Faster than a speeding bullet

It's been everything we can do to keep up with Enzo, and he hasn't even started walking yet. He LOVES the stairs.


He crawled away before I could finish taking this shot! See? He's blurry!


Enzo has been travelling by peanut car,


...by rolling the yoga ball,

...by bouncer/activity center,

...by bike trailer,

...by stroller,

...by carseat in the car,

...by rocket ship,

...and by swing at the park.

Murphy

Enzo and Murphy have been getting a little more friendly with each other.


Murphy seems intrigued by this little boy, as opposed to the teeny baby that didn't really do much.


Enzo has become interested in Murphy's tongue and nose than petting her back, as I have repeatedly suggested.

Many people have asked why I haven't mentioned Murphy lately, and wondered if she even still lived with us. Well, I must admit that Murphy's place of importance has been exchanged with Enzo's. And because she lives outside 100% of the time, she has been sometimes down-right ignored. After seeing the movie Marley and Me a few months ago, and feeling incredibly guilty, I have been making more of an effort to include Murphy in our lives.

I constantly try to resist the urge to keep Enzo from Murphy, afraid of dirt or filthy dog hair or mouth foam or slimey slobber on Enzo's face/arms/hands/legs/clothes. Enzo loves sitting in his bubble car, watching me play with Murphy and run her in the yard. I even have mastered the fine art of Enzo, Murphy, and me on a walk (something that Jeff won't even try!) The next step will be when I feel confident enough to have Enzo (unprotected by a red plastic car) and Murphy roaming free in the yard.

Cool cut for this kid

I don't know if you've noticed lately, but our poor child looks eerily like an Orthodox Jew, with his curling locks hanging in front of his ears. That's cool if that's the look you're going for. We are not.


This location we spotted was way cool. It was all we could do to get him off the floor in the reception area (note -- need to get Enzo LEGOS!!!) to climb atop the yellow cab that awaited him. He was truly stoked. Nevermind the caring explanation of a comb, brush, vibrating clippers, scissors that the gifted hair artist delivered to him as she proceded through the steps of a kid's haircut -- all Enzo wanted to do was DRIVE! I don't even think he noticed the DVD playing the movie CARS in front of him.


Oh, wait. This is him either spotting his handsome self in the mirror or seeing McQueen on screen.

She asked us if we wanted long surfer look, a long boy's cut, or a short boy's cut. I was like, uh... We are under Mema's orders NOT to go for the long surfer look, and there's plenty of time for the short boy's cut. Let's go with long boy's cut. Yeah.


I carefully wrapped the two little curls she cut first in a little white envelope. And I think I cried a little. I swear we were like the paparazzi, clicking and filming. I exchanged knowing glances with the other moms in there, getting their kids' hair cut.


Miss Kassie, his "stylist", tried out the classic rock-a-billie lock, the feaux-hawk, and conservative Officer Dan look, until we settled on spikey cool kid style.

It seems like he approves. He kept touching it.


Once it was over, Enzo got sad and wanted to stay in the car. This was right before they tried to sell us a 1 oz jar of $20 organic kids' hairwax. Sheawww!


My reward. My first haircut, and my first DumDum.

Fun with nursery rhymes

This has been mine since Enzo was a newborn:

Lullabye, and good night. You are getting very sleepy.
Lullabye, and good night. You are getting very sleepy.
Lullabye, and good night. Your eyes are heavy.
Lullabye, and good night. You will have sweet, sweet dreamies.

I knew I didn't quite know all the words, but when I heard Jeff singing the following, I became hysterical:

Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder who you are. Up above the earth so high, like a diamond in disguise. Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder who you are.

The next morning, I think he did this one on purpose:
Baa baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full. One for the baker, and one for the dame. One for the little boy who poops in the stream. Baa baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full.

We both survived

I just returned from three days and two nights away from Enzo. I think I did a bit better than him. I left on Wednesday morning for a business trip to Washington, DC and returned this afternoon.

It was a lot different than my past trips. Since I weaned Enzo completely about 8-10 days ago, there was no need to schlep my breastpump and all the bottles and ice packs, etc. Just me and a carry-on.

