It's my party and I'll cry (or sit) if I want to...

Yesterday was my birthday and contrary to the title, it was enjoyable. But I think I received my real, belated birthday present just this morning. As I handed Diego off to his new baby sitter for Day 2 this morning and asked her how he did, she said very matter of factly and defensively, "He's NOT a cry baby!"

At that moment, I think I saw the clouds part and the sun's golden rays of light shine through.

Diego says, "You're welcome," for the wonderful & sunny Indian summer you are experiencing.

But seriously, I was and admittedly still am a little hesitant about this new babysitter, but she does know what to say to win people over! She is slowly retiring and is accepting only a few children now. Diego will be the only full-time baby. There are pros and cons about this:

Pros:

• Fewer children=more Diego attention
  
• Fewer children=less immune system battles
  
• She's cheaper than the last sitter
  

Cons:

• She does not speak Spanish, so Diego will need to get his Spanish lessons from family only
  
• Fewer children=less stimulation & socialization
  

I don't know what's going on with my scheduling capabilities, but I seem to always schedule Diego's first day of daycare on or following a significant event. For example, the first time it was the day after my very first Mother's Day, and this time it was on my birthday.

Nonetheless, I managed to have a great birthday. Over the weekend we went to a lake with the family to enjoy the 92-degree weather and attempt to get Diego to start swimming, or at least in the water now that he is well enough. That was a failed attempt, as Diego did NOT enjoy the cold water, and found the texture of wet sand disgusting under his feet. To think, how could an 8-month old baby be so picky about what he's standing on so soon? But in fact, he was. This was unfortunate because I am a fish frog (long lanky legs) in the water.

On my actual birthday we went out for dinner to an Italian restaurant, where Diego gave me my present: sitting in his high chair all on his own! Just what I wanted!

He also kept busy chewing on the tough exterior of a slice of French bread (supervised of course)

while almost breaking his neck to watch a 3-year old blonde girl at the table next to us. I joked that one day, I will be mother-in-law to a blonde.

PS. On the picture of my dad using a light to read the bill..... Ya - um, that's one of Diego's toys where the light automatically turns on for a bit when you spin the ball. So glad I brought it. It came in handy under the low lights. I'll be sure to keep it somewhere handy during blackouts. LOL!

Also, I'm not sure why I look so hunchbacked in all the dinner photos. Perhaps carrying my little one is taking it's toll on my posture (which was never very good to begin with)

Diego Can't WALK!

A story as told by one of my sister's good friends while discussing my sister's impending marriage, tentatively scheduled for 6 months from now.

Daughter: Mommy, do I get to be a flower girl again?

Mom: Yes, Sweetie you will.

Daughter: Will I be walking down the aisle with Michelle again?

Mom: No Sweetie, I don't think that Michelle will be coming to this wedding.

Daughter: Then who will I be walking down the aisle with?

Mom: You'll be walking down the aisle with Diego (currently 8 mos.) and Mokee (my sister's chocolate Labrador).

Daughter: Don't be silly, Mommy!

Mom: Why am I being silly?

Daughter: You know Diego CAN'T WALK!.....

Climbing Over the Hump

As the 2 week baby-sitter hiatus draws to a close today (Friday), I see that although I knew 2 weeks with the grandparents would make my mother very happy, it has actually helped bond my father and Diego most.

After noticing the bond at the lake over the weekend, I reached my parent's house earlier this week to find that my 61 year old father had gone online, went onto Craigslist, searched for a baby wheeled walker (he saw how handy it was while we were at the lake), bought it and picked it up all in the same day. Now - I know there are a lot of older yet savvy internet users, but I'm still amazed when my own dad is able to accomplish such feats.

And it seems that the extra time in the walker has done Diego's legs some good. Last night as I was coming out of the bathroom, my husband yelled for me... "Look at Diego! Look at Diego!". He nearly scared the bejesus out of me. "What?!!!" I asked in semi-terror.

Both his hands were grasping the crib bar and he was wobbly and flimsily pulling himself upward. He was now climbing the crib at 8 months! It actually reminded me of a Hollywood ghoul movie, where a goblin or a some type of creature is born into adulthood - forfeiting infancy, shaking to get himself up due to his still undeveloped mind and muscles that have never been used before. Yes - it was exactly like that. But of course, my little D is neither a ghoul nor a goblin. A devil - maybe, but never a ghoul or goblin :)

Time for me to lower the crib!

Refreshing

My family is not a touchy-feely type of sentimental family, how ever much my mother would LOVE that! No, we all get along by cracking jokes and keeping things light-hearted, yet to the point. The most touchy-feely I get with my parents is with a half-hug and a kiss on the cheek each time we greet. I don't see anything wrong with this. I know my family loves each other and enjoys each others' company.

