Proud Big Brother

Having a second child is a very different experience than having your first.  There are so many things that you know about and have been through:  the doctors appointments, weird pregnancy symptoms, preparation needed to have a newborn in the house, etc.  But there are also some things that are new.  The big one for us was preparing an only child to be a big brother.

T's first response when we asked him if he wanted a brother or a sister was "No."  Not an auspicious start.  But by the end, he kept asking me if it was time to go to the hospital to get his brother yet.  I kept having to tell him "Not yet."  I do think that this was partially driven by the fact that our plan was for him to go spend the night with his friend Max while I was in the hospital.  He was super excited about this, and that was a huge relief for me.

But at any rate, when the baby arrived, T was very excited and he keeps telling us that the baby is "Sooooo cute!"  And keeps touching/poking/kissing/hugging/laying on the baby.  Ian has learned to squawk loudly and quickly when he's not happy with the level of affection he is receiving.  Perils of being the second child.  Some examples are below.

 "Ta Da!"

 "We are playing in our house!"

 "Let me hold Ian."

 Under Gram's quilt.

 This one, I had to put a stop to.  After I took a picture.

Ready to go to Mass.

The New Addition

Ian Paulo Villatoro was born on May 8, 2014.  He arrived later than his Mama wanted, but he still beat his due date by two days.  I guess our first born spoiled me.  Tiago was two weeks early, which meant that I had already hit the very uncomfortable stage, and that he was born perfectly healthy.  So I had the completely unfounded expectation that the second baby would follow suit.  However, he made up for his tardiness by being born very quickly.  I think we told everyone we were at the hospital around 5 pm, and he was born at 7:20 pm.  Why wait?

Baby Ian, just a few minutes old.  

They had a warming lamp over this bed, which he loved.

I don't plan to put too much detail here, but it's an interesting story, so I will share the facts.  With Tiago, my water broke first (which happens in approximately 15% of cases) while I was at work.  I drove myself to the doctor's office, then on to the hospital.  It made sense at the time, although later my friends and I agreed that one of us should have realized that it was potentially a horrible idea.  

So with this baby, I kept thinking it was time and every day I was disappointed again.  By May 8, I had stopped thinking too much about his arrival and was just going on with my life.  I was getting things together to take Tiago to the park after school, and as I left the house to pick him up, my water broke (2:45 pm).  On the front porch.  So, I called the hospital, Jaime and a friend who said she would pick up Tiago from school, and I got myself ready to go to the hospital.  This time, I thought about it and decided that the best plan was to drive myself again, since it would take longer for Jaime to come home and then take me.  So I headed for the hospital, and got there with no problem.  I had to wait a bit to check in, but they finally got me into a room and things got moving.  Jaime arrived around 6 pm and had time to touch base with me and comment on the contractions before it was time.  Ian arrived with minimal fuss at 7:20 pm and he was calm and easy.  He was content under the warming light, and seemed to enjoy his first bath also.  The hospital had just completely redone the maternity ward, so everything was nice and new.  They also had a policy that they keep the baby in the room with mom at all times, so we were able to watch as they cleaned him up, and tested him, weighed him, etc. By 9 pm we were in a room and resting.

Baby's First Bath

Ian, 1 Week Old

Happy Big Brother 

Proud Papa

Almost 3 Weeks Old

Quick trip to the beach - more on that later.

Silly big brother.

Sleepy baby

Two boys!

Getting bigger!  5 weeks old.

Easter 2014

This year Easter was interesting because we had so many options on how to celebrate.  New Orleans is the most Catholic city I have ever lived in, and there are churches everywhere.  Even though I didn't feel much like walking, we tried to see as much as we could.

On Good Friday, we went towards Tulane and Loyola Universities.  We had lunch at a Salvadoran restaurant, and Tiago was very happy to eat pupusas, beans and rice.  Jaime got a fish fillet that was coated in tomatoes and garlic, which is always a good combination.  From the restaurant, we walked down the street to Mater Dolorosa church just to check it out.  It was too early for the service, but we had read that lots of people make it a point on Good Friday to do the stations of the cross, praying each station in a different church.  We were definitely not up for that (neither was our 3-year-old), but we wanted to see some churches.  That one is beautiful. 

