Pez!

Leon loves sea life. I would highly recommend a trip to the San Francisco and Monterrey Aquariums if you have kids and are in the Northern California area!

Leon Screams, Leon Screams, Leon Screams for Ice Cream

Leon LOVES ice cream. A few weeks ago when I came home from work he said, "helado (ice cream)" and then went to his drawer got a bowl and spoon and walked with me to the freezer. I had to give him some because I was so impressed by his actions.

Weeks later he is tormenting us! He says, "helado" as soon as he wakes up in the morning (twice, once in CA and once in Venezuela I gave him helado after thinking he had a sore throat or fever), when we are driving, when we are at restaurants, every where. He doesn't just say ICE CREAM he says, "helado, alli, alli". Ice cream over there! Sometimes he is right other times he is pointing to an auto shop or a library.

We've had ice cream quite a bit in San Francisco. In this picture Leon, Jeff, and I shared a Ghirardelli peanut butter and chocolate ice cream sundae. I 'm pretty sure Leon had more than Jeff and I. Once we were done he of course said, "mas, mas."

I am worried that we are over indulging him or that he is going to become obese. But we also have been hiking and walking a lot and it is hard to imagine that a child formed from the union of Jeff and I (living with us etc) would become obese (without some medical problem).

So for now I won't worry about Leon's obsession with ice cream.

California Dreams

We are enjoying a much needed vacation in California. Leon had Burmese food today and Japanese the other day. Everyday has not only been a culinary adventure with blueberries and strawberries for breakfast, but also a feast of sights and sounds. We been hiking, petting goats at children's zoos, and checking out fish and turtles at aquariums. Traveling always has its pluses and minuses. On travel day Leon was up for almost 20 hours with ZERO sleep. I'm saying no nap on his two long flights, on the layover, and he was up when we landed. Making sure Leon gets enough sleep ( and #2, cough, cough me) with all the new adventures is tough. Back in Venezuela Leon is on a two nap a day and goes to bed (after dinner, play, and bath) around 7:30-8:00 pm. On vacation he has been napping at least once for two hours and going to bed relatively by 8-9 pm. It's tough though because I don't want to be the super anal mom but then I also feel so bad when I look at him and I know he is so tired.

Best Laid Plans

I had the perfect afternoon planned for Leon. By the time he woke up from his nap, I felt like super mom. During his nap I was able to fix dinner (broccoli, mac n cheese, and cubed avocado with cubes of baked chicken), prepare his post nap snack (ww toast with sunflower butter and cantaloupe), prepare his post bed snack (apples), clean the house, wash three loads of clothes, and shower and dress. I also had a play date planned at our house for the afternoon. When Leon woke up I went to get him and noticed that his cheeks were red, and his body felt hot all over. I gave him something cold to drink and his snack. I turned on his favorite song (that is all about jumping). I grabbed the thermometer. I told myself that I was overreacting but I had it just in case. Then when the song says, "jump, jump", Leon jumped once and then lay on the floor. "Oh no!"

I took his temperature. 100.6. The door bell rang and his friend was here. I told the mom that Leon has a temperature and we should probably cancel the date. She took one look at Leon and quickly scooped up her son. I think she was as shocked as me to see him looking "dazed and confused" and not the life of the party as usual. Jeff was out of town.

I called his doctor and was told that if he had no other symptoms that to give him some Tylenol and wait and see if he gets better. So we watched the Sound of Music. Several hours later, Leon´s temperature was gone and he was sleeping soundly.

I had hoped for a TV free day. I had hoped he would have his play date and I would have adult time. But sometimes you gotta go with the flow. Sometimes you have to sing "Do Ra Me" and let your child eat in front of the TV.

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry.

Leon's Firsts

While we were on hibernation mode from blogging, Leon had several new firsts.

He had sushi for the first time (he loved it!). Ok, I know toddlers probably shouldn´t eat raw fish (well American children according to various books and experts but millions of children in other parts of the world eat all types of sushi and other items). We were not planning on giving him any but he grabbed a piece and then another. I think he was most intrigued by eating what his dad was eating; he especially liked using the chop sticks.

That same day, he had his first real hair cut. I have attempted to cut Leon's hair myself but was never successful enough to call it a haircut. We took him to a fancy kid's salon. As you can see in this picture, he hated the process.
Almost as much as he hated....



He had his first dentist appointment. Some books and experts say children should go to the dentist as soon as they have their first tooth or at one but others say 2. Here the children are not accepted to see a dentist until they are 2. The dentist said Leon´s teeth are healthy and look like they are coming in fine. We doesn´t have the best genes for teeth. Both Jeff and I had braces and I reached 32 with three baby teeth (I had one removed in high school. So what I am saying is I kept four of my teeth that I got before I turned 2 which usually are replaced by your adult teeth when you are a little older. This is apparently hereditary. Hopefully he Leon doesn´t have to deal with that.

Photo shoot with Leon

When I was pregnant last time I did the whole sexy, look at me I'm pregnant photo shoot. This time I did a look at me, fit mom, with my toddler shoot. I really expected Leon to participate a little more. In almost two hours we took 100 pics with only six or so that I like. :) Leon was not really into it.

Here are some of the pics I like the most.

Time for Some Tools of the Incompetant

A month later and we have an internet connection again at home. Seriously. Sometimes I love living overseas and other times!!!!

A lot has happened with both Leon and #2. I had my 23 week/March check up today for #2. Spine, heart, fingers, etc all checked out fine on the ultrasound. This baby moves ALL the time. When you are pregnant at a certain point most doctors ask you to check once a day if the baby moves at least 10 times in two hours. Well #2 moves so much all the time that I would never need to check on that. I asked the doctor today is it possible for a baby to move too much and he said no, movement is good. Um... A friend told me her son moved a lot and is a very active baby.

That's good right? I mean, did I really want to have a chilled out baby and then toddler who never jumps up and down in the crib for hours, who never tries to climb up bookcases, or fit inside of dog cages/baskets/boxes etc? Isn't it good to have two very active children?

Only time will tell. Also, only time will tell if our baby is a he, a she, or a he/she. Ok, sorry scratch that last thing, not funny when I'm talking about my own child. :)