For as long as I can remember, I have always worried about Lito being behind in a few milestones .... walking, talking, potty training, etc.
In the last few months, he has really accelerated his speaking abilities and I've been so proud of him! I've made a concerted effort to get him around more kids and I'm sure that's paying off. The other day he told me something that really impressed me. I honestly don't remember what exactly he said that caught my attention. It's the conversation we had afterwards that is cemented in my memory!
I stopped to tell him, "Lito, that was very good! How did you get so smart?"
He paused for a split second, put his little pointer finger on his chin and very proudly said, "Well, I thought about it!"
Yes son, that's a skill you'll need for life! I hope you always think before you speak!! :)
Friday, July 30, 2010
I Love Your Daddy!
The other day I was hanging out in Lito's room ...
It was the morning of my trip to Dallas ... the first time I was going to be away from the kids for any amount of time!! I was feeling oversentimental and guilty about leaving. However, I knew I needed this trip. So I decided to hang out with Lito for a few minutes.
He has a fun bunk bed that has no bed on the bottom. There is only one bed (on the top) and underneath is a play area. We have a huge bean bag so I was laying in there cuddling Lito. He's such a sweetheart!!
We were just chatting and I said, "Lito, do you know that I LOVE your daddy?"
Lito replied, "Yes, and he loves you too!"
I wasn't expecting that! I said, "Awwww, I hope so!"
And Lito said, "Yes, he loves you because you are his life!"
As if I wasn't having a hard enough time leaving on my trip!! I LOVE my family!
It was the morning of my trip to Dallas ... the first time I was going to be away from the kids for any amount of time!! I was feeling oversentimental and guilty about leaving. However, I knew I needed this trip. So I decided to hang out with Lito for a few minutes.
He has a fun bunk bed that has no bed on the bottom. There is only one bed (on the top) and underneath is a play area. We have a huge bean bag so I was laying in there cuddling Lito. He's such a sweetheart!!
We were just chatting and I said, "Lito, do you know that I LOVE your daddy?"
Lito replied, "Yes, and he loves you too!"
I wasn't expecting that! I said, "Awwww, I hope so!"
And Lito said, "Yes, he loves you because you are his life!"
As if I wasn't having a hard enough time leaving on my trip!! I LOVE my family!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Parent Preview
Before having kids, I thought about how inconvenient it would be to have to take care of another being. I was really enjoying the life Danny and I had built. We had steady jobs, a nice house, too many pets, and the best travel arrangements one could ever wish for!! Danny works for an airline company and the flights for the first 10 years he was there only cost $20 round trip nationally and (get ready for this ...) $35 roundtrip internationally! We were blessed enough to travel the world and see some of our dream places ... Rome, Paris, Niagra Falls, and too many tropical islands to name! Truly I never underestimated the value this kind of blessing brought to us (I never dreamed it would be a reality).
Then, one very fateful October day in 2004, 10/27/2004 to be exact ... two weeks before a suprise trip Danny had planned, to take me to Hawaii for my birthday ... our lives changed forever. I almost lost my beloved Danny. He was in a horrific motorcycle accident and he was in the hospital for weeks! He had several surgeries for broken bones, he needed constant dressing changes for the burns all over his body, he contracted a potentially fatal staph infection, and to this day, he still has a metal rod in his disfigured left leg. Three months after his accident, the doctor cleared him for 'intimate' activity. I'm sure you're laughing right about now! I'm smirking too :)
I can still remember that check-up appointment!! We had very specific questions about his progress but his 'intimate' abilities was NOT one of them! Honestly, his injuries were so severe that those thoughts weren't anywhere near any of our conversations at home. So when the doctor ended his check-up appointment by giving me a very graphic manual, with drawn pictures of different POSITIONS (!!) circled and 'x'ed out, I am sure that my face was beat red! I don't remember really hearing what she was saying, just out of being in utter shock! I'm pretty sure that Danny had a different reaction :)
That night we talked ... about starting a family. We both realized that life was too short to put it off any longer. We both wanted kids, we knew that about each other early in our relationship; afterall, we met when we both worked at the YMCA and we got serious when we both worked as Summer Camp Counselors ... so we knew kids were always going to be in our future. On February 24, 2005, almost four months after Danny's near death accident, we found out I was pregnant! Danny wasn't even cleared to go back to work yet and here I was, expecting our first child. And wouldn't you know it, Lito was born almost a year after Danny's accident (he was born 10/11/2005! Our lives haven't been the same since! We fell in love with Lito so much that we planned Solana Leila as soon as I thought we were ready (and yes, I even planned on her being a girl, but that's a different story)...
