Yesterday afternoon, after I potty mouthed to myself in the kitchen for some reason, he came running through the family room saying,

“Oh, oh, Mami! Wo happen?”

 

Today while waiting to see the Ped in the waiting room, I was telling him something and he said,

“No, shupp.”

 

Huh? Where the hell did he get that from?? Well, thank God no one was around… to laugh.

 

Later on today, while goofing around in the house he came running to me and said,

“Mami, where is Tyson?… [then he sees Tyson walk by] …”Tyson, go. Go, Tyson. Go, go!” [poor dog ran for his life, lol]

 

Oh, and he’s singing Happy Birthday to himself as we speak…

“Happy Birday to you. Happy Birday a Nico. Happy Birday to you.”

then I asked him to repeat it, to which he responded,

“Shupp.” (shut up. wth?? sigh.)

Happy 8th Anniversary of Togetherness to my better half! (4th Wedding Anniversary coming later this year).  Julio, you are truly one of a kind. And you’re mine. Let’s not forget that. Of course, I’m yours too. You shall not forget that, how it happened, or how lucky you are. ;P

 

Sure. Relationships, and especially marriage require tending, just like a plant needs to be watered and cared for. But our garden is beautiful, beyond the scattered weeds (which btw have taken over part of our back yard because of my inability to exterminate them, or honestly to even go and actually do something about them). Everyone’s garden has weeds here or there, even if they don’t want to admit it. But I do. And it’s alright, the tending will come soon enough. Hopefully before our kids go off to college, hehe. ;)

 

Joke aside—you are my better half and you complete me. :) You had me at “Senorita”, and I thought all that sifting you did with the 12 yr Scotch at TOTS that night 8 yrs ago not only got me happy drunk but also was awesome and very cute, in a smart (ok, not geeky, but engineering) kind of way. Hehe. ;P

 

So cheers to us, the past 8 yrs of our wonderful life together, and to the many more to come!! I can’t wait to see what lies ahead on our journey through life, and couldn’t ask for anyone better to walk it with.

 

Thanks for making my dreams come true, for loving me tenderly and beyond my defects, and putting up with me even on my worst days. You are my rock! I love you SO much! XOXO 

Our first trip together almost 8 yrs ago to the day, Thanksgiving Nov. 2002

Photo taken at Central Park in New York

I have lost SO much hair, I’m seriously on the verge of baldness. I’d like to thank my selfish and temperamental hormones who have taken over my entire system and made a party with it. In case you didn’t read the sarcasm in every bit of that, please, re-read.

 

With my first pregnancy, I started losing hair towards the end of the first trimester and that went on for probably a month or two. By the end of that pregnancy, to my amazement, my hair looked unbelievable awesome. Then came the feared 3rd month post-pregnancy. Like an unexpected earthquake, it all began to fall out once again. For the life of me, I can’t remember how long it fell for, but it sopped. Eventually.

 

Now with baby #2, oddly I lost no hair during pregnancy. But, I didn’t think it looked as great as during my first pregnancy. That aside, I gained much less weight with this pregnancy, only 27 lbs! With Nico, I gained 34 lbs. So maybe it’s a give and take kinda thing. Can’t have your cake and eat it too, I guess.

 

Oh, but again that dreaded 3rd month post-pregnancy came. And it came with a BIG BAMM! My hair started falling out like never before. And now at 5 months post delivery, it still is, and in masses. At least it seems that way. I’ve never had tons of hair, and it’s thin and oily. But I guess this time around the cocktail of events contributing to my hair loss is that much greater than the first time around. Try this for a drink, and it’ll make anyone lose more than just hair.

 

Hair Loss Cocktail

Ingredients (sizes are marked within {} )

{Tons} Naturally oily scalp

{Even more} 3rd month+ hormonal wackiness

{Torture with} Can’t drink milk or milk products (so I’m probably not getting enough calcium --- Idk if it even has any relation)

{The more the merrier} STRESS of a 2 yr old toddler

{More than with the toddler} STRESS of 5 mth old baby (make sure it is overly needy, teething, has what I call ‘mommy-itis’, is SUPER demanding, wants to be held 90% of the time, etc.)

{Upsetting, but I don’t really care most days} STRESS of having a dirty house (hint: I need a freakin’ maid!)

{Simply brutal, makes me wanna cry sometimes} Not having time for ANYTHING! Repeat: No. Time. For. Anything. How I write these blogs, you ask? Don’t. ;P

 

Try that for a drink and we’re talking very serious hangover. ;)

Today’s new English sentence.

“Mami, it cuck!”  (Mami means Mommy in Spanish)

“It what?” I asked Nico.

“It cuck!” he said.

