Paulo - 3.25 years

Paulito,

 

Munequito. You are such a sweet boy. I have so much to say about you, but I will start by saying, you and I have become such good companions. We like our time together and we understand each other very much at this point. That has sort of always been the case, but you grow so fast that every time we're getting comfortable with each other you up the game again, haha. And I mean it in the most normal way.

 

You are such a little boy right now I want you to stop growing so badly. There are so many things you do on your own now, like going bathroom unassisted (except for pulling up your pants) and ask me to leave and shut the door sometimes.

 

You are great at playing by yourself. I'm proud inside that I feel like I introduced you to imaginary play, making up pretend friends and pretend food and pretend dialogues and you are having so much fun with it. You have imaginary dinosaur friends and imaginary Ninja Turtle friends. You can play for long periods on your own, having little dialogues and pretending you're in certain places like the ocean, etc.

 

Meals are always such a battle with you, especially if Dad's around. Definitely one of my least favourite times of the day. You have too much energy, and you like getting up and run around in the middle of it. But at least I am glad we have kicked the habit of you watching videos on the Ipad while you eat... for now. Sometimes I will even see you turn of the TV on your own and play other things, which is great.

 

You love your playschool and you are so excited to be starting school in "the big school" in September. You are excited that you will see our 6 year old neighbour Kayden there.

 

Now that the weather is starting to warm up, we're spending more time outside and its amazing how much your behavior changes. All of a sudden you want to help me cook, do crafts, read more, etc.

 

You are also a very determined, smart, little boy. You know what you want, and once you do, you're not letting it go. Just like your mama.

 

Paulo, you are sweet, super smart, funny, friendly, confident and a bit weird. I love that in you. And we love you so SO much.

Emilio - 14 months

Emilio,

 

you are 14 months today. I know I skipped the 13 months post and I am not sure that I will continue writing about you every month. Life has been way too busy and any chance I get to have without the two  of you (which doesn't come often AT ALL) I don't want to spend it thinking or writing.

 

However, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to write about all the fun things you are doing now. I will probably forget a bunch, but I want to write what I can remember right now that you are sleeping.

 

Just to get it out of the way, your sleep has SUCKED. For months. I don't even know when was the last time you had consistently good sleep. For that reason, you and I seem to permanently have moved to the downstairs room and your brother and Dad sleep upstairs. I think it has been a combination of tons of things. Starting by the fact that you and I sleep together and you still nurse, so you like to visit the restaurant every time you roll over or move. However, it has been much worse for different reasons, such as teething (first all molars, now your canines) and also when I introduced cow's milk and it was giving you a horrible time at night. I'm just hoping that when all your canines come in we will finally be done with the circus and I may attempt to night wean you then.

 

As for all your other skills, you are EXPLODING. You have started to run, which is incredibly cute because you do it clumsily, with your chest all out and your arms bent at the elbows. You are not as proficient with your words as your brother was/is, but you definitely try and some are more or less understandable. Your motor skills, however, are out of control. Gross motor skills are insane --- you climb on the table, you try to jump, you twirl, you skip, you dance like there is no tomorrow. You LOVE LOVE LOVE music and everything to do with it. You dance at any chance you get and I've noticed you try to sing, although I never have any idea what you're singing. Your fine motor skills have also gone through the roof. You have figured out how to unscrew caps, which is NOT GOOD. You can brush your teeth and you even spit for me when I ask you. You are a great eater still, and have recently started to proficiently use the spoon, sometimes the fork.

 

Potty wise, you are starting to be more consistent in peeing and you can last a whole morning without a diaper if I can pay attention to you, although many times I just put you in a diaper if I' m getting breakfast ready and getting your brother ready for school.

 

You are such a sweet boy, I feel like it's a shame that  our families don't get to see you, because they would get such a kick out of you. You are funny, noisy, you love cuddles, you are mischievous and you like to get in trouble. Like you will go and take out all the pots and kitchen utensils from the cupboards. I am not too hard on you just because I know you are trying to stack them, fit them inside each other and find the matching lid.  You love screaming with excitement when daddy comes home or when Paulo is happy or playing. You copy EVERYTHING Paulo does. And the other day for the first time I saw you playing with your brother nicely but about 30 minutes, giggling away, running, chasing each other.... BEST SOUNDS EVER.

 

Emilio, we love you so much. What would we do without you???

Emilio - 1 Year!!