I started thinking about these turn of events because recently I have found myself missing our travel days. There were so many other places we wanted to go ... Hawaii was just one ... Spain, Australia, Egypt, South America, etc. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I have just wanted a break from being a parent. I started wondering, if before starting a family, had I been given a preview into parenthood, would I have made the same decision to start a family? As I spent the whole day with the family today, I realize that having our kids is the biggest blessing in my entire life! No way would I have ever changed things as they turned out. Yes, things are tough every single day (tougher on some days more than others when my patience runs thin), and yes, there are days that I need a break from them (really, from every thing!)! But the beautiful moments I had with them today, they really made me grateful to have them in my life. My family gives me purpose and they are my reason for taking time off! I know they'll be this small only for a little while and they require more physical energy right now than they will in the the future. The best part is that eventually they'll be old enough to take those wonderful world trips with us! (I realized this thanks to Danny's wisdom in putting that thought in my head!!) And guess what, now Danny has been with the airline long enough that ALL our personal flights are FREE!
So I proudly found solice in this beautiful day that I got to spend with them. I relished in having a conversation with my son and hearing how he is rationalizing things even at such a young age (he's 4 and thinks he's all grown up)! I fell in love with Solana Leila's intense observations and curiosity as she explores the world from her 1-year eyes. I so look forward to sharing the rest of my life with two beautiful children along with my very devoted, kind, generous, wise and handsome husband! Love, Live & Laugh ....
Then, one very fateful October day in 2004, 10/27/2004 to be exact ... two weeks before a suprise trip Danny had planned, to take me to Hawaii for my birthday ... our lives changed forever. I almost lost my beloved Danny. He was in a horrific motorcycle accident and he was in the hospital for weeks! He had several surgeries for broken bones, he needed constant dressing changes for the burns all over his body, he contracted a potentially fatal staph infection, and to this day, he still has a metal rod in his disfigured left leg. Three months after his accident, the doctor cleared him for 'intimate' activity. I'm sure you're laughing right about now! I'm smirking too :)
I can still remember that check-up appointment!! We had very specific questions about his progress but his 'intimate' abilities was NOT one of them! Honestly, his injuries were so severe that those thoughts weren't anywhere near any of our conversations at home. So when the doctor ended his check-up appointment by giving me a very graphic manual, with drawn pictures of different POSITIONS (!!) circled and 'x'ed out, I am sure that my face was beat red! I don't remember really hearing what she was saying, just out of being in utter shock! I'm pretty sure that Danny had a different reaction :)
That night we talked ... about starting a family. We both realized that life was too short to put it off any longer. We both wanted kids, we knew that about each other early in our relationship; afterall, we met when we both worked at the YMCA and we got serious when we both worked as Summer Camp Counselors ... so we knew kids were always going to be in our future. On February 24, 2005, almost four months after Danny's near death accident, we found out I was pregnant! Danny wasn't even cleared to go back to work yet and here I was, expecting our first child. And wouldn't you know it, Lito was born almost a year after Danny's accident (he was born 10/11/2005! Our lives haven't been the same since! We fell in love with Lito so much that we planned Solana Leila as soon as I thought we were ready (and yes, I even planned on her being a girl, but that's a different story)...
I started thinking about these turn of events because recently I have found myself missing our travel days. There were so many other places we wanted to go ... Hawaii was just one ... Spain, Australia, Egypt, South America, etc. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I have just wanted a break from being a parent. I started wondering, if before starting a family, had I been given a preview into parenthood, would I have made the same decision to start a family? As I spent the whole day with the family today, I realize that having our kids is the biggest blessing in my entire life! No way would I have ever changed things as they turned out. Yes, things are tough every single day (tougher on some days more than others when my patience runs thin), and yes, there are days that I need a break from them (really, from every thing!)! But the beautiful moments I had with them today, they really made me grateful to have them in my life. My family gives me purpose and they are my reason for taking time off! I know they'll be this small only for a little while and they require more physical energy right now than they will in the the future. The best part is that eventually they'll be old enough to take those wonderful world trips with us! (I realized this thanks to Danny's wisdom in putting that thought in my head!!) And guess what, now Danny has been with the airline long enough that ALL our personal flights are FREE!
