Pictures from Today

I rotated these photos in iphoto and can't figure out why they won't load (or how to rotate them on blogger). I'm posting pics from today because I really believe that Charlie changes every day and the pics from vacation - some are 2 + weeks old.  

I captured his latest Gene Simmons tongue trick....the side swipe...yep, all day long.

Happy in his papasan chair for...well... at least a few minutes. My Spanish Soul Sistah, Arantxa asked me yesterday what the difference was between it and the chair that is the base for his Graco sweetpeace swing.  Not much was my answer. Many of my prego friends, like me, are feeling overwhelemed with all the baby products and what you actually "need". The truth is you never really know until you are in it. For me personally we could have used the $ towards more basics, more hooded towels, wash cloths, bath products, infant tylenol, mylicon (gas medicene) etc because those things REALLY add up. (This is, of course, not to mention diapers and wipes which are always my #1 at $80-$100/month).  Charlie has never grown very fond of his chair though I did use it briefly around 2 months while taking a shower for under 5 mins.  I think, at least in our house, we more commonly use his car seat or detach his swing seat for him to watch baby einstein etc. All this being said, I have a very active boy who wants to play on the ground and roll basically all day.

This was actually taken yesterday at Aunt Erin's when we escaped the dreaded condo demo next door.  Looking like a Cuevas in this pic with the wavy hair untamed.

1st time in a pool

Since Charlie loves his baths/showers so much we decided to try to put him in the hotel pool.  The pool was chilly so the whole process lasted probably under two minutes.  You can see how the little guy did :-(  Jose and I think it also might have been overwhelming to him to be in the HUGE pool - poor guy clung to Jose!

My 1st Luau

With Charlie - you can see how well the bjorn reflection band works :-) Sadly we is outgrowing the bjorn and we're going to have to figure out something else. I've heard great things about the ergo but it looks a little too "floppy", "hippie, tie it yourself" for me.

Charlie & Jose near our family table

G.P. (My Dad) & Charlie

Cole & Jose

The Cast

Beach Photos

Charlie's first day on the sand

Sand between your toes

Studying the water

How'd it come in so fast?

My adorable little brother and sister

Back on Blogger

I'm back from my blogging hiatus. I've posted some pics from our recent trip to Hawaii.  Usually coming home - seeing the lights of the city either coming into SFO or driving over the golden gate bridge I have such a huge sense of relief to be home.  I didn't feel that coming home from this trip. Our family vacation was a much needed time for rest (or at least more so that usual) and reflection....I could have used about 5 more days of that.  Packing to be so far away from home with a small baby was daunting and returning home with all the laundry/unpacking is overwhelming. I got up to get an early start on the laundry with Charlie this am and discovered that the ant problem Jose told me about in the kitchen last night had migrated to the laundry room also. GREAT.  So off to the hardware store Charlie and I went this morning to find the good ant traps (where they take the poison back to the tribe) and while I had an extra 10 mins before he woke up from his car nap I set a bunch of traps (yes I wear gloves and then wash my hands thoroughly).  Die you ants...all  of you die... eww creepy creepy.  Also this am loud construction started at 8:00 complete with loud hammering, sawing and general nerve wracking crap. I think you'll find Charlie and I walking downtown and hanging out at the library today, returning hawaii travel books, enjoying the quiet and waiting for our ants to die.

Hawaii Highlights

I'll post a bunch of photos this week but for now here is a little teaser...

Our last night in Hawaii at our "fancy dinner" :-) We walked to and from the restaurant and the sunset was simply amazing

My favorite place to be :-)

The sweetest smile & my favorite onesie on the little man!

Road Trippin' in a bucket hat

Charlie wanted to drive the 10 passenger Shulmz van :-)

Our first dinner without Charlie since his birth

Having fun in the hotel room

Big Dinner out - Tia Mia, Tia Ryn, Me, Sugar, Tio Ignacio (newly named) and G.P.

Tia Ryn & Charlie

New Stages

The little man is growing like a weed and is definitely hitting some new stages in development. The first thing on my mind is that Charlie is having a hard time sleeping, especially between the hours of 1-5am; waking up sometimes more than every hour :-( I'm hoping this is a stage and he will grow out of it/adjust to the changes we've made to his sleeping area/schedule. In the mean time I am again sleep deprived and my days are a haze.

Charlie has also graduated to a big boy cry/scream/yelp and it's not cute.  My friend Andrea warned me about this and then it came to light. When I first heard it I thought something must be REALLY WRONG. Nope. Just the new and improved cry and it gets you moving quick, let me tell you.

Of course CC gets cuter every day - nature's survival for little babies I swear. His weight is catching up with his length and it seems that for the moment  his growth spurt is on pause. I've read that about this time breastfed babies' growth levels out so we shall see. All the people in public continue to comment on what a "huge" / "giant" baby we have :-) Ahhhh yeah, did you catch sight of his mother?

In Pjs this Am

Okay - YES - in this last photo he does look JUST like my baby photo :-)

A treat for our nephews & niece

On Monday night Jose met his sister Monica,  her kids, Felix & Natalia, and Brian (Carrie's son) who she had picked up on the way - in Oakland for Monday Night Raw. Yep, you read that right, WWE style :-)  Marisa could not attend because she had soccer try-outs but she has a treat at the end of the week with the Grandparents.  The kids had a great time and I am so proud of Jose, he is such a great role model for these kids. No - Charlie and I did not attend, and I'm sure Charlie's first "fight" will be MMA.

Brian, Natalia, Moni, & Felix Jr.

Natalia thought they were talking too much in between fights - blah blah blah :-)

In Action

Group Shot :-)

On the way out on the back of one of the 18-wheelers...No, we don't know those people on the left!

Last minute Stop at the Mayorga House...

On the way home from the dart tourney, we made a quick stop at the Mayorga house.  Dan & Maria, it makes my heart so happy to see you guys - and obviously Charlie feels the same way! Thanks for letting us drive by....you got blogged :-)

Sophia, Maria & Charlie

Happy Family + Charlie

What a face...

Are they brothers?

Charlie, Christina, Rigo, & Gloria (Dan's sister & parents)

Sophie recently got her ears pierced and didn't even cry! Here she is with her new earrings :-)