FIRST DAY OF PRE-SCHOOL!

Drum-roll please... stop the presses...!!! the scariest (for mommy) yet more exciting day has finally come and gone without a glitch..
Rodri started summer camp/preschool this week... Yooo Hoooooooooo!
He walked right in like if he owned the place, checked all the Montessori jobs out, decided he felt like drawing.. and waved bye-bye to his momma without even looking back..

Love the kiddy sized toilets and sinks! (different shirt, apparently a lunch incident!)
And here I was expecting the Red Sea torrents of tears... nope... nothing like that... momma did her fair share of crying --again-- .. but the Gumster didn't flinch... When I went to pick him up I got a great report, he did awesome!! and here I was worry sick about this day..!!

Quick stop in Disneyland

On our way from Arizona, we stayed one day in the LA area to visit Disneyland again..
We got to see the fantastic Funtasmic show at night.. I was afraid Rodri would freak out with the special effects and the fire and noises, but he LOVED it.. Immediately after the show ended, the fireworks started and the little man was mesmerized looking up to the sky.. when it was done, he kept asking for mas.. mas.. mas por favor (more please!).. how cute is that?
Soooo happy to greet Goofy!
But, by far, Rodri's favorite is the grumpy duck... he was cracking up in this picture.

Waving from Donald Duck's boat
And for the grand finale... FIREWORKS!!
Trust me... he was laughing...

Arizona for a baptism

Gummydaddy was invited to godfather Gummy's new niece Shayla so we embarked in what I had hoped for to be our "First All American Road Trip" .. All 11hrs of driving door to door were completed by leaving at night allowing the Gumster to sleep in the car and stopping briefly for potty breaks and breakfast.. We made it to the Phoenix area right at noon.
I'm from the Caribbean, so I know heat.. and I know the kind that makes you sweat and stink due to the extreme humidity.. but it's quite possible I liked that better than the 110+ dry heat we had that weekend....!!
As expected, Rodri completely ignored his 6 month old cousin.. such the introverted child (insert sarchastic laugh here)!! but he enjoyed hanging out with his older cousin and his grandparents..
Yep.. My child STOLE a rose from one of the church bouquets for his mamma.. at least he had good intentions!
Time for the shoes to go off.. he's going through a shoeless phase
Now show off those cute feet! (which ended up soo dirty!)
He hijacked the picture with the godparents..dunno.. something about his dad holding another baby... figures..
To me, he's just too cute for words...
Unfortunately, mommy's hopes to get to "see" the nearby sights in Arizona were crushed by the grumpy old, not-so-fun man that serves the role of Gummydaddy.. needless to say, 2 weeks later, I'm still mad that we didn't do all the funky stops I planned, and didn't go to Sedona as I had so much hoped for nor did anything other than just lounge inside away from the heat... one of the many things Gummy's parents disagree on.. but that'll require a whole different blog to document.
Regardless of my "Road Trip" crushed dream, the Gumster had 3 days of his favorite thing.. POOL.. PISCINA!!
Little cousin Shayla.. such a pool beauty!

Swimming underwater towards daddy

Move over Michael Phelps!! here's the future Olympic champion
Rodri with his cousin, grandparents, uncle and daddy
Oh.. wait.. we did get to stop by Joshua Tree National Park.. at EIGHT IN THE NIGHT!!! when they were obviously closed and it was impossible to do any hikes or see anything.. but.. hey.. we took the obligatory picture.. that apparently to make my complaining stop.. which didn't work though.. I still complained..

amo a Papa

For Father's day we met with some friends at a park to enjoy a nice picnic.
Here's Rodri giving a hug to his favorite guy

And now a hug for his favorite sister (don't tell big sis!)

Now go hug someone!!!

Wordless Wednesday

.... hace calor!!!!

Wordless Wednesday - a glance into the future

.....only thing missing is a bike or a skateboard.... I just met my son as a teenager!

and it started....

Rodri's crib has been turned into a "toddler bed" --with no railing-- and we've found twice this week that he's gotten up, collected some toys and books, went back to bed to have a nightime reading/playing time... most recent case, 1hr ago, at 11:45pm..

Oh joy.. I should have let him trapped in his crib.. now, we'll find him rearranging his toys at 4am.. sweeeeeeeeeeeeeat!! which reminds me.. lemme go see if he finally fell asleep!

