And he's off...

And he's off...

We have been searching the floors for anything that is dangerous - electrical cords, coins, marbles,  cars with small wheels, scraps of paper (which he seems to love...).  The list grows by the day.

He has also been caught chewing on shoe bottoms and the tricycle tire.  Fun times ahead...

Dog Days

Well, we survived the summer.  At least, we survived summer vacation.  One definite downside of having T in school rather than daycare is that there was a last day of school (which I attended and embarrassed myself by bawling like a baby), and three full months of no structured activities.  I really missed school, especially since we had a 1-week-old baby on the last day of school, and the heat down here is insane.  I didn't realize how tough the heat is when I was working in Houston, because I spent summers in the office.  But here, with a child who does better when he has time every day to run outside, the heat was tough.  At any rate, it's hot and humid, and I have one boy who really needs time outside, and another boy who really doesn't need to be outside.  Quite the dilemma.

So we managed to get by mostly playing in the house, with trips to the park in the early mornings and later in the evenings.  I have been very grateful for the playroom which allows me to just close the door on the day's mess, and really happy that we met enough people that we had playdates scheduled occasionally throughout the summer.  We did also send T to a summer camp for 6 weeks, 3 days per week so the baby and I could get some rest.  He missed his friends from school, but had a good time.  They had a program at the end of the session, and sang some songs.  One was about "Chef Creole" who was made of rice hair, french bread legs, red bean eyes, sausage arms, etc.  It was pretty funny, and even months later that song is stuck in my head.

Over the course of the summer we also had some visitors come through.  Jaime's parents came right after Ian was born, and two of his brothers also came through to meet the baby.  We made a few trips to Houston, and took a quick trip to the beach in Florida, although that one was pretty much a disaster.  I won't write much about it, because it consisted of rain and entertaining kids indoors.

 Abuela with Ian

 Tiago loves the new baby.

Tio Orlando and Abuela with the boys.

One weekend Jaime and T went to Houston for a visit and some soccer games, and Ian and I stayed home and enjoyed a visit with my friend Graciela.  Tiago and I were talking about his trip, and our conversation went like this:

T: I'm going to miss you.
Me: I know, but when you get back we will have lots to talk about.
T: Yes, like the weather.

So, apparently we are like the rest of the world, and discuss the weather.  But anyway, I had a wonderful 24 hours, and it was so nice to spend time with an old friend.  All the moving we have done in the last few years means that most people we see regularly are new friends.  Which is amazing and wonderful, but old friends are just important.  We made smoothies, checked out the French Quarter, ate an amazing lunch at Carmo, did some shopping, and talked almost non-stop.  For some reason, it's always better to talk in person rather than on the phone.

At the end of the summer, my parents and my sister and brother coordinated a visit and all came down for a long weekend.  It was tons of fun, and we did lots of tourist things even though it was pretty hot and every time we left the house we all came back needing a shower.

 Taking in the view of the Mighty Mississippi.

 Tiago enjoyed the views from Zach's shoulders.

 Photo taken for the red dresses.  Annual race.  Always a hoot to see.

 At St. Louis Cathedral.  I think T was interested in the horse drawn carriages.

 Gram, Jack and Tiago.

 Riding the streetcar on Sunday morning.

 Just hanging out.

 Lunchtime.

 Best view in the house.

 My sister snapped this great shot of Ian.

Waving to the streetcar to come pick us up!

Tiago loved having a house full of people.  He keeps asking me when everyone is coming back.  Despite the heat, New Orleans is a fun city.  It's been nice for us to have so many things to show people when they come to visit. 

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?