Friday 13th

Life's been slow going at our home since we found out about the pregnancy. Probably part shock and part worry. Either way, Bubeaner has not showed signs of minding a quieter Momma. Today we decided he should stay in his pajamas for most of the morning. Some days just feel like pajama days. In fact we did not venture outdoors at all today except when the MM team got here. Bubeaner wanted to greet them outside. He insisted on walking there (holding hands of course).

He's been practicing his walking a lot lately. He has also been working on standing alone. It's amusing to watch. He will go from sitting to crouching to standing on his own. Then he does this Elvis-like dance move where his legs bend and he moves from side to side while swinging his arms. This makes Momma laugh which distracts Bubeaner and causes him plop down on his bottom. We then go through it again, again, and again. We love this boy!

Routine Boy:
There's a time for playing;
There's a time for napping.

Bubeaner started taking his morning nap again a while back. And Momma usually just puts him down for his nap around 1030a even when he's not showing signs of being tired. At most he sometimes lets out one complaining cry and then promptly falls asleep. Today he was actively playing in his play area and Momma decided to let him continue playing. He made loud squeaks, squeals and other sounds while he played. Then suddenly, silence. Complete silence. Bubeaner was sound asleep! Momma should have know; it was 1030a. Our boy always follows his routine. Thankfully, he did not stir while Momma transferred him to his crib.

Bubeaner wedged between chair and couch.

He did a lot more crawling around the house in the afternoon. He's really enjoying this new found freedom. But it really keeps Momma on her toes. Somehow his sippy cup fell in between the couch and Dad's chair. Bubeaner went after it. And promptly got STUCK! He couldn't move forward. He couldn't move back. Momma freed him and then showed him he could crawl around the chair to get to the same place. It was wonderful to see his little face light up when he discovered this.

A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do for his sippy cup.

As to Baby, poor thing is already suffering from second-child syndrome. Aunt Pau took video of Momma and Dad telling the grandparents of Baby for the first time. Now, Momma always transfers the pictures/videos of the day to the computer at night. So a couple of days later Momma needed room in the camera to tape Bubeaner being cute. And deleted the Baby's video! It had not yet been transferred. Realing from the shock of finding out we were pregnant, Momma got out of her routine. At least, we still have some pictures from the day....

Shock & Awe

Bubeaner amuses us every day. He discovered cranberries (in raisin form) a few days ago and now constitute his favorite snack. It's like eating candy. He had some with breakfast today. However, he soon decided he did not want any oatmeal, only cranberries. Momma thought it was a good idea to put one cranberry on top of each spoonful of oatmeal. It worked; Bubeaner would open his mouth. He would get really excited at the sight of the cranberry only to cry the moment he tasted the oatmeal. He did this for 5-10 spoonfuls alternating between smiles and tears. But he ate his oatmeal.

Bubeaner enjoyed the rest of his cranberries
after finishing his oatmeal

Mmm! Cranberries are YUMMY!

Today Bubeaner refused to stay in his play area. He wanted to roam around the house. It started with him walking up and down the long hallway. One of the times he walked holding on to only one hand! He spent the rest of the time crawling mainly chasing the dogs around. He loved spending time with the dogs. And disturbingly, any time Bevo and Sandy got into an argument (Bevo wanted to run around & Sandy would not let him), Bubeaner would stop what he was doing and rush over to them. We thought he would be scared of their roughhousing; instead, he would get excited and attempt to join in! Definitely a BOY manoeuvre.

Chillin' with the dogs while leaning on Sandy.

All three babies played and hung around all day

This weekend the family received a HUGE SHOCK! Against the odds, we are pregnant!!! Monday we had initial blood work done, and the numbers look solid. And today, Momma, Dad and Bubeaner got the first look at the newest member of the family. Baby was an adorable blurry grain of rice on the sonogram. And it was amazing to watch her (or his?) little heart beating already. WOW! This is certainly not something we expected to happen. But we are extremely grateful to have been blessed with this precious baby.

Now, Mr. President,
THIS is SHOCK & AWE.

We are, of course, considered a high risk pregnancy due to the placental abruption that led to Bubeaner's early arrival. And we are aware (more than you can imagine) of all the possible risks and dangers to both Momma and Baby. But we had been told it was extremely unlikely we would conceive without assistance, and yet, we are pregnant. Sometimes, we are just asked to follow a path and must trust in He who leads us. For now, we rejoice in the blessing of a new life, a new child, a new sibling.

