Cuh-Cuh Monster

I have a Cookie Monster on my hands.  Well, actually its a Cuh-Cuh Monster, because he doesn't yet know how to say Cuh-KIE.  

First off, Marco adores the Cookie Monster character.  Every single time he is on TV, he begins hopping around, pointing and repeating "Cuh-Cuh... Cuh-Cuh".  Until I say, "Yeah, Marco, it's Cookie Monster".  

Secondly, Marco adores cookies.  Marco will wake up in the morning, and as soon as I walk into his room, he pops his head over his crib rail and asks, "Cuh-Cuh's?".  To which I always reply, "No, Marco, No cookies for breakfast".  Every Day. 

In the grocery store, he points to all the cookies and screams for them.  At play-dates, he'll refuse to play if other children have cookies unless he gets some too.  I'm not kidding.  This one time, Marco nearly tackled another child to get his cookies.  I was so embarrassed.  I swear I feed my kids!  

Marco has even noticed that there's a bank billboard that has a cookie in the corner of the advertisement, and every time we drive by, he jumps into his "Cuh-Cuh" tirade!  

Here he is a few months back... but even still, nothing has changed.  Look at how he stuffs his face!  That boy is crazy for Cuh-Cuh's!

oh, and he's upset because I wouldn't let him take the picture.

7 Years and Counting

Tomorrow, March 28th, is our 7 year dating anniversary.  Yes, even though we're married we still count AND celebrate our dating anniversary.  There are several reasons we do this: 1. We do not celebrate Valentines Day, so consider this our very own private and personal V-Day, and 2. If it weren't for March 28, 2004, the day it all began, there would never have been a July 14, 2007 (our wedding day), or a June 20, 2009 (the birth of our first baby), or a September 28, 2010 (the birth of our second baby).  So, yeah... it's a pretty big deal.

Mauricio and I rarely get to go out on dates.  In fact, our last date, was on my birthday, and before that was Mau's company christmas party.  So, we decided to take a few hours this Saturday for us.  I asked one of my most trustworthy students, Anna, to babysit, (Don't worry, she's 20!).  She came over around 2 in the afternoon, and we took off!

My original idea was to have a picnic at Falls Park with a bunch of goodies from Whole Foods. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.  It was windy, cold and rainy.  But we headed to downtown  anyway to try out a restaurant that everyone has told me they absolutely love; The Lazy Goat.  I knew absolutely nothing about it.  I didn't even know where it was exactly, and we ended up parking very far and walking in the windy, cold rain down a bajillion stairs and then up another bajillion stairs just to get there.  Finally we were in, dry, warm and ready to chow down!

The place was rustic looking, with large windows overlooking the river, (which was a lovely shade of caca brown on Saturday?).  They serve Mediterranean and Greek style food.  We had no idea... but we were pleasantly surprised!  We ordered a warm feta artichoke dip with pita for appetizer.  I thought Mau was going to lick the bowl... it was yuuuuummy!  Then for our entrees, we shared two panini's... a chicken parm and a greek lamb meatball.  Both were scrumptious!  I even ordered a Mojito as a special treat! (Oh, and on a side note, I did not get carded... what is that about?  How old do I look?!  Maybe not 21 exactly, but it could be questionable, right?  Am I delusional... almost 30?)  Then we had a delicious caramel flan thingy for dessert.

Do you think I liked it?

 Once we were done with our meal, it would have been nice to walk around a bit, go window shopping and such, but the weather was still not cooperating, so feeling a food coma coming on, we headed back home.

















 Although our date was very short, it was much needed.  We always agree that we need to have more date nights, but as time goes on and life gets busy and complicated, we seem to forget.  We really should try to make it a priority so that our 7 years can turn into 70 and still be fresh, fun and sexy!

Happy Anniversary, Mau!  These 7 years have been the absolute best of my life!  I love you!

Paci Wars

After reading much of my blog, I'm sure you've figured out that I'm highly opinionated and sometimes judgmental.  I admit it.  And before I had children, I would tisk-tisk the woman who's toddler was pitching a fit at Target, the mother who negotiated with her child (I'll give you a cookie IF), and the parents who allowed their child to be out of the house with a pacifier.  I'm not going to lie... I still judge some things, but I judge a lot less now.  Now that I've had the boy that throws himself on the floor at Target, I feel like I've walked a mile in those uncomfortable shoes, so instead of judging, I pity.  