Sappy Mother Moment

Ok.. forgive my sappy mother moment #20,390,348, but I have to let it out..

I'm absolutely not into country music, but I like this guy, Trace Adkins, after I saw him in the 'celebrity apprentice' --of all places!!--

This song makes me cry every time I hear it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0QCCNCkvzI

The last couple of weeks have been very emotional for me.. Rodri is officially a big boy as he's out of diapers and in 2 weeks he'll be starting "pre-school".. in less than 4 months he'll be turning 3 years old, and I find myself struggling with the thought that his baby days are long gone and he's now a little boy.. and if I turn my head just a bit, he'll be rushing into the house riding his bike, throwing book bags on the floor and asking for pizza for lunch and for permission to drive the car!!. I couldn't wait for him to start cruising, crawling, walking, talking, eating off his spoon by himself, going potty.. becoming a "big boy".. Of course I knew I had to savour every messy and tiring baby moment.. yet, as a mother, I was excited to see him reaching a new milestone.. and now that we've gotten so far, and this last 3 yrs have zoomed so fast, I realize how much I miss those days.. how fast they went by.. how fast he's turning into his own individual and even though he'll still be my baby until he's filled with gray hairs and wrinkles (just like one of our favorite books, I'll love you Forever, says "as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" ) a part of me can't help to want to freeze time or have him slow down..

Wordless Wednesday

I know, I know.. I'm exposing my kid's most private and intimate moments.. I know, kid deserves some privacy.. but.. it does make for a cute picture.. and.. let's face it.. who wouldn't want to see an adorable toddler sitting pretty like a BIG BOY on the big potty??

Top Picture Books : What we've read.

I've found this blog I totally love, The Infant Blibliophile, where the mom documents the books she reads with her toddler and their experience and reviews... She recently posted a link to a poll for the top 100 Picture Books and it's asking bloggers to post the first 30 from the list and highlight those we've read... and of course, I'm tagging along!

The ones marked in Red we have already read.. Those in blue are part of Gummy's Library, but not read yet.

#1: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (1963)
#2: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (1947) ** Gummy's alltime favorite!!
#3: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1979)
#4: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (1962)
#5: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems (2003)
#6: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1941)
#7: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson (1955)
#8: Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (1939)
#9: Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag (1928)
#10: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems (2004)
#11: The Story of Ferdinand y Monroe Leaf, ill. Robert Lawson (1936)
#12: Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann (1994)
#13: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948)
#14: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, ill. Lane Smith(1989)
#15: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (1996)
#16: Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (1987)
#17: Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (1947)
#18: In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (1970)
#19: Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney (1982)
#20: George and Martha by James Marshall (1972)
#21: Bark, George by Jules Feiffer (1999)
#22: The Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone, ill. by Mike Smollin (1971)
#23: Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Lillian Hoban (1964)
#24: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, ill. Lois Ehlert (1989)
#25: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (1942)
#26: Corduroy by Donald Freeman (1976)
#27: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1902)
#28: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, ill. Ray Cruz(1972) --this we have in spanish--
#29: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (1969)
#30: Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr., ill. Eric Carle (1967)

Clearly, we're very behind on our list.... !! We have a lot of catching up to do.!!
Which books do you love? Which you recommend we should add to Gummy's library?

Future Soccer star and Flying Free Toddler!

Since Gummydaddy was feeling much better, we decided to enjoy a lazy monday afternoon at the park, with Nelly in tow of course!!
Outings require more coordination now that Rodri is using the potty as we have to ensure the place we'll go to has a "decent" public restroom.. we're enjoying the newfound diaper freedom, but getting used to the "pee before leaving/fetch clean bathroom/bring portable potty" combination..

Check out his form!!



I love this sequence of pictures.. I love the contrast with the perfectly blue sky, my child up in the air, like flying.. happy, free, with the widest smile ever.. confident that loving arms will be there to catch him always.. It's ok to let him fly away, wonder around, enjoy the cool breeze, be free and happy, and as a parent, always offer those strong and welcoming arms to provide rescue when needed..





