Hope

This may be the first Easter in my life that I didn't go church, (if you don't count the random April blizzards of my childhood that resulted in cancelled services.)  We even made it last year, with Mateo being only one month old and me still having to use a cane to walk.  (For those of you who haven't heard that part of the birth story, let's just say that nerve compression was a tricky side effect of the aforementioned two plus hours of pushing.)

Easter morning, April 4, 2010 at Iglesia Nueva Esperanza / Immanuel UCC


This year, however, instead of spending the morning singing our hallelujahs inside a church, we went for our first family bike ride.  Despite the past few days of rain, we were granted a reprieve this morning and had sunny warm weather that demanded outdoor activity.  Spring is finally getting underway, and I was so grateful to be huffing and puffing amidst the all the budding and blooming. 

Easter morning, April 24, 2011 on the bike path

There's part of me that very much missed the music and pageantry that comes with an Easter morning church service.  But there's a part of me that still felt the joy and pervasive sense of Easter specific hope that comes with breathing in the air of Creation.

Spring Fling

I had one of those "this is something I could totally remember for the rest of my life" moments today.  It is finally starting to feel like spring, and this afternoon was one of the nicest we've had so far: temperatures in the mid-60's, a light breeze, birds singing and grass growing. 

After a long morning nap, Mateo and I headed outside to our backyard to get some fresh air and build up our Vitamin D reserves.  After spending a few moments on our swing, I decided to see if he would be willing to try walking around.  He's still not taking more than 1 or 2 steps without holding on to our hands, but what he did today was a new milestone. 

We walked not once, not twice, but three times down the hill that our house is on (it's steep!) and looped up our driveway and steps back up to our patio - without stopping.  As I held his little hands and he took sure footed steps with the sun on our backs and the smell of earth in the air, I could have sworn new life and resurrection came two weeks early.

(This is from May 2010, but it's a reminder of what's to come!)

13 Months

Querido Mateo,

The past month has gone by so amazingly fast; I feel like we were just having your birthday party and you were shoving triple decker death cake down your throat.  Ah, time flies when you can finally eat chocolate and drink whole milk.

Speaking of food, you're making the transition from eating mostly pureed foods to mostly small bites of whatever we're having for the meal at hand.  You love strawberries, blueberries, rice, black beans and anything remotely resembling a carbohydrate.  That's my boy! 

Even though you aren't walking yet, you spend a lot of time cruising along edges of the furniture, ascending (and descending) our steep staircase, and doing "solitos," your Abuela's terms for standing up without any support.  I'll be honest, part of me is really excited for you to make the transition to walking, and part of me is a-okay with you taking your time. 

Another thing that I have forgotten to mention in past months but you're still doing, is finding the most freaking minuscule pieces of lint/dirt/dog hair on the floor and using your pincher grasp to pick them up.  Your attention to detail is really astounding. 

Word-wise, you haven't added any specific terms in the past month, but you are very, very communicative.  The sign language we've been teaching you has caught on fast, and between pointing and intonation, you can usually tell us what you want or want to do.  It really blows my mind to see all these synapses firing away.

One milestone you reached this month wasn't of your own doing, but based on my efforts to avoid you developing a mullet and being scarred for life.  I'm not sure the latter part of that goal has been achieved, as the haircut I gave you was a bit choppier than I envisioned, but you're just going to have to take some of the blame for that Mr. Squirmy Pants.

As we head into spring (sort of), it's going to be fabulous for you to get to spend more time outside.  You love being outdoors, and thankfully we've already had a few nice days this past month to take out your new wagon. 

Here are some of the picture highlights from March, including some special shared moments with your buddy, Savanhcito:

Love you buddy,
Mami