H&M

I am so excited that we are finally getting an H&M in Nashville! Its about time! But, since we don't have one just yet, this weekend while I was in Atlanta I made a little stop. I found the cutest pants ever for Santi. They are so beyond 80's its not even funny! They are not only skinny jeans, but they have elastic AND a zipper on the bottom. I could die they are so great! I bought them a little big since Santi grows so fast. Since they are a little big they aren't as skinny as they are supposed to be just yet, but man they are still FANTASTIC!

Rockin' out the 80's pants!

Oh yeah, and I totally bought him a tank top to go with it, (Is it still called a tank top if its for a boy?
 Its not sleeveless, its a full on tank top.) but that (and his guns) will make its debut in the spring or summer!

Thank you H&M for amazing hilarious clothes!

Levels of success

I have talked about success before. We now have new levels of success. When I took Santi to the doctor for his 12 month check up the doctor asked me how good Santi was getting with a spoon. I sheepishly admitted that I hadn't tackled that yet. And then he called me out. "Too messy?" How does a  stranger know me so well? For the last 8 months I have looked the other way, bitten my tongue, and forced myself to let him get food everywhere!!! He still isn't perfect, far from it in fact, but I have to say I have seen a HUGE improvement. When he eats cereal, not only does he get cereal in his mouth, but milk too! Tonight as he ate an after dinner snack I realized how much he (and I) has changed! 10 months ago I spoon fed him everything. These days I cut up his food, blow on it, and put it on his tray...the end. SO MUCH EASIER! And when he gets food everywhere I kinda don't notice.

SUCCESS!!!!!!

And JOY!

Child locks?! HA!

Grown adults come to my house and can't open my cabinets. But what is a simple child lock to a 20 month old?! Not only has he decided he can open them, but he even knows how to then kindly close them back for me! AWESOME! The cleaning supplies are being moved today!!!!!

I see a little thing right here. Maybe if I press this part.

OH MY GOSH! I got it!!! I hope Im not in trouble!

Don't worry Mama! I know how to put it back!

Above, below, and in between!

When I worked at a preschool I noticed that there are 3 types of moms. 1. The moms who think their kids are amazing and above average in everything they do. Normally their kids were not! 2. The moms who think their kids do everything inccorectly or think their kids are below average in everything. Again, normally they weren't. 3. Down to earth moms who are chill about everything and realize their kids are above average in some things and below in others. Normally those moms had about 4 kids and had chilled out over the years of child rearing!

With all of the "types of moms" I had gotten to know over the years I have tried my hardest to not be mom 1 or 2. Its hard man!! When your son first arriving in Peru is able to understand everything and everyone with different Spanish accents at only 18 months, its hard not to think he is a genius. And when you go to a restauant and your son screams for no reason and is unconsolable, its hard to not think he has issues. Hahaha! Its always something I tell you! Its hard not to think he is either the greatest ever or the worst ever! Its hard to see the in between times. So I try and make myself see all, the above, below, and in between.

Here are some examples from this very morning.

Above: Santi found Papi's headphones. After adorably putting them in his ears and doing a little jig he looked at me and a lightbulb turned on. I saw it! He ran into his room, unplugged the sound machine cord (not from the wall, but from the back of the machine) and attempted to plug in his head phones. I was floored. Im not surprised he knows you have to plug in the headphones, he has seen us do that a million times. Im surprised he thought of something just his height that had the same type of cord. Bless his heart he tried and tried to get the cord to fit. Sadly, it isn't the same cord so it didn't fit. But I was still impressed. Its wonderful to see his brain working, problem solving, and figuring things out.

Below: This morning at breakfast Santi was screaming for "more". He still had half a banana and half a bowl of cereal. I couldn't figure out what he wanted more of. I asked if he wanted fresas or uvas (strawberries or grapes). "NO!" What the heck does he want? He needs to learn to speak more words, not just understand them. He kept telling me he wanted "more!" Ahhh!!! Finally somehow I understood he wanted more cereal. Yeah, like I said his bowl was still half full. All that and he still had everything he wanted. Oh and another below from just this morning. He enjoyed trying to stick his tiny fingers in the outlet behind my chair. AWESOME!! My outlets have plastic covers but he knows how to take them out. So helpful!

In between: These are the times Santi sits quietly and plays with his cars or blocks or books. These are the moments that are easily overlooked because whenever he isn't doing something amazing or horrible I like to actually DO things like...go to the bathroom, load the dishwasher, fold laundry, check email, you know...fun stuff!

Oh the joys of motherhood! The most rewarding and yet hardest job on the planet!

Santi with Papi's headphones.

These days

Only a few short years ago my life was VERY different! Getting a pedicure with my best friend, going to get a mocha frapachino, going to the zoo, or a Titans game brought me such joy. Ok, well those things still bring me joy, but not as much as a little boy discovering a batman cape!

I told him you have to run really fast when you are a super hero!

He took me very seriously!

He loves Batman!!!

What would be a picture of Santi without his beloved futbol!?

