Your Milestones As of May 31, 2017

I just made the decision to blog/write, because that is what I do. 

And in what I do, writing, you generally write about what you know. 

What I know most about are you guys, my kids.

So what's up.  I'm writing in hopes that you eventually get to read this as adults, and read this with fondness, wonder, and a sense of understanding about how you've been brought up and how you might want to carry it on and/or do things differently.

Sebastian:  You were just on my back, playfully saying "Don't dooooo daaaattt."\

Yes, you're saying full sentences at 2 years and 3 months.

You are now fooling around on my new-ish iPhone 6 (it's almost a year behind), going from ABC Mouse ("pcr" in your speech) to videos on the phone.

You are a non-stop ball of energy.  As I type this sentence you are bugging me about watching Spider-Man (you pronounce it "pfiderman") and are climbing my back as I type on the floor of our living room on my company's computer. 

You talk a lot for a 2 year old (so I think), especially when we do superficial eye-comparisons between you and other children, especially at church. 

I have gone through sooo many nicknames for you:  Basti, Bado, Bado the Drado, Bah-dough, Bay-ti, Mogli Oliver...

Your Favorite Things:    Your favorite foods are goldfish crackers (especially at church), hot pockets, yogurt with cheerios, strawberries, ice cream and popsicle, chicken pho and noodles, eggs and ketchup (or eggs and ketchups).

You watch quite a lot of PBS, though somewhat superficially.  You know lots of theme songs, but you don't appear to have any sustained attention for anything except Caillou, and when we wake up on time, Word World.  You'll notice Cat in the Hat ("Go Go"), Curious George ("George!"), mostly because we had both of your birthdays dedicated to those themes.

The shows that you do pay any extended attention to at the moment are 1960s Spider-Man, Caillou, and Mother Goose Club videos, all from watching YouTube on my laptop.

Your Everyday:  At the moment of writing, mom is at home after having delivered Emilio, though school seems to be ending.

For the past year and a half, while she has been at school, you have been staying with your Tia Yola and Rafita.  They've taken quite the liking to you;  this past break Rafita has been begging for us to drop you off.  Before that, you would stay with your Tia Chavela.

You are potty-trained, but only when you are butt-naked without a diaper.  Your grandma (lola) has always brought how I was potty-trained by the time I was 1 and a half.  Honestly, your mom and I have been lazy with this aspect of your development, but you're beginning to get there.

It is very difficult to get you into the shower.  And even more difficult to get you out.  I wonder how Yola does this everyday.

One bad thing:  You can be unremorseful when you play with and (inevitably) hurt other kids.  I've watched you bopped lots of random kids in the playground.  I've watched you do all kinds of things to Sammy, whether it was scratching her, pulling her hair.  Your only reaction when any adult confronts you is to change the subject. 

You've been like this since you've been able to walk.  And it tires mom and me. 

But you also have an infectious joyous laugh when we joke with you or tickle you. 

Emilio:  You are almost four weeks old, meaning you are a month old!  We just bought you a little cupcake from Porto's to celebrate.

You can kind of hold your head up, which surprised your lola.

Occasionally, when you are awake you make some utterances.

I can't think of many nicknames for you except for the nonsense Emilio Bilio.  I mean your nick name is Maximiliano, so Maxi is a common nickname, but Bilio is what is emerging from my mouth for no reason other than it rhymes with Emilio. 

We can't stop raving about how fast labor and delivery was with you.  6 Hours!  We did not expect you to be here so fast, but here you came, 7 lbs, 12 ounces on May 4th, 2017, at 6:38 in the morning.

Your Favorite Things:  You do this thing where you make your lips really small.  Well, that's actually my favorite thing.  At this stage, it's a bit hard to tell what you like, but from observation, it's the same thing newborns all want --- to be fed and to be rocked. 

Your Everyday: Most of this time, you have been sleeping for about 12 hours a day, mostly from late morning to late afternoon.

One bad thing:  You do stay up at night from 9-11PM, the times that I want to be playing FIFA online;  you can't really pause online.

Before you were born, I'd been wondering how mom and I would be a family with 2 kids.  And here we are four weeks later, and we just are.

SODA's Words at the Moment

A little "late" in blogging about my son's development considering that there are real-life researchers who've actually recorded their kids from birth, but nonetheless I think there's some valuable insight to be gleaned from watching my son grow.

But anyway, a brief intro about my son.  Before he was born, we nicknamed him SODA.  Family members call him that today, but were trying to get him to learn his actual first name:  Sebastian.  Sebastian Oliver.

At the moment, he is now a 1-year old and 1 month.  13 Months.

That's 13 months of me being a dad, which by the way, is still weird to adjust to every single day --- people, whether strangers or my own immediate family, can look at me and never really think of me as "dad material".

Anyway, SODA.

He took his first steps 2 weeks before we celebrated his 1st birthday party.

He has his two bottom teeth.

He grabs at anything.

Unless he's hungry, he's laughing with visitors.

The only thing that he's really lacking is height and weight.  Everyone who sees him walking around thinks he's cute, and will overlap it with a comment on how small he is.