Emilio,

it is unbelievable that you have joined our family a year ago.... wow, it is amazing how fast you have grown! it is also a little sad, that my little baby is gone, that you are a full on toddler now, and soon you will start becoming a little boy. Despite the sadness, however, I can honestly say that I have really enjoyed this year with you, and that I have (successfully!) made an effort to appreciate every moment. Even when it has been really hard taking care of  you two, I have always reminded myself that in time I will remember these moments and cherish them.

I want to talk about your sleep before anything else and just get it out of the way. Your sleep has SUCKED big time for the last... month? Two months? I cant even remember when was the last time you had some decent sleep, but I don't even really care to figure it out. I know (hope!!) it's all a phase and that you will have to sleep better one day. It is funny that in general you seem to be a much better sleeper than you brother, and still at this age he was already sleeping through the night. You, in turn, are not even close to that. You nap incredibly well (from about 12 to 3), and in general you go down fairly easily, now nursing to sleep again. However, at night (when you sleep from around 8 p.m. to 7.30 a.m.) you have started to wake up tons, and in the last month, you wake up really angry, screaming and arching your back, kicking and rolling all over the bed until I nurse you back to sleep. I think the latter may be related to your 4 molars coming in at the same time... God I really hope that is it! and if so, I know all I can do is basically wait it out.

I have also started to think about weaning you. First I was toying with the idea of nursing you until YOU were done with it, basically because I am in no rush to wean you. However, after meeting with some friends who are still nursing their toddler well into his 2nd year and seeing what that was like...um, I think I'll pass. As great as I think that is for some people, I just don't think it is for me. We will see. At the moment you only nurse once during the day (before your nap) and then before bed, and numerous times throughout the night. So it really does not bother me at all, but it would be nice to have some uninterrupted sleep. Especially when I first lay down exhausted and you wake up because I'm there. For these reasons, I have decided to move you to a mattress on the floor or another sleep surface in an attempt to see if your sleep stretched get longer.

Other than that, now you are:

•  walking everywhere like it is no big deal, although you still prefer to hold somebody's hand while you do it.
• You absolutely LOVE music, and every single song or melody (even the church organ!) makes you dance, bending your knees and waving your arms up in the air, so cute!!
• You have started babbling more and more words. For instance, you now say "Ta Ta" every night , meaning "bye bye", when you go to bed. Or else during the day while waving good bye. You also say "ta taaa" when you mean to say "gracias!", "gaaa" for "Gooool" when you play ball, and "ta ta" for Dada.
• You still eat up a storm, although your teeth sometimes take their toll on your meals.
• You love having baths.
• You most certainly know what you want, and you know how to scream up the top of your lungs when you don't get it.
• You still absolutely HATE the car seat.
• You still smile away at everybody and everything. You have the silliest laughter, and although you've learn to put up a fight with your brother, you still love being with him and he makes you laugh like no one else.

Emilio, no doubt you are the friendliest, happiest baby I have ever seen. You have an amazing temperament and the sweetest smile on earth. Smile on Emilio, we love you so much!

 

Emilio - 11 months

Emi! It is now January 2nd and i am just getting around to writing your 11 month old post. We have been on vacation since December 7th and with the change in routine and lack of consistent internet, it has been difficult to sit down and write.
But here I am. Late, but will try to write a bit down before you turn a year old.
Your most amazing milestone this month is still your ability to walk. You are still eager to walk everywhere, although you still lack the confidence to do it all on your own. You typically have to hold on to someone or something, but are so happy to do it, you cry when we pick you up. You are definitely more and more confident, although the hard floors in Mexico have put a pause on your learning, primarily because we're all terrified of you falling on t eh concrete floor. It has also been difficult for you to crawl because you're always wearing shorts he and it hurts your little knees when you do. So in terms of mobility, it hasn't been your best month.

Other than that your speech is definitely improving. You can hear the intonation in your made- up words, like you're trying to imitate everything. Some words that I can tell you say consistently well:
Mama, Dada, ball, gracias, " ai ta" ( ahi esta), alla ( while pointing your finger).

This month your potty habits have gone out of whack. Mostly because our eating schedule has been changes around with our  lunch being our main meal here, and because there are so many people looking for you here, that I'm just not so in tune with you. Sometimes you go potty in the toilet, but there have been many times when you just go in your diaper.

Your eating habits have also suffered a bit while in here, because we don't have a proper high chair to sit you on, and you hate being restrained, so you always end up eating while standing up.