So I proudly found solice in this beautiful day that I got to spend with them. I relished in having a conversation with my son and hearing how he is rationalizing things even at such a young age (he's 4 and thinks he's all grown up)! I fell in love with Solana Leila's intense observations and curiosity as she explores the world from her 1-year eyes. I so look forward to sharing the rest of my life with two beautiful children along with my very devoted, kind, generous, wise and handsome husband! Love, Live & Laugh ....
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Daughters and Mothers
As a woman who had a very tough relationship with her mother, I was so nervous about having a girl. While I was pregnant, I was full of mixed emotions. Before knowing whether our second baby would be a boy or a girl, I would literally cry and cringe at the thought of having a girl. I wholeheartedly did NOT want a girl!
The day I was in the ultrasound room, with Danny and Lito right next to me, and the moment the nurse said, "It's a girl!", I was filled with unexplainable sheer happiness and tears of joy! It was really an unexpected reaction! For the rest of my pregnancy there were days when I would fall in love with the idea of having a girl! But I still had my days when I would worry about whether I would end up with a bad relationship with my daughter. I would wonder how I could keep that from happening and I would think back on why things went so wrong between my mother and I years ago. We're good now, but we do have our differences. My mother also has a worse relationship with my sister and I used to worry that this could happen for me and my daughter.
Then, the day that she was born, when she first opened her eyes, she locked in on mine! She was born 9 pounds 3 ounces and literally looked like a 3 month old at birth! Immediately we saw her one dimple and her almost asian eyes. She was down right beautiful! At that moment, all of my worries melted and all I saw was the great connection that she and I had already!
During her first year of life, it has been an amazing journey. The amount of love I feel for her really overshadows any fear about what our relationship will go through for as long as she and I are blessed to have each other. She has actually turned me into a better woman, as cheesy as that sounds. Yes, my son changed me as well, but there is a different kind of change when you know the eyes of another female are on you! She helps me to make better decisions about what it means to be a woman of value, integrity and of faith. She also helps me to hold myself to a higher standard! She makes me want to celebrate being a woman and she brings out an inner confidence in me that I haven't ever known. Solana Leila has truly changed my life already!
Today, as we were hanging out at McDonalds, she turned around to look at me and just gave me the best gummy grin! The sincerety of how she looked at me hit a special note in my heart. Her gaze said so many things to me! She trusts me, she loves me unconditionally and she already looks to me for how to react to different situations. Looking back into her eyes a year after she was born, I am still filled with such great faith that our relationship will endure any bumps we'll go through! I'm savoring every minute of the ride!! I can't wait to talk to her about boys, hair, make-up, clothes, and all of the other many things that women go through as they develop from young girls into dependable and admirable women. I hope I live up to her expectations!
The day I was in the ultrasound room, with Danny and Lito right next to me, and the moment the nurse said, "It's a girl!", I was filled with unexplainable sheer happiness and tears of joy! It was really an unexpected reaction! For the rest of my pregnancy there were days when I would fall in love with the idea of having a girl! But I still had my days when I would worry about whether I would end up with a bad relationship with my daughter. I would wonder how I could keep that from happening and I would think back on why things went so wrong between my mother and I years ago. We're good now, but we do have our differences. My mother also has a worse relationship with my sister and I used to worry that this could happen for me and my daughter.
Then, the day that she was born, when she first opened her eyes, she locked in on mine! She was born 9 pounds 3 ounces and literally looked like a 3 month old at birth! Immediately we saw her one dimple and her almost asian eyes. She was down right beautiful! At that moment, all of my worries melted and all I saw was the great connection that she and I had already!
During her first year of life, it has been an amazing journey. The amount of love I feel for her really overshadows any fear about what our relationship will go through for as long as she and I are blessed to have each other. She has actually turned me into a better woman, as cheesy as that sounds. Yes, my son changed me as well, but there is a different kind of change when you know the eyes of another female are on you! She helps me to make better decisions about what it means to be a woman of value, integrity and of faith. She also helps me to hold myself to a higher standard! She makes me want to celebrate being a woman and she brings out an inner confidence in me that I haven't ever known. Solana Leila has truly changed my life already!
