Guess Who's 2!!

We spent about a week celebrating T's second birthday.  First we took cupcakes to daycare for snack time - because I just couldn't see us throwing a party and inviting all the wild things to our house.  It's a nice group of kids, and we do enjoy visiting with their parents...but still.  Hopefully T won't feel neglected someday.

So cupcakes were fun, and it was slightly amazing to see the different approaches to eating them.  One little girl screamed at hers and attacked it, some kids just picked at theirs, and T got one with no icing, because he doesn't like the way icing sticks to his fingers.  He seems to have a distinct cookie preference, just like his mama.

T before things got going.  Note the lack of action towards eating.

Still no eating - maybe some confusion?

It took Mom, and a plain cupcake to get him going.

(Note the girl in pink on the left side of the photo - she knew what she was doing!)

Here's the whole group, patiently waiting.  I have no idea how the teachers control them.

It's possible that he ate more goldfish than cupcakes....

We also had a small party at home (no cake), and let him open the presents people had sent.  He enjoys opening packages, and it's fun to watch him get into it.

 He was impressed with the Melmo (Elmo) card from his Abuela.

 He was also impressed with the Salvadoran bread she sent as a gift.  He loves it!
I didn't get a picture of the gift from Jaime's aunt, but she also sent bread, a different type.  How many 2-year-olds get bread for their birthdays??  He was a happy little guy.

 Opening his present from Gram.

 It's a very sweet quilt that we have up in his room now.

 Cuttable fruit from Tia Graciela.  He was fascinated by this one.

 Figuring out how to stick the two halves together.*

The final event was a small family party with a few more cupcakes.  We got the angelic face.

 And the skeptical face.  "You want me to eat what???"

And when in doubt, put your fingers in the icing, then rub it on your shirt.

It was a fun birthday for him, and we can hardly believe what a big boy he is!  He is talking lots, and riding a tricycle (pictures to follow), knows all the names for transportation means (truck, train, ambulance, car, plane, etc.), and asks "What is that?"  ALL day long. 

*As a final note on the fruit, he decided this evening that the wooden pieces would give him excellent throwing practice.  He is probably headed for time-out if he does that again tomorrow.  ;)

Weekend in Arizona

We recently spent a weekend in Arizona, since the one hour flights seem to be the best for us right now.  We flew out of LGB, the Long Beach airport, which is about 2 miles from our house.  Which we love.  It's one of the best airports ever, in my opinion.  Unfortunately, I forgot what airlines we were on and went to the counter to check in...and asked jokingly if they were still planning to fly to Phoenix.  They joked back that they were...and eventually it was determined that I DID actually need to go to Phoenix, and they were not in fact going there - it was the other airline.  Awesome.  The only good thing was that J was parking the car, so he didn't get to watch the ridiculous exchange.

Tiago as usual flew well.  The only issue was that we had Shaun the Sheep videos loaded onto the tablet and he has graduated (?) up to Thomas the Tank Engine.  He kept asking for the train.  We had to keep saying "no".  Made me very glad it was only a 1 hour flight.

We stayed near the Phoenix Airport.  Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Wildflower Bread Company, and went to Changing Hands Bookstore.  I used to go to both places when I lived in Tempe, and still miss them!!  A great restaurant attached to a bookstore is as close to heaven as I have been....;)

Since we were going to drive to Tucson, we went to the park to let Tiago run around for an hour.  One of my friends from grad school came to meet us and talk for a little while, then we got on the road.  I had forgotten how much I liked living in the desert.  It's great this time of year.

We were in Tucson to watch the Houston Dynamo play a pre-season game.  Those that know Jaime will know why.  But we had time before the game Saturday evening, so we went to San Xavier Mission.  It is south of Tucson, and one of the old Spanish missions.  Really beautiful, and worth the stop.

 Long view of the Mission

 Closer view - partly restored.

We lit candles - because I always do.

 I was a little nervous to let Tiago run around - lots of cactus everywhere!

 Jaime and Tiago

Tiago was impressed with the paint job on this car.

Then it was on to the game!!  We had fun and Jaime and Tiago were able to say hi to some of the players.

