1000 Gifts List

I have been inspired.

For months I have looked forward to reading a friends´blog specifically when she posts about her running “1000 Gifts List”.  And I´ve wanted to start one of my own for a time now, with hesitation to actually do it for fear of seeming like a copy-cat.  Then I followed the link on her blog (finally, she includes the link every time she posts about 1000 Gifts) and I realized there is a whole slew of people doing this.  It´s meant to be copied.  So as I start my list, I encourage you, blog world readers, ALL of you, to do the same.  And as the 1000 Gifts blogger says “But consider yourself warned: counting gifts is addictive and becomes the happiest of habits that becomes a way of living praise!”  Let´s hope so!

1000 Gifts List:

0001
Beautiful flowers from new friends.

0002
Milestones: sitting up.

0003
Moments of Quiet.

0004
His sly smile.

0005
The sweet sensation of productivity.

Sleep Boot Camp

It´s tough.  But it´s worth it.  Enzo has gone to sleep on his own with little to no whimpering crying for the past few nights.  His general demeanor is much more positive and we are just thrilled… (until the next growth spurt or teething).

5 month check-up

This afternoon we took the little guy in for his 5 month check-up.  Here is what we learned:

Enzo weighed in at a healthy 8 kilos (17.6 lbs)

He measures up to 67 cm (about 26.4 inches)

He will be starting on solid foods in a couple weeks (I am trying to memorize the can/cannot eat list… besides rice or corn cereal, I’ll be giving him all fresh food)

We’ll start giving him vitamins and iron

After his cold the past week or so, he looks good… ears and nose all clear

All good news!  We’re very thankful.  Here are a few recent pictures to leave you with.

Blanket attacks

Ok… so forgive me for laughing about this.  Some people may think I’m a bad mom and just mean.  Let me give you a little background…

Confession: I am guilty of committing the ultimate modern day mommy no-no.  I lay my child on his stomach to go to sleep.  At first it started as a trial.  He ended up sleeping better and longer and I found that he was strong enough and loud enough when he would wake up… so stomach sleeping it was!

Effort: I do try to switch it up though.  So I’ll also lay him down on his back now… as he’s getting bigger, he’s getting better at sleeping in general.

Problem: When I lay Enzo down on his back I can never put a blanket over him and this is why.  Enzo loves to grab what’s in front of him and devour it.  He’s very grabby and he’s in that phase where he puts anything in his mouth.  So the blanket over his body also gets grabbed and is brought to his face.  Well, Enzo still hasn’t figured out how to remove the blanket  once it has covered his face.  He panics and proceeds to scream, I mean SCREAM.  Poor thing.  Whenever I run in and pull off the blanket he just has this so scared look on his face and with his little teary eyes seems to say “thank you Mom, that blanket was attacking me again”.  Ok.  I know.  This is my interpretation, but it is almost too cute and a little funny.

Bad mom of the year.

Luckily it is getting pretty hot around here and there is no need for a blanket.  I hope he figures out how to pull the blanket down by the time summer’s over.

This land is your land…

Here are a few shots from our (quick, too short, wonderful, full) time in the States.  Enzo did GREAT on both 11 hour plane rides.  So great he’s already wanting to go again!  And NEXT time, we’ll try and take even more pictures.  To see a little bit more go to our link on the photos page.

Quality time with Tia Carrie

Mommom and Poppop Miller

Aunt Pat is fun

Miller Great-Grandkids

Meeting Andrea

Meeting Erica

Love my Mommom Mary

Hanging out with Uncle Bunky… no squeezing involved

Nelson Great-Grandkids

Some quality time with Abby

Lots of love from Grammy

Family shot before presenting for the Missions Fair at church

Meeting Tio Nate

A valuable lesson from Nate

Chatting with Pop

Tio Drew got a lot of smiles

With the Lady Beglins

With Meeker…

4 months young

Yes, friends.  Today Enzo turned 4 months old.  Just thought we´d play some more catch-up and tell you what he´s been up to lately.  Get ready for some staggering achievements…

he´s been drooling a LOT as of a few weeks ago

ooh´s and coo´s quite a bit (using different consonant sounds)

gurgles and razzes (that wet razzing sound one makes with their mouth, many times producing bubbles)

smiles, not just spontaneously, but actually at people

laughs out loud

brings hands together

he has recently found his feet and LOVES them

squeals in delight

he has a pretty tight grasp and many victims have fallen to hair pulling, eye poking & cheek grabbing

he´s been pretty enthralled with a colorful blankie with tags on it, thank you very much Kate G.  He takes it up in his arms and buries his face in it, often smiling with pure glee.

he sucks on EVERYTHING

he´s getting pretty strong… good head control, we practice sitting up (but can´t do it on his own yet), and we practice rolling over (but not by himself) during “tummy time”

I´m trying to get him to fall asleep on his own, (so as not to always rock him to sleep) it doesn´t always work quite yet.  But we´ll keep trying.

nighttime sleep is generally getting better, i cannot complain.  our mornings are just super early which is hard on me

So that´s what we´re up to.  All doctor´s observations were positive.  We´re very thankful.  I´ll update more on our recent visit to the States in the next post.

Little gems

I’m doing a little Spring cleaning, you could say.  Going through clothes to give away.  Going through drawers of unbelievably useless stuff and tossing LOTS of junk.  I have confirmed two truths about myself: I love to hang on to things for a while and I LOVE to get rid of heaps of things at once.

