Galveston

Spring Break is almost over and it wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the beach. Yesterday, Hector and I took Santiago on his first visit to the beach in Galveston. It was a beautiful sunny day - a little windy and cool, but still beautiful. Santiago wasn't a bit afraid to walk right up to the waves, but as they got closer and closer, he would run away from the waves laughing. The water was really chilly! I think he would have played in it if we would have let him but we were scared he would get sick if he got too wet.We brought his wagon and his soccer ball with us and Santiago and Hector had a blast dribbling the ball together as we walked down the beach.Santiago was amazed with the seagulls. Here he is watching them with his daddy.Since the actual ocean water was too cold to play in, we let Santiago play in this puddle that had collected on the shore. It was very nice and warm. But when he fell down in the water and got soaked, we knew it was time to pack up and go eat lunch. We changed Santiago's clothes and headed to eat at Fish Tales.
We had a great day but the car ride home was not fun at all! Santiago was so tired but he wouldn't go to sleep in the car. Poor guy cried for the last 30 minutes of the trip home. We were all very glad to get home!

New Exciting Things

Santiago finally got a new car seat! He has been a little too big for his carrier car seat for a few months now and after a lot of research, we finally picked one. We didn't go for the most expensive - we chose one with great rating that will ensure Santiago's safety in the car. Here he is trying it out. Doesn't he look all grown up? The seat is sitting on our sitting room floor right now. I will install it into the car this weekend. I don't know if you can see in this next picture - but Santiago's two bottom teeth are showing in his smile. They are the cutest little things ever! He has two bottom teeth and two top teeth and he has been working on cutting his fifth tooth this week. We saw it tonight starting to break through the gums just to the right of his two front teeth. He has been drooling a ton this week and hasn't been that interested in his solid foods. He doesn't fuss too much or run a fever thank goodness when he is teething!

And finally - are you ready for this....you have been asking and asking if he can crawl yet and now I can finally say yes! He has been scooting, rolling and pushing his way around for awhile now but tonight he finally crawled! It's a funny little crawl because he isn't on both knees. He is on one knee and one foot with his hands down. Take a look on this really short video:

Santiago has also gotten really good at pulling himself up to stand and has begun to take tiny steps when he is standing up around furniture. This little stinker may not crawl long because he sure loves to stand!

Pullin' Up

Look who can pull himself into the standing position! Santiago has been working on this for awhile now and tonight he pulled himself up when he was sitting in his crib. I put him in there just for a minute while I was putting something away in his room and I turned around to find him trying to stand up. When he is sitting in your lap, he can easily pull himself up by grabbing your shirt or shoulders and then stand in your lap. Looks like we will have to lower the crib so he won't fall out! He isn't standing very straight but I'm sure he will master that sooner than later!

MAMA

Santiago said "mama" when he was eating his dinner tonight! It almost made me cry!! Here's the cutie pie in the bathtub after getting messy at dinner time.

Santiago is quite the talker and I think he is going to have lots to say whenever he starts speaking real words all the time. He must get that from his talkative Daddy! Here's Daddy and Santi playing their glasses game with burnt orange longhorn glasses. Santiago loves to take glasses off and on your face.

All Gone!

In addition to rice cereal, Santiago has also tried and loved oatmeal. He is so excited to eat from a spoon that he will grab the spoon from you and stick in his mouth. I can't get the food to him fast enough usually so he grunts and moans until I get a new spoonful. He loves to eat! We are going to be moving on to some fruits and veggies next!

Is it really gone?

Oh no it is! I guess I'll eat the bowl!

Santiago has mastered giving a high five! He can't really give your hand a good slap but he will touch your hand when you hold it up and ask for it. He's also gotten really good at giving me a kiss when I ask for one. He will grab my cheeks with both hands and lay a real wet one right on my lips. I love it!

Also, Santiago has been becoming a little more needy of us lately. We can't walk out of the room without him fussing or crying even for a minute. He will be smiling and having a great time playing on the floor or in his exersaucer and I will walk out and tell him I will be right back after I put something away or go get something and he will get upset. He wants to be able to see me at all times I guess.

