When we found out we were pregnant, we talked about a lot of things, including who we would like to have as God-parents for our unborn child. Since names were being thrown out left and right, we thought that maybe we would wait until our child was born, so we did. It was still quite hard to pick just two people, so we decided to see who (without telling anyone about this plan) loved him like no other. Again, hard. Then finally we got the bright idea to see if Michael had a special relationship with anyone—my brother Luis. Those two are like Batman and Robin. My brother loves Michael as if he were his own and Michael loves Luis like he loves his Papa. So that was that. Since day one, those two shared an unbelievable bond and that my friends, sealed the deal.
Dear Michael,
Today you turned 18 months old. Eight teen. Where oh where did the time go?! I remember when you were first placed on my chest right after you were born, and now? Well, now you are running around, making jokes, and giving kisses when I need them the most. My angel, you have growing up to be this wonderful little boy. Someone who I could never imagine to come and bless my life with his big laughter and squeals. You my dear have taught me so much in such a short time. I am grateful for that. You have taught me to never write in my calendar in pencil because plans are always changing when it’s with you.
Have I ever told you one of my most fondest memories as of lately? No, okay. A few weeks ago I had gotten into some fight with my own mother. I cried. You saw me broken-hearted and it was you who stopped those sad tears from rolling down my face. You came up to me, hugged me, and kissed me. That’s when those sad tears turned into happy and proud tears.
I love you my Michael. I love you more than you will ever know.
-Love mommy.
Stats:
Michael is officially 18 months old. How is he a year and a half?! Time. It's slipping through our fingers.
Weight: 26lbs
Length: 33 1/4inches
Sleep & Naps:
He's been sleeping through the night for the most part, but he has had a few wake-ups during the late hours of the night. If he wakes, it's only once--unless he's in pain.Feedings:
He's eating solids. Has been since he was 6months old. No bottles, but we all knew that by 15 months when he went cold turkey. His favorite foods are Mac N' Cheese with broccoli, Milk in his sippy cup, tilapia, beans with "queso fresco", and any variety of soups (which is going to be awesome since the cooler temps are approaching. It's 95*degrees right now!)
Diapers:
Still wearing size 4. Hoping to start potty training by the end of October, early November.Nicknames:
Papa, Mi’jo (“Mi hijo”/My Son), and Chulo.
Personality:
Climbing everywhere! I mean, everywhere!
Michael also says various words, “Hey-yo” (hello), “Leche” (milk), “Ava” (water), “Shez!” (Cheese for pictures), and “Doggy” with “Arf! Arf!” Elmo is also a known “word” around here, but he calls him “Papu!” "Choo-choo" for train. "Up" and "Down."
He climbs off the beds with ease.
Sleeps through the night.
Eats fairly well with picky days about once a week.
He knows to bring stuff and can follow directions.
Loves to play outside.
Knows to connect two toy cars together and convert into a train.
loves to "Read" (stares at book as if he were reading.)
Helps in bathing his little cousin by dumping water on his head during bath time.
On Wednesdays I like to do some sort of link up, so I thought I would do two. This one I got from Erica over at Mi Todo blog. I fell in love with her blog and I think you should head on over and read it. Her link up is from: Amber @ ClickPrayLove.com | Ashley @ Ramblings & Photos | Sarah @ SarahHalstead.com.
The link-up is about posting your top five favorite pictures of your children since June. This one is going to be a tough one!
This picture was taken on the Fourth of July. It’s of my dad, my nephew on his lap, and of Michael. I love this picture so much.
Another Fourth of July photo. He was looking at me and kept saying, “Chez!” (cheese.)
You can see his split lip from when he fell.
Another favorite! This one is of my own grandfather. I love this one because this way I have a memory for him of his meeting his Great Grandfather. Something both my husband and I don’t have. (August)
This one is of Michael at the beach. His first time. He loved it. We are going back next year. (Sept)
I love this one because it’s a recent on of his face. His face has changed so much. Taken the same day with my grandfather. (August)
This past weekend was quite eventful. When we decided to go see and feed the ducks on Saturday, we thought it would be fun to take Michael next door—to Funderland! So, those were our plans for Sunday. I think I was a wee bit more excited than Michael. I’m a chatterbox. I’ve always been a talker by nature. It’s one quality that has always gotten me in trouble in grade school. Which is why I think that I probably talked my husband’s ear off with how excited I was about Michael going on his first train ride.
Funderland is an amusement park for the small kiddos. Even though it only has a small handful of rides, the kids quite enjoy it. Michael is only 33 1/2 inches tall, which meant he was only allowed to ride a few rides (the train ride, car ride, and carousel.) But this was okay, his eyes widened as we entered the park with things that went in circles. He wanted to see everything! He ran from one ride to the other trying to get all of the fun that the park had to offer. After he surveyed the park, off to the train ride we went. he '”choo-chooed” the entire time we waited in line (about 5 minutes.) He didn’t know what to make of it once we rode his favorite toy (he is enamored with trains right now and Thomas has taken over his love of Elmo.)
