Robin Valentina's Birth Story

It has been almost 3 weeks since you were born and I can't seem to write this down so I won't forget. you are sleeping on my lap right now so I am going to try to type this down before you wake up.
It was 4 days before your due date. We had been anxiously waiting for you to arrive and no sign of you yet, we were getting anxious.
It was a Thursday morning and your Opa, Abuis and I decided to do a trip to Ikea for breakfast and some shopping. We dropped off your brothers at school, headed to Ikea, had breakfast and started our shopping. We walked all the Upper Floor, and as we were near the end of the bottom floor I started feeling very strong pressure between my legs, I started thinking to myself  "wow, that is a lot of pressure" and I swear I was half way through this thought, when I suddenly felt like a big pop or snap in there, almost like a rubber band or balloon snapping inside my crutch, and immediately felt A LOT of warm liquid dripping down from between my legs and down my thigh. "Shit!" I thought to myself. It was obvious that my water had broke. I turned around and told my Dad "we need to go! something just popped in there!". My dad ran to find my mom and we started walking fast towards the exit. My first instinct was to say I needed to find a bathroom, but then I thought I shouldn`t waste my time in a bathroom and better rush home. I didn`t have any contractions, so that made me feel a little better.
I was thankful I was wearing black pants. But I couldn`t walk fast enough and there was so much water leaking. We got in the car and my Dad drove while I sat on some cleaning clothes in the car. On the way out I sent a text to Rob and he quickly replied he was on his way home. then I paged the midwife and she called back and told me to call when I got home.
When we got home I ran upstairs and got in the bath. Im not sure why I did this. I didn`t want to be dripping water everywhere but I guess I could have worn a pad. Rob got home soon and then the midwife. she checked the heart beat and my blood pressure and everything was okay. She said we had 18 hours before we had to start a dose of antibiotics (for PGS) and said I should go for a 15 min walk, pump for 15 mins and repeat to start contractions. Once she left, Rob and I went for a walk to the stables and came back but I was too tired to walk anymore. The afternoon seemed to go very quickly. My parents brought the kids from school and we were having dinner when I started feeling something like contractions. They were so mild I could barely tell if they were contractions, but they seemed to come regularly so after a couple I called the midwives. It was around 7 p.m.
The midwives came and set up, checked everything and I was back in the bath. Later in the night I got out to move around a bit, The contractions seemed to pick up from there. Rob and I made a pool and he bet baby would be born at 9 and I said 8.30. I was trying to walk and pace around but my feet hurt too much from standing, so I got back in the bath. I got on my hands and knees and kinda started bouncing on my knees. The contractions were quickly starting to get stronger. I help Rob`s hand (he was sitting outside). I remember at one point the contractions were getting so strong I started to remember the pain of birth. My body started shaking they were so painful. It was like electricity shocking my body tight into a ball. I told Rob I was very scared. He said I shouldn`t be scared, I had done that before. After that point I think I only had a handful of contractions so strong I had to moan really loud. I just remember thinking, they were sopainful, I only had to do a few more horrible ones and then it would be over. After that thought it is all just a blur. I  dont  remember what anyone else was saying or doing. I dont remember if I was even holding Robs hand anymore or not. I only remember my body taking over again. I didn`t have to do anything. There was only one thing to do and it was to let that baby out. I could feel her head slowly coming out and then finally the whole head. it was hard to push the rest of her body out but it was such a relief when it did. Then I remember the midwife saying she had her and she would pass her under the water beneath my leg and onto my chest. I dont remember seeing any of this until she was on my chest. I saw her eyes and her hair. Lots of dark hair, and her body covered in white vernix. Pale skin. She was crying and I kept saying "you re okay, youre okay". you were born at 9.31 p.m.
After that I went to bed and while I was being cared for, daddy was holding you skin to skin in bed. Later I was tucked in with you, and you fed while we all chatted and looked at your brothers books. They were sound asleep by then, even though they were anxious to see you. Your Abuis and Opa came upstairs to see you and they brought me apple slices and cheese and water. Your Nana was sound asleep.
They finally weighed and measured you «« 8 lbs 6 oz, just like your brother Emilio, and 52 cm, just 1 cm short of your brothers.
You were beautiful, big, and with very pink round cheeks. You were squeaky and squirmy and has so much dark hair, but white eyebrows and white little hairs all over your body and face. and your eyes were the same as your brothers.
You were so loved from the very beginning of your life. I felt so lucky that you chose us, little angel... how lucky we are all to have you.

BIG SURPRISE!!

I have little time to write but I didn't want more time passing by so here I am. The big surprise: I am 21 weeks pregnant. Although, the big surprise factor has passed now and we have gotten pretty used to the news. 

Earlier this year while we were visiting Mexico in February and March we got the big surprise that I was pregnant. Ddidn't know how pregnant at the time, since it was completely unexcpected at the time and we just didn't know when this happened. I remembered being very tired since January and I actually clearly remembered having a convo with Rob where I told him that. If I didn't know it was not possible (because I had my period when I was having this conversation), I would swear that I was pregnant. My body felt different and I felt tired and kind of nauseous. When I was in Mexico this feeling was much stronger and it was really just "wishful thinking" that kept telling me it couldn't be happening. There was actually very slim chances of this happening, but well, what do you know.

Fast forward to May and it turns out I am now 21 weeks and I was around 8/9 weeks when I found out.  