Miracle #2

Ignored Baby

Poor Bubeaner was ignored most of the day today. Well, not really, he was in his play area alone for 3+ hours. He was playing, or eating, or teasing the dogs the entire time. And Momma was within reach at all times, but Momma feels (and Bubeaner probably agrees) that he was ignored. There were just some housekeeping items that needed to be addressed.

Peaceful sleeping angel

Spending time in the ballpit

Why enjoy the raisins when you can eat the box?

Sharing his raisins with the puppies

Someone thought it was funny to take the foam mat apart

Weekend Finally Done

WOW! We had a busy, busy weekend. Thankfully, we are now able to relax some.

Cute Adorable Smile

Sunday was a little slower. We (Bubeaner, Dad, Momma and aunt Pau) visited the bazaar after church. Momma helped out while everyone else shopped. We did not stay too long helping out because Momma was exhausted. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice brunch together. Bubeaner absolutely loved his pumpkin pancakes. They were originally Momma's but he really did not leave much for her. The boy gobbled them down!

Crashed after gobbling down a gingerbread cookie

Bubeaner and Dad spent the rest of the afternoon together while Momma and aunt Pau were at a Tamalada with the Comadres. The Tamalada consists of a group that gets together to make massive amounts of tamales in one afternoon. At the end we divide them amongst ourselves. It's a tiring few hours, but then you end up with tons of homemade tamales (4-5 dz). There is no way we would have gotten them done otherwise. Cooking them is intimidating.

Bubeaner is such a silly little boy

After all that, Monday was a nice relaxing day. Even Bubeaner noticed, and enjoyed, the quieter pace. We only had to stop by the bazaar to help clean up. Bubeaner slept through most of that since he had inhaled a marranito (Mexican gingerbread in the shape of a pig) on the way to church. He absolutely loves them. We can't let him see them while he's eating or he refuses to eat his meal.

Diligently working on homework with aunt Pau.
Someone has to eat the crayons.

What aunts teach kids...
John now knows how to blow bubbles in his drink

Guys' Weekend Alone

This has been an extremely busy weekend for Momma and Bubeaner. We (women's church group) have our biggest fundraiser of the year this weekend. We have been running around like crazy since Thursday. Bubeaner, as always, was amazing.

Finally crying after 5+ hours organizing for the bazaar

Friday was an especially long day for him. We had to set up a year's worth of crafts in the main hall. We were running from 9a-2:30p. Bubeaner was in his playpen for the majority of the day. The grandmothers were thrilled to watch him entertain himself. It was a little too chaotic and busy around him to actually take a nap in there too. But he was fine once he was in his carseat with the privacy cover. And, it did not hurt that there was a surplus of grandmothers more than willing to walk him around in the stroller until he fell asleep. He was actually great throughout the day even through lunch. It was only towards the end of the day that he started getting fussy and crying. Bubeaner had many shoulders to cry on and complain. We are not completely convinced that he was not "enhancing" the theatrics a little.

A fussy Bubeaner being consoled by one of the grandmothers

Today was going to be too busy and hectic for Bubeaner to join Momma at the bazaar. So Bubeaner spent the day (from 7a-4p) with Dad. It's the first time they spend so much time alone. Both of them did a great job. There were no bloody noses, new bruises and both were fed and content. They were both still in their pajamas, but it was a relaxing day for them. They watched every single football game and game-day program available too. At one point, uncle Jeff joined them to watch the A&M game. It was their first guy's day alone. Dad looks forward to many more. And Momma does too.

A busy day = a worn out baby

There are two more days of work, but aunt Pau will be helping out tomorrow and will take Bubeaner on Monday for the couple of hours it will take us to clean up. We are very fortunate that aunt Pau can (and often does) help us out with Bubeaner. And, of course, Bubeaner absolutely adores his aunt. He recognizes her footsteps and time she comes to visit every day. As soon as he hears her steps he starts jumping and giggling in excitement.

Exhaustion

Why are there some days when there is nothing specific that gets done yet we end up EXHAUSTED. Today we just played, made lunch, re-painted some decorative items, and drove around in Coco after the AAA technician fixed her up. Not much by any standard, yet we were exhausted and ready for bed by 5p!

Bubeaner has lately enjoyed "biting" his crib.

