Waking Up to Hugs!

Santi's awe and admiration for his brother grows every day. He LOVES being just like Mateo, doing everything Mati does. One of Santi's favorite things is to wake Mati up from his nap.

On this occasion, when Santi saw his brother sleeping, he immediately went over and laid his head on Mati's stomach; he silently stayed there for a good five minutes, gently patting Mati's belly.

Two Wise Men

An adult is one who lost the grace, the freshness, the innocence of the child, who is no longer capable of feeling pure joy, who makes everything complicated, who spreads suffering everywhere, who is afraid of being happy, and who, because it is easier to bear, has gone back to sleep. The wise man is a happy child.

- Arnaud Desjardins

I feel so fortunate to live the life I do: to have two little men constantly remind me to be engaged in the moment, to bring my guard down and be foolish, to savour their innocence! I'm so happy to be a citizen of OUR imperfect world, where there's tons of laughter and love, drama and tears, impatience and a never ending reminder to have patience; where the MOST important thing, after receiving an enormous share of hugs and kisses, is playing with cars and trucks and trains and airplanes, pretending to be cheetahs, leopards, tigers and lions, or dressing up as Buzz, Lightning or Knight and fighting the evil forces. So, with all of this, all there is for me to say is:

When I grow up I want to be a little boy. ~Joseph Heller, Something Happened, 1974

Mateoisms

El sabado fuimos a Panaca y al llegar Mateo y yo tuvimos la siguiente conversacion:

Mateo: "Mama, quiero orinar a la vaca."

Paty: "Que?? No te entiendo."

Mateo: "Quiero sacarle la leche a la vaca del zizi."

Paty: "AHHHHH. Ordeñar!!!!"

Corona del Mar

El Golfo de Mexico

Sometime between our trip to Spain and our trip to Aruba, Santi developed a fear of the ocean, specifically the waves. Nico decided to grab the bull by the horns and walked down the shore with Santi, showing him there was nothing to fear. Well, who knows what changed (again) in Chiqui, he was absolutely loving the water and would have thrown himself in if Nico wasn't holding his hand. (Oh, and the water was absolutely FREEZING, my feet hurt and were red from walking along the shore!) We slowly peeled back layers of clothing, until ...

... he ended in just a diaper. The rest of clothes = soaked.

Newport Beach

Another fun thing we did this trip was reconnect with an old friend of mine from high school, Liliana. We met up in Newport Beach with her three children and husband and enjoyed a sunny, but rather chilly afternoon.

I always feel that there are never as many pictures of Santi as there are of Mati, so in this occasion, I concentrated on capturing our "frijolito" in action.

On the run

With Isabel, Liliana's eldest

Bowling

Strike!

Pretend City and Arcade Fun with Tio Cucu

He finished absolutely soaked!! Luckily Mati was wearing two tees and I was able to put one on Santi.

Fine taste in cars starts early ...

He spent the whole morning playing with cars and trucks.

Disneyland with Abuelita Rosi

I guess a visit to southern California would be incomplete without going to Disneyland, so that's were my mom and I took the boys, while Nico went skiing in Big Bear.

It was an exhausting day ... there were so many people and the lines were beyond belief! We must have ridden about 10-12 rides in 8 hours! Just to see Mickey Mouse, in his house, took us well over an hour!! But oh well, the boys had a great time, including Santi who despite his young age, was digging all the rides! Mateo is showing greater interest in the bigger thrill rides, like roller coasters, which came as a surprise. He is still very affectionate towards all and any character, even if he doesn't know him/her; just the fact that they are big and cuddly is enough for this little man with a heart of gold.

The Buzz Lightyear ride

Shooting his laser at Zurg, Buzz's enemy.

Autopia

And you better believe it: there was MAJOR crying once the ride was over!

At the teacups - he loved spinning the wheel to make it go faster!

FINALLY!!! MICKEY!!!

I love his face ... just pure joy to see Mickey!!

Celebrating with Tio Brandon, Buckey and Daisy

We had the fortune to meet up with Tio Brandon while we were in the OC. We went to the park to play and have a picnic. We were all very happy to see him and spend some quality time with him. Thank you Tio for coming and for the beautiful presents! :)

Daisy and Buckey, two bloodhounds, also joined us. They are the most docile and sweetest of dogs that my mom is taking care of for a while. Santi, in particular, was really thrilled to have them around. Mati liked to take them out for walks and feed them, until Daisy decided that he was getting a little too close to her food and bit him on the cheek - nothing major, he just got a scratch, but he was definitely scared and shaken up. Good thing is that Mati didn't hold the grudge and immediately joined Tio Cucu to walk them that night.

Nico playing with the Stomper, a present we gave Mati. Clearly, he's having a really good time with it.

"Look how high it went! Bet you can't get it that high Tio Brandon."

Santi riding Daisy ... he was in LOVE with the dogs!

Trying to feed Buckey

Tongue fascination

Woooooooooohooooooooo!

All dizzy

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve celebrating and exchanging presents. Juan Carlos played some accordion music, and the boys were in heaven with all their presents. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the presents Santa brought them. But Mateo received a Razor scooter (and yes, a black race car) and Santi got a Fropper bicycle. I'm happy that this year, after hours and hours of Internet surfing, we got them both presents that they are really enjoying!! Thank you all for the wonderful presents and for your presence in our lives!

Mati loves his binoculars from Abuelita Rosi!

Enjoying magic tricks from the magic kit Juan Carlos gave him.

Discussing some serious issues with Tio Cucu

Loving his train set ... They received so many cars that I don't think we'll ever need to buy them any again!! Another favorite was the Mack Lego car their paternal grandparents sent Mati, but which Santi plays with a lot. THANK YOU ALL!!