 

Ohh, it’s stuck. He was trying to close a drawer from the cd cabinet and it was stuck. Wow, this may sound silly to most people, but my little boy has learned another phrase in English, and I don’t even know when, where or how. :)  Lets keep in mind his first language is Spanish. Sure, he’s now in preschool, once a week. So after 3 preschool days, he can speak a few things here or there in English. Every new word or sentence he says in English simply amazes me, and is always catches me off guard. The element of the unexpected is like a breath of fresh air. Marvelous! He certainly understands waaaay more than he talks. He’s so smart, hehe. ;)

 

From now on, I’ll try posting some of the things he says in English. I think it’ll make for cute reads when I look back on memory lane. Plus, isn’t mispronounced toddler talk just adorable? I think so.

 

Here’s a pic I took today during our lazy Sunday. Good times! :)

===

 

We decided from the get go that we’d speak Spanish at home all the time so our kids would learn it. And I mean really learn it. I don’t want them to be those kind of Spanish speaking people who can understand it but talk it with what seems like a horrible foreigner accent. As if it was really their second language, or something they just picked up along the way. I want them reading, writing and speaking proper Spanish. Truly bilingual. Anything less is simply unacceptable.

 

Then came this summer. At Nico’s first lesson of Kindermusik I realized he needed to learn English. And pronto. He was acting like a totally different child, petrified among all the other kids. Where was my outgoing little extrovert?  I figured it out. He had no clue what anybody was saying, or why. He must have thought he was in another world…

 

Lesson learned. I began talking both Spanish and English to him pretty much all the time. Just like an episode of Handy Manny; first in Spanish, then repeat it again in English. Sometimes I do it the other way around. Never ceasing to amaze me, he always gets it. Kids are like a sponge, they absorb so much and learn so fast. It’s amazing! :)

Poor Victoria. A day shy of her 5th birth-month, she’s quite the little package. SO demanding. SO needy. She’s a totally different baby than Nico was. I should have listened to what all those moms were always telling me during my second round as an incubator. My little precious princess, I LOVE her to pieces! Oh, but she wants to be held 90% of the time she’s awake. And a lot of times she will be at peace ONLY when held by me. Sorry Daddy. (And sorry to myself as well.) Add to that the times I hold her while breastfeeding and while putting her to sleep, and voila… there goes pretty much my entire day. I hope I’m not neglecting my son; he’s such a trooper!

 

Mommy needs a break at times. Make that several breaks, please. And her arms. And back. And silence. And sanity. And less of the added stress. I can’t even hear myself think at times. Oh, did I mention all the hair pulling? Add to that the loads of shedding I’m experiencing thanks to the post-preg hormone changes and we’re talking about being at the verge of baldness. Fabulous. :S

 

It gets worse. Victoria is also in the teething process. That’s right. Itchy gummies; chewing on her fingers, my fingers, everything she can; slobber all over everything and everyone; crankiness; and just general Mommy-overly-neediness. I guess that’s an excuse to be held all that more. I wish she would take a pacifier. She won’t. She thinks I’m the real thing, pacifiers are so fake (well, duh!). Sure, chew me up, why not. Ouuuuuch! Isn’t that why those things were invented?! God. Give. Me. A. Break. Please. :/ Sigh.

 

I guess it’s hard being 5 months old… Hmmm, wait till your name becomes ‘Mommy’, hehe. ;)

Today, I talked to a mom who came by the house with her kids selling their annual boy scout popcorn. Every year I’ve said no. Of course that comes with a bit of remorse since I believe in good causes and in helping others. Yet, her poor kid never really cares, but nevertheless there’s always a bit of awkwardness.  I can be really stingy when it comes to solicitations, and frankly have even thought of putting up a sign on my door to avoid such situations. I mean, can you imagine giving in to… Every. Single. One? Sigh...  But, I gave in, just this once. I couldn’t say no this year, I was weak. Blame it on the hormones, my falling hair, or the excessive amount of explosive diapers I changed today. Whatever. I’m $18 bucks down (Julio dislikes), and a bag of nuts and caramel popcorn richer (ah! Julio likes). Wait, is it just one bag or two? Damn, I have no clue. Momnesia! We’ll have to wait and see when it’s delivered in November...

 

In the short time we spent sealing the deal, somehow we got to talking about fb. (Facebook, for those of you mainstream-impaired, lol). This lady admitted she does not do fb. \o/ I was in utter shock. I mean, really?! My in-laws have fb, and they're in their 70s! When I asked her why, she candidly responded, "I don't have time". My response: "Lady, nobody does!" LOL! :D

Sassy. I LOVE this word! A good friend brought it up recently and it got me thinking. I’d heard it before, but never really use it and never really knew the exact meaning of it. After googling it (of course), I found the following definitions: “Lively, bold and full of spirit”; “possessing the attitude of someone endowed with an ungodly amount of cool”; “stylish and chic”; and "Fun, daring, sexy, multifaceted, someone you have to have". Scratch that last one (I think that one's only for my hubby, LOL)... ahh, that’s me! Well, at least most days. ;P

So… Blog title revamped. From blah to bam! Sassy Mama. There it is. I’m finally content with a truly more defining title of who I am, and what this blog is about. :D  Now my only question is whether Mama should have one or two m’s. The online consensus says it’s used both ways. Hmmm. As usual, food for thought… ;)

"Some people just speak like a broken record; it's amazing what little they'll hold on to. They justify their actions in any way possible, feeding into their obsessions and frenzy. In the end, they are only seeking to satisfy themselves and their broken egos, all while trying to hide their insecurities."