Some Santi Stuff

Santiago loves to see himself in the mirror....how do I know?

Just look at him kissing himself!!
Yesterday Hector and I took Santiago to Babies R Us to get a few things we needed for Santiago for the grandparents house where he will soon be spending his day while we are at work. We have some gift cards left from our baby showers that are coming in handy. They are so nice to have now as Santiago is quickly growing out of his clothes and his toys. We bought him a few new toys that are age appropriate for him. Here he is with one of them. He really likes it!

The other day I started playing around with Santiago asking him to give me five while I held up my hand. He, of course, had no idea what I was asking so I grabbed his hand and helped him tap my hand to give me five. I did that a few times and clapped and cheered after each time and he smiled and giggled. Then after awhile he started touching my hand on his own when I asked for a five. He is getting better at it every day! It's so cute and it made me so proud when he learned so quickly!!

Sunny Sunday

Our family of three had a great day today. We went to church, ate at Olive Garden for lunch, made some returns, took an afternoon nap, grilled hamburgers for dinner and watched a movie. During mass, Santiago slept on his daddy for almost the entire time. He woke up extremely happy at the end and earned many compliments on his cute smile. After mass, we came home so I could feed Santiago and then got back in the car to have lunch and run some errands. Santiago and I waited in the car while Hector ran in to return something and when Hector came back he thought Santi was crying but he was doing the complete opposite. I had him laughing so hard. I was going through the alphabet saying the sound a letter makes and then an animal that starts with that letter. Not sure why Santiago thought that was so funny but I love hearing him laugh so I kept on doing it. I think I went through the alphabet 3 times! His laugh is really turning into a big belly laugh now. It's great!

When it was Santiago's bath time tonight, I decided to take a bath with him. I have been wanting to put him in the big bath tub with me for awhile but I wanted to make sure he had really good control of his head before I did it. He definitely has a strong neck and he lets us know it by holding his head up and looking all around now. Santiago loves being in the water and it was a lot of fun to be in the tub with him. He smiles so big in there! He also discovered his foot today while he was in the bathtub. He grabbed his toes and pulled his foot right into his mouth and sucked on it for awhile. He puts everything in his mouth now!

In a matter of a couple minutes every time we lay Santi on his back now he flips over to his tummy. As soon as he figures out how to flip back onto his back he is going to be rolling all over the house. I still can't believe how much more he moves around now without his helmet!

Hot Stuff

It has been SO stinkin' hot here in Spring. Here is the reversible hat I bought for Santiago to match his swim trunks that I forgot to bring with us swimming yesterday. Santiago wore his hat today when he went outside with me to water the plants in the backyard and he also wore it to go visit his grandparents today at their house.

Today we took out the doorway jumper for Santiago to try out. Dr. T advised us to keep him off his back as much as possible so this jumper will be a good way to keep him busy for a little of the day. We need an exersaucer too so that is the next thing on our list to get. Santiago is getting so strong. He can hold his head up very well with no bobbling around, he even holds it up right when he is in his stroller or carseat instead of laying his head back. It's like he really wants to hold his head high ever since he got his helmet off. He loves looking around. Santiago also can stand up really well with support and he enjoys standing. He smiles and talks to you if you let him stand in your lap so I thought the jumper would be fun. He liked it a lot! He can't quite jump yet but he enjoyed sitting in that position and turning around on his tippy toes. I think he will be jumping in no time!

Rollin'

Yesterday Santiago finally accomplished a back-to-tummy roll! He has been working on this trick for awhile now and yesterday he finally was able to do it, pull out his arm from underneath him and then raise his body and head by pushing up on his little hands. He was so proud of himself too with a smile on his face. I quickly called Hector in the room and we decided to flip him back on his back to see if he would do it again but he was just too tired to even try. I guess it took all his energy to do it once!

Santiago and I had a "jammie day" yesterday. We stayed in our pajamas pretty much all day and just relaxed. I am not feeling the best - my throat and head have been hurting a little and I am hoping it is just allergies. I haven't really been sick since before I got pregnant with Santi. Santiago and I are both coughing a little so I pray that he doesn't get sick. I would rather be sick than him. Whenever Santiago coughs, he usually toots too! I think it is the funniest thing. I guess he just can't help it!