After we rode a few rides and played with rocks (okay, he did, I didn’t) we thought we would take a stroll through the park. Then Michael discovered the pony rides. He ran to them and barked. Yes, he barked. Kept calling him “doggies” and panted as he pointed at them. Obviously we kept trying to correct him with, “No honey. That’s a horse. Horses say ‘neigh! pffft!’” He didn’t care, to him, they looked like giant doggies.
The “doggies” were starting to retreat for the day. Their owners began walking them over to the trailer and asked Michael if he would like to ride Caramel over to the trailer. Michael answered with “bow-wow!” Which meant yes. He loved, and I mean LOVED the pony ride. Caramel was a wonderful pony. Michael seemed like a natural. He must get that from his momma.
Cowboy Michael from Analilia on Vimeo.
Our Saturday was zooming away so quickly, especially since Michael and I had taken an early afternoon two hour nap. We wanted to do something before Steve had to leave for work, so we grabbed some bread that had started to show signs of “You better eat me now or I’ll grow some mold” before leaving. We decided that going to the local Zoo’s park would be best for Michael’s first duck feeding.
Michael’s eyes opened wide when we approached the feathered creatures. He instantly recognized them and began quacking. He has been in love with “Elmo’s got 4 ducks” since he was 8 months old, so he knew what ducks were. Michael even bent his arms in wing form and quacked while we tossed pieces of bread to the ducks and geese.
It was a short visit since it was 90*degrees out and we had to rush home for Steve to get dressed for work. I am so glad we made this quick trip. It really lit me up inside seeing Michael’s face of enjoyment when he saw the ducks and geese. Next time we’ll bring more bread.
Do you see what I see (sorry if that song sticks?) Yep. That’s one giant bald spot on my son. I’d love to tell you that it was all him, but it wasn’t. I’ve let my husband believe it was and I can’t get the courage to tell him it was me. Yes. Me. I finally told him after a pink swear and “Cross your heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in your eye.”
Backstory: My husband is somewhat cheap. If he can do it, he’ll try and save money and do it. Every month (Michael’s hair grows fast, just like his mama’s) he hates hearing, “Michael needs a haircut.” This usually means that I’ll hear Steve say, “I’ll do it!” and me answering, “No! He moves to much.”
Anyways, back to the story…
I saw my husband’s clippers getting ready to be used yesterday and I picked them up. Somehow I got the great idea to just snip a wee bit off the top since it was so tall already. Just a wee bit I thought. Michael moved and BAM! Hair, long hair, on my lap. Michael softens the blow with, “Uh oh!” I start laughing. Hard. Just like the online acronym, ROTFLMAO. Just like that. My husband comes into our bedroom and he asked what was going on. I show him and let him assume it was all Michael.
Yep. That was my Saturday.
I decided to join in on the fun with Growing Up Geeky. Every Tuesday there’s a link up party for Toddle Along Tuesday and I decided to join in on the fun finally. This weeks theme is “Mommy and Me” and you get to post a bunch of pictures of your baby and you—obviously this sounds like fun, right? Here’s my collage:
I want to see yours too!
Growing up with my grandparents we always called them “Mami Angelina/Teodora” or “Papi Jose/Merre.” I don’t remember why or how that happened. They were always “Mami/Papi” to us. Now that I have my own child, Michael is learning to speak. We live with my parents which is a great thing for us right now since I love watching Michael bond with my parents, his grandparents. He has learned a lot from just hearing us, adults, talk (it’s my little family, my parents, and two brothers as well in this house.) I think the confusing part about Michael’s learning to talk is the labeling of people. Since we live with my family, obviously I still call my parents “Ma’” “Pa’” and my brother’s by name—this means that Michael hears those words instead of, “Abuelita”, “Abuelito”, “Tio Danny”, and “Tio Luis” (soon to be God-father.) This meant that he would always call my mom “Ama/Mama” as well. Until yesterday.
My mom had been gone all day with her own mother shopping, who is visiting from Mexico. This meant that for the day, we had the house to ourselves and decided to just lounge around. After a good few hours of playing around, you could see he was missing something. My mom. Then it happened. He started calling out for her, “Abbi!” Yes, Abbee. This is the nickname we came up with when I was pregnant with my parent’s first grandchild. My mom hated “Abuela” since she felt it made her feel older, so Abbee it is (a nickname of sorts.) When my mom had come home I pointed out, “Who is that?!” Michael lit up and began saying, “Abb-ee!!” My mom about cried.
I loved it!