I have always felt great about letting my children have a pacifier.  I think they are perfectly fine while in the house, to calm down or go to sleep.  Once Marco became mobile, I did not allow him to leave the house with a pacifier, because I didn't want him crawling around with it, letting it fall on the floor, letting other children have a suck, etc.  So, we were very strict about the pacifier staying at home.  Then when he turned 1, we adopted a new rule... pacifiers in bed only.  We would get him out of his crib in the morning and tell him to put his pacifier down, and he would do it... albeit reluctantly.  

Then Jonas was born.

Once Jonas was born and came home, the paci war became harder and harder to win.  It wasn't fair to allow Jonas to have his pacifier whenever he wanted, but Marco could only have it in bed... Marco didn't understand why Jonas was allowed but he wasn't.  Another problem, and probably the biggest, was pacifier stealing.  

This green, ugly, bulky, rubber pacifier was the one Marco came home from the hospital with.  Even though we tried other, cuter brands, this was the only one he would take.  Marco doesn't just like his "tete"... he has a LOVE affair with it!  He loves taking all of his tetes and putting them all over his face while he sleeps.  He wants 2 for his mouth, one for each ear, one for under his nose and one in each hand.  No joke... he wants as many pacis in his bed as possible. 

Note:  "Tete" is the Cuban baby word for pacifier.  It comes from "Tetera" which literally means "nipple" in Spanish.  If you're Cuban, you never had a binky or paci... you had a tete!

So since Jonas came home with the same pacifier, we decided to get him the blue ones, thinking that he would only take these as well.  We taught Marco that his were green and Jonas' were blue.  Marco knew which were his and which were not, but that didn't stop him from stealing Jonas' tetes... straight from his mouth!  Marco would giggle and sneak up to Jonas... snatch his pacifier and RUN!  Sometimes we would find him hiding under the table or in a corner sucking on Jonas' tete.  Forget hygiene!  Marco would NOT allow Jonas to have his pacifier... no matter what we did... no matter how much trouble he got in to... Marco was convinced that those were all HIS!  

So for months, poor Jonas could not use a pacifier.  I began to realize that he had the desire to suck, so something had to be done.  I would allow Jonas to suck on my thumb... until I felt like the nail was going to come off.  Then I remembered that I had a different brand that was never used because Marco had no interest in other pacifiers.  I had a pack of Mams and the clips to go along with them!  He LOVED them!  It calmed him and soothed him immediately.  But here's the best part... Marco wont steal these!  Marco takes his pacifier and says "Bruder Tete" and try to give it to Jonas.  I have yet to see Marco put these pacifiers in his mouth. He has no interest in them, as long as he has his!  Hallelujah! 

These Paci Wars that Marco and I are engaged in are exhausting.  He is totally winning.  He sucks on his tete most of the day, takes it in the car and has overtaken all soothies... green AND blue.  But, honestly, I'm not too worried about it.  He still is not allowed to take it out of the car.  I refuse to allow him to be playing at the park or mall with a pacifier in his mouth.  Pacifiers are for pacifying... and if a child is playing, they don't need to be pacified.  Once Jonas turns a year old, we'll get more serious about weaning both of them... or maybe just making it a bed time pleasure.  So, although Marco is winning this battle... I WILL win the war in the end.  

Our 1st Trip to the ER

Last night we got to take our first trip to the ER.  (Well, our first trip because of one of the boys... we all know we've been their countless times on my account).  I know you're thinking Marco... being the crazy one... being the mischievous one... being the one that's in to everything... but you're wrong.  That's right... our first ER trip was on account of Baby Jonas! (Well, actually on account of Mauricio injuring my little darling angel baby Jonas).

In our house, Mauricio is the official nail cutter.  Because of my RA, I don't have to strength or steadiness in my hands for such a delicate task.  Mauricio has always been a pro at this chore.  He wrestles Marco when he has to, holds hands super tight and cuts quickly.

Last night, Mauricio was performing his nail cutting chore, beginning with Jonas.  Jonas was being a wiggle worm and as Mauricio approached the final finger on the first hand, he slipped!  The cutter went too deep and cut the nail too far, leaving a wide open gash.