We often wonder how Bubeaner can be so fearless. Now matter how often he falls down, he gets back up and tries to stand again. He reaches for things and sometimes falls a little short of his goal. Yet, he reaches out again. And lately, it is not unusual for him to sport a bruise or two. We are also pretty sure he has chipped two teeth. (Thankfully, aunt Lore let us know it did not show signs of having hit the nerve.) Yet, as worrysome as it is, we love that he is so fearless that
he does keep getting up, trying and continues being fearless. Because eventually, he gets it and he'll turn around and give us this beautiful wonderful smile.

We absolutely love his quirky smiles

Bubeaner had sushi today. Ok, not really. We did go to a sushi restaurant but Bubeaner had teriyaki chicken and some noodles. He was interested in what Dad and Momma were eating, but for now was satisfied with his own meal. We don't eat out as much as we used to, but it is wonderful that Bubeaner behaves so well in public.

"Yo, where's my food?"

"Mhmm, how do these things work?"

Play Time

We had plans for today. Actually, we had quite a few errands to run. However, Momma was silly and somehow (it's so silly, we are NOT mentioning how she did it) drained Coco's battery (the van...and yes Momma names her cars). So, Momma and Bubeaner were stuck at home. We took care of some items at home, but spent the rest of the day playing/learning.

"Hmm, which one tastes better?"

During our play time, Bubeaner surprised Momma by repeating the same thing he did last week. He was in his ballpit and grabbed one of the balls, climbed out and tried to put it in the crazy air ball toy (can't really remember the name). He knew that game used balls and that his ballpit had balls. Ok, so it may seem silly, but it's just a sign of how he's constantly learning. Watching him constantly changing is one of the best gifts of parenthood.

"Everything in its place
And a place for everything!"

Someone forgot to give Bubeaner the memo on Daylight Savings. We tried explaining we fall back an hour. And, in truth, we did expect him to stick to his original schedule. What we did not expect was for him to spring forward an hour. He is now waking up at 430a! This also threw off his nap schedule and thus his meal times too. Maybe we'll be back to our normal routine by next week. Bubeaner also took a big (emotional for Momma) step today.

"Turtles need kisses"

Last week, we noticed Bubeaner was less enthusiastic about nursing. Yet, today he decided he was completely done with it. It almost made Momma cry that Bubeaner was shedding the last vestige of babyhood. And then at bedtime, he did not really drink his bottle. The bottle may be next.

7 Years And Counting

Dad and Momma celebrated their 7th wedding anniversary today. We still can't believe it's been 7 years! We have been truly blessed. This year Dad and Momma won't be taking their annual trip to Santa Fe, but will take a little weekend away, sans Bubeaner, sometime in the future. It will be the first trip away without the Bubeaner! (We are preparing ourselves for this.)

Grooming starts with checking the collar.

Lately, Bubeaner has been more aware of our daily grooming habits. He wants to do what we do: brushing hair, brushing teeth, lotions, etc. And, of course, he is more helpful every day when we are getting him dressed and bathed. Momma and Dad are routine-oriented so it all tends to follow the same order day in and day out. Bubeaner now anticipates the steps and actually looks forward to it.

A beautiful coat requires daily brushing

What we had not noticed is how much attention he paid to our grooming of the dogs. This morning he started playing with and "grooming" her. He checked her collar, then brushed her starting at the head and ending with the body. We are thrilled that we got parts of it on film. He did use his own brush but we washed it afterwards. Overall, he was quite gentle with her, except at one point Bubeaner got really excited and hit her a little hard. Sandy was amazingly patient with him.

Bubeaner trying to get up on the chair too
in order to cuddle.

DISCLAIMER - MISSED OLDER POSTS

Click Below for the link to the Post:

• Friday Fun (10/23/09)
• Pumpkin Patch (10/11/09)
  
• Going Greek (10/10/09)
  
• Driving Duties (10/07/09)
  
• Another Tuesday (10/06/09)
  

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Momma finally finished Bubeaner's costume. Bubeaner was supposed to be a bear. We have been mastering the bear growl and menacing face. He's actually pretty good at it now. He occassionally even throws in the "clawing" motion too. There was one little problem; Bubeaner looks like a monkey. A cute one, but he does not look like a little bear. Dad thought it was funny. He said Bubeaner looked like a shriner monkey; he even suggested we add cymbols to the costume. Dad is a funny man.

