Love someone

Parenting, well, parenting is HARD.. H.A.R.D... freaking HARD.
They were not kidding when they said that having a child is having your heart walking in someone else's body.. They also didn't joke when they said that children, your precious children, would test your patience and love in ways you didn't think existed.. They were so right when they said your mind would not rest a minute thinking of ways to make your child's life easier, happier, successful. You wouldn't have a single day in which you didn't feel the weight of that child's happiness on your shoulders. Your soul will tear with his tears and ache with every fallback he has..

At the same time, your own joy will never be as big and wonderful as when that child is joyful, and the simple wink of his eye, and smirk on his face or the happy pace of his beating heart will draw the biggest smile on your face.

And loving so much is so freaking HARD.. that love is at the core of your existence, giving you purpose and consuming you at the same time.

The last couple of weeks have been "challenging", to say the least, with my boy, and today I received this beautiful video from a Facebook friend. This is also my declaration of love for my son, who tears me to pieces and puts me back together with a small baby kiss, and whom I love like I could never love anyone in the world.

My Brightest Diamond | I Have Never Loved Someone | A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

I have never loved someone the way I love you
I have never seen a smile like yours
And if you grow up to be king, or clown, or pauper
I will say you are my favorite one in town
I have never held a hand so soft and sacred
When I see you laugh, I know heaven's key
And when I grow to be a poppy in the graveyard
I will send you all my love upon the breeze
And if the breeze won't blow your way, I will be the sun
And if the sun won't shine your way, I will be the rain
And if the rain won't wash away all your aches and pains
I will find some other way to tell you you're okay

You're okay (x7}

Super Rodrigo turns 5

We had a fantastic time celebrating little man's 5th birthday.. Seems unbelievable that I've been a mother for 5 years already and my baby is officially a big boy.

Inspired by many party planning boards online, I planned a Super Hero party for the boy who's lately become a huge fan of the cape crusaders. As the little heroes arrived we took the Super Hero Friends oath, and vowed to play fair and nice and be good friends and protect Rodrigo's birthday from the potential attack of mean villains.. The kids decorated their capes and eye masks and went on to start their training at the "Super Hero Training Academy". They had to prove agility by crawling a tunnel and jumping through "the ring of fire". Then they tested their endurance by running a few loops around the playground, climbing the play structure and sliding down several times. Finally, they had to test their super powerful breath by blowing the biggest bubbles of all.

It was great fun to watch them so engaged participating in their "strenuous training". At the end they were inducted in the Super Hero League of Friends, however we had an attack of mean villains that attempted to ruin the party. Luckily all the training paid off and armed with water balloons and silly string the little trainees were able to defeat the villains and save the party!!

My talented friend Cyntia, who's starting his career in professional photography, captured beautiful shots from the party which she documented on a cute video, cue in Superman music and all!!!

Enjoy

Only thing missing is the minivan

... and you can call me an official Soccer mom.
The Gumster started his 3rd season playing soccer, this time in a "real" league, with practices and games between teams. Lemme tell you, it's hysterical to see these 4yr olds all huddling to get to kick the ball, but it makes for a great experience for the little man. At some point he'll get that it's ok to share the ball with the members of his same team, in the meantime, we're just enjoying him chase after and try to throw the ball, no matter if it's towards the opposing team goal.
Rodri's team, the "Pirates" aaaaaaaargggghhhh, is an all boys in the U5 division (sounds so fancy to say they're the tiny ones). He was thrilled when he got his league uniform and he got to pick his own number, 4, because he's 4yrs old and his birthday is on the 4th... such smart boy! --ahem--
I also signed up to the something called the "team mom".. oh yeah.. I'm head first deep into this soccer-mommy thingy...
Here's to the carpooling, years of lugging muddy soccer cleats and sweaty boys from game to game... and I just can't wait for it!!!
I'm sharing some pictures of his first official match.. Apparently it was a tie, 3-3... not too bad.!


I seriously love these 2 pictures, Rodri (#4) running like flying with arms to his back, and the other one with a true Soccer expression trying to get that ball..priceless

First Day of Jr Kindergarten

It's official, we're off to school, and with a great start.. Gummy did amazingly on today's school drop-off.. He was all smiles (showing his dimple!) and there were no tears (nor momma's nor his).. He was very excited to wear his backpack and his new uniform and spend the day with his teachers.. He also is lucky enough to already know some of the children in his classroom, and his best girlfriend, Tamara, is also with him.