I'm going to have to cut it someday.. I'm just dreading the day.. I love this messy head of curls.. lurv it!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

We have a new favorite in Gummy's Library.. It's fun, it rhymes beautifully, it's colorful and it's pretty catchy.. Rodri keeps repeating "chicka chicka boom boom"..
Gummy knows all the letters of the alphabet, in both english and spanish.. and this book is a fun re-inforcement, plus, he's learning them on small caps... My little smartsy pantsy boy loves to find "fallen" letters on the last page.. A must read for any toddler who loves letters !

Family Quarantine time

This past weekend we stayed in due to unplanned situations.. Gummydaddy caught an allergic reaction or food poisoning and ended up with a very swollen face, itchy eyes, bad headache and grumpy mood.. Gummyboy decided to go on a poop strike (again!) and with fear of a major accident and trying to monitor his poop-cues we ended up staying in during a gorgeous weekend.. !
Since we were forcibly home-bound, I set the backyard water park and let the Gumster and his favorite puppy play free and be happy!.. Nothing makes me happier than watching my two babies play and have fun together!

A ball is all it takes to make her happy!
Aren't they cute?
Isn't he lovely?

I'm loving this big boy undies behind!
So many kisses on those yummy cheeks!


Pero miren mis rosas!!! Ahhh... mi jardin esta hermoso !! My roses! love my backyard roses!!

Poop-Gate 2009.. nope.. it's NOT FUNNY!!!

Seriously..
Dunno what happened, but during this week, the Gumster had a serious poopy regression... The kid had been witholding poop !!! he's keeping it from the potty.. he's been saving it for his nightime pullup... If we ask him to tell us when he needs to go, he'll refuse and ignore for the entire day.. We've sat with him for a long periods of time, taking turns between the big potty and the small potty.. waiting patiently for it to happen, with books, with make-believe pushes and even the silliest poop song.... and NADA.... potty has been poop free for 4 days !

Today... after holding poop hostage for 2 entire days, we had such an explosion not seen since the days of the "poop up his neck" newborn days.. SERIOUSLY.. and it wasn't pretty.. my kid eats, a lot.. lots of rice and beans and raviolis and scrambled eggs... Take my word .. it's not a pleasant sight.

The worst part is that I sat him down for 10 mins right before it happened because I knew is was bound to happen soon.. and his hostages remained trapped... I patiently said "remember to tell mommy if you have to go poo" and he went on to play, ignoring me.. I turned my back for 1 minute and the particular smell made me turn to him.. there, sitting on his CARPETED room, playing with his books and Little People... THERE... the hostages were released.. DARN LUCK!!!!

2 days worth of poop ain't pretty.... nor the massive cleanup afterwards, the hysterical cries from the little stinker being hosed down in the tub, and a mother's frustration.. I just told him to tell me.. 2 mins ago!!! sh#t... literally!!!!

I guess I got another mommy badge today.. !! I need a cupcake,.... and a drink!

Flores para mama

Every day, I get flowers from a handsome little man who happens to be the love of my life.. Back from the park, a pair of sweaty and dirty little hands hand me over a bunch of crushed and wilted wild flowers with a big wet kiss saying "flores para mama" .
To me.. they're the most precious flowers in the world.

These ones to show to his first girlfriend

Rodri "rawking" his big boy undies..!

I may have added a few sessions of therapy for Rodri in the future for this one!
PRIVACY PLUEEEEEEEEZE!!!

Curious... Gummy!!

With all the potty training whirlwind, I had forgotten to post about our visit to meet Curious George at the Children's Museum.. As we're members, we got the chance to attend a special event where we could see first time the new exhibit dedicated to the curious monkey... We were not prepared to the amount of fans that the little ape had.. Geez.. lines were crazy to shake hands and get a photo opportunity with George. I seriously didn't know CG (Curious George) had so much pull, it was SOOO crazy, that this is what we got to see.. at the very end of the night.

Gummy was clearly not into waiting in line to meet a monkey he's never seen before (neither did mommy), so we chose to explore our favorite museum and check out the new exhibit..

Ahhh.. and why is this day special.. Forget about Curious George... this was the LAST outing Rodri had with diapers.!! The next day, he graduated to big boyland

3-Day Potty Training!! 90% success!

