Mateo’s First Swim & Woodstock Revival

Here are a few photos from Mateo’s first dip in the swimming pool last week. He didn’t love it when I laid him on his back and got his ears a little wet, but was pretty content being held in my arms with the water up to his thighs.

Last week we also enjoyed a concert at Lake Harriet celebrating the anniversary of Woodstock with some of my family. Emilia LOVED dancing to the music with her “cousins” (technically my cousin’s kids). When she easily talked my mom into buying her a tie-dyed dress at one of the stands, all the other girls begged their parents to do the same….what a trend setter!

Can’t believe I finally got a half decent shot of me with my two kids!

Quite possibly one of my favorite pictures of Emilia of all time!

Flower Girl in Training

Emilia practices for the flower girl duties she'll have at my brother's wedding next month, with the help of her (formerly my) Easter basket and some "practice petals" that came with a great flower girl book from my friend AnnMarie, who works for Scholastic (thanks Ann!).

And one of Mateo, of course, chillin' on the boat.

More Summer Fun

Here are some more pictures of our latest summer fun. I don't think they need too much explanation (nor do I have time to give it), other than maybe to say that Emilia has been very into "costumes" lately (the shinier, the better). Oh, and regarding that last photo, all I can say is my husband is weird.

The Latest Developments

Mateo is now two months old and started rolling over from front to back a few weeks ago (see proof in photo sequence above). We’ve put him down on numerous occasions for “tummy time” only to turn around a few minutes later and find him on his back. He wants to move! He also scoots around when on his stomach, pushing against the floor with his feet and causing him to move in a wide U-turn.

Emilia is also at a developmental milestone, making big strides in potty training. We introduced the idea a year ago, but have not pushed it much. She has been more than ready for awhile though, and needs to be in underwear by this fall if she wants to move into the next age group at her school. I didn’t want to do too much with potty training around the time of Mateo’s birth, but now that we’re settled in a bit, it’s time. A little over a week ago we made the switch to “big girl” underwear during the day (other than at naptime) and it’s going pretty well. A few accidents here and there early on, but we haven’t had one in about a week. Yay, Emilia! I have to consciously give her a lot of liquids, however, or she doesn’t ever seem to have to go while awake and instead just fills her diaper during naptime and at night. Below, Emilia shows off her “potty chart” (which is now almost full of stickers!). For every five stickers she gets, she gets to go out to Ben & Jerry’s with mom or dad. We took other photos to document the potty training process, but it doesn’t seem appropriate to post them on the web. ;)

Summer Fun

People keep asking how life with two kids is going. Apart from the fact that I don’t have time to do much like update this blog, clean the house, do the writing I had planned to do this summer, or have much “adult” time, I think it’s going pretty well. Emilia and Mateo and I are kind of getting into a weekday routine, which usually includes a fun outing or activity in the late morning and quieter time at home (well, Emilia is quieter because she naps in the afternoon; Mateo usually sleeps through the morning outing and is fussy during the afternoon, but it’s quiet in the sense that I only have him to deal with) in the afternoon. Mateo is a bit fussier than we remember Emilia being as a baby—lots of spitting up and gas is the likely culprit—but his cute face makes up for it. He's also started smiling more deliberately and is holding his head up for long stretches.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of our latest summer fun.

Princess Serious

Mateo getting his smile on!

Grandpa and his babies (including Emilia's baby doll, Lilly)

The gang tries out the new tent Yaya just bought

Three Weeks

Mateo is now three weeks old. At his two week check-up (which he really had when he was about 2 1/2 weeks old) he weighed 8 lb. 13 oz., which is more than a pound more than he weighed at birth. I have a feeling he's going to become one of those chubby babies, rather than a skinny mini like his sister.

Agustín went back to work this past week, and so far so good, although my mom has helped out in one way or another almost every day, so it’s probably too early to say how it’s going with two kids at home.

I’ve noticed this blog is a bit like a television sitcom—when a baby comes along, the humor seems to disappear (have you noticed that?). I think I’m still a little too tired to be witty (I have to admit, I was debating between updating the blog right now and taking a nap). Therefore, without further ado, I’ll just post some of my favorite photos from the past week or two.

Mateo (with great uncle Barry) finds his thumb for the first time! I think it was just a happy coincidence, but hopefully he'll get the hang of this habit soon (Emilia started sleeping 12 hours straight during the night as soon as she began sucking her thumb)!

As mentioned in a previous post, Emilia has started nursing her baby doll--burp rag, nursing pillow and all! (Authenticity is important to her, I guess.)

Above and below: Two cute pictures Agustín snapped when he and Emilia spent the morning at Como Zoo.

I've heard many women say that when their husbands watch the kids, they are unable to do anything else (as in, "I couldn't do the laundry because I was watching the kids.") As can be seen above, that is certainly not the case with my husband!

Above and below: Emilia loves "tummy time" with Mateo. When I told her that this was Mateo's way of exercising, she attempted to teach him some yoga (which she learned at school). Those of you who have done any yoga might recognize the "happy baby" pose below. Needless to say, Mateo hasn't mastered much yoga yet.


I think I have more pictures of my mom with my kids than photos of me with my kids.

First Week at Home

Mateo is now eleven days old and we’ve been home a little over a week. So far, everything is going well. At his one-week check-up last Friday, Mateo weighed 7 lb. 12 oz., which means he’s already surpassed his birth weight (something that babies ideally do within two weeks of being discharged from the hospital).

Emilia loves her baby brother (who she often refers to as “my baby”). She constantly wants to give him kisses (and is usually pretty good about doing so gently), and every time I change his diaper she wants to be my “special helper.” She is even copying a lot of things I’m doing with Mateo with her own “baby,” Lilly—from diaper changing and burping, to putting in the carseat for trips to the doctor, and even breastfeeding (those photos to come in a future post). It’s really cute (and a little scary how impressionable she is)! Emilia has become a bit of a handful lately, however (2 1/2 is proving to be both terrific and terrible), so I’m especially grateful to have Agustín home for two weeks (which are coming to a close more quickly than I’d like) to help out during this transition period.

Emilia enjoys a morning at the Children's Museum with Papa.

Emilia licking the spoon after helping mom bake a cake to celebrate Mateo's arrival (that's face paint and chocolate on her face--the signs of a truly fun day).