I would be lying if I said it always felt like good news. I may have mumbled a four letter word when that test came out positive. It was such a scary thought to think we were back in square one, looking after a baby when we already had 2 full grown, school-aged kids. To think about all the "stuff" that having a baby again meant: sitting endlessly on a chair breastfeeding, changing diapers, waking up in the night (just when Emi was finally starting to overcome his sleep issues), buying car seats and high chairs, monitors and all that bulky baby equipment. being in charge of 3 KIDS, which meant more business than ever, no down time, less time for me and Rob. And all at a time when I was so close to savouring my "freedon" having Emi starting Kindie in September. I was finally starting to think about getting back to work, or starting a business, having more time to do other things. And on top of that the fact that both Rob and I are older now, the boys are way ahead of this baby, who didn't fit in that picture of the perfect family of four that I had built in my head. Not to mention all I thought friends and family were going to think about this surprise...

Anyway, it is a few months later now and it is amazing how quickly we got used to these news. We have since been to 3 ultrasounds and ever since the 1st one it was so amazing to see that little baby on the screen. To see Rob's face when he saw that first picture. To hear that beautiful sound of a heart beating, which always brings tears to my eyes... 

We have told the boys and they were so excited to hear the news, it was a great relief. They are both really into knowing more about the baby and "babies" in general. They were both at the ultrasound and were so excited to see the baby. Our entire family was great about the news, which was also, a BIG relief somehow. We have also found out since that we are having a little girl, and we couldn't be happier. 

I have really found some peace since we first got these news. I have come to think that although I don't believe in "destiny" or "thinking happening for a reason", in a way I do feel like maybe Rob and I always wanted to try for a 3rd and maybe convinced ourselves that that was not for us, but subconsciously it was still something that we wished we had. I know that for me, realizing I was never going to have a 3rd, when Emilio turned three (because in my mind, it was too late to try for a 3rd), it was really hard and I was really sad about it. It hurt getting rid of all our cloth diapers and my baby carriers and all our cute baby clothes and not saving them for the next one. I know Rob and I often had the conversation about what it would be like to have a 3rd, how he would have liked to have a 3rd and how if we lived in Mexico and had more family around to help, or if we had more money, then we would definitely have a bigger family. It all makes me think that we if we had really disliked the idea of having more kids then we would have really taken matters into our hands and gotten a vasectomy right after having Emi. Why else keep things so potentially risky, right? 

All this long story to say, we are in a really happy place and looking forward to meeting this new baby, sleepless nights, dirty diapers and all!

Emilio - 4 years

Emi,

You have grown so much. The last year has flown by with so many changes. When you turned 3, you had just been weaned and you went through that rough  night terror phase. That lasted a few months and thankfully, we have figured it out and now we know that rest needs to be a priority for you. You just literally can't stop having fun!! you just go, go, go and sleep is like a huge punishment to you, so we are always making sure you are not too overtired or else you will be up in the night screaming and crying like a mad man.
Interestingly, even though you are weaned now, sleep issues are still a big part of our life. Besides the terrors, you seemed to have gone back to having big difficulty falling asleep. You always have to fall asleep eating something and will wake up pretty much every night asking for food. If you do get a snack during the night, then you will sleep in. Otherwise you will wake up really early even if you didn't have a good night sleep, and you will be cranky as hell.
Speaking of sleep, you have also dropped the nap about maybe 6 months ago. You were staying up way too late and so now for the most part you don't nap, unless you have been since too early. This helps you go to sleep early around 7.30 or 8 at night but you are usually pretty tired and miserable in the evening.
Moving on to happier topics, when you have had good sleeps you are so fun to be around. YOu are cheerful, sweet and super helpful. You love helping me around the house and one of your favourite passtimes is helping me prepare dinner or lunch. You just love cooking.
When we go out, you always love going with me anywhere as long as you are not tired or hungry. You are cheerful and chatty and people always comment on how happy you look and how chatty you are.You are very friendly and the kids on the street love hanging out with you. They know they can count on you being willing to play.
You love dancing and always want to be listening to music in the car or wherever we are. You are incredibly active. You even know how to ride your bike without training wheels already!! you are amazing, although you can't still ride for long distances because you get tired but you are really good at it.
You will be starting Kindergarten next year and I have to admit I am a bit worried. You are an incredible kind, respectful and sweet little boy, but I am not sure that the amount of structure in the school systems is designed to help little boys like you. You are incredibly active and have trouble sitting still. You cannot focus for too long and sometimes you have trouble controlling your temperament. You are very emotional and certainly don't like to hear the word "NO". You have no interest in activities such as drawing or anything that requires sitting down for long periods. You mostly enjoy reading books, pretend play, and even building games, but only if somebody is fully engaged with you. Otherwise you get bored and move on.

Little Emi you are such a sweet boy and I love how you always look after your brother and even me when we are sad. You are helpful and just fun to be around. I love you so much!
Mom

Paulo 6

Paulo,

You and your brother are one of my favourite topics to talk about. But time is short and I won't let "perfect " get in the way of "done", so I will try to keep it short.

You are an amazing little boy. It is a strange feeling to know that just 6 years ago you were just this subjective thought, and now you have become a complete, articulate person with his own personality. You are smart, kind, very creative, brave and mature. Since you started Kindergarten you have become the dream student. You are quiet, you are pensive, very creative and you listen very well. In one of your teacher's words: you are the dream student. In the last year or two you have been chosen to carry the wreath on Remembrance Day, receive awards for showing "Respect" at school and most importantly, you continue to love school.

Your dad and I feel that we share a true connection with you. We trust you, you trust us, and we truly admire the person you are becoming.