We did get dressed to go to Jason's Deli for dinner last night. It was nice to be out as a family of three for dinner. Santi was happy the entire time and just played with his toys and cooed and laughed while we ate. He has been getting fussy the last week or so about 6:50 in the evenings but then cheers up when we start his bath water. The bath always makes him happy. But last night, he didn't have that little fussy spell at all. I think its because we both took 2 great naps together during the day. The second one was 2 hours long.

Today we will be going for another helmet adjustment so I will probably write again later today. Ta ta for now : )

Almost

Today it almost happened. Santiago ALMOST rolled from his back to his tummy. He is really good at lifting his legs in the air and then rolling to the side and today he decided that he wanted to reach for a toy that was laying beside him and he kept almost flipping over. We had to go to Dynamics again today for another helmet adjustment and I had him laying on the patient table and he rolled from his back to his side and then to his tummy but his arm was caught under him and I was scared that he may fall off the skinny table even though I was sitting right beside him so I quickly flipped him back over to his back. Then when we got back home, he did the same thing on the blanket on the floor where he was laying . So I guess we can say he flipped over twice today if you count having an arm stuck underneath! I guess he will figure out how to pull his arm out and then he will be laying completely on his tummy.

Lately Santiago has begun enjoying his tummy time more also. Before he would either start to fuss when you laid him on his tummy or he would just lay there all content and now he pushes up on his arms and holds his head high and smiles!

Another cool thing that Santiago has been doing pretty much every night in his crib this last week is turning his entire body around. I lay him with his head under his mobile and when he wakes up in the morning his feet are usually under the mobile and his head is pointing the other direction. He is like a little clock in his bed and it doesn't even wake him up. It amazes me to see him in a different place and different position every time he wakes up.

A New Trick

Santiago LOVES having his diaper changed and here is proof of it:

Yesterday I mentioned that I thought Santiago was accidently rolling to his side but today I learned that it is no accident. Right before Hector came home from work today, I put Santi on his lamb rug to play so I could start getting dinner ready. He was cooing and smiling alot at the ceiling fan like usual and then he started to lift his legs in the air. Then all the sudden his whole body fell to one side and he made a funny noise. I kept watching him as I heard the garage open. He rolled back onto his back and lifted his legs up again and then turned to his side. I ran to get Hector as quick as I could and we both got to watch Santi continue this new trick he mastered today. I was so excited that Hector got to see too! Santiago was having fun repeating this new trick over and over again. You can watch him perform on the video. Enjoy!

Sleeping in the Crib

Monday night we started putting Santiago in the crib at night to sleep. He is too big for the bassinet in our bedroom. It was time to let him try sleeping alone in his cute room. For the last three nights, Santiago has gone to bed around 9 pm and he sleeps solid until about 4 am. I can hear him on the monitor making noises and beginning to cry around 4 so I get up and go into his room. I give him his pacifier and he will go back to sleep. That's when I go back to my bed but then Santi wakes me up again anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour later. When I go in the second and sometimes third time and the pacifier doesn't work, I have been picking him up and taking him to bed with me. He then will fall asleep with us in the bed and sleep until 7 am. I don't have to feed him or anything in the middle of the night so I feel like he is doing really well. Eventually I hope he will sleep the entire night without any interruptions in his own crib. But for now, Hector and I both love waking up with him between us. When Santiago wakes up, he is all smiles and wiggling! He is adorable in the mornings.

In addition to sleeping at night in his crib, Santiago has been sleeping in it for his first nap of the day. Yesterday I was thrilled that when Santi was getting sleepy, I just laid him in his crib and covered him up with the blue blanket and he fell asleep. He did it again this morning! That is a wonderful accomplishment for both of us that I do not have to hold him or rock him to sleep. Hopefully he will start doing this for other nap times as well.

The blanket that is covering him in the picture is from my mom's dear friend Bonnie. He absolutely LOVES this blanket. When you wrap him up in it, he automatically gets sleepy. I think it is going to be his favorite for a long time!