Monkey or Bear?
Either way, Bubeaner looks adorable!

Bubeaner wore his outfit, albeit reluctantly, during the stroll around the neighborhood. We stopped by to visit with our retiree neighbors, Mr. Jimmy and Mrs. Fleta. Do children have a six sense about who is a grandparent? Bubeaner showed off by walking around their home (holding hands) and smiling. He even showed off his growling face. The visit was cut a little short since Trick-or-Treaters started coming out.

"I am so NOT happy about wearing this crazy outfit."

The evening was beautiful and perfect for Trick or Treating. We (Dad, Momma, uncle Jeff and Bubeaner) took some chairs outside and waited for the Trick-or-Treaters while enjoying the full moon and great weather. We cut the candy-giving short because Bubeaner soon dozed off and gigantic mosquitos were feasting on us. Thankfully we'd had quite a few visitors and there was not much candy left over.

Dad and Bubeaner waiting for Trick-or-Treaters

Today, aunt Pau headed south for uncle Ivan and Sarah's annual Halloween party. From there she plans on heading further south to visit cousins Elo & Moi and new baby Aaron. Momma had grand plans of sending boxes loaded with Bubeaner's baby clothes. And it started that way. But Momma is not ready yet to part with his baby items. Yes, it's silly. Yes, there are pictures to remember him wearing the different items. And yes, they are only silly clothes, but Momma is sentimental and can't totally let go. However, there is hope. We sent a small box and a large bag with some items. Maybe in a few weeks, we can revisit this again.

So, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?
The world may never know!

We deliberated about ways to proactively eliminate any future snapping/aggressive incidents between Bevo and Bubeaner. We decided to move Bevo into the nursery. Our original plan never included dogs in the nursery. However, we hope this helps Bevo form a stronger bond with Bubeaner. So far, it appears to be working. Bevo is displaying more submissive behavior when Bubeaner is crawling around him.

All the excitement was too much for the Bubeaner

Our first baby:
Doesn't Sandy look adorable?

Dad, Bubeaner and our pretty baby girl.

Halloween at Sally

Today we planned a trip to Dad's work. However, we needed to wait a little for the laundry to get done. We had a special request for Skeleton Bubeaner, and the outfit was dirty. Bubeaner loved spending some time with the Sally team. Above all, he loved seeing Dad during the day. It's been harder for him to not to see Dad during the day after Dad's surgery.

Bubeaner practicing his coloring technique.

We then headed off for a quick lunch with Dad. Bubeaner's appetite is back in full force. The boy can eat. He still loves his chicken. Beef is a little more difficult because he can't really chew it properly. That may not be a problem soon. We can see a little white on the top jaw. Dr. Z was right. Bubeaner also practiced a little on his coloring while we waited for lunch. He is getting better at holding the crayons properly. And more importantly, he is also not trying to eat them. Well, he's not trying to eat them all the time.

Snacking Bubeaner.
The messier the face, the better the snack.

Bubeaner has been spending a lot of time in his play area lately; Momma has needed the time to work on his Halloween costume. One of those times, he found a foam ball in his toy box. He crawled to the ballpit with it and dropped it in with the other balls. Realistically, we know it was probably a coincidence. But it was amazing watching him do it. First, it would mean he recognized similar items. And then, he put them in their place. Bito will be so happy! A place for everything and everything in its place!

Frustrated Dogs
They couldn't get to the dropped snacks.

RN Tammie was to have dinned with us today. We were distressed to find out she had an emergency appendectomy today! We are grateful that she is now OK and recovering from the surgery. Please remember her in your prayers for a quick recovery.

Halloween at Church

We started the day E A R L Y today at 530a. But it was a good thing since we had to get to church early. This is one of the last meetings before our big fundraiser, and we have tons of things to get done at the meeting. So we only cuddled in bed for a little while after his morning (and only) nursing time before getting ready and heading to pick up Tia Raquel and Nathaneal.

Bubeaner and Sandy watching the morning news

We are so happy that Bubeaner and cousin Nathaneal get to see each other every week. Right now the age difference (Nathaneal is 3) is a little noticeable, but soon we see them playing and getting in trouble together. And we are so thrilled that cousins Carlos Alfonso, Isabella and Ana Lucia (still in her Momma's belly) will be moving to the area next year. Family is a great blessing and being able to play and grow up together is an even greater one.