Today, as we were hanging out at McDonalds, she turned around to look at me and just gave me the best gummy grin! The sincerety of how she looked at me hit a special note in my heart. Her gaze said so many things to me! She trusts me, she loves me unconditionally and she already looks to me for how to react to different situations. Looking back into her eyes a year after she was born, I am still filled with such great faith that our relationship will endure any bumps we'll go through! I'm savoring every minute of the ride!! I can't wait to talk to her about boys, hair, make-up, clothes, and all of the other many things that women go through as they develop from young girls into dependable and admirable women. I hope I live up to her expectations!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Storm Shadow
I have a very special event later this month and I needed to buy a very special dress ... thanks to my husband taking me shopping, I found the PERFECT dress! I am truly in love with this dress. It's midnight blue, formal, and beautiful! It has over the shoulder straps, feels like a wrap in the chest, has an empire waist and flows in layers of ruffles all the way down to the floor! I can't even tell you how wonderful I feel in this dress and I can not wait for the event at the end of this month.
When we got home from shopping, I was so excited about showing my dress to my kids ... I don't really know why, I guess I was just so excited that I found one I was this happy with! So I walk in the door and my son says,
"Wow Mommy, that dress is beautiful! It looks like Storm Shadow!"
Okay, for those of you that don't know, that's an action figure! Really? I'm going to look like Storm Shadow? I may have to re-evaluate my look!
When we got home from shopping, I was so excited about showing my dress to my kids ... I don't really know why, I guess I was just so excited that I found one I was this happy with! So I walk in the door and my son says,
"Wow Mommy, that dress is beautiful! It looks like Storm Shadow!"
Okay, for those of you that don't know, that's an action figure! Really? I'm going to look like Storm Shadow? I may have to re-evaluate my look!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Is It Still Brown?
For anyone that knows me, they know that diversity is a passion for me. It has played such a huge role in my life and I knew as soon as I got pregnant with Lito, that my kids would be exposed to lots of it!
Ever since Lito started talking, we have made it a point to talk about skin color. You see, my husband is African American and I'm Central American ... so our differences are very obvious! One day Danny (my husband) was teaching Lito colors and he would point to our shirts, our shoes, our hair, etc and eventually he pointed to our skin. We were so impressed that he was learning to see Daddy as brown and Mommy as beige (I know, I know, I'm more Ivory but we won't go there yet!!).
It's been a few months since we've discussed skin color and we don't really dwell on it so it hadn't crossed my mind again until this last week. Lito was having a day ... he gets jealous of his baby sister every now and then and he refuses to nap (because when Leila goes to sleep, he enjoys his alone time with Mommy and Daddy!). One particular night last week, he was exhausted and he just refused to take a nap. He finally had had enough of his sister having all the attention so he decided to throw a hissy fit! He started to cry very loudly and proceeded to throw himself on the carpet! What he didn't plan on was a hard toy being in the way of his fall ....
Poor thing, he fell on a hard red fire truck toy and it hit the small of his back and most of his bottom. I could tell it really hurt! I heard it and saw it, I was expecting the worst. I hand off Leila to Danny and pull Lito across my lap to check out the damage. As I'm making sure he's okay, Lito is full of questions!
"Is it hurt?"
"Is it bleeding?"
"Is there a scratch?"
But nothing could have prepared me for his next question:
"Is it still brown?!?!"
I couldn't believe it, my son was worried that he had scraped the brown off his skin!! I think we laughed for the rest of the night about it!! Needless to say, he forgot about his temper tantrum :)
Ever since Lito started talking, we have made it a point to talk about skin color. You see, my husband is African American and I'm Central American ... so our differences are very obvious! One day Danny (my husband) was teaching Lito colors and he would point to our shirts, our shoes, our hair, etc and eventually he pointed to our skin. We were so impressed that he was learning to see Daddy as brown and Mommy as beige (I know, I know, I'm more Ivory but we won't go there yet!!).
It's been a few months since we've discussed skin color and we don't really dwell on it so it hadn't crossed my mind again until this last week. Lito was having a day ... he gets jealous of his baby sister every now and then and he refuses to nap (because when Leila goes to sleep, he enjoys his alone time with Mommy and Daddy!). One particular night last week, he was exhausted and he just refused to take a nap. He finally had had enough of his sister having all the attention so he decided to throw a hissy fit! He started to cry very loudly and proceeded to throw himself on the carpet! What he didn't plan on was a hard toy being in the way of his fall ....