Yesterday Nico was being his usual self and had taken the seat cushions off one of our family room sofas to jump directly on the sofa springs. I guess he’s figured out his ‘trampoline’ can be quite fun. Of course, it was an accident waiting to happen… like so much of boys’ rough play is.  So yesterday was the day. He jumped off the couch, I’m not sure if intentionally, and hit his face on the table right on his left cheekbone. Luckily he missed his eye. It was a loud thump, followed by crying and screaming that amazingly only lasted 2 min. After some hugs and kisses, and some applied ice, he was off and running, back to his usual self. I’m amazed how resilient children can be! As for me, the visual reminder on his face reminds me of the seconds of agony I suffered seeing him in pain and with a bruised and slightly cut cheek (never mind him, he was clearly fine). He tells everybody about his “ouchie”, pointing at it, and didn’t even mind it when I showed him what it looked like in the mirror. Well, it’s like the Dr. said, “boys will be boys.” But poor Mommy.

Summer’s been brutally hot and humid with temps usually in the 90s, quite different from previous years. Idk if it’s global warming, or maybe just my hormones taking me for a joy ride, ha! – but it’s been too hot outside to enjoy anything. The back yard wasn’t used as much as we thought it would be, weeds have taken over much of it unfortunately, and the kiddie pool has not been inflated even once. Sigh. We didn’t go as planned to the Indy Zoo, not even a single time, and we didn’t make it out to the community pools either. Almost seems like the whole summer passed in a flash. School has started for everyone again, and since Summer is not really a season but rather a ‘state of mind’, in my opinion, I have to say it’s official: Summer is over. Below is a recount of our summer happenings.

 

Nico enjoyed 5 sessions of Kindermusik and learned all about the beach and the sea. He still talks about it, even though it was way back in June. It was fun, but only five one-hour sessions, for a total cost of $100 including supplies. Pretty pricy, but what the heck. I thought it sounded exaggerated, but inexperienced in the world of Tots as we were, we dove into it anyway.  Sorry, no pics for this one.

 

Nico enjoyed 4 weeks of swim lessons in June-July. He loved the sun and water, and his instructor Brandy. He still talks about her and wants to go see her. So cute. I’m no longer scared of letting him bathe or play in water deeper than 6 in (lol) and he’s not scared of walking into deeper water himself without assistance.

 

4th of July with our friends The Froschs, we even say the city fireworks display on a roof top.

    

Fun at our friend Thomas’ 2nd Birthday Party in early August

…And a few random pics we took over the Summer…

 

With 2 babies now, it’s been pretty hard keeping up with my blog. Life is very busy, crazy at times, but all in all wonderful and blessed with Nico and Victoria. They are such wonderful kids, and truly our greatest joys.

pic taken Aug. 2010

Nico’s 2 yrs 4 mths now. He’s very smart, speaking both Spanish and English. He’s figured out that he has a choice when it comes to deciding when to do what or where, or if to do as Mommy says.

Or so he thinks.

Oh it makes for interesting days, lol, or stressful, depending on how you look at it.

Nico is very loving with his little sister. He’s also been telling me with a sweet voice, kisses, and caresses “Mommy is so pretty”. Yes, I melt away.

He’s still in pull ups, and shows no interest in potty training though we’ve tried. His potty seat is as lonely as can be, though in the last 2 mths he’s used the big people toilet to pee while sitting assisted at his request, but that’s only been less than a handful of times.

Victoria turned 4 mths on 8/26; time flies when you’re having fun! She’s 17 lbs 6 oz (above 95% – aka ‘off the charts’, lol), and measures 24.88 in (75%). She’s been wearing 6 mth clothes, but according to the labels and her weight she should be in 9 mth clothes.

OMG! I have chunky babies, what can I say. And since I’m solely breastfeeding her, I must have some awesome liquid gold supply! ;)

She’s such a sweet baby and smiles and laughs all the time. She’s ticklish, talks her own little language, rolls over, and sits well when assisted. She’s begun the teething process as she’s enjoying slobbering on everything and nibbling on her fingers, and mine.

She is a wonderful baby and sleeps like a champ, from 9:30 pm until 8 am. Additionally she takes a 3 hr nap daily as well. Early on, through much trial and error, I found that she’s allergic to milk protein, so I’ve been banned from my fav drink: MILK.

That, and anything made with it. And let me tell you, that has been no fun for me. I REALLY miss milk.

And cheese.

The world is a horrible place without my dairy! Waaa waaa… :(