This time I want to share with you my challenges, and not yours. You and your brother have opened my eyes and I have realize that my challenge with you is to respect who you are and try to preserve that bright mind of yours and encourage you and help you become the best version of yourself. You are brave, and I don't want my fears for you to get in the way of your learning new things. You are authentic, and I don't want my desire for you to fit in to get in the way of you staying true to yourself. You are confident and I don't want my own shyness to rub off on you or my insecurities making you feel you need more friends to feel approved. You are creative, and I don't want our structured world and our need to fit into a mold to block that. In sum, I have to overcome my own limitations to help you foster your amazing self.

And just to finish, a little list of things that you do:

- You have become phisically very coordinated and strong. You climb trees, run, dance very confidently.

- You are OBSESSED with bikes and your bike. You have also recently started riding a cruiser (skateboard) and spend hours outside practicing. You are becoming quite good very fast. You also recently got a scooter and love riding that as well. The amount of energy you have lately is way way above in beyond what you had last year.

- You are learning to read and write at school. It is a challenge to find the time to sit down and practice reading and writing with all the time you spend outdoors, but we try and some days you really enjoy just sitting down and browsing through magazines and writing.

- The odd time you will sit down and start drawing. I don't consider you super keen on drawing, but you are actually good at it, putting lots of details and you always come up with very interesting ideas.

- Even though school has kind of gotten in the way of your creativity, you are big on building things with paper, cardboard, tape, etc. You have an incredible ability to keep yourself busy.

- Tons more than I can talk about, but I just want to mention that despite the fact that you are quiet and serious, you are good at making friends. You even have some friends who are years older than you. But you have made lots of friends in our street and at school. I think they like you because you are kind and respectful, you never hit, push or talk disrespectfully to anyone.

Paulo, chiquis, we love you always,

Mama

Emilio - 3 years

Emi, you are 3 years old! It sounds so much older when I say it, but you are still a little guy to me!!

It has been a huge year for us. I can officially say I nursed you for almost a full 3 years! It wasn't easy, and most especially at the end it was very challenging, but we made it through.

We also went though a very difficult month just before your birthday. You started having night terrors, and I am not sure who they terrorize more, you, or us! you were waking up every night without fail, sometimes even twice or 3 times in the night, screaming your lungs out, running around in the house, kicking and running into things... a pretty scary sight for a parent. Your Opa even flew here all the way from Mexico to give us a hand and effectively tried to distract you. And after that, and making sure you weren't over tired at night, watching your sleeping and peeing patterns, we finally went back to normal. But it was a tough month! complete with pediatricians and even psychologists!

So we had some bad stuff going on, but the rest of the year was so great with you. Things that you do now:

- You talk INCESSANTLY. You see your brother chatting away, so you will do the same thing on and on even if your conversation doesn't make any sense. Even if it is tiring sometimes to follow all you say, it is great to see how your language abilities have gone through the roof. People who haven't seen you in a month or 2 always comment on how well you can communicate now. 

- You still love your brother more than any of us and it is so sweet. I hope you two always love each other this much. You are always copying your brother, trying to do everything like he does, and give it your all to get his attention. If he laughs at you, you are on cloud 9. Very sweet!

- You are very good at sharing and listening. In general, you are very well behaved. You make a good side kick because you are generally good at staying close and being a happy guy.

- You are now sleeping very well. Sometimes you wake up early at around 5.30 a.m. and that is tough, but if I lay down on the couch with you downstairs and give you warm milk, you can sometimes fall back to sleep.

- You are very smart, independent, helpful, and tidy.

- You have a heart of gold. You are so so sweet, you like to look after your brother, you constantly give us hugs and kisses, and even love on your stuffies. Even strangers at parties always comment on how loving and friendly you are. You are such an extrovert!!! You love social situations, meeting new people and that just energizes you.

- You are also very sensitive. Sometimes it is hard because it is basically impossible to get mad at you. If we ever get mad at you about something you did, you immediately pout and cry and visibly get your feelings very hurt. So we can only stay mad at you for a couple of seconds until you break our hearts too :( .

- You are an amazing dance. You follow rhythm so well, and have some amazing moves. I love watching you dance and you just live for music. 

- Our biggest challenges right now I would say, are to teach you to use your words effectively, rather than hitting, pushing, yelling. And to encourage you to be yourself. You are so obsessed with your brother that sometimes you copy bad habits, or in the case of dancing, you don't realize how much better than your brother you are!! you don't realize that you should just keep your own style!

I could go on for pages about you. You are just a sweet sweet, friendly, and very considerate little guy. I hope your heart remains untouched as you grow older and that your love for your brother only grows.

We love you so much our little guy, we can't get enough from you!

Mom

Paulo - 5 Years

You are 5 years old Paulo!!

This year we had a birthday Party at home with some of your best friends from school - Harrison, Dexter, Luc, and Liam. We did tie dye shirts, you played hockey outside with daddy and we had cake, it was lots of fun!

Things you can do now at 5.... Pretty much anything. You are doing really well in school and you have only said you didn't want to go a handful of times in the 2 years since you started. You are doing really well in reading, writing, and you quite enjoy math.

Some of your favourite things to do are: riding your bike, playing soccer, Lego, Knex, Magna Tiles, and pretty much any building toy. 

One of my favourite thing about you is that you are very creative and resourceful. You may not paint the most "eye pleasing" picture in the traditional sense, but you are a very resourceful boy. You almost never get bored. As soon as you start feeling inactive you start looking for things to build, make, create. 

One of the great things I have discovered in you in these 5 years: you are a really "well behaved" boy (for lack of better terms). You are a good listener, aggreable, and self-controlled. We can usually give you our reasons for a certain decision and you will understand and follow our lead. You understand so much now that you are like a mini adult, and we realize now we really have to watch what we talk about (death, pain, illness, or anything bad) because you really understand it and take it at heart. 