Now, I know you're thinking, "you went to the ER for a NAIL?"  And, that's what I thought too... but you have NO idea how much blood that little nail produced!  I knew that we needed to hold the cut tightly in order to get the blood to clot.  So, I held, and I squeezed, and I wrapped, and I iced.  I played games... I'm not going to look for 10 whole minutes and by then it should have stopped.  After about 35 minutes of this, with blood still dripping down his little hand, I decided to call my dear friend, Stefania, who is a pediatrician and saves my butt on MANY occasions!

When I tell Stef what's been going on, she tells me to put pressure without looking.  Did it.  She tells me to ice it.  Did it.  When I told her it had been bleeding for over a half hour, she said "Sorry to have to tell you this, but it's time to take him to the ER".  Ahhh, bloody hell.  Literally!

So, at 9:45pm on a Sunday, we pack up the kids in the car, I jump in the back to hold the bloody hand, and we head out to the hospital.  Thankfully, the hospital was rather quick and empty.  Once the doctor came in, he glued his gash closed and bandaged up his little thumb.  We were back in the car with 2 sleepy but healthy babies by 11:00.

Mauricio feels so sad and guilty over what happened.  But, I've told him over and over that it was an accident and accidents happen.  Besides, with 2 boys, I'm sure we're going to have many, many, MANY visits to the ER in the future.  We'll probably have countless cuts, scrapes, broken bones, stitches, glue and casts!  That's just life with boys!

Where Have I Been?!

Readers, please excuse my absence!  I can't believe it has taken me this long to actually find the time to sit down and write.  I have missed blogging in these past weeks.  I have missed having an outlet for all of my crazy stories and thoughts.  But, I'm BACK, BABY!

As you may have remembered me posting a while back, we moved the first weekend in March.  It was insanity.  Mauricio had packed up the whole house and everything was in order to go, but he kept running into obstacle after obstacle.  First, it was raining.  Who moves in the rain?  We do, apparently.  Secondly, once he got to the new house with a full truck, there was no key.  The handyman was supposed to leave us the key, but he didn't.  Then when he tried calling the management company, he got a run around until somehow, someone brought him a key.  And last problem was that he had no man power.  Thankfully, some of his friends called to be sure he had help, and upon hearing he didn't, they offered their services!  YAY!

So, we moved... but then this new house was a huge mess.  Taking things up 3 floors is no picnic.  Everything was such a scattered and disorganized mess that we literally were completely overwhelmed.  We just didn't know where to begin.  Thankfully, my dad and brother came to visit that week and both worked very hard trying to help us get things in order.  Desks were built, cribs were put together, crazy heavy furniture was hauled upstairs, and little by little things began to take shape.  But then we were hit... Mauricio and I got sick.  Again.

Isn't that always the way things happen?  You're really busy, have dozens of plans, and then some sickness comes along and kicks you right in the butt!  We had had plans to go to Orlando that weekend for my best friend Jennifer's wedding.  We had plans to visit all of our Orlando peeps and spend time enjoying everyone's company after 2 years!  All of our plans were wasted.  Instead, we spent the weekend wishing someone would come take care of our kids and taking nap shifts... Mau takes care of kids while I nap, then I take care of them while he naps.  We were so dead tired and sick, that all organization was put on hold.

Mostly I have been unable to post because of our internet situation.  Although we have internet, it is connected to the wall... and I've just become too spoiled with WIFI, that I can not be sanctioned to just one chair... I need to have my options.  But alas, I will sit in that one chair and get my internet and blog fix until we get our WIFI up and running.

So now, we've been living here for 3 weeks and things are STILL not in order.  It's getting there... slowly.  As soon as our house does not resemble a farm animals den, I will post pictures.

So that's where I've been.  Did ya miss me?

Give-Away Winner

And the winner of a $15 Trendy Trinkets gift certificate is........

DANA CAPERS

Dana is a very soon-to-be mommy (37 weeks preg!) and has a wonderful blog that documents her experiences with pregnancy and motherhood.  You can check out her blog here.  

Dana, I will message you on FaceBook with the info on how to redeem your prize.  Hope you enjoy some online shopping and can maybe get something special to commemorate this amazing time in your life!  

Happy shopping!!