Christmas with the babies - 2008

Before Christmas, we got all the babies together for a Christmas party! It was a blast to see all the bambinos playing together on the floor. Joaquin was all partied out by the end of the day and slept the whole way home. But he can't wait to see all the ladies again!

My new hat freakin' rocks too!!

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is Joaquin in a cute hat. Thanks to Auntie Lysa for indulging me!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Here's Joaquin's first Christmas tree. It is a nice tree...very straight trunk....Fraiser Fir. That's what he wanted. Anywhoo...we'll see how many of the ornaments survive the next few Christmases once Joaquin is mobile!


We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday and Happy New Year. Safe travels if you are traveling anywhere. We are taking Joaquin on his first overnight roadtrip--heading to Des Moines. I'm very afraid that he won't sleep EVER while we're there. But I hear that babies have traveled before and that they and their parents have coped. So we'll give it try! Merry Christmas everyone.

Big Boy Carseat

Since Joaquin can now independently support his ENTIRE torso AND head, and he is a whopping 18 pounds, he started to outgrow his infant carseat. So he's been upgraded. He'll be riding in style well into toddlerhood with this baby.



This also means that he has to wear a winter coat since we can't just pile blankets on top of him. As you may know, Joaquin doesn't like to layer. He still looks uncomfortable--sorta like when you put clothes on a dog. He doesn't move a muscle. I try to show him that he can still play with his toys even though he has a coat on, but he isn't buying it so far.

Month 6

Dear Joaquin,
Today you turn 6 months old! You are now closer to 1 year old than you are to when you were born. That's old! When I see you next to other little babies, I’m so proud of you. I can’t imagine how I’ll feel when you get to kindergarten or college because right now I feel so proud that you are a big 18 pound baby who can sit up by himself 95% of the time (and I’m sorry that I don’t always catch you rest of the time).

This month you have tried to shove everything possible into your mouth. Nothing is safe from your slobber. Couch pillows, hair, cellphones, coasters, and the tuna can strainer all have your mark on them. You are constantly scouring the area for new things, and when you find something out of reach, you grunt for it. Your favorite toy by far is the remote control. We try to get you interested in other toys by pretending that they also control the TV, but you are wise to us. You only have eyes for the remote--which now that I think of it, could come in handy when we can't find it.

You didn’t really like cereal when we tried to feed it to you. You didn’t like carrots or peas either. But sweet potatoes…who knew there was such fantastic food? Sweet potatoes rock. We put the spoon near your mouth, you stare at it for a second and then quickly chomp the spoon before the sweet potatoes have a chance to make a run for it. I'm sure you'd also enjoy the gravy that your grandpa Lupe wanted to give you…but I think we'll wait till next year before we give you gravy.

You are such a happy baby. You make these crazy loud screeching sounds throughout the day that make me laugh. I’m not sure they are as entertaining to strangers in the grocery store...but you sound so happy to me! When you are crabby though, you make these horrible whining sounds like Chewbacca (your dad can tell you who Chewbacca is)…and they are definitely not as cute. When you sound like Chewbacca, I know you need a nap.

Joaquin, I am so looking forward to spending Christmas with you. I know you will really enjoy looking at the lights, and trying to grab the tree and put the ornaments in your mouth. And Santa said that if you take a 2 hour nap every afternoon, that you will get lots of toys.

You are our beautiful, happy, curious son, and your mama and dada love you very much.

Love,
Your mama.