You are so good, I feel like I can really trust you. Lately, I can trust you and your brother to go outside and play in the street and you know to stay where I can see you from the window, get on somebody's lawn if a car is coming, and to look after your brother. You often seem annoyed at his being all over your face, but you actually take good care of him. You comfort him, you help him catch up with us, and you even tell me to go tend to him if he is crying or upset. 

Most of all, you are a kind boy, you are intelligent, you are precocious, and loving.

I am so proud of you and who you have become. We love you immensely and feel a great responsibility to keep that precious heart and brilliant mind expanding.

What we have been up to.

This year has been a year full of reflection and introspection for me. Funny, because even though I didn't make any resolutions for this year, I have thought about many changes I would like to make in our lives, especially in terms of our health and the way we parent. Some of these thoughts I have actually put into action and have stuck for almost a year now. They have had real consequences for our health and I just want to write it all down to remember how this whole new lifestyle came about.

 

It is difficult to keep this short because I feel that I can have a whole conversation about each of these topics but I only have limited time to talk about this so I will have to be brief, hopefully describing all the essence of my thoughts:

 

• The first big change in our life since the start of this year has been dramatically reducing and almost eliminating sugar and refined carbohydrates from our diet. We have also greatly reduced other unhealthy foods (i.e. potato chips, which I'm addicted to), but the main focus has been on sugar. It all started when I read the book "Fat Chance: Beating the Odds against sugar, processed food, obesity and disease" by Robert Lustig. I always considered us to be a healthy family, always thought I chose healthy foods for our kids and believed I was moderating our consumption of sugar. Everything in moderation, right? Well, this book really opened my eyes and helped me realized the amount of sugar that is present in processed foods, even when you least expected. We are not big on processed foods, but I realized the amounts of sugar my kids were getting from things like flavoured yoghurt, juice, bread and the occasional canned vegetables for example was worrying and inacceptable. So I decided to try to eat as much "real food" as possible. No more quick, grab-and-go, so-called healthy snacks for my kids, no more "convenience' food, no more trusting the food industry with their "healthful", "natural" claims. We now have a diet based on whole foods, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lots of beans and legumes, dairy and meats, and I bake my own bread every week, we are not scared of fat anymore. Rob and I have done a few 30 day challenges where we go without sugar and honestly, the last time I didn't even miss it, so I tried to keep that diet. I wouldn't say it is perfect at all, and actually I find it really hard to protect the kids from the sugar-obsessed environment. But I try really hard, even if it means having mixed feeling about allowing kids to have a "normal" childhood vs. a "healthy" one (these many times are conflicted). Anyway, this year we got sick in September (1 month after the start of school) for the 1st time, and I am suspicious that our new diet had a lot to do with our staying healthy this long.

 

• Another thing I have consciously tried to do on purpose has been to spend more time outside with the kids. I was inspired by a few videos and articles I read about the Forest Kindergarten and other school that really promote building a connection with kids and their environment. Their values resonated with me and I also have experienced first hand the benefits of spending time outside with the kids. This is the thing: I know many parents who are afraid of taking their kids camping, or doing hiking trips or the like, because they are afraid their kids are going to act crazy and it is going to be too difficult to control them. But honestly? Every time we take our kids outside they have SO MUCH FUN, they don't even look at me. I don't know if my kids are the exception, but I doubt it. I think kids just thrive outdoors, and they learn so much from physical ability to mental focus, to strategy, to science, etc. it seems even cruel or negligent to deprive kids of outdoors and nature. I do recognize there are families that are waaay more outdoorsy than us, but I am really trying to make an effort to spend more hours outside every day, even if it is just playing soccer in our street.

 

 

 

• This one is closely related to the previous point and more about our parenting. I recently read Jessica Lahey's book The Gift of Failure. I didn't think this book was extraordinary like other books in the way it is written , but I think it's message is very valuable, very clearly stated and well document with research and not just anecdotal. The message really resonated with me: back off from your children, give them space, let them fail, make mistakes, and learn for themselves. This book presents the idea that even if our intentions are good, trying to save kids from our fears and trying to "help" them do things "better" or "easier" , when we intervene to save or help or children, we are doing more harm than good. We are undermining their ability to do things on their own, and depriving them of the sense of achievement. Depriving them of those incredible feeling of doing things all by yourself. And later in life, these feeling or not being able to do things on their own translate to the real world, resulting in kids, teenagers, young adults who are afraid to go out in the world and take risks, make friendships, find jobs, etc. This whole philosophy really resonates with me, because I think it described exactly what happened to me while growing up. I know my parents' intention were always the best, and I won't dare say I parent any better than them. But I suspect that it was their own fears sometimes, or their desire to make my life more comfortable than they had it, that motivated them to overprotect me to the point that many times I felt crippled, frustrated and incapable. I think on a subconscious level that might have been the reason why I was always looking for opportunities to travel and live in other countries. If you ask me one of the things I most enjoyed about traveling, was the feeling of "surviving" on my own. A feeling I didn't experience much at home. Another component of this philosophy is how modern society expects parents to be excessively monitoring their children. And when parents excessively intervene in their children's play or when they make themselves excessively visible, interactions between children change dramatically. I could not agree more with this. If I think about the times I have watched my kids show affection to each other and play peacefully while having contagious belly laughs, looking after each other, showing tolerance, patience and fraternal love, is when my presence hasn't been obvious. This happens when I am focused in cooking and they are left to play (and get bored) and their own, when I have left them outside playing while I go back inside to get or do something, when I am (or pretending to be) "busy" in the backyard while they are just there playing on their own. I know a lot of parents (including my very own) could interpret this as borderline neglect, or uninvolved or just plain wrong, but honestly, I have seen some of these very same parents literally ruin moments of play, or relationships between sibling, or even their own relationships with their kids by constantly intervening, unnecessarily mediating between children, nagging, correcting, criticizing, etc. And it is these same parents who always make remarks to say my kids are very independent and they wish their kids were able to play and have fun without constantly needing them to step in or play with them.

