Pictures and stories of Norm, Fern, Benjamin - the Big Brother and Nicolas -
the Little Brother and Sofia Grace - the baby sister.
A new chapter has started in this household of only human feet and no two days have yet been the same.
I don't think I have ever met anyone that loved eating pasta more than my dad did... well, and maybe his dad... and maybe Juan Ma... and maybe pretty much everyone in my family.
In Spanish we have a saying that reads: tiene a quien salir. The literal translation is: he has someone to take after. There can't be a better caption than this saying for this picture of Benjamin eating pasta.
I am afraid that the newest pasta loving fool in this family might be up for the challenge to prove who loves pasta the most.
Growing up, we would always eat pasta on Sundays. Regardless of what was going on, Sundays were pasta days. When we moved to the states, my dad started making his own pasta. I remember long spaghetti noodles hanging to dry from pvc pipe that laid horizontal from the counter to the island in the kitchen. I also remember helping to fill ravioli and to roll gnocchi. Sometimes he'd make linguine which is my favorite pasta. Many nights we would have Pasta Fest when my dad would make different types of pasta and different sauces (usually these would be pesto, walnut sauce and meat sauce... all made from scratch) and we would each fix our own pasta with whatever sauce and have mini courses of just pasta. No protein. No salad. No bread. Just pasta.
I just know my dad must have burst at the seams with pride as he looked down on Benjamin eating his pasta today at school.. I wish I could have Skyped him as Benjamin ate his pasta again tonight at home to be able to see his face light up with that pride only a pasta-loving grandfather can experience when he sees his 1-year old grand baby loving pasta just as much.
I'm not sure which of these two gets the fearless award... Is it the baby for wanting to take the tennis ball out of the 100 pound black dog that scares everyone and their grandma? Or is it the 100 pound black dog for letting the unpredictable baby so close?
I don't know if I should feel sad or excited or melancholic about Benjamin turning 11 months today. These months have gone by so fast, yet some days were never ending... enough of that, let's talk about what he is up to!
He has figured out how to stick his finger up his nose. And in the last week or so he has become quite independent at dinner, he wants to hold the spoon which translates to: we end up with food all over ourselves. Yes, yours truly included.
His little temperament has erupted over these last few days. If gets a hold of something he shouldn't have (like the TV remote or the saline solution bottle, which by the way he has figured out how to unscrew the cap off it) and you take it away from him (even if you give him something in return), he throws a mini temper tantrum. He turns red and yells and everything. He also gets impatient, like if you are changing his diaper and don't pull the dirty one out fast enough, he starts pulling at it and screaming at you. Same with the bib after dinner. Same if you take too long to get him out of the car seat. Oh, the car seat... he has decided that he doesn't like it again. When you try to buckle him up he arches his back and starts to crawl out of it... we have to allow about 10 additional minutes (maybe more like 3) when we head out to fight the car seat battle.
His appetite is ever growing, he has started eating waffles and french toast and salmon patties as well as freeze dried strawberries and a sprinkle of masala seasoning in his purees. We are about to start eating more whole foods...
He has mastered crawling, he gets on all fours and takes off, depending what he is after, you can hear those little hands on the floor and his voice full of excitement. He also is slowly starting to clap more consistently and said "chau chau" regularly. When we pick him up from school, he gets in his car seat, looks at his teachers and waves at them! He is learning how to blow, so maybe, just maybe, he will be able to blow his first candle!
He says "Cali" which sounds more like "adi". Everyone else pretty much is "tata"... He throws the ball for Pellet and gets such a kick out of it - even though the ball only moves 4 inches. Pellet, who is the fetch king, grabs the ball and brings it back to Benjamin to throw again. They keep each other entertained for two or three minutes.
Of course all his pants continue to be short, some of them need the cuff rolled twice! He likes to take off his shoes and socks and apparently pants too.
He loves his Vamos Bebe videos from Disney en Espanol - he dances with the baby on the screen and waves to it and laughs along with it. It is probably one of the most adorable things to watch!
In one month we will celebrate his first birthday... it is crazy to think back that one year ago I was incredibly pregnant eagerly and nervously awaiting this little guy and how he is here with us and fills our lives with so much crazies, which we love!
When we lived back at the lake, Norm and I were always working on some sort of project. Whether it was in the house or in the yard.. when we moved to rental houses, it was not as motivating to work on projects, until we lived on Fama Drive and the yards were borderline jungles, so we were out in the yard quite often cleaning it up.
Then we bought this little house knowing that it was going to need some help, mainly aesthetics. So back in November we decided to remodel the guest bathroom. Four months later we have (almost) finished. Who knew that throwing a baby into the mix of home ownership was going to be so significant!
I say "almost" finish because we still want to refinish the cabinet, which is oak. Refinishing oak cabinets is no simple task, from what we are finding out. So for now, we have finished the bathroom! Here are some before, during and afters. Apparently I totally forgot to take some good "before" pictures. Just know that the bathroom was brown and dark and nasty.
Today Benjamin and I went outside! I mean, we've been outside before... when he was itty bitty we would go out in the backyard and look around and do newborn things like that. Then winter came and we've been indoors since.
Finally the weather is warming up, so today we spent some time outside in the front drive - because the back patio is tiny and gross and the grass is still very prickly.
In the bottom left picture he was quite skeptical about touching the pavement, until he finally got brave and put his hand down and cracked a smile!
This morning I was working from home (at the computer in my room), Norm was getting ready for work (in the bathroom) and Baby was watching Disney en Espanol in the living room. We could hear him laughing and talking to the TV and playing.
When Norm got ready, he went to the living room to get Benjamin to go to school and I hear "he has no pants on, you have to come see this". As I was getting up from my chair, Norm adds "and he is missing a sock, what in the world?"
So this is what I found in the living room... he was dancing and singing and as happy as he could ever be!
And yes, those are some kitchen bowls and an ice cube tray in his play pen... he likes to play with those.
My mom always says that when I was little I'd suddenly start taking off my clothes for no reason... I guess we know where the this behavior in Baby is coming from! Oh the fun times we are about to have...