New Tricks

Last night we left Santiago at home with the grandparents and Hector took me to eat at Pappadeaux's for my birthday. We had a really nice time and ended up getting our appetizer and dessert for free because they served me a different fish than I ordered and then it took them a long time to correct it. We didn't mind but we liked the free food! Hector also found a pearl in his oysters. We couldn't believe it! We brought it home with us but we don't know what to do with it.

Today I went a little picture crazy. Here is Santiago doing his latest trick - he is pulling his legs up and kicking them in the air and rolling to his side a little. I took pictures in his pajamas this morning and this afternoon doing the same in his clothes.

I had to take Santi's helmet off this morning to put his shirt over his head so I took a quick picture without his helmet. His hair is growing back really well on the top from where Dr. T had to shave it. He still has a lot of hair growing to do on the sides. His forehead is looking great - it's getting more and more rounded each day.

Santi is learning to stuff his entire hand into his mouth. That's another one of his new tricks.

I read a lot of books to Santiago today. Three of the books were children's books that I had to read for an author study that I am working on for my multicultural literature class. The other books were his books and you can see one of them in this next picture with Santi. It's a book with babies in it and today Santiago loved talking to that baby picture. It was so cute to hear him cooing at another baby.

First Trip to the Lakehouse

Santiago and I came to visit my parents at the lake yesterday. I made my first car trip with Santi (alone) yesterday morning. We left around 9:30 am and made it to Lake Buchanan about 2 pm. Santiago did really well in the car. We had to stop in Elgin for him to eat - I stopped at a McDonald's and fed him a bottle and also picked me up some lunch. Breastpumps are wonderful inventions! It made feeding on the road a lot easier just because Santiago can drink a bottle much faster than he can nurse. He slept most of the way in the car and when he was awake, he enjoyed listening to the music, admiring himself and smiling in the mirror, and looking at the toys I hung from his carseat. He did great in the car until we got to Bertram where he decided he had been in the carseat long enough and screamed all the way to Burnet which is only 11 miles away from Bertram. The lake house is only about 8 miles from Burnet. I stopped at the HEB in town to take him out of the car and hold him to calm him down and to let Roxie use the restroom. After a little fresh air, we loaded back in the car and drove to the house. I had called my parents when I got to HEB to see if they needed anything and tell them we were almost there so my dad decided to start walking to meet us. He made it pretty far up the windy road and started waving when we came around a corner. He hopped in the backseat and made Santi smile right away. Mom was waiting in the driveway for us as well. They were excited to see us! All we have done here is relax! We may be taking a boat ride in a while if Dad gets the boat ready. I will post pictures later!

The plan was for Santiago and I to stay here at the lake until Sunday but yesterday I got a call from Aaron, the orthotist (helmet guy) and he ordered two new helmets for Santiago and wants to get him in one of them right away. After our visits to the doctors on Tuesday, Hector and I noticed that the helmet was still not fitting correctly so I called Dr. T and Aaron on Wednesday morning. Grandpa Hector, Grandma Linda and I had to take Santiago back for more helmet adjustments Wednesday afternoon. They made more adjustments, but it still is not good so they decided that they have to make a new helmet altogether. It is very frustrating that this helmet was not fitted correctly the first time and that we have had to make so many trips to the Medical Center. We need the helmet to fit correctly in order to do the job its meant to do. So - Aaron the orthotist - pulled some strings and put an order in for a new helmet and they are rushing it to be completed. The plan was to pick up the new helmet on Monday or Tuesday next week so I decided to bring Santi to see his grandparents. Aaron said typically they do not get this good of a turnaround on helmets being made and delivered but since he is getting it here early, he wants to get it on Santiago as soon as possible. We are going on Sunday morning to get the new helmet. The second helmet will be here on Tuesday and he will decide which one Santiago needs to wear after we try both. Our time at the lake will be cut a little short because now we will have to leave on Saturday. We will be back Memorial Day weekend so that will be nice!

Santiago has been sleeping through the night this week and it has been wonderful! I was scared that coming to the lake and having to sleep in a playpen that he is not used to may throw off his routine but it hasn't. He slept from 9:30 pm until 7 am! I am loving getting a full night's rest!