (I find it ironic that I took about 40 pictures of Luis jumping and it was this one, the very first one, that I liked the most.

 As Luis started to tucker out, he became more interested in sitting on the trampoline (as he was not yet ready to get off).

The Rimicci's

Luis and I spent all day Friday (5/1) with Sarah and her family (and spent the night).  The week thus far had been great - seeing so many great friends - but had been exhausting.  I canned the original plan for Friday and called Sarah.  "Can Luis and I come over tomorrow morning (Friday)?  I need a vacation day from my vacation.  I can't tell you when we'll leave - Friday or Saturday."  Not surprisingly, Sarah said Come on over.  

We did our usual things - playing outside, playing playdoh, playing with trucks, etc.  We ate our usual foods (Peruvian chicken for dinner and chocolate chip waffles for breakfast).  The whole time was its usual wonderful-relaxing-cathartic experience.

Luis and Will on the hammock swing

Tutor Girl & Tutor Girl's Mom

I started tutoring high school math in Falls Church in 2003.  In 2007, just after Luis was born, I started tutoring Malvika - a freshman at the local high school.  At this point, we knew that we were heading to Mumbai over the summer, so I could not tutor her for her sophomore year.  It turned out to be a great coincidence that Lopa, Malvika's Mom had grown up in Bombay and had recently spent 2 years there with her family.  Lopa and I emailed while I was in Bombay (mostly her encouraging me to try new foods and to shop at the market and to explore the city) and really developed our own friendship.  When we were back in Virginia, I started tutoring Malvika again, for her junior year.  Malvika also baby sat for us on a number of occassions.  Lopa, Luis, and I would meet for lunch regularly.  Luis adored both Malvika and Lopa.  Moving to Texas did not stop our tutoring sessions.  Malvika and I still meet once or twice a week on-line for tutoring.

After lunch on Thursday (4/30), Luis and I went to spend the afternoon with Lopa and Malvika.  We both had a wonderful time relaxing (Luis took a 2 hour nap there) and catching up.  We, of course, enjoyed a nice cup of tea and Lopa made us a delicious dinner.

Sushi Hut

Thurdsay (4/30), we picked up my friend Paige, from HITT and went over to the Sushi Hut for lunch.  I wasn't sure how much Luis would remember.  Turns out he remembered it all - Kim, his favorite waitress, the soy beans & pickled radish appetizer, how to use chopsticks, and that he gets ice cream for dessert.  Of course, the ice cream was the first thing he remembered.

Franklin

On Wednesday (4/29), Mom and I drove over to Fairfax to spend the night with Dodie & his family.  Luis loves loves loves to be at Uncle Dodie's house, play with his cousins, and jump on the Jumping Bed.  Thursday morning, after some breakfast and a play, Luis declared that he was going back to bed and asked me to come give him a snuggle.  I started to crawl under the covers when Franklin (almost 6) came into the room.  "No Mommy, no Mommy!"  Luis squealed.  "FRANKLIN snuggle me".

Baby Josie!

While in Annapolis, we met up with Mark & Natalie - and finally got to meet Baby Josie (who was born in February).  We met up at their place, and we went to Hard Times for dinner Diego has not found a suitable place here for chicken wings.  Unfortunately, they forgot to bring the wings until the meal was over and the chili wasn't very good.  The company, however was outstanding.

Cheers!

After dinner, we went next door for some gelato.  It was a beautiful evening, so we sat outside to enjoy the weather and some live music.  The best part of the evening was when Luis went over and planted himself between two 10-ish year old girls and asked, "How-you doing?"  He's a little young for the cougars, we thought.  Maybe not.

Coward Family

My McDow family and my Whitfield family get a lot of press on the blog - with my frequent visits up and down the East Coast.  My Coward family doesn't get together that often.  But, two weeks ago (4/27), Luis, Diego and I were in Annapolis for the burial service of my grandmother, Gigi (Jean Coward Mason - Sandy's mother).  After the service, we got this great picture.

Grace & Emma with their parents Erin & Marion Plumb (Erin is Sandy's daughter), Diego & me, Randolph & Lauren and my cousins Emily and Meg Coward.  Missing is Emily's husband Raphael (who was still in South Africa), Sarah Sax (Meg's partner who was taking the picture), and Dodie & Alison.

Hel-lo Summertime!

Our very good friends, Kyle & Tim, who live next door have invited us over to enjoy their pool. Wednesday, it was in the upper 90's (but Luis was way too tuckered out from school).  Thursday was less warm, but Luis was even more tuckered out.  Today, we took them up on it.  Or at least Luis did; I was a spectator.

Luis hasn't been in a pool since December, when we were in Florida.  So, I wasn't sure what his reaction would be this afternoon when I asked him if he wanted to go swimming.  He got quiet and still for about 2 seconds, and then his whole face lit up.  He said in a very quiet voice, "YES!"

Deep Thoughts

Today, on the way home from school, I was telling Luis what the schedule was.  "When we get home, we'll have a snack.  (Luis interjected that the snack should be a popcicle)  After that, we'll take a ride in the car."  Luis thought for a moment and then asked - for the first time ever - "Where are we going?"

I can't say exactly why, but I really see this as a big step for him.  And of course, I'm proud.