After months trying to lure the Gumster to the potty and exposing his goodies every night on our "air that butt" evenings with not much luck, I decided we needed some drastic measures.
Rodri will be starting pre-school summer camp on July and he has to be potty trained for that... My friend Pily had awesome results with his daughter Leila (11 days younger than the little man) and I have heard other great experiences, so .. I cleared up my calendar and dedicated this holiday weekend to potty train Gummy.
This method requires full dedicated one on one time with your toddler for at least 3 days.. As a mom, I have to learn to read his cues and he has to learn to communicate when he has to go potty. All diapers are tossed, a ridiculous amount of liquids and fiber is offered to the child and we have to stay glued to each other. Every successful visit to the potty accounts for big celebration and some sort of prize.. My kid doesn't care about sweets (thank goodness) and it's not a fan of stickers, so he was rewarded with High Fives and lots of praise and kisses.

In preparation for this weekend we talked a lot about being a big boy, about the potty and what it was for and we read potty books.

Day 1.
When Rodri woke up I explained that he was a big boy now.. and that we had to say bye-bye to the diapers and wear big boy underwear. We grabbed all the Huggies #5 I had left and we both tossed them on the trash. I explained him he had to stay "limpio y seco" (dry and clean) and he had to tell mommy when he had to go pipi or popo... Needless to say, by 11am we had already 2 accidents.. At the end of the day I had 11 wet pieces of underwear, and had managed to make it to the potty to "finish" but with wet pants. I chickened out at night and put him on overnights fearing the disaster that would happen overnight.

Day 2.
We had 2 accidents.! Only 2.. One of them though was an unfortunate #2 situation (not that you needed that kind of detail) but at the end of the day I only had to wash 3 pairs of undies!!... He thought it was a little game and kept saying "corre corre corre potty" ---run run run--- so we had a lot of false alarms.. He also napped almost 3 hours on his underwear, with no accidents.. !

Day 3.
NO ACCIDENTS..AT ALL!! He spent the entire day with the same blue undies I put in the morning.. Not only that, he was more regulated and his visits to the potty were less frequent.. He was fascinated watching pee flow out and was very eager to help clean up his potty chair. We had some backup in the #2 front though..

Now we're on to follow up.. Today is day 4 since we threw away his diapers and he's been accident free for over 2 days.!!

My baby is a big boy !!

3-day potty training.. here we go!

I'll be taking advantage of this long weekend to get Rodri potty trained.
I'm scared, nervous and freaking out about messing it up for the little man..
Some of my friends have had great success with this method.. so I'm biting hte bullet and trying it too.

Wordless Wednesday

Water play con los amiguitos!

Rodri welcomed his amiguitos, Alejandro and Tomas (and their parents) for playtime and sharing lots of food on a very hot Sunday afternoon.

Cutie Patotie Ian!
The Three Amigos

My baby looks so tall





The kids got to splash in the water and share toys and laughter while the adults tried to enjoy the warm weather with chicken legs and pork ribs in hand. ;) --as long as the little ones allowed for it!--

From the Firehouse to the Park

Action packed weekends are back with full force...! It seems we have something lined up every weekend for the next 2 months.. yikes!!

This saturday we visited a local Firehouse during their Open House.. We did the same last year --love to see the "then and now" contrast!!-- and as before, Rodri enjoyed touring the open space, checking the big trucks and trying to figure out how the pole thingy works..

When we were done with the tour, we headed to celebrate with our friends and Sofia her 4th birthday.. The kids had a blast playing with beach balls, bouncing at the bouncy house and munching on lots of cake.. It's always such a neat experience to celebrate a little one's new year and realize what a joy it is to see our children growing together and having such sweet little friendships.! Rodri is very lucky to have so many adorable little friends..

Apparently Lucas liked his frosting a lot!
Amiguitos!!! Rodri, Leyla, Sofia & Tamara
The birthday girl!

When I sing

Gummy does this...geez... and I thought I had a decent voice!!

The time has come for a haircut, but I'm dreading letting go of this gorgeous curls.. I don't care if some people think he looks like a girl.. I love that messy head of honey curls.. they complement his cheeks!

not so Wordless Wednesday

Rodri was on timeout for 1 minute for not chewing and spitting out his food.. We're still doing "air that butt" evenings.. and Nelly is his faithful companion, in joy and when he's in trouble. yeah.. we give Rodri timeouts.. and we sometimes take pictures of it..

Mother's Day!

Being a mother is more than a privilege, a huge task, and my biggest pride... it's beyond anything I could ever explain with words... It's the amazing fact that Rodrigo is MY son.. and I'm lucky enough to be called "mami" by Rodrigo.. I'm blessed to have him as a son.