Enzo, on the other hand, began cutting a molar just as soon as I left. Fever, sad, fussy, no sleep, not a lot of food. Thank God Brooke, Josie, and Jeff shared the load and tried make him as comfortable as possible. Both nights Enzo awoke numerous times, yelling mamamamamamama. Made me both really happy and really sad.

Once I returned, I grabbed him my arms and we both smiled ear to ear. Then he celebrated with his first In N Out burger.

Messy and curious

Trying out some pancakes and blueberries.


Pressing the on/off switch repeatedly on his twilight turtle which displays constellations on the ceiling once the lights go out.


Practicing with the spoon and loving some organic vegetable alphabet pasta with marinara.


He is so smart and knows how to spell his name!!


Fiddling with some gadgets before bedtime. His new favorite thing.


We almost can make it through a non-cardboard paged book without any torn pages!

Going for a ride on his peanut-mobile.

Bite Me

Today, I bore witness to Enzo's first serious fit of rage. I gently picked him up off the floor and told him that I had to change his diaper. He arched his back, went stiff, screamed, grabbed a side of my face with each hand, leaned in and bit down on my jawline. Hard.

I was so shocked and in so much pain. Firmly, I say/yell "NO! We do not bite. That hurt mommy." Then I start crying. Seriously. I give him to Jeff and retreat to a mirror to see if he actually took out a chunk. No, just bleeding under the skin. Raspberry on my freaking face. Nice.

From the other room, I hear Jeff authoritatively but calmly say "Enzo, biting is NOT acceptable. I am putting you in your pack 'n play for a time-out. I am taking out all your toys, so you can think about what you did wrong."

Enzo sat there, staring bewildered at the polkadot sheet he sat on in his playpen and didn't make a peep. Jeff and I, on the other hand, burst out into quiet laughter at our first attempt at discipline. And our first time-out.

12 month check up and other traumatic firsts

Poor little guy had a total of five shots today. It's a good thing he's got some chunky thighs to withstand the needles (see blue Peanuts Gang band-aids above). The new pediatrician was okay -- gave us a little more attention than the previous doc and wasn't quite as demeaning.

The stats: 24 lbs. 11 oz., 30 1/4 in. tall, 47 cm head. 70th percentile on all. Since I asked about the possibility of allergies (rubbing nose, sneezing, fingers in ears, coughing) they sent us off to the lab for bloodwork. I was expecting a little poke in the finger, but no -- in the arm vein with a little catheter.

I remember the days (not long ago) when I'd literally get nauseous, weak, pass out or barf at the very mention of my arm vein. Then, after being pregnant, and becoming a pin cushion at almost every prenatal visit as well as during labor and my preeclampsia when they were drawing blood every two hours to monitor my kidney function, I became a pro at the arm vein thing. But when your wriggly, very angry, baby is sitting in your lap and three nurses are helping to hold him down FOR AN ALLERGY TEST, it really makes you think that it kind of sucks.

And did she have to wrap the extra sticky tape around his little arm twice?! That was really fun taking off tonight (see white packing tape around his arm above).

Once we got home and administered a little Tylenol, Enzo drifted off to sleep. And so did I. I really wasn't feeling well today. After about an hour, I jolted awake thinking that I hadn't pulled up the side rail of the crib. I grabbed the baby monitor and noticed I was right. I'm not exactly sure what happened next, but I intended to jump out of bed and pull it up. Apparently, I wasn't fully awake and closed my eyes for what seemed like 10 seconds. THUMP. Silence. SCREEEEEEAAAM.

Enzo fell out of his crib. And I fell out of mine. Running to his room, I see he's crawling toward the door, probably looking for the idiot who didn't ensure his safety. Good, arms and legs work. Not broken. I desperately inspect his body for what, I'm not sure. After several minutes of apologies and hugging and kissing and rocking him, he fell back asleep. I'm thinking, is that okay? Concussion? Jesus!

The rest of the afternoon, I monitored him carefully. His behavior wasn't altered; in fact, he was quite happy despite the traumatic events of the day.

Not the best day for him. Or me.

The best part? Jeff coming home an hour early to hug us both.