We chose to hold him back one year because of his Fall birthday and some sensory issues that put him on a small disadvantage (emotionally) against other older children.. He's extremely smart though and it's pre-reading and obsessed with numbers and can count until past 100 and can read any number up to the thousands.. He can also write based on the sound of the letters and he's very inquisitive and interested in learning new things. During the summer he matured a lot and he's talking now in English and being more socially involved. He still has a lot to mature socially though and we still have a lot to work with his reactions to noises and textures.

I'm however very proud of him because aside from a few little quirks and obsessions, he's incredibly sweet, smart, obedient, respectful and, dare I say, well behaved!

Go on Gummy boy!! there's so much to learn and the road ahead is filled with delightful experiences and lots of new discoveries..

Summer '11 Report - Natural Bridges

I personally do not enjoy the Santa Cruz beach, I hate the Boardwalk and how crowded it gets.. luckily, just a few miles further (north or south) you find nicer quieter beaches, so we set our course a bit norther up towards Natural Bridges. I always wanted to see the "bridges", or let's better say, "bridge" because I only saw one... Despite my grammatical pickyness, we did enjoy our afternoon at the beach. As usual, the munchkin took a while to warm up to the water (who'd blame him, that thing is coooold) but ultimately he had a blast, until his toes got blue and we had to call it a day and warm up building freeways in the sand

Summer '11 Report - Strawberries and lots of mud

Mid July we ventured up gorgeous Highway 1 with some friends for a morning of lots of mud, red stains and rosy cheeks, that's it, we went strawberry picking..

9lbs of strawberries later, we sat and enjoyed a small picnic and allowed the kids go let lose and play around.. and the smiles, well, they're what this is all about..

Oh.. and the mud, well, it was all me! My very gracious self picked to wear flip flops and wandered through the "forbidden" path of luscious strawberries, not knowing they were surrounded by a sea of mud.. Flip flops and mud do not mesh well..

Holy cow!! it's been a while!!!

My poor ol' neglected blog..... pity pity pity!

It's already halfway through August, Summer is almost over, and I haven't been able to make a tiny dent on my summer activities bucket list.

We did go Strawberry picking with some friends.. and visited the beach and we just recently instituted weekend family hikes... and that, ladies and gentlemen, is a summery as we've gotten around these parts..

I could really blame work for keeping me on call for a whole month messing all my weekends on July.. that's it.. blame work... !

California is such a wonderful state with so many opportunities to enjoy the beautiful outdoors, and it's a shame we've spent entire weekends indoors (or worst, at the mall!!) and not outside playing in the sun... I should end this pity party and be proud of the little we've been able to do because it was still fun and we shared it as a family and with dear friends...

Since the little man will officially start school in -gulp-, three weeks, we're going to try to cram some smaller trips here and there... I've always wanted to visit the giant Redwoods at the Redwoods National Forest (but since it's a good 9hr drive from here I'd have to find somewhere closer for our nature fix) , and maybe drive down Big Sur sometime (like, NEXT WEEKEND) for more natural wonders and maybe a dip in the freezing waters.

I'll indulge you, yes, you, my one reader ;), with what we've done so far..

There's still time, get out, enjoy the beautiful weather, kid's gotta run, throw some stones and get dirty!

He's got some mooooooves!!

yep.. my kid is a break dancer!!

Happy Birthday America!!

Decked in Red, White and Blue, my little Captain America went on to celebrate the birthday of this great nation..
Our neighborhood throws a "cute and little" parade where everyone in the 'hood participates, the 4 legged kind included..! It's one of those very American traditions I'm excited and happy to teach Gummy to celebrate the love and pride of this country.

Later that day we joined with friends for some BBQ (funny thing, all was mexican food ;) and some water play on one of the hottest days so far in the Bay Area!!
We got a "slip and slide" and had a blast watching the little ones have a great time.


An epic water battle ensued of course, and, I'm embarrassed to admit I lost the battle to a pair of 4 year olds, finishing up completely soaked and with borrowed clothes... lovely!!