 Tiago and I spent time discussing why he couldn't climb under the bleachers.

 Close-up view of the action

 There they are!

 T is obviously into this...

Then he brought his A-game for the picture with the Coach.

Sunday morning we got up and caught mass at St. Francis de Sales.  We didn't fly out until that evening, so we went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  One of Jaime's co-workers had recommended it, and it was definitely worth the stop.  We saw desert animals, plants, and habitats.  Bonus is that the entire thing is outdoor trails, so two year old tantrums weren't a big deal.  They had strollers that you could borrow, and ours was multi-purpose (30% with Tiago in it, 30% with him running and the bag in the stroller, and 30% he pushed it into all the other nice people visiting).  He enjoyed the prairie dogs, and the bird enclosure especially.

 T & I looking at a falcon...at a good, safe distance.

 It was a hazy morning, but the views were beautiful.

Excellent use of the stroller...

 Prairie dog.

 What would it be like to be a turtle?

We ate at the museum, then drove back to Phoenix.  T declined to nap in the car, and fell asleep as we were pulling into Phoenix.  Good thing we had the carrier for him so he could nap as we took the bus to the terminal.  Easy flight home, and that was the trip!  It was the last free flight for T, who turns two at the end of the month!

He loves these, everywhere we go!

 

Hiking in the Angeles National Forest

We were invited to go on a hike with some of Jaime's co-workers in late January.  It was up in the Angeles National Forest, which is only about an hour from our house (with no traffic).  We decided to go and try out the new carrier that we picked up for Tiago.  It really worked out well, except for those times when we needed to duck under tree branches, and once or twice when we slid down inclines.  Overall we had a great time, and Tiago seemed to enjoy his time riding in the backpack eating crackers.  Living in the middle of such a big city, it's easy to forget how close we are to the great outdoors.  We need to do more of this stuff in 2013!

 Jaime with the backpack - it was amazingly comfortable!

 Snow in the mountains.

 Biggest pine cone EVER!

 Erin's turn to carry Tiago.

 Moving right along.

We made it!!!

View of downtown LA in the distance as we came down out of the mountains.

(you can see the sun on the ocean in the distance)

So tired - from all the backpack riding...

Silly Boy

Tiago has a pretty good sense of what will make people (Mom and Dad) laugh.  This is just a selection of funny pics we have taken recently.

 Post-bath.  My family would call him a wild zingarella.

 Hiding in the diaper box.

 This cracks him up every time!

No idea....

Christmas 2012

This year, we spent Christmas in Houston with Jaime's family.  We were there for 8 days, which gave us lots of time to get around and visit friends and family.  It was good to be back in Texas, and I am always amazed by T, who seems to know those people who are his relatives and makes himself at home in their house.  Which can sometimes be a problem, when he is emptying cabinets and getting into EVERYTHING.  But it was great to listen to him try to pronounce "abuela" and Texas, and spend time getting reacquainted with Jaime's family.

On Christmas Day, a cold front blew into Houston.  It was one of those great Texas fronts, which don't get all the way to Houston very often, that can drop the temperature by 30 degrees in an hour.  I did know that it was coming, but I thought it would only be cold for about 48 hours.  Therefore, 6 days later I was very glad that J bought me a new sweater for Christmas because I lived in it all week.

Villatoro Family Picture - 12/25/2012

This was the first holiday where we let T open gifts, previously he just wasn't interested.  He did really well, and he even said "Ohhhhh" when he opened a pair of shoes.  Not sure how long the excitement will last for clothing, but it was pretty funny this year.  The big hit of the day was a fire truck from his Tio, which had flashing lights and sirens.  It's one of those toys that shouldn't be allowed in the car.  ;)

 Got the wrapping paper figured out.

 Get this fire truck out of the box!

 Cruisin' with a cousin.

We also got to see my Aunt and Uncle, and Cousin Connor (and his parents).  The boys had tons of fun playing in a kayak that was in the living room.  It will be very interesting to watch them grow up together.  The last few visits they have gotten along pretty well - when they figure out what they can accomplish together, watch out!

Aunt Terri, Tiago, Connor and Uncle Hal