Tuesday Tell All

Thanks to the recommendation from my friend, Vanessa, I joined this group called Tuesday Tell All, and today is my first tell-all post. They basically give you a topic to blog about every Tuesday. It's like a little journaling jumpstart.

This week's subject is September 11th.

"Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?" -- Alan Jackson

I was in my dorm room in Miami. I had just walked back from my early morning class, and on my way to my dorm, I saw people wheeling a giant TV into the lobby. I didn't give it much thought, and just went upstairs to my dorm to take a nap. (I hated having to get up to make it to an 8 o'clock class.) I was awoken from my nap by the answering machine on my roommate's phone. She was from New York, and the phone call was from her mom. She said, "I'm sure you've heard about the bombings. Everyone's okay. Just stay in your room and call me later." Since she said, "Just stay in your room," my first thought was, "What? A bombing where? Here?" My instinct told me to turn on the TV. So I did, just as the first tower started to collapse. It didn't register right away. It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, stopping only to go get some dinner.

There were a lot of kids from New York at my school. In my dorm, on one floor alone, 6 people lost their parents. In other dorms, those numbers were higher. And at one of my best friend's dorms in Boston, those numbers were much much higher. It was devastating.

Seven years later, I still haven't been able to watch United 93 or World Trade Center. I'm just not ready to feel that sadness all over again.

Seven years later, I'm grateful for the heightened airport security. Yes, even though it's annoying to take off my shoes and get my kids' expensive sunscreen and my favorite lipgloss confiscated because I forgot to put them in a little baggy and they surpassed the 3 oz limit. And yes, I think the new x-ray machines that can see you naked are an invasion of privacy. But if it's going to keep something like 9/11 from happening again, so be it. (Well....I'm not quite sure about those x-ray machines yet.)

Seven years later, I still don't think we're very safe. I still think there are big holes in our homeland security and we're still vulnerable. But I'm grateful that I live in a country where security isn't AS big an issue as it is in many countries around the world.

Marcelo Evan Eats Grass

We went to the park the other day with my uncle Leo and his wife, who were visiting from Colombia. They sat with my parents in the shade, while I followed my kids around trying to take pictures. What else is new, right?

These are all of Marcelo because Diego is a bit harder to catch. He's too fast for me.

I never know how other people see my pictures. Am I the only one who likes them? I play and play with them in photoshop, and then I ask Marcelo to come help me tame my eye because sometimes I take the editing too far. The problem is that all my pictures are of my kids, so of course I'm going to think they're cute, even if they're horrible. I need to take pictures of other people's kids so I can be less biased. Anyway, right now I'm just doing this for myself because I love it and it's really fun, but I also want to know how other people see my pictures. Because I'll look at one and think, Hmmm, the lighting isn't great, or the focus isn't right, or whatever, but I'm not sure exactly how to fix them. I know I can't learn everything overnight, but I'm so impatient and I want to learn everything NOW.

Anyway, here's a little series called Marcelo Evan Eats Grass.

Here's my future soccer player, walking towards the goal.

Just taking a little rest.

Cool, what's this?

Marcelo, what have you got there? Don't put it in your mouth.

Marcelo Evan. I said don't eat it!

Oh, you mean like this, Mommy?

All About "Baby Celo"

Today I want to write all about Marcelito, a.k.a. Cranky Pants. He's about 13 and a half months old, and although he fills our lives with love, he is also quite the little terror. Basically, the boy has an attitude.

There are many great things about having your kids very close together, but there are also downsides. One of the downsides for me has been that I've felt like I haven't gotten as much bonding time with little Celo, as I did with Diego. Diego is still so young and still needs so much attention, so I haven't been able to have a lot of one on one time with Celo. And now he's getting bigger and bigger and it just makes me sad!

So what is he up to these days? Well, he's walking all over the place. Unless he's on his way to do something naughty, in which case he runs. He's also saying a few words. Not many, but a few. I think so far he just says Mama (only when he's upset), Dada (alllllll the time), baw (ball), bath, ca (car), and eeeeees (please). He also signs please and more. My boys haven't been super fast talkers, so I'm just happy that he's at least saying a few words. He doesn't like to let me teach him things, like Diego used to let me. He is SO STUBBORN. Really. It's unbelievable how stubborn he is. Whenever I try to teach him something, like, "Where's your nose?" He just gives me this look like, "I'm not a monkey, here for your amusement. So back off, okay?" Therefore, he has only let me successfully teach him his head, my nose (he never points at his own), eyes, feet, hands, belly, and lengua (tongue in Spanish). I'm horrible and I haven't taught him much Spanish. He only knows tongue and more. I did much better the first time around with Diego. But whatever, I'm not going to beat myself up, I still have plenty of time. I just have to be disciplined and do it.

All of his cousins call him Baby Celo. Diego isn't too fond of the nickname and continues to call him Marcedo (can't say L's very well). But I think it's cute when all his little cousins follow him around calling him that. The only boy in his life is Diego, but neither one of them seem to mind being surrounded by girls. As long as there is something with wheels at their houses (like a little baby doll stroller), they're happy.

What else? Oh, yes. His crankiness. He is a total tantrum thrower and he's not even 14 months old yet. If he doesn't get what he wants, when he wants it, he throws a screaming fit. If I tell him no, he finds that hilarious. If I talk to him harshly, he yells at me. Sometimes he'll go as far as to throw himself on the ground in the middle of one of his fits. Entertaining? Yes. Do I want it to continue? No. But how do you discipline a 13 month old? I don't have the answer.