 

 

As I mentioned before, and as it has become clear, I can rant forever about all this and I have run out of time. But these 3 are things that I have dedicated a lot of thought and effort to, and just wanted to write it down.

Emilio - 2.5 years

Emi, Emi, Emi...! You are a handful!!! You have always been very intense, but the last little while has been full on toddler energy!  and it hasn't always been easy, but the hardships definitely don't even begin to define your sweet, happy, smart and vivacious self.

No doubt you are the life of the party when you are happy. You are affectionate, full of joy, a chatterbox and super sociable. You give, hands down, the BEST hugs in the universe. You are so affectionate and such a sweet heart, you just can't hide it. You are also so enthusiastic about everything, you always want to be in the middle of the action, and the words "exhausted", "rest" and "quiet" mean nothing to you. You are just not interested in being calm or taking a break. Instead, you want to be part of all the action at all times, and that 90% of the time means being near your brother and sticking your nose in his business at all cost.

You are also a super strong, athletic little guy. You are like a tiny body builder. Your physical ability is impressive, people always comment on how fast, strong, and coordinated you look for your age. Your fine motor skills are also amazing, and the things you are able to do with your little fingers blow my mind.

All this energy and personality, however, sometimes seem to come at a high cost, ha! don't get me wrong, you are so cute and sweet it hurts just to look at you. But I think toddlerhood sometimes is just such a miserable time for little guys, with all its frustrations and inability to communicate them verbally, it just makes ground for perfect storms in a lively guy like you. 

One of the challenges we deal with on a daily basis is that, added to your strength, you have developed the most annoying and loud screams on earth. Meaning every time you don't get what you want, how you want it, you just go ballistic, and I have a hard time coping with that, sometimes for an entire hour, on and off throughout the day. If you wake up in a bad mood, you can be a pain all morning and not compose yourself really until after nap time. 

Some nights you don't sleep so well and you wake up crying as if in terrible pain, or have night terrors that make you act like crazy screaming and rolling around all over the floor, and nothing will make you stop.  We haven't quite figured out what is going on there. And sometimes it happens night after night, to the point we are starting to think there might be a food allergy involved. Those days you are no fun to be around during the day.

Too many bubbles...

This brings me to breastfeeding and why we, or I, haven't built up the courage to wean you completely. You still nurse to have a nap and to go to sleep at night, and when you wake up through the night (which is still often). I am so ready to stop nursing, since you are now pretty demanding and you just like to treat my body as if  I am made of Playdo, which is not very enjoyable. But I am just scared of your reaction if I just refused to nurse you :S. I am also so afraid you are going to be heart broken, but I guess everyone feels like that...

Other little quirks you have developed are having a banana every morning, but it has to be an unopened one (even if you have already had part of one minutes before), and you have to say when, where and how we opened it, or else we will have to pick out a new banana and start over. You are following Paulo's steps in the quirks department, as you start to demand milk a certain way, in a specific bottle. You also hate wearing shoes and sweaters (which makes for INTERESTING morning routines), and you are OBSESSED with the word "dangerous/peligroso)" as well as actual dangerous objects which you want to always have, such as blades, knifes, screwdrivers, etc. 

Last, some of your favourite things are eating, running wild, watering plants... and your brother. You guys are on each other all the time, but you are just crazy in love with your brother. You have to say all the same things, imitate everything he does, wear the same clothes, to the point you want to wear his clothes even if they don't fit. You always want to sleep in his bedroom at bed time, right until the last minute when you bail and just come to your own bed to nurse. And when you two do get along and play, you play SO WELL. You giggle and run and jump around so much, my heart could explode.

I could go on and on for pages so I will just stop here. I love you more than I will ever be able to say. You are my little bichito :).

Paulo - 4.5

Paulo, Paulito, Muneco,

You have grown so much! you are such a little boy now. You have just finished your 1st year of Kindergarten and you have moved on the Senior Kindergarten and French Immersion in September!!

First I want to say I am so proud of everything you have learned and the big effort you put into that school year. You had such a positive spirit about it. Not once did I hear you complain about not wanting to go to school, and even if some days you were a little sad and not staying at home, you still went and had a good time.

You have learned all your letters, to read and write them, and are starting to notice what words start with which letters. You can count to 100 with some assistance (basically all the 10s, 20s, 30s, etc, instead of saying "twenty-ten" for example), and you can also write most numbers, with the exception of the same ones I used to have trouble with, like switching the 2 for the 5, 6 for 9 etc).

But despite all the academics you learned, that was not the most important achievement in my eyes. I think you kicked butt at learning to make friends and coming out of your shell. You started out this quiet little boy, very shy and a bit afraid maybe of those older boys. But by the end of it you were just part of them and made some really good friendships like your best friend Jayden. You were also known with your teachers for being very kind, polite, sweet, and inquisitive.



And with age also comes a bit of light of what growing up will be like. You are indeed very inquisitive, very observant and analytic. You want to know why EVERYTHING. And you are now starting to notice what people do and say. You will often apply my logic when I am arguing with you. You will ask me what are "good words" and "bad words", why people use them, etc. You will ask things like "what happens when someone dies" and "is death like sleeping", "why does so and so have 2 moms", you will ask about body parts, and private parts :). For a while there you were OBSESSED with smoking: what is smoking, why do people smoke, why do they smoke if it makes them sick, can boys smoke, what happens if boys smoke, why do people throw their cigarrette butts on the ground, etc. Needless to say, some of your questions throw me for a loop, give me anxiety or just plain scare me.