I bought Santi his batman pj's (with detachable cape) on sale at Target when he was about 6 months old. I thought he would NEVER fit into the massively huge 2T's. Santi has been wearing 2T's for a while now and just this week I rediscovered the amazing pj's. And now I have new joy in my life!

Peru with a 1 year old

How can I even begin to explain our trip? It was amazing and exhausting and wonderful and terrifying.

Nolan and I are so very blessed to have been able to go and visit his family for Christmas. Normally we make a yearly trip, but we didn't go last year because Santi was a baby. Santi was due to get his last hep shot at 18 months (November) so we decided to go to Peru as soon after that as we could.

December 21st we hopped on a jet plane with a very wiggly 1 year old. After a 2 hour flight to Houston then another 6 and a half our flight to Lima with about a 30 minute nap from Santi, he finally met his uncle Billy and granddad Alfonso in the airport. It was almost midnight by the time we arrived and Santi was red faced from all the crying, but thankfully he actually went to his granddad the second he held out his arms (its the little things). By the time we got all the way out to Nolan's grandmoms house (about an hour to an hour and a half taxi ride) Santi was passed out. We immediatly layed him down and then sat around a table talking with family. What a joy to see Nolan with his family again. Next thing I know Billy is yelling at me to go check on Santi. I freaked out thinking he was crying from having woken up, but to my surprise, nothing. Santi was sound asleep. I walked back in and said he was fine. And that is when they told me there had been an earthquake. I didn't even feel it! Hahaha! It was not very strong in Lima, although it apparently was a lot stronger in the jungle where Nolans mother lives. Soemtime around 2:30 AM we finally all went to bed.

The next several days were spent playing futbol, throwing the American football, or meeting up with some Aunt or Uncle or cousin or grandparent.

I have always heard of the amazing Christmas Eve celebrations that they have in Peru, but had never seen it first hand. OH MY, I saw it first hand this year. All the kids go to bed early (unless you have a 1 year old and no crib who only EVER went to bed when he could no longer keep his eyes open, noramally around 11:30) then everyone dresses up around 11 and starts getting ready for the fireworks. At 12 AM on the dot the entire world starts shooting off fireworks. And Im not talking about the fireworks we buy here for the 4th of July. Im talking bomb fireworks, the kind that blow off limbs! It was amazing and beautiful and terrifying to look in all directions and see fireworks. The crazy part of it all is that the fireworks lasted for over an hour. It was insane to look across the street and see little 3 and 4 year olds shooting off hard core fireworks. Just insane. Once we had shot off our fireworks we went inside for the huge Christmas feast! We had the most amazing turkey alongside many other amazing dishes. We obviously drank Inca Kola and ate Panatone!

The day after Christmas we went to see Nolan's mom in Moyobamba. We flew into Tarapoto and drove another 2 hours on the most dangerous, twisty, curvey road up into the mountainous jungle. The weather was utterly amazing. We were thinking it was going to be so hot, but since its up in the mountains it was in the 70s and 80s the whole time. Perfect weather!!! And we didn't see mosquitos! I can not even begin to describe the taste of the fresh fruits we ate while in Moyobamba. We ate bananas, pineapple, mangos....the list goes on. It was amazing! In the jungle most people have motorcycles, even all the taxis are moto-taxis. So the sound in the jungle is the constant sound of millions and millions of motorcycles! It was such a fun time with Nolan's mom and her side of the family.

When we got back to Lima Nolans sister had just flown in to visit from Cusco with her two kids. We went to the beach and the zoo with both of Nolan's siblings and kids. We all had a blast, including Santi.

I have to say, the hardest part of the trip was having a 1 year old without all of his normalcies! We did not have a carseat, which may sound nice, but only for a minute. A 1 year old doesn't want to sit still, so if he isn't strapped down it just isn't good. We didn't have a highchair. Also doesn't work very well. Santi is a great eater, but if he can get down from his chair and pick up his ball, then he is going to. We didn't have a bathtub either. Plus we couldn't use the shower water for Santi anyway because he might drink it or even just get a little in his mouth. So EVER SINGLE night we boiled water waited an hour or so for it to cool, but not get too cold and basically sponge bathed Santi. Not his favorite thing in the world! Worst of all, we didn't have a crib. Santi is a really great sleeper at home. We lay him down around 8 PM and he never fusses. He just quietly plays for a minute or two and passes out until 7:30 or so in the morning. Yeah, the EARLIEST he went to bed in Peru was 10:30, but most nights it was more like 11:30 or 12 with lots and lots of crying. OH, and guess who got to sleep in the same bed? Yeah, me AND Nolan. Lets just say, feet in the face!

The best things of being in Peru were getting to introduce Santi to everyone. Nolan's whole family got to meet Santi and kiss him and play with him. It was wonderful for them, but also for us. We got to see how much Spanish Santi actually knows. We speak mainly Spanish at home with Santi, but it was insane to see him interact with his family there. He really doesn't say many words still, but he says yes and no to things and can go and do whatever you say. He understood everyone! That made me so happy! His family was shocked by how much he could understand! That made us feel so good! Eating Peruvian food, thats allways one of the best things about the trip.

And that was our 2 week trip to Peru in a nut shell. Food, family, and fun.