He's very independent and happy to play on his own. His favorite toy is his tractor that his Tio Andres bought him for his birthday. Besides that he loves cars, balls (and throws as good as Diego, my non-athletic son), baths, and putting absolutely anything he can find in his mouth. He also loves to be outside, like any boy. He's not really crazy about books. Whenever I try to read to him, he just closes the book shut like, "Um, no thanks." Actually, anytime I try to play with him period, he's like no thanks. Food-wise, there's nothing he doesn't like. The only thing he's picky about is drinks. If he could drink juice all day, he would. He's not a fan of water, and sometimes it's even a struggle to get him to drink his milk.

Despite his temper, he's a joy to us. He makes the funniest faces and is sooo cuddly (when he wants to be). He's always happy to see me, which melts my heart every time. And I loooove to see how sweet Diego is with him. When I catch Diego just randomly going over to Marcelito to give him a kiss on the cheek, or a little hug, it makes my heart want to burst. I know, I know, this all sounds so cheesy, but it's true.

Alright, now I'm all caught up. I just didn't want the time to go by without journaling a little about my baby. And for any of you friends and family out there that care, now you know what he's up to. :)

I'll be back to post pictures.

Randomness

I don't have anything exciting to write about, so I'm just posting a few random pictures today.



This picture was taken about a week before I chopped off my hair. We were out on a double date with some friends to a sushi bar. As my friend Lorenia said, " It's the only kind of bar Mormon's and Bahai's go to." (She's Bahai.) Marcelo looks like his momma in this picture.

Mmmmm. Now I want some sushi.

This is Diego at the "mountain". Fountain. He loves going to the fountain in the middle of the local shopping center.

And here's Celo doing his favorite thing: sucking his thumb. Someone please tell me how to break this habit. At least he's not flippin' the bird in this pic. He's laying against the fountain because he was tired and ready to go home and go to bed.

See? Nothing exciting.

I think I've Created a Monster

So, remember how I said I joke around with Diego going back and forth saying, "You go-geous"? Well, one day while we were playing, he said something that took me by surprise and I said, "Diego, you're a genius." After that, he spent a few days walking around the house saying, "Mommy, you a genius!" I played along and said, "No, YOU'RE a genius."

Well, yesterday he decided he doesn't want to be a genius.

Diego: Mommy, you a genius.
Me: No, Diego, you're a genius.
Diego: NO! You a genius, I go-geous.

Ohhh. Sorry. And now he's been saying that over and over again. What have I done??

I have to say, though, I love the way he talks. Whenever he learns to say something correctly, I get a little sad. For instance, he says, "I not see it," or "I not want that," and I don't want to correct him and teach him to say "don't" because I like hearing his little language! My favorite has to be, "Who gave it to you?" instead of "Who gave it to me?" I love that.

He's also starting to tell me more things that happen when I'm not around. Usually when I ask him how nursery was on Sundays, he doesn't say much. I'm like what did you do? And he just says, "I don't know. Play." And that's that. Well, this Sunday after church, he said, "I cry in nursery today." I was like, "Really? Why? What happened?" He said, "I got owie right here." And pointed to his head. I said, "Who made you feel better?" He said, "Lagana." (That's his nursery leader's last name and the kids call her Sister Lagana. Except for Diego who just calls her Lagana.) These little conversations amaze me because they just remind me how big he's getting. It's so sad!!!

Politics Shmolitics

Let me just start out by saying I hate hate hate election year. I hate the way the country gets soooo divided into red vs. blue. I hate listening to people talk about how retarded the other party is. I feel like to the rest of the world, we must look so ridiculous being at each other's throats the way we are. It's one thing to disagree on the way the country should be run, and a whole different thing to slam, trash talk, and disrespect the people you are disagreeing with. I don't know, maybe I should have been a hippie because I'm all about peace and love. That's why I don't like sports. I always feel sad for the losing team. (I know, I'm mental.)

Moving on. We watched the Republican National Convention last night. Yes, I'm republican. Which means about half of the nation thinks I'm a complete idiot. Well, I'm sorry, but nothing about Obama's views is appealing to me.

I was very impressed with Sarah Palin. I didn't know anything about her until last night. I still don't know much about her record as Mayor or Governor. What I do know is that she came off as very smart, strong, and was very likeable. Honestly, it inspired me. And not just because she looks EXACTLY like Marcelo's aunt. (Seriously, she could be her twin.) As Marcelo and I were listening to her, we were surprised with how well she was doing, and he said that it just didn't seem real. It felt like we were watching a movie with a female VP.

However, when McCain walked out, I was like...is he 100? He looks like he has aged 20 years in the past few months. He looked so....fragile. And I don't know how I feel about the possibility of him not making it a full term and having Palin be the first Madam President. I just don't know enough about her to make that judgement. But his mom is still alive and kickin' so maybe he's still got a lot of life left ahead of him. And I'll tell you right now, I'm still going to be voting for McCain, because to me, it's much better than the alternative. The idea of Obama in office scares me to death.

Park Pictorial

My cousin let me borrow a 35 - 105mm lens, and I've been dying to play with it. I finally got my chance yesterday, when we took the boys to the park.

Here are the poor, unsuspecting boys. They thought they were just going to get a fun day at the park.

Little did they know that their obsessive mommy would be chasing them around the whole time,

trying to take pictures of their feet,

and their hands,

and their little faces,

and anything else I could capture.
By the end, they felt like this:

That's Celo's tantrum face. He does it whenever he doesn't get his way. In this case, he was mad because he wanted to ride the same car Diego was riding. Typical.

As you can see, right now I lean more towards black and white. That's mainly because I think it hides imperfections and makes an otherwise uninteresting picture just a little bit more interesting. Marcelo wants me to do more in color, but I argue that I'm not very good in color yet. Slowly I'll learn.