One of your biggest challenges right now is to cope with your brother. When he pokes you, hits you, yells at you , etc, which is often, you just take it, and then come to me crying. It is hard on all of us because it happens all the time. So we are trying to work on getting you to express your feeling to your brother and to stand up for yourself by telling him to stop, and work out those little issues between the two of you. A big job and not easy. But sometimes you are very patient, and it is evident to me that even if he drives you nuts, you always look out for your brother and you do enjoy playing with him.

 One thing I have noticed lately and which I love, is that you have developed a little positive dialogue inside. As in, when I spill something on the floor and get mad about it, you will say "don't worry, it won't stain the floor", or if your dad breaks something by accident, you will say "don't worry daddy, it still works".

On the flip side, another thing we are working on is on helping you cope when you get a "NO". You are just not very used to hearing a no and accepting. You are always negotiating with us and you are so persistent, we have gotten used to giving in to a degree. However, we have realized that sometimes this is a bit harmful, since you just can't cope with a no, when we finally mean it. This is a tough one for you, but I trust we will eventually teach you there is life after a "no".

Finally, some of your favourite things are definitely sports, building toys, and art. Most of your time is spent either riding your bike, which you LOVE, playing soccer (which you are very good at), swimming, etc; You also spend a lot of time playing with your Lego, Plus Plus, Magna Tiles, or any kind of building toy; also, painting, making collages, or folding/taping paper is also right up on your list of things you enjoy doing. All this has developed your little imagination and I can proudly say that you prefer any of these things way more than watching TV, and you will often ignore or flat out turn off the TV to go play one of these things.

Paulo, I could have a job talking about all I love about you but I will finish here, just to tell you, you are a sweet, silly, happy and smart little boy. You are persistent, friendly, confident, kind and easy to get along. I love you muchisimo my little guy :).

Paulo - 3.5 years

Paulo, you are 3.5 years old! Amazing how time flies, and how much you change in just a bit of time. Right now the most overwhelming thing in the horizon is that in just a month you will be starting Junior Kindergarten! Granted, you are not quite 4 yet, so you will be one of the young ones in the class. Still, it is amazing how far you have come since the beginning of the year when I just couldn't picture you going to school on your own.

In general, you are quite the big boy now that wants to do it all by yourself and doesnt want anybody's help. This applies to going bathroom, and a lot of other things, except eating. You still want my help for that even though you can manage fine on your own. However you always want me to hold your toast for you so you dont get your hands messy with the jam, or you just wait until I spoon feed you your soup etc.

You are so much easier to be around now. You still have your little quirks and are definitely stubborn and like things a certain way. For example, every.single.morning. you want to come down the stairs, lay on the couch, and drink your milk in front of the cartoons. Any variation of this causes a guaranteed meldown. I am not to speak to you until you are all the way down the stairs, your milk must be a certain temprature, and no one is to be seating in your "spot", your one pillow should be where your head goes and the flower pattern MUST be facing upwards... phew.This is a lot to arrange and sometimes drives daddy nuts when he forgets "the rules". You have lots of little quirks like these, but in general you communicate so well, and start to reason with us in a way that you are pretty easy to be around now.

In terms of your relationship with your brother it is getting SO much better, and that of course makes me SO happy. You barely ever fight with your brother anymore. You still get frustrated at him, but mostly because you don't want him to touch the Ipad, destroy your block towers, or mess with whatever you are playing with. However, I see more and more of you two being silly together, running around getting Emilio to chase you, or just laughing with him.

You are a little bit shy, but you are a very well adapted kid. You play well with your friends and always want them to come home to play. you NEVER fight with them, which is something I am very proud about. I still try to help you find ways to stand up for yourself, because the way other kids normally act means they sometimes mistake your quietness with being a pushover, and they may not be so nice to you sometimes.  So I always encourage you to respectfully ask other kids not to treat you that way.

About 2 months ago we finally dropped your afternoon nap. You still went down pretty well, but it almost always meant you were awake by 10.30 or sometimes 11 a.m. and didnt seem to matter how much excersize you got in the day. I finally caved down to end the naps because that meant you woke up tired every morning. It was a difficult transition and you were a mess every afternoon, but it is slowly getting better every day. I still can't take you out in the car in the afternoons, and it means you have to go to sleep super early. However it is nice you have you asleep effortlessly by 8 p.m. and you sleep straight until 8 a.m. the next morning.

Another change that came about with the elimination of your nap is the kind of things you like. It is amazing that when you used to nap, you used to love your bike, begged to go on it all the time, and had ZERO interest in anything that required you to sit down and focus, i.e. crafts, puzzles, painting, building, etc. However, now that you are tired by noon, you are OBSESSED with all those activities. You love puzzles, LOVE painting with watercolors, markers, stamps; you can spend hours building with your blocks and your legos, and you have a noticeable obsession with patterns : drawing lines, lining up your cars, building block patterns, etc. are all favourite activities of your now.

I can go on and on about you at 3.5 years old, but one more thing I quite like about you now is that your are very affectionate. You give hugs and kisses, and always tell us that you love us. Sometimes you even "accidentally" hug your brother!

You are my little guy and I love you so so much. Te quiero con todo mi corazon chiquis.

Happy Birthday Paulo - 4 years!!

Happy Birthday Paulo!

Unbelievable that you are 4 today. You are such a "big" boy now, and you can do so many things that I just could not picture you doing even six months ago. Some new things you can do now:

- you love brushing your own teeth, and I have to really convince you to even let me just check them.