After Mater Dolorosa, we drove a few blocks over to the campus of Loyola University, which also has a beautiful church.  We hung out there, lit a few candles (because I do that every chance I get), and then decided to head to a Good Friday service at St. Clement of Rome.  After the service, they were planning to do the Way of the Cross through the surrounding neighborhood, but I couldn't do all the walking that would require, so we headed to the park to let Tiago burn off some excess energy, since he slept through a good part of the church service.  We did the Way of the Cross the last 2 years in Long Beach, and always enjoyed it.  Maybe next year...

On Saturday, we decided to check out the Audubon Zoo.  Tiago and I had a family pass, and wanted to take Jaime, who had never been.  It is a nice zoo, and we enjoyed just wandering around and seeing what there was to see.  Tiago decided his favorites are now the giraffes and the jaguars.  My favorite is the swamp exhibit, which has nutria - and also features recipes for cooking nutria on the information panels.  It just cracks me up every time.  No recipes for cooking any other animals in the zoo...

On Easter Sunday, we needed to try another new church, so we drove downtown to Immaculate Conception.  It's a beautiful church, and Tiago did very well to sit through mass not in the cry room.  We were proud of how he behaved, but it's amazing how much work it takes to get him through the service quietly.  He was just not born a quiet child.  After the service, we knew there would be a parade, so we got a snack and waited for the parade to start.  I didn't know what to expect, since the parade started near the intersection of Bourbon and Canal Streets.  But nothing says "Jesus is Risen" like beads and booze...

The parade turned out to be nice, but odd.  There were maybe 15 floats, and they did indeed throw beads, small stuffed animals, chocolate rabbits, and the random flower.  There were some people on the floats in their Sunday best, and some other groups also.  Tiago seemed to enjoy himself, and as we were walking by, someone on a float threw him a stuffed penguin and hit him in the head, which was the highlight for him.  The last parade he went to he wore his bike helmet, and I think next year we will do that.  Jaime had a drink and held Tiago on his shoulders, so overall it was pretty fun.  Just a VERY different Easter experience. 

 Tiago had a great vantage point to watch the parade.

 Marching band.

 The first of several random float pictures.

The corner of Bourbon and Canal.  Because where else would you be on Easter Sunday?

New Year in NOLA

We have been living in Louisiana now for almost 6 months, and are getting settled into a new life here.  Jaime is very busy with work, and definitely enjoying the new job and the new company.  The good thing about having a job is that it works you into a routine and a local network very quickly.  Some of us are taking a bit longer to reset.  :)

Tiago has been in school three days each week at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton since mid-August.  He loves it - the uniforms have eagles embroidered on them which he thinks is great.  Every morning at drop off he will let me take off his jacket, then he races in to see his friends and play.  I was never certain if we would do public or private school for our children since I went to Catholic school and Jaime went to public school, but in New Orleans, it was an easy decision.  Everyone we talked to, and everyone we have met with kids in school pays for private school.  The public schools are that bad.  In our area, the people who teach at the public school also send their kids to private school.  To me, that speaks volumes.  We have tons of Catholic elementary school alternatives, which is nice.  But what a strange situation.  Since his current school is so far from our house - 30 minute drive one way - we are looking for an alternative for the next school year.  We have looked at several good ones, and need to make a decision, which is more difficult than I thought it would be.  But we have a few more weeks until the registration opens, so we will have it all figured out by then.

T in his uniform, with the Houston Dynamo hat that he loves.

 

A few weeks ago, we took a Saturday and went over to Baton Rouge to look around since we have not done much exploring here in Louisiana. 

 The drive was interesting - people live so close to the water here.

 

 Pelicans.

 

We didn't stop here, but did think about it.

 

 The state capitol building.

 

 They had green space around the capitol, so we made let Tiago run for a while.

 

 View from the observation deck.

 

 View of the Mississippi River.

 

 Another view of the River.

 

 Tiago loves the penny presses.

 

 State Christmas Tree.

 

 I can't remember what this building was previously, but it's now a museum.

 

Art near the library.

 

So it was a nice day trip.  We have so much more to see, and soon plan to go east on I-10 to get to some new states.  I think we are about 30 minutes from the Mississippi state line, and I plan to take a long weekend sometime and spend it on the beach of the Florida Panhandle.  Not sure when, but we definitely want to avoid Spring Breakers!