Since before Diego was born, I wondered how my father would get along with him. The first few months were exactly as I envisioned. My dad would hold him for short bouts of time, and then hand him off to my mother to do the rest of the canoodling and spoiling. The thought that my father will be retiring next year in May has always been in the back of my mind. Would he be willing and able to do the baby sitting? Would I be intruding only his newly-earned liberation?

I decided to leave the topic alone until he got to know Diego better and until Diego reached an age where his personality and mannerisms were more defined than a simple newborn.

Now that I've fired my last baby sitter, Diego is being watched by my mom and dad while they are on their 2 week vacation and until I find a new sitter. The first week went really well. I found myself pulling up to the parking lot of my workplace, getting out of my car and humming tunes outloud. I didn't realize how much of an affect the last baby sitter had on me. I liked this new light-hearted me. It was refreshing.

After that first week, came our planned Family Fun Weekend Trip that we enjoy with our extended family. We went to Clear Lake with 12 people, 1 baby, and 7 dogs and had a grand time. Diego was in such good spirits. Of course, like any baby there were points where he would get restless. I would silently observe in the background that my dad would willingly hold Diego for extended periods of time. Even times when I know that I would have put him down, my dad didn't. I mentioned this to Javier last night. I said that I found it "Surprising?" no, that wasn't the word. .... "Refreshing". Yes! It was "refreshing".

And as I dropped off Diego at his grandparents this morning, my mother quickly grabbed him from me and said in Spanish that my dad was already "Reclamando", aka. "asking for" Diego. She said that he told her that Diego already won his heart.

How refreshing....

Laborious Day

My goal is to have somewhere around a million pictures of Diego while he was a baby (OK, a million is probably stretching it). I've gotten ideas from other blogs of cute pictures that I want to take. Unfortunately most of the time my excuse is either that I don't have enough time, or because the whether sucks-out-loud where I live and I just really need sunshine to take a decent picture.

One of my photo ideas was to take a picture or Diego with my guitar (which is STILL on my list of things to learn to do). Luckily, on labor day the moon and stars aligned, which in turn made the sun come out and gave me some free time. So in between cooking for a Labor Day picnic, and grooming the dog in the yard, I was able to FINALLY take advantage of an elusive photo-op.

The Labor Day picnic couldn't have gone any smoother either. All in all - it was the perfect Labor Day. Why - just look at Qori's face!

Two Steps Ahead

I'm not sure if it's a trait that is inherited when you become a mother, but I've seem to be two steps ahead on special events lately. I envision that it's the excitement of celebrating every special occasion for the first time with my son. For example, we're in the beginning of September and I ALREADY know what my Halloween costume is going to be. I'm NEVER this early! It's going to be a "couples" costume between me and Diego. You'll see in October :)

My mother and I walked around at a fair today. It was filled with all sorts of trinkets that - while I think they are cute, I just see items that would clutter the house for the most part. I also couldn't help thinking, "THIS is where grandmas go to get all those weird grandma-like things!"

Of course there were some booths that caught my interest, like the one that sold baby clothes with sayings like:

• Pooh is my homeboy
• You're old
• Well-behaved children rarely make a difference in the world - I wanted to get this one to spite the baby sitter.

But the booth that I felt was worth me dropping some cash at was the one that sold personalized Christmas ornaments? Yes - Christmas ornaments. I know it's months away, but since months ago, I've been thinking about how I needed to get one special ornament to signify Diego's first Christmas. Just like the one that my mom has of me and my sister. We always hang it on the tree. Just think about how old it is now. It's amazing, it's an antique, and it's something I just had to do for Diego.

Validation & Teeth!

Another milestone met, and this one I wasn't even expecting. People have been telling me that Diego might be teething since he was 4 months old. It was an assumption because of what a heavy crier he is. Each month that passed, and no teeth sprouted, I just gave in and accepted that my son was a crier.

In my last post, the baby sitter was at her wit's end with Diego, causing me to be at my wit's end with her. His crying was inexhaustible. Not only was he sick with Bronchiolits a couple weeks ago, but unbeknownst to us he was also in the middle of teething.

When I felt the little chompers with my own hands, I felt a weird rush of pride. Although it's not anything that he physically did on his own (it's just nature), I was still proud to know that my baby was teething. It's validation for me, showing the baby sitter that his recent cries were most likely due to his new pearly whites.

I'm still looking for new daycare though. My mom abhors the sitter, and for my sweet mom to hate someone so much says something. There's nothing like a grandmother's overprotective heart!

Javier now refers to Diego as our little "conejito" (English translation: little bunny - because of the two bottom teeth he now has). OK - little conejito, your pushy mom wants you to hop to the next milestone: crawling... Hop to it!