Poor thing, he fell on a hard red fire truck toy and it hit the small of his back and most of his bottom. I could tell it really hurt! I heard it and saw it, I was expecting the worst. I hand off Leila to Danny and pull Lito across my lap to check out the damage. As I'm making sure he's okay, Lito is full of questions!
"Is it hurt?"
"Is it bleeding?"
"Is there a scratch?"
But nothing could have prepared me for his next question:
"Is it still brown?!?!"
I couldn't believe it, my son was worried that he had scraped the brown off his skin!! I think we laughed for the rest of the night about it!! Needless to say, he forgot about his temper tantrum :)
Friday, July 2, 2010
My Favorite Time of Day
Tonight, I want to soak in this moment ...
My husband is on the sofa playing Rock Band,
My son is playing the second guitar (since he asked to play),
My daughter is bopping up and down to the music!
Danny created the lead singer to look like me ... I like that I still rock his world!
The living room is a mess and the dishes need cleaning ...
But at this moment, I just want to memorize Leila's giggle and Lito's smile.
If only I could freeze time and hit replay for all of eternity!
This will be a forever imprint on my soul ....
And I'm so thankful that my husband is the man that he is, sitting next to me, also enjoying our much needed family time.
Life is much too short...
My husband is on the sofa playing Rock Band,
My son is playing the second guitar (since he asked to play),
My daughter is bopping up and down to the music!
Danny created the lead singer to look like me ... I like that I still rock his world!
The living room is a mess and the dishes need cleaning ...
But at this moment, I just want to memorize Leila's giggle and Lito's smile.
If only I could freeze time and hit replay for all of eternity!
This will be a forever imprint on my soul ....
And I'm so thankful that my husband is the man that he is, sitting next to me, also enjoying our much needed family time.
Life is much too short...
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Juggle Struggle
I can't believe that I have 2 kids!! What was I thinking?!?!
Oh, I remember ... I looked at Lito and said, "What would it be to have another one?" You're going to think I'm crazy but I actually planned a little girl!! That's a story for another day :)
There are so many things that change from having one child to having two. Somehow you get even less sleep (as if I was getting enough sleep when it was just Lito!!). Somehow I'm eating less but gaining weight (how in the world ... I still can't figure that one out!). Somehow I have to schedule in time with my own husband (scheduling hubby time just takes out some of the romance!). Somehow I have figured out how to ignore piles of junk and dust bunnies (I never thought that would be possible, I used to be a neat freak!).
There were definitely some things that I didn't count on ...
Oh, I remember ... I looked at Lito and said, "What would it be to have another one?" You're going to think I'm crazy but I actually planned a little girl!! That's a story for another day :)
There are so many things that change from having one child to having two. Somehow you get even less sleep (as if I was getting enough sleep when it was just Lito!!). Somehow I'm eating less but gaining weight (how in the world ... I still can't figure that one out!). Somehow I have to schedule in time with my own husband (scheduling hubby time just takes out some of the romance!). Somehow I have figured out how to ignore piles of junk and dust bunnies (I never thought that would be possible, I used to be a neat freak!).
There were definitely some things that I didn't count on ...
- I didn't realize that it was so much harder to 'organize' nap times. They take naps at different times so I always have my hands full with one or both of the kids!
- I didn't think that I would need to schedule in showers too! There are days that I can't even remember if I took a shower for the day! Please don't tell anyone that!!
- I didn't count on all the conflicting feelings I would have with both of the kids ... I feel bad for Solana Leila because she doesn't get my undivided attention (like Lito did) and I feel bad for Lito because I have to push him aside sometimes to deal with Leila (and I see it in his face, the disappointment of not being the center of my world).
It's such a struggle to juggle it all! But I wouldn't change it one bit! I truly enjoy being there for both Lito and Leila, I love learning from their new-world views, I love getting their hugs and smooches, I love watching them learn and understand new things, I love hearing their voices in the house, and I love watching my husband light up when they do something new and funny! My kids have given me a totally new perspective on life and for that I am so eternally grateful!!
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