- you can pretty much dress yourself with some help. You can put your on shoes, jacket, socks, etc. although you don't always do it because you want us to.

- you can go bathroom all on your own. You don't even let me hang out in the bathroom with you most times!!

- I think the biggest thing for me is you understand everything very well, and it is just easier to do things with you. For example, you can hang out by yourself while I put your brother down for his nap. You prefer to wait in the car when I have to do a quick run to the store.

- you can submerge your head in the water. We have not been so diligent to take you swimming, mostly due to lack of time and logistics, but it is such a big milestone that you now love to put on your goggles and submerge your face in the water.

Another big change with you is your bedtime routine. Since you started school in September you are so exhausted in the afternoons that by 6.30 you are more than ready to go to b ed. We have done some changes in our daily routine, mostly meaning you don't get to hang out with daddy as long in the evenings. But when he comes home he takes you straight to bed and after reading one or two stories, you are out in no time. And then you sleep for 12 or even13 hours, only waking up  once to come into  our bed with daddy. You also sleep so soundly that almost NoTHING wakes you up.

The other funny thing is now you have started being really afraid of the dark. You always want company to go into a dark room and you want to sleep with a bright night light on. This never used to happen, and is probably a sign of your growing awareness.

You love school, and have new friends who you always run around with. You are a quiet little boy, and surely like your own space, and your peace and quiet. You are not one to spend hours being loud and being crazy, you soon have enough and if you don't have a rest you just lose it.

You are kind, you don't like to fight, you are a good sharer, you are helpful, you are inquisitive, and a little unusual. You like cars, dinosaurs, space, jellyfish, and ninja turtles. Your favourite toys are definitely your cars, but you have a new appreciation for crafts (mainly painting, colouring, papercutting), and sports.

It is hard to describe your whole personality in one page, but this is my best try. You are such an affectionate little boy. I love you with all my heart :).

Paulo the bike rider

Paulo can now ride a bike without training wheels. It happened over the Easter Long weekend on April 3rd, when in the morning, I took his training wheels off and took him outside to ride the bike. He got on the bike, and I went the whole speech again:

- You WILL fall down many times. You just will. But you have to stay strong, get up and try again. Every time you get back on your back you will be better at it. 

- If you start feeling wobbly it means you have to pedal a little faster.

- watch the road. 

So he went on the bike, I held the back of his seat. He started pedaling but kept forgetting to steer the bike and kept going to the side of the road. We stopped, talked about why that was happening. 

He got back on the bike, started pedaling, and soon he was riding very stable on a straight line. I started loosening my grip on his seat, and he was fine. Then I let go. And he just kept going. For a long time. I ran in front of him and put my hand up showing him he had done it, and he was riding by himself. And then he had a huge smile on his face. That whole thing took 10 minutes, at most.

After that, he never fell fell down. Next we taught him how to start on his own (without a push) and he mastered that within minutes as well. And ever since then, he has been riding the bike non-stop every afternoon, and riding it to and from school every day. I have now started riding my bike with him when I pick him up from school and Emilio is napping. 

I have also noticed (and this might be a coincidence or not), but ever since his learning to ride the bike without training wheels, he seems to have gained so much more confidence in everything. He has made better friends with the boys at his school, talks to his teachers, talks to our neighbors, etc. I really do notice a big change in him in that respect.

Paulo is almost 4 and a half years, and started riding his balance bike since he was 2 years old. :)

Emilio - 2 Years Old

Emilio, bichito. I have been trying to write a post about you since you were 1 and a half, but you have kept me so busy, it turns out this one is going to have to be about your 2nd Birthday.

I just cant believe we are at this stage of your life. I have vivid memories of when your brother turns two, just before you were born. He seemed like such a big boy, or at least that's how I remember it. Yet I see you at this age and you are still sort of a baby. Except you can cause soooo much more trouble, ha! I look back at when you were born and it feels like you were born in the middle of a whirlwind. Your daddy had just started a new job, your brother just started staying at home with me, I had two jobs, one part-time job in downtown and another contracting job at home. We were moving across the country with this family and a tiny little baby, we were going to Mexico for a month!

Phew, then we finally managed to move here to Ottawa and that first year of your life was SO TOUGH on me. Living in a new city had not much to do with that. But just the amount of craziness I had to deal with being at home with you, a brand new baby, and your brother, the two-year-old. 

Last year your brother started school and you instantly became my little sidekick. You are such a sweet heart little boy. You have become quite the trouble maker lately (which I will talk about in a moment) but in essence, you are such a sweet boy. 

Superficially, you are just over the top handsome. You turn heads everywhere you go and people always comment on what a beautiful boy you are and what a knock out you will be when you grow up. You have the widest, brightest eyes, and the most beautiful smile, with all teeth but half a molar in it. 

You are such a happy, loving little boy. If you wake up in a good mood, which used to be almost every day, you just run around, you dance, you scream and jump in happiness. You light up a room. you are a loud and cheeky little monkey. You are also VERY affectionate. You give the best kisses, cuddles and hugs. You are the most affectionate with me, and will come up to me and just give me a big kiss in the mouth. you are so sweet. You have also become quite attached to your daddy in the last few months, and you love giving him big hugs, climbing on him and just rough housing in general. But when you are tired or hungry, you want no one but mommy.

Speaking of tired and hungry, you are still nursing, mostly at night. You always nurse to nap, and sometimes when you wake up cranky. You always nurse to sleep at night and still wake up tons in the night. You have gone through months of terrible teething pains and that basically destroyed my sleep and sanity, since you were latched on to me every minute of the night, scratching my chest and just doing all kinds of annoying things that drove me to the point of deciding to night wean you. We started to try and it was so tough, and then you got sick with pink eye and a cough and it all went out the window. At the moment you are going through some bad days again and I am just anxiously waiting so we can start over with the night weaning. 

