Brothers

This picture really shows the dynamic between these two boys. Sometimes Diego is all lovey towards his brother and tries to give him hugs. And Celo is just not having it. He's been indifferent towards Diego's hugs for a long time. See for yourself: This picture was taken when Celo was just 10 months old. Look at Diego's sweet smile. And then look at Celo's grumpy face. So, so typical.

Before I make it sound like Diego is an angel child who showers his brother with affection on a daily basis, let me be clear: that only happens 20% of the time. 50% of the time, they are at each other's throats. (And for that final 30% of the time, they are both angels: fast asleep.)

A little time apart while Diego is in preschool has done them good. No. Not true. It has done ME good. Because I don't have to hear, "Nooooo, D-GO! Don't DO dat." Or, "Cewooooooooo. Give me back my CAAAAAARRRSSS." The truth of the matter is that 3 hours apart, two days a week hasn't really changed things between them. The second they're back together, they're fighting. Celo has quickly learned that while Diego is at school, he is free to hoard all 6 McQueen cars without any objection from anyone. He loves having all the toys to himself. When Diego is home, the party is over. And Diego, suspecting that Celo has been playing with his toys while he's been away, walks around the house with as many cars as he can possibly hold, to be sure that Celo can't touch any of them. Then he's like, "Mommy! I keep dropping my cars!" And I'm like, "That's what happens when you try to hold 17 Hot Wheels in your arms."

Sigh. Maybe one day they'll get along. For now, I'll just enjoy that 20% of the time, when they are best buddies. Like on our walk the other night. The one thing Celo lets Diego have is driving privileges. That means he gets to sit back and relax while he is being chauffeured around the neighborhood. It also means he gets to man the radio.

They spotted a dog.

There's Celo with his hand on the radio.

It's much harder to see in this pic, but again he was changing the radio station.

A Piano or a Parking Lot?

In a house of boys, it's a parking lot.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Diego's first day of preschool! When did he get so big?? It was really hard for me to decide to send him to school this year. I chose the 2 day a week option because I'm just not ready for more than that. The allergy thing is a big issue, and it scares me to think that if he can have little incidents on my watch (see previous post), what will happen when I'm not around? His teacher is great, though, and I know she'll make sure he doesn't eat anything he's not supposed to eat.

For my own peace of mind, I sent Diego off to his first day of school today wearing this shirt I made for him:On the front, it says, "I am Highly Allergic" and on the back it lists the things he's allergic to.Even though I had already given the teachers a detailed list of his allergies, reactions, etc, I wanted it to be nice and easy for them to remember which child was the one with the allergies. Marcelo was like, "Poor kid. He's the little nerd boy!" But hey, we both needed the extra peace of mind. As I handed the teacher his Epi Pen today, I just prayed that they never have to use it.

Diego already had homework that he had to take to his first day of school. Here he is holding his bear. He decorated it with markers, stickers, and a family picture.

And here he is showing off his McQueen lunch box. (Thank you, Tata!) Snack is provided for the rest of the kids, but I'll have to pack Diego's snack each week.

Diego was so excited to go to school today. He felt like such a big boy. When we got there, we had to wait outside until the teacher opened the door. He bolted right inside before I could even say bye. The teacher was like, "Diego, come back and give your mommy a kiss goodbye." He came back, gave me a quick smooch, then threw his lunch box into his cubby, and ran off to play. I walked back to the car with Celo and felt totally calm and fine. I even thought, "Wow, I didn't even cry." The second I drove away from the school, I burst into tears. My baby!! Goodness gracious, and it's only 2 days a week! Wait until kindergarten! No, wait until his mission! College! Marriage! See....this is where my head went.

The 3 hours went by fast because Celo and I had swim class. When we went to pick Diego up, he ran out without so much as a smile. He just walked out like I had never left, gave me his lunch box and started walking towards the car. I was like, "Tell me about your day! How did it go? What did you do? Did you have fun?" He said, "Yeah." I had to pry the information out of him. I filmed it because I knew he would probably only say it once, and I wanted Marcelo to be able to hear it. It went like this:

Me: What did you do today?

Diego: Um, played.
Me: What did you play?
Diego: Um, with some cars.
Me: Did you play outside?
Diego: Yeah.
Me: What did everyone have for snack?