Babyproofing

Now that Enzo's one and he is waaay more active and mobile than he was just a few weeks ago, it's time for us to move passed the childproof electrical wall outlets and on to cupboards, cabinets, and drawers. See how much fun babyproofing can be?!

Mom's Day and Enzo's Actual Birthday

Where's my cake??

Good morning, Birthday Boy. All you get are bubbles.


He can't believe he's one.


Since Mom's Day is mom's favorite day of the year, we always have a special and fun-filled day of musical theater, music, theater, dining, or a combination of all four. Today, we threw in some "comedy" and some "magic" in the mix. Someone needs to tell Merlin the Magician to wash his costume. And get some new jokes. And clean his fingernails. I mean, seriously, we are ALL looking at your hands. You're a freaking magician!!!


The Queen with the tiara and magic wand. Provided by Josie the Great. My toast was: To Mom, without whom none of us would be here. To Claire, who will soon be a mom to the little bun in the oven. To Josie, whose maternal qualities have meant the world to me. Cheers!!

And then Mom killed it with an off-color joke. I know where I get it from.


I came home to this. Happiness.


And then a family bikeride. (Since I started the day off with cake and a left-over hamburger. Yikes.) Thanks for making me a mom. This year's celebration was a bit easier than last year's when I was trying to maneuver in my hospital bed after coming down from the labor and delivery meds. Oh, yeah. And the 32 hours of labor.

Happy Mom's Day to all the muthuhs!! The hardest and best and most fulfilling job in the world!

Happy Mother's Day 2009

Wow...has it really been 1 year since AJ became a mom? Congratulations!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Enzo

Our son is 1 year old...we made it through our rookie season as parents. Yeah us! For all of Enzo's family and friends...here is a look back at his first 12 months. Enjoy.

365 Days -- A Day at the Raceway

Today's party was so much fun. What a way to celebrate -- a day at the Luna Raceway!! Surrounded by bunches of family and friends, Enzo kicked off his second year on the outside with fun, fun, fun!! He managed to leave on his driving cap for this pic in the Winner's Circle. And I think he's waving to his fans.


Here are three lovely ladies (Lauren, Ali, and Josie) who stopped their run/drive/race around the racetrack for a pic. Lauren was victorious in that particular heat.




Once everyone had eaten their food grilled up by Dominic, it was time for cake. Yeah, baby!! We thought we'd get a before pic before Enzo rolled up his sleeves to dig in!


You would have thought it was the first time he had cake and icing. Oh. Wait.


Despite the face that I ordered a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, Enzo ended up picking a surrounding cupcake with Smurf-blue icing. Hey, kid -- it's your birthday. Do what you like.




Uncle Jared brought his 1928 Ford project show car to the party. A real life hot rod!!! (that he let little kids climb all over and put their shoes on the seat!!)

Taking his end-of-the-party victory lap. (But God forbid he touches grass. Hence the blanket. He's grimmacing because he knows grass in underneath.)

Four generations of Luna-Alcala men. Grandbob, Jeff, Enzo, and Grumpy.

Happy 1st birthday, sweet baby!!

(For more pics than you can imagine, see slideshow to the right.)

Baby on Two Wheels

The three of us have been hitting the road this past week. Last weekend, Jeff completed a 52 mile bike ride and I got inspired. After I bought myself a new bike last week (actually, it was an early Mom's Day gift), we've been test-riding bike trailers for Enzo. First, the $100 trailer from Target. No support. Made of cheap nylon. Zippers stuck. Baby slouched. Then, the Burley (for a LOT more money). Much more stable. Has shocks. But the center strap constricts his, eh, man parts. We may move on to the Trek to give it a try.


The kid had to stay hydrated. Today's ride was down the enormous hill to Corner Bakery for some oatmeal, then to Target for some nursery water. Then, alas -- the hill awaited. Up it we went. And we all survived.


This was earlier on in the week when Enzo strapped on his first melon-protector for a ride around the cul-de-sac. He'd rather have his locks blow freely in the wind.

Another new cousin!!!

Claire and Tim are expecting!!! We are so excited -- they are due October 29. Another cousin for Enzo!!