Today, going through one drawer I came across an old organizer I had been keeping JUST IN CASE I ever bought the pages to refill it.  The organizer is going.  But before I joyfully tossed, I emptied what was inside.  Little jewels I had tucked away years before because they either inspired me, encouraged me or just made me feel good.  Jewels for today.  What I found was this:

One copy of My Heart Christ’s Home, a little booklet that I first read with my Youth Group back in middle school and it really meant a lot to me.  (Robert Boyd Munger)

A really sweet note on a teeny piece of paper Jessie wrote me one day back at Elon.  Just to brighten my day.

A “Roses are Red” poem to make a date together from Jenny, from when we were on Summer Staff together.

Notes scribbled on a scrap of paper from sermon I liked.  Scribbles like, “God is a God of the nations”, “We do not live in fear, we live in confidence of Jesus and His promise.”

Dad’s business card with “Happy Trails… Love, Dad” on the back.  I don’t remember which trip it was for.

A note left on my windshield by Megan from the night I was baptized.

A series of fortunes:

1. You will travel to many exotic places.

2. You will spend many years in comfort and material wealth.

3. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. (Hebrews 10:22)

A business-like card given to me by Ted which lists  how to go about finding information on and applying for STINT.

A picture of my friend Kelly and her little brother Jeff (Bud).

A list of recommended books and paintings including:  Unbearable Lightness of Being (Kundera), Luncheon of a Boating Party (Renoir), A Moveable Feast (Hemingway), On the Road (Kerouac)

And one copy of one I my favorite poems of all time and I will leave you with this.

HUG O’ WAR – Shel Silverstein

I will not play at tug o’ war.
I’d rather play at hug o’ war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.

An Urban Baby´s Lullaby

Hush little baby, don´t say a word
Listen to your neighbors, yelling so absurd
Don´t mind the sirens, never mind those beeps
Honks, alarms and speed bikes (sans muffler), make they whisk you off to sleep
Rock-a-bye little guy, fast to sleep you go
With a door slam here, and a door slam there, and a party down below
The dogs around the barrio are wishing you ´bye-night´
In unison with the one that howls on the eighth floor every night
If nothing else to get you settled and give you a lovely rest
The man downstairs is puffing away on Cuba´s very best
So lullaby my baby boy, may you rest all the more
You have until 7 when the jackhammers begin in the building being built next door

Ketchup

Let´s see.  There hasn´t been a post in a while… sorry about that.  Let us recap these past 6.5 weeks…

Week one.

July 8th… Enzo was born.  Tabo and Kelly temporarily say goodbye to sleeping through the night, and day, and hello to a beautiful, full face that we love!

July 12th… We take Enzo home.

July 13th… That nasty umbilical cord falls off.

July 14th… Enzo´s first bath.  He loved it (see Week four to see if Enzo continues to love it.  Hint:  He doesn´t)

Enzo does great at his first check-up… the yellow in his skin is going and he is beginning to recuperate the weight he lost the first few days.

Week two.

Enzo goes out to eat a few times and does great!  Well, Enzo didn´t really eat, but he recieved the benefits eventually.

Enzo says “see you again soon” to Pop (Ralph) and Abuela Dina (Tabo´s mom) who have been in town to meet and hang out with Enzo.

Week three.

Grammy (Terri) goes back to the States after 3 weeks of rocking, calming, cooking, cleaning and sharing from her wealth of experience.  We miss Grammy.

Week four.

Ever since Grammy left, all of a sudden Enzo HATES his baths.  Mama feels inadecuate.  *the child is still bathed every other day despite his kicking and screaming.  And he smells durn good.

Enzo weighs in at 4.5 kilos!  SOMEBODY likes to eat everything on their plate.  And it shows!

Enzo flies in a plane for the first time!  We went to Comodoro to visit Tabo´s family and to celebrate the 15th birthday of our niece Belen.  Enzo got lots of love from aunts, uncles, grandparents, a great-grandparent, cousins and friends… and after the first day he did great!  He did so well on the plane.

Week five.

We see the beginnings of a smile.  We´re talking the kind with eyes open and alert… not the falling asleep and I´ve just relieved myself of some gas and that felt good kind.

Tabo celebrates his first birthday (no not his 1st, it was his 28th, but we mean for the first time) as a Dad.  August 17th we enjoyed some quality family time and celebrated with some friends in the days prior to his birthday.  We´re so thankful for our sweet husband/best friend/Dad.

Week six.

A test.  Tabo was invited to a conference in Bolivia for nearly a week (the 17th – 24th of August).  He quickly discovers just how much he misses his little guy… and his lovely bride.  Kelly and Enzo get a week to work on their relationship… mainly patience and perseverance for the both of them.  And Kelly celebrates the little victories of each day: showering, making coffee and eating breakfast BEFORE Enzo gets up; a day where she can vacuum AND mop the entire house; and a personal party every time a sink full of dishes gets washed or a load of laundry dries… MAYBE even folded.

Tabo packs for his trip.

More smiles.  None caught on camera.

In conclusion.

We have had an adverturous 6.5 weeks and we can only say that each day gets a little better.  We´re working on this parenting/good kid thing… we´re all new at it, and mostly always like it a lot.  Although no full smiles were caught on camera, many, MANY other moments were.  So check out our “Photos” and “Videos” pages.  You will get your fill.  And we are always updating there… otherwise the grandparents get antsy.

A word of warning…

This site is for people who are interested in seeing WHATEVER has to do with the Familia Valencia.  That means even this…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z7gvD7BnDo

So there is your warning.