"It's hard being a cute baby."

At church, Bubeaner has grown pretty comfortable with everyone in the group and with the layout of the room. Today, he did not even look for Momma at all, not even once. He spent the morning moving around from one grandmother to another. He loved getting all the attention. It does not hurt that they think every single thing he does is adorable. Bubeaner was wearing one of his Halloween outfits which made him even more irresistable.

Halloween outfits for the women's group at church

Frigid Temperatures

We planned on visiting the zoo today. All forecasts pointed to a nice "warm" day (at least warmer than the last few days). Momma and Bubeaner made the necessary preparations, packed the diaper bag, got the dogs ready for the groomers and left. We are not sure what the meteorologist were thinking but it was NOT 74 degrees outside. It was downright frigid.

"If I can't talk to my grandparents,
I can at least eat the phone."

So instead we headed to the mall for some browsing. Bubeaner was not pleased with the change of plans. However, his displeasure may have steamed from being forced to go shopping again. He is after all his father's son. The frowns soon gave way to smiles when we joined aunt Pau at the nearby Halloween costume shop. Bubeaner loves his aunt Pauline.

"I know there is food somewhere in there."

We lost track of time at the store, and Momma ended up buying Bubeaner his first ever happy meal. This is not our first choice for a healthy meal for our son. But it was late, Bubeaner was hungry and Momma had not left anything prepared at home. Bubeaner willingly sacrificed. He ate all of the chicken nuggets and a few fries too. He is doing so much better in his eating.

"Me likes me some nuggets."

Bubeaner spent the rest of the afternoon in his play area where he made sure to get out every single one of his toys along with all the balls in the pool. But that is that area's purpose. Bubeaner can make as huge a mess as he wants. And, of course, he "helped" Dad put it all away by the end of the evening. We are working on him putting his toys away every time he leaves the play area. Right now he mainly sits and watches us, but as he gets older we hope cleaning up after playing becomes a habit.

Tuesday at Home

Today Momma and Bubeaner spent the day at home. Momma was cleaning and packing Bubeaner's baby items for either cousin Aaron, storage or women's shelters It's emotional and cathartic. And as a bonus, we are finding all this new space in our master bedroom, guest bedroom, nursery and even kitchen cabinets. This will probably soon be filled with new toddler items. After all, Bubeaner did take over our breakfast room already.

Momma and Bubeaner both greatly missed the walker today. It gave Bubeaner mobility and some independence and allowed Momma to get things done too. Bubeaner spent a large portion of the day in his play area. It's been great that we have that area, but he's not used to it yet. And Momma just does not feel comfortable letting him crawl around unsupervised while she is distracted packing and organizing.

"I am a poor, innocent baby.
I don't know what I am doing behind bars."

Thankfully, Bubeaner has been distracted by the new toy RN Tammie gave him: 100 soft plastic balls. We inflated his little pool and filled it with the balls. He loves playing with them so much he has not touched a single one of his other toys in the last 4 days.

We also learned a little more about Bubeaner's very eccletic musical tastes. He jammed to his new Bob Marley CD courtesy of uncle Jeff. He sang along to most songs, but he really got into singing (loudly) to "Redemption Song." And then he sang along to the best of Pavarotti. Bubeaner just loves music. Any type of music.

Crawling after one of the 100 balls in his pool.

Bubeaner is eating better, but he is still not back to normal. He refused to eat his scrambled egg yolks for breakfast eating two croissants instead. Lunch was great. He ate six quarter-size chicken nuggets, peas and mandarins. But he was back to not wanting to eat at dinner, except for the mandarins and goldfish. But this may have been more due to what was for dinner than lack of hunger. We actually got funny video of him making faces about eating the tuna. Bubeaner does not like tuna and he was not afraid to let it show. Maybe we should invest in acting classes to harness this dramatic ability.

This one is from yesterday,
but it's a better shot of the pool and balls.

Dad discovered today that Bubeaner now know the difference between opposites especially "in", "out", "give" and "take". He is also getting pretty good at sharing. Suddenly, he realized other people might also be hungry or want what he has! And he is such a little helper during outfit changes. He has been helping for a while doing things like pushing his arms through the sleeves. But now he looks for the sleeve before I start putting it on and tries to get his arm in! He does the same thing with the straps in his high chair. He starts putting his arms through the straps on his own. Our baby boy is growing up so fast.