El Zoologico

This morning, our good friends the Buntings gave us a ring and invited us to go to the zoo with them.  We had no plans for the entire day and quickly agreed.  Bret was excited for a nice family outing.  Before agreeing though, I did quick investigative work on what the weather would be like.  I am a Texas girl through and through when it comes to the weather and if it seems too cold, I don't like going to the zoo.  But, the weather (through my Mac dashboard) was supposed to be in the high 60's or low 70's today and completely sunny.  This only meant one thing - it was a perfect zoo day.  And it was.  

Erin and her family have always been so good about packing picnic lunches or snacks - you know, how your family did growing up and don't go out to eat.  They actually use rest stops.  I had actually kind of forgotten about rest stops until Erin re-introduced me about 3 years ago.  I grew up going to rest stops - my family loved and I mean loved road trips - from Mexico to Utah.  That is not a short road trip!  All that to say that Erin suggested that we pack a lunch and blankets and have a picnic after the zoo.  I did just that - pb & js all around with some fruit on the side.  My husband and Isa think that pb&j's are a complete treat and love them.  Me, I'll eat them, but don't exactly get all excited about them.  

Once we arrived at the zoo and stood in line forever to renew the zoo membership (if you need to do so, make sure you get the Apache 10% discount they're currently having), we were able to join the Buntings to see the meerkats, bears, elephants, lions, monkeys and most exciting of all - a baby giraffe.  A baby giraffe that was born YESTERDAY.  And it is walking.  The animal kingdom is amazing.  Here I am still toting sweet Diego in a stroller or in my arms because the child won't even stand on his own and this baby giraffe is walking and he's not even 24 hours old!!  Amazing!!!

Ella and Isa had a blast playing and seeing the animals together.  After the zoo, Bret left to go in to work while the Buntings, the kiddos and I stayed on to have a picnic beneath a shady tree.  We stayed there for hours!  And I mean hours.  We did not leave until almost 3pm and had been there since before 11am.  What a fun day.  The girls just played and played running around, chasing squirrels, telling them, "shoo squirrel, shoo!", and pretend feeding Ross who was a very hungry giraffe.  What a great day!

Dos Manos

Ayer cuando hibamos al club, Isabella me pregunto, "Donde viven los cocodrilos?"  Le dije que en el agua.  Y luego me dijo que tambien viven donde vive Peter Pan y que se comieron la mano del Capitan Garfio.  Y le dije si, el Capitan nada mas tiene una mano a lo cual Isa me respondio - pues el Capitan va a tener que comprar otra mano por que se necesitan dos manos.  Y continuo a decirme que en las tiendas venden manos asi que el Capitan va a ir a la tienda a comprar otra mano.  

Learning Through Osmosis

Heavy Sleeper

Isabella has been a great sleeper since she was born.  She was sleeping "through the night" starting at about 7 weeks old and has never really stopped.  It is awesome.  She is such a heavy sleeper that recently Bret and I assembled her entire bedroom furniture complete with hammering and loud voices while she was sleeping.  She barely even stirred.  She is also the funniest sleeper.  We bought her a lovely bedroom set which she was initially very excited about and quickly assigned the other bed to her good friend, Macy.  You'd think since she was so excited about her new beds, that she would use them.  Nope, she prefers to sleep on the floor - usually on her nap mat, but sometimes just straight up on the wood floor.  Comfy, huh?  Who needs beds when you've got solid wood underneath ya?  Isa frequently reads to herself before going to sleep.  We often find her with a book in mid page on top of her face.  I guess she thinks that she will continue absorbing her story if she doesn't let go of her book.  Sweet girl.  

Cumple de Diego

Diego's 1st Birthday

My sweet baby turned 1 on the 9th of January.  He is such a sweet little prince as my Argentinian friend Carolina likes to say.  He still has those big deep dark brown eyes that I love looking into.  He has gotten very proficient at saying papi and mami.  Erin B. and Tia Fia claim that he says his own name perfectly.  I have yet to witness this of course.  He  army crawls all over the place and has gotten faster at it.  He talks constantly - all babble that is indistinct.  Usually with sayings like, "meya, meya, meya."  

He is completely obsessed with balls.  He will be entertained with one or two balls for very long periods of time.  We had to finally adjust his crib to its lowest setting because he is starting to pull up.  He still loves the jumperoo and jumping enthusiastically in it.  He loves watching his older sister do anything - especially during meal times.  He loves being outside and really enjoys swinging.  He's the cutest thumb sucker and has a preference for his right thumb.  He hates getting dressed - especially if you pull a shirt over his wee little head.  He has had 4 hair cuts because he has the thickest fastest growing hair ever.  Big sis will be so jealous in a few years.  He still loves baths - probably one of his favorite activities.  He swims all over the place on his belly while getting at different things in the tub.  He is mesmerized by the water I pour out of the cup.  

He dropped off the chart for weight and is at a whopping 17lbs.  We can't turn him around in his car seat yet.  He eats like a champ though, but is definitely particular about his foods.  He likes his apple sauce at room temperature.  He likes yogurt - but only the kind with berries.  The plain kind with bananas that we give to Isa he spits out.  He loves chicken soup with rice and veggies and some days will eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Currently he hates eggs, which we will continue trying to give him since they are so good for you.  He only drinks out of a cup and can only drink soy milk since he has a severe intolerance (or allergy) to cow's milk.  Diego only has his two bottom teeth but we think he will soon have two top ones on the way.  He can chew crackers perfectly with those two teeth though with animal and honey grahams being his favorite.  

He sleeps solidly through the night, but has been a pretty light sleeper.  We of course can't help but sneak into his room (and Isa's) every night before we go to bed and sometimes (ok it used to be a lot of times until recently) he would wake up and I would have to cuddle with him (poor me) before putting him back to sleep.  Lately he's stopped waking up as much when we make noise, so we're thinking maybe he is part of the family after all.  Isabella is an extraordinarily heavy sleeper and always has been.  Bret & I have been known to sleep through a 4 alarm fire that was right across the street from where we were living.  So, to have someone who wakes easily in our family has made us wonder if he really was an Oliver.