Your latest most annoying quirks (besides the fact that in general, you entered the terrible two's full force, as if you didn't have a strong head already) are that you HATE wearing a diaper at night, to the point that if I put one on: a. you will cry and scream so loud you could probably throw up b. you wake up every 30 mins of the night pissed off because you are wearing a diaper. 

The other annoying thing about you lately is that you have decided that you HATE winter and everything about it. You want nothing to do with going outside, getting bundled up, and on top of it, you want me to stay inside with you at all times. I cannot tell you enough what a pain in the butt you have been in the last month, ha! 

You started Playschool in September and had a rough start, but now you are used to it and I think even enjoy it, except for the fact that I am not there. You were handling it okay until this recent bad phase you are having, and now you are having huge separation anxiety issues, even with your Nana!!! who you had no problem staying with before.

On good days, you will  wake up around 7 a.m., sleep no more that 1 hour and 15 mins, from about 11.30 or 12 to 12.45 or 1.15 p.m. and then go to sleep around 7 or 7.30 p.m. 

You are definitely very different that your brother in your likes and dislikes (even though really, you want to do EVERYTHING your brother does), which makes sense because you have had basically the life of an older boy, following your brother around. 

some of the things that describe you at 2:

- Your language skills have exploded!!! you were kind of a late talker compared to Paulo, but once you did, about 6 months ago, your just made yourself very articulate and understood right away.

- You are a very domestic boy (probably from being around me all the time at home). You love sweeping, dusting, cleaning things, "fixing" things with your tools; you love babies and loving on people. Your favourite games involve shopping carts, dolls, strollers and pots and pans. Besides anything physical such as running or jumping on beds.

- You LOVE animals, especially cats, which is what comes more available here.

- You are not much of a book reader, unless you are alone with me or your daddy. If your brother is around, you are just not interested.

-Your physical skills are over the top, insane, You are fearless, you are strong, coordinated, meticulous, refined with your hands.

- You are Paulos absolute, loyal, #1 fan. Even though like a typical 2 year old, you are starting to make your voice heard and have become a bit aggressive lately, you just love getting your brother's attention, doing everything he does, the way he does it, and just bend over backwards to get a laughter out of him.

- You are amazing at sharing. Sure sometimes you just wont share. But most of the time, if people ask you politely, you will share.

- You are a very polite little boy. EVERYTHING is please and thank you and bless you with you.

That's about everything I can think of right now about you. We love you so much it hurts little guy. I am so glad you will always be my baby boy.

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.

Paulo - 3 years

Dear Paulo,

It is so hard to believe you are a full 3 years old. It has been almost two weeks since your birthday and I haven't had the time i wanted to dedicate to you here, but i may as well get on with it because busyness seems to never go away these days...

You are without a doubt not two anymore. You are definitely a little boy now in everything you do. You are still the cutest little big headed boy. You run around looking diwn at your feet like you cant believe how fast you're going. You still love playing soccer and basketball and pretty much anything that involves a ball, and you are quite good at it.

You are now much more inquisitive and the "why"  questions go on and on. You are very sensitive, not only in that your feelings get hurt if I just raise my voice (and God forbid if you daddy gives you trouble for anything, which you are definitely NOT used to), butalso in that you can always tell if somebody ( that is me, haha) is mad, sad, frustrated or angry, and you always ask: "que paso mama?" " porque estas triste mama?".

Your English has also exploded in the last six months or so. I think your going to playschool has something to do with that, but also the fact that your Nanna now lives with us and talks to you in English all the time, and you cant get away speaking Spanish to her like you do with daddy. I have noticed lately that when you play on your own, you speak English now, which in my eyes is both bad and good. Good, because you're getting more confident in your English skills; and bad, because your English may be starting to dominate your brain, marking the beginning of a language battle.

Your sleep has come a looong way since your second birthday. When you turned two and your brother was born, I remember having a really hard time putting you to sleep if he was awake. I had to sit on the edge of your bed and you would beg me to lie down with you. It would take you so long to fall asleep without me being right there against you. Then when we first moved to Ottawa we had some really ugly battles at nap time, which were totally emotionally draining for both. Now, you cooperate very well, and after reading a couple of books together you lie down on your own and fall asleep if I stay around your room. Sometimes you even ask me to leave the room and shut the door! At night, however it always takes forever to get you to sleep, and you stall, and stall and stall, which makes it really hard on daddy. However once you are asleep you pretty much stay asleep even if we wake you to cover you up, move you or anything else. You still wake up once a night though around midnight and come into our room, where we have put a little bed and blanket next to ours, which we call " la cama de los enanitos" and you are usually pretty happy just staying there.

You are a very determined little guy. You definitely have a very defined personality now. Youare very  inquisitive, super well behaved and obedient as long as you're kept busy and have people's attention. You can be shy but when you warm up you have no problem talking to others. Yu definitely are most comfortable playing with older kids and adults. You are such a sweet little boy, so sensitive and love to cuddle and kiss. You are full of "i love you"'s and " thank you" s and " p,ease"s . you even thanked me for dinner once without anyone telling you to!! Your do battle a lot with your brother....pretty much All.the.time. Which can be very frustrating, but I haven't lost hope that you two will be the best of friends when you grow older.

Your all-time favourite  things for a while now are 1. Balloons, 2. Balls, 3. Rockets and 4. Jellyfish.

Paulo, We love you so much. You are such a huge deal to our family. Our love for you multiplies every single day. Te quiero mucho enanito precioso!!