ABCs and 123s...

I'm so proud that Tato has mastered his ABCs, 123s, and colors before the age of 2. Ric and I don't know what the average age of a child is when they learn these things, but regardless, it's a point of pride for us. He's always shown great interest in books and learning the alphabet, but not really the numbers. I figured that would come much later, but I was sorely mistaken. What felt like in 10 days time this month, he had learned his numbers, colors, and shapes! He even knows "oval" and "rectangle." I find it incredible that he can even attempt to say "rectangle" at this age.
Sure enough, wherever we are, he shouts out a letter, number, or shape that he sees. One night when he was washing his hands after dinner, he announced, "H-O-T. HOT!" I couldn't believe it! Maybe they taught him that at school but man, was I impressed at that moment and continue to be.
My only concern is that his love of "Thomas and Friends" totally takes over. The little man LOVES "Thomas and Friends" so much that when he wakes up in the morning he asks to watch "choo-choo trains." To balance things out, we have him watch an educational video before choo-choo train videos. He has to end the evening with a book, even if it is a Thomas book. However, we only keep learning books upstairs in his room, which thankly doesn't bother him at all.

Bilingual Fun

Tato is nearing the end of his 3rd session of Bilingual Fun classes. It's been such a joy to see and hear the progress he has made. He's really picked up on the context of the words, which is amazing to me because he's so young and hears English 97% of the time.
* He calls Ruari and Teagan, "chicas." That had us laughing all weekend.
* He sleeps with his Oso (teddy bear), Mono (monkey), y Rana (frog).
* He was playing with is oso and saying "Oso, salta!" (Translation: Bear, jump!)
* When you ask for a "beso" he gives a big kiss.
* He knows quite a few verbs: salta, corre, camina, besame, abrazo, arriba, abajo, vuelta, baila, escucha, busca, aplauda, and possibly others that I'm not aware of yet.
* When he's looking for something, he puts his hand upto his forehead when you/he says, "busca."
* He asks for "pollo" and "agua" at dinner time.
* He says, "hola" and "adios."

Everyone says that kids are sponges at this age and Tato has proven to be no exception to that wonderful rule. Everyday is new and exciting : )

POLLO!!!

Jan. 23 - After the Hands-On Museum, we went to Chipotle for an early dinner. We were so early in fact that we were the only customers there for a few minutes. We sat Tato down at the booth closest to the cashiers and went up to order. While I was waiting my turn to order, Tato stood up and yelled, "MAMA! POLLO, MAMA!" Anyone and everyone could hear him clear as day. I couldn't help but break into a huge, proud smile. Then I heard it again, "POLLO! MAMA, POLLO!" As the lady working the counter put it, "that is the cutest thing." It really was! Tato was reminding me to order him "chicken." I was so proud that he used his Spanish word appropriately. Later, that same lady brought him over a sticker for such good use of his Spanish. The only embarrassing part was the decibel level. Man, is he one VERY loud boy! I couldn't imagine him any other way. Te quiero my corazon.

An Afternoon At The Museum

My little engineer in the making.

Buttons and wheels... enough said!

Even with the smock, he was soaked!

Jan. 23 - I wanted to take Tato to the Ann Arbor Kid's Hands-On Museum yesterday but we got yet another very cold and snowy day, so we took him Sunday afternoon. It was a lot more crowded that I thought it would be but it wasn't a bad thing. Kids enjoying a learning environment, bring it on! This was his first trip to this museum, so his attention span was that of a gnat until we got to the water works in the Toddler Room. He was splashing around and going from station to station. He also really enjoyed playing house with another little Asian girl. When I asked him to put the dishes in the sink, he cleared the entire table! It was very cute. We know he really enjoyed it because he didn't want to leave.

Muchas Gracias Abuelita

Jan. 23 - Today I let Tato open up his first 2nd Birthday present. It was from his Abuelita. Loads of fun books in both English and Spanish. And there were a few surprises for Papito as well. Ric was pleasantly surprised to find some old bed linens from when he was young. Thank you Abuelita the boys loved their surprises : )

Beep! Beep!

Jan. 21 - We have a new family outing...going to the mall. We drive 10 minutes over to Laurel Park Mall in Livonia, have an early dinner, then walk the mall. Well, Ric and I walk. Tato oscillates between running very fast, to holding our hands. We'll go to the book store, do some window shopping, and just spend some family time together. This particular evening, Tato discovered these stroller/cart/car things that you can rent for $5. He loved it so much that he would climb in, close the door and pretend to drive, even though he was going nowhere fast. The toughest part of the night was getting him out without making a scene. Beep, beep!

Happy Birthday Lolo Charlie

Another amazing creation by Courtney Clark of Cake Nouveau.

Check out her other cakes at www.cakenouveau.com
SURPRISE!

Make a wish...

February 7 - Tonight we surprised Lolo Charlie with a party and a SUPER FUN garden birthday cake. Flavor? CARROT CAKE of course and that so happens to be his favorite flavor cake. The individual veggies were all edible. She even put rows of edible "dirt." YUMMY!!!

Jan. 28 - Now I know what you're thinking, but we had absolutely nothing to do with it! I swear! Just this year we've had to bring up Mr's cage because in his old age of 13 and his condition of chronic hepatitis, he has been making a mess in the middle of the night. So we're back to caging him during the evening. Tato had never seen the cage before, so he would observe Mr. get in and lay down. One day, when we were down in the kitchen, I turned around and found Tato IN THE CAGE. I'm going to say that he was just checking out the comfort and to see what the big deal was ; ) He hasn't gone back since.

The Newest Little Orca

Jan. 26 - I was in Chicago for a doctor's appointment and was happy to finally meet the newest little Orca*Griffin. Introducing Ruari and Teagan's baby brother DECLAN KOHL ORCA GRIFFIN, born Dec. 29, 2008. He was 8 lbs 3 oz at birth, which is just an ounce shy of Tato's birth weight, but he seemed to be at least a couple pounds lighter by the time I got to meet him. Now Tato has another little guy to pal around with : )

Ushering in a New Era

JANUARY 20, 2009 - Today was a big day in U.S. history and we made sure not to miss it.

Even though it was a very difficult last minute decision not to go to Washington DC for the Inauguration, it was still amazing to watch on TV. As you can see, the process seemed to run a bit long for both Ric and Mister ; )

Fresh Face

Jan. 18 - Just a few shots of Tato fresh from a much needed bath. He actually enjoys having lotion or petroleum jelly smeared on his chapped chubby cheeks. Now he just says, "cheeks, cheeks."

I have returned!

FEBRUARY 25, 2009 - MARDI GRAS, FAT TUESDAY, and most importantly the day Ivy returned to her blog posting duties! I greatly apologize for the hug gap in posts, but I have been SWAMPED with work and then I misplaced my camera. That latter caused me quite a bit of anxiety. Happily, I return to posting the latest on our little man...