We had such a lovely Mother's day.. Mommy got breakfast in bed (french toast, fresh fruit and flowers from my garden) and the chance to watch HGTV shows because the little guy was sleeping in!! We headed to the San Jose Rose Garden to meet with our dear friends, to celebrate our 1st, 2nd and 3rd mother's day. The weather was fantastic, Gummy boy got to play with his little friends and hang out with his favorite aunties and uncles and we all spent a relaxing afternoon enjoying the sun, playing with the kiddos and sharing mommy tales and new beautiful memories.

The Gumster loving all the big rose bushes
Our little family..

Mommy's sweet little boyYep, he's a sweetheart.
All the group, 6 babies whose ages range from 1 month old to almost 3yrs old.. Such a treat to celebrate this special days with those who've become family as well.
All the mommies and our precious children.
Handsomeness.. he gets his looks from his mother.. right?? can't you see it?

Flying a kite with his daddy.. gotta say, to be mother's day, Rodri got some good one on one time with his dad.
Mastering the fine art of flying a kite.. We almost lost it twice though...
Rodri loves to pick up little wild flowers and run to me saying "para mama" --for mommy--.. Something his nanny has taught him to do.. melts my heart.
What better thing can a mother wish , than a healthy, sweet, HAPPY child to love and who loves her back... That's my greatest treasure.

wind tunnels, millipedes and big slides

On Saturday I planned a special day, just for Gummy and Mommy, visiting the Coyote Point Museum, hanging out by the beach at the park and playing at the awesome playground.. We would then go for late lunch, and visit a new baby friend and finish off the day with cupcakes at Sprinkles on our way back.

As is usual with us, we started off way later than I had planned.. It does appear there's no way we can leave the house before noon.. I can't figure out why.. but that's usually the case. Anyway, I digress... We headed off --late-- to the Museum where I planned for Rodri to see some animals... little did I know that he'd be stuck at the wind tunnels and interactive experiments area for most of the lenght of our visit... We got to still see some falcons, turtle and, -gag- roaches and millipedes.. (yeayyyy)....

Of course you wanted to see a squirmy, squishy millipede wagging it's 1000 feet at you!
Our visit to the beach went short as it was pretty windy and a bit crowded so we headed to burn some energy to the playground.. I must say, the fact that the playground is so big helped, but the place was packed, and GRRRR... older kids are oblivious to little ones and I had to constantly ensure the Gumster wouldn't end up crushed by a 10yr old racing through..
I love this pic.. it shows the big contrast between the huge play structure, and my little man trying to conquer it, one step at the time!
We had pasta for early dinner and met our new baby friend Sofia while Rodri and I shared some yummy ice-cream (which means the cupcake feast didn't happen to much of my dismay!). Overall, we had such a lovely day.. and even though we ended up skipping Rodri's nap (yep, I'm that kind of a mother), we had a great day.. and he came home (late, around 8pm) had dinner (again) and went to sleep. UNTIL 11AM NEXT DAY!! I sure know how to tire my boy!

Rodri's fun facts

Per this:

Gummyboy was born on Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Your conception date was most likely 1/11/2006 (yeah, like you needed to know that!!)
And your baby is 946 days old!

Fun Birthday Facts

Your baby's half birthday is April 4
Your baby's birthstone is Opal (Hope)
Your baby's Astrological Sign is Libra
Your baby's Flower is Calendula or Cosmos (White, Yellow and Varied)
Your baby was born in the Chinese Year of The Red Fire Dog
Your baby will start kindergarten in 2011, be old enough to drive a car in 2022, finish high school in 2024, and will graduate from college with the class of 2028, give or take a year.

Estas aqui.. para ser feliz

You're here to be happy!

Found this sweet video of a Coca Cola commercial from Spain.. a 102yr old man's thoughts on life..

BBB - Brainy Bilingual Baby

My friend Pily pointed me to this vidwo...

Bilingual babies may be brainier. How growing up bilingual can boost a baby's brain flexibility.

I strongly believe that giving Rodri the gift of 2 languages is one of the best things we can do for his mental development.. not only abuelita and abuelito will be able to speak to him with no barriers, but his little brain is getting quite a workout!!

Wordless Wednesday - Play Baaaaaaaaaaaaall