Diego: Cookies that make me sick.
Me: Did you like your snack?
Diego: Yeah. But I didn't finish it. Can I have the rest for lunch?
Me: Sure. What else did you do?

Diego: I don't know.

Me: Did you sing a song?

Diego: Yeah.

Me: What song?

Diego: Um, a clean up one.

Me: Did you read any books?

Diego: Yeah.

Me: What books did you read?

Diego: Um, a puppy one.

Me: Did you make new friends?

Diego: Yeah.

Me: Who? What are their names?
Diego: I don't know. I'll find out next time.

Okay, so at least he wants there to be a "next time"!

This post is already a novel, but here are two more pictures. This is us on the day of Diego's orientation.

Celo wanted to be in the picture, too.

Since when am I old enough for this?

Mom of the Year

First of all, thank you for responding to the previous post. It's nice to know where a few of those hits are coming from. And for those of you who responded, the stalking is mutual. :) The funny thing is that I mentioned having a 6 person audience and wouldn't you know it, I got 6 comments! I'm good.

Now, onto why I'm Mom of the Year.

I was a little distracted at lunchtime today. (Something about the boys pouring baby powder all over Celo's room and in my hallway and having to rush to clean it up while they were eating lunch.) So, in my frazzled state, I gave Diego Celo's plate and gave Celo Diego's plate. Very very bad. Diego took one tiny bite of his sandwich, swallowed a piece, spit the rest out, and started crying. He was like, "Mommy! This has cheese in it!" He then vomited all over the place. And THEN, this happened:

When he was done throwing up, he started complaining that his lip hurt. He said it was itchy. I looked at it and noticed it was swollen. It's hard to see in a picture, but the middle of his top lip started to swell and get little spots on it. Here's Diego pointing to it.

He's semi-smiling in the picture which means that by this time he had forgiven me for my awful mistake and all was well again.

Anyway, THAT'S why Celo hardly ever gets to eat cheese. So I can avoid accidentally giving his food to his very allergic brother.

Mom. Of. The. Year.

Who Are You?

Hello friends.

It has been a long time since I checked my stats on this blog, so I just did and it was quite interesting. People in various states and countries are reading my blog. There were many states on the list that made me think, hmmm, who do I know in that state? So please, show yourselves and leave a comment.

Who is reading in Texas? North Carolina? Illinois? Michigan? Massachusetts? Georgia? Nebraska? New Jersey? Maryland? All over California? All over Florida? India? Denmark? England? Argentina?

I'm pretty sure I know who's reading in the rest of the states and countries that showed up on my list. So to you all I say hello! I hope life is treating you well.

As for the rest of you, come out come out wherever you are.

Also...I'm very very sorry if my blog is a hopeless bore of a read. I had no idea I had more than a 6 person audience. And now that I know, it's most likely not going to change. So I apologize. :)

Celo's Surprising Politeness

Today at church, a little boy crawled under the pews until he got to our row. Apparently, he saw that Celo had dropped one of his Lighting McQueen cars (he never leaves home without one), and seized the opportunity to "borrow" it. Celo stuck his head under our pew and saw what was going on, and this is what I heard next:

Celo: Ca haf my cah back, pwease? Pwease? Ca haf my McQuee cah?
Translation: Can I have my car back, please? Please? Can I have my McQueen car?

The little boy then gave the car back and went on his way. No tears, no squabbles.

Question: Why is it that Celo can be so polite to this little boy and not freak out, but if it had been Diego who had taken his car, a whole different exchange would have ensued? Example:

Celo: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, MMMMMMYYYYY CAAAAAAHHHHHH! NOOOOO, DAY-GOOOOO!!! (Insert screaming and crying.)

I'll never know the answer.

Marcelito is 2! - Part 2

Part 2 - The Cake

I have to admit, I didn't try very hard this year. I wanted the party to be easy and cheap. For his cake, I just made a racetrack shaped cake and plopped a McQueen on top. It was kind of sad looking, but I don't think Celo minded one bit. Celo about to blow out the candle that had already been blown out by the wind.
And now he's trying to eat it.

Diego giving his little brother big birthday hugsWhy is he making this face?Oh yeah, because he's trying to eat the icing off the candle.

Crazy kid.