Happy Halloween!

Wow! Life has been incredibly busy lately. I started class again in September and, although I only have one class this semester and am not teaching this year, I have started working on the literature review and preparations for my dissertation. The result is that I never feel "done" and always have more I could be doing.

The potty training continues. She wears underwear while awake and really has no problems, but we're still working on the finer points of it, so the sticker chart continues (for dry diapers at night and a BM on the potty) with an ice cream outing whenever she completes a row. Chocolate brownie is the flavor of choice; I assume she does not see the irony in that.

We also joined our local gym when Mateo became old enough to go into the child care center there last month; the kids and I go several days a week (I’m almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight!) and Agustín takes Emilia to the pool at least twice a week. She’s becoming a fearless little swimmer! So, life is busy, but good….very good.

As a reward (i.e. bribe) for being such a good flower girl, Emilia got a pink doctor's kit, and has been doing a great job of keeping H1N1 out of our house. Her favorite tool in the kit is the "stefacope."

Just a few weeks ago we said goodbye to "Tío Jojo" and "Tía Tara" as they headed off to Chile to start their own adventure travel company (see www.KnowmadAdventures.com).

Emilia has been enjoying the lead-up to Halloween, with opportunities to wear a costume to her school party, a parade at the gym, and trick-or-treating. She’s worn a different costume each time! That makes sense, since if you ask her what her favorite letters are, she responds very quickly, “E for Emilia and C for costume.” She has gone to three childrens plays and has decided she wants to be an actor when she grows up. Specifically, she wants to be Louanne the pig in the play “I Like Me” (based on the book by the same name). And Yaya has fueled her love of costumes by taking her into every second-hand store she sees and not coming out without something shiny, sparkly, frilly or fancy. They even got Mateo a great little dinosaur costume, which has seen its share of wear this week.

The photo above and below are from a recent trip to the Children's Museum (Mateo's first!).

Mateo is getting big quickly; he’ll be five months next week. He’s working very hard on moving—he rolls over, pulls his legs under his stomach and pushes forward, does a no-handed downward dog, and generally does whatever he can to propel himself wherever he wants to go. He loves to practice standing up and is rocking the exersaucer. He’s losing his hair in a very interesting pattern, leaving a dark mohawk and crown on his head. He’s quite a talker, very ticklish, and laughs a lot. He’s sucking his left thumb just like his big sister, and we think the blue eyes are here to stay, just like his papa’s. Oh, and last but certainly not least, he sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night.

My parents babysit every Monday afternoon/evening while I'm at class until Agustín gets home from work. Last week they tackled the great pumpkin project with the kids (and yes, my dad is wearing Zubazz....no comment).

Emilia models her Halloween costume, a "flying pink dragon."

Mateo in his halloween costume (although we'll wait until next year for him to go trick-or-treating).

The costume that Emilia chose to wear for her school halloween party. I have no idea what she's supposed to be, but she seemed to think she looked like someone from "Dancing with the Stars" (her favorite non-PBS show).