What do you think of when I say...?

...Baños?

Yes! Sugar cane, melcocha taffy, and the church with all the volcano erupting pictures.

...Bender?

Agustín and Nico next to a real, life-sized Bender at the restaurant Ali's in Ambato.

...Yambo?

What? You didn't know about Yambo Lake? Well, let me tell you. It is in a crater, along the highway (we are looking down from the highway to get the picture), no one knows how deep it is (some say it goes to the center of the Earth), and the deathbed of old trains, which used to run alongside the lake and inevitably fell in. Some people say that political dissidents may have been dumped in the lake. It is quite mysterious, cold, slimy green and a bit suspicious.

Just a humhumming away

I had the window open this afternoon and was sitting upstairs in the bedroom on the computer when I heard two little voices just a-chatting away. Tin was walking around the backyard as if he had somewhere important to go, just talking up a storm, and Nicolás was just following him.



This went on for a good 20 minutes, until Agustín remembered the dentist's orders - lots of freezies and popsicles - and sat down for a bit of his "medicine". Still no problems with the stitches, so I think we can start cutting back on the freezies now for a while. Yesterday he (Agustín) had about 10.

TV afternoon

Lazy afternoon here today. Kids spent some time in front of the TV so Mom and Dad could get some things done. I look over because I hear Agustín say, "Nico, let's cuddle. I want to hug you." And this is what I see.

Nico was loving it!

What the little ones say...

Overheard this weekend:

Agustín, upon seeing a new brand of milk at the table: "Mommy, this milk tastes the same as the other one. Why are there different brands if they taste the same?"

Nicolás, who called me "Mami linda" (pretty Mommy) all weekend long, and who took out a piece of "artwork" he found in the trash, looked at me with hurt eyes and asked: "Mami linda, how did this get in the trash?"

Agustín, who got a door hanger from McDonald's in his Happy Meal that said "Do Not Enter" and was very excited when we explained the concept to him (His eyes wide, "No one can come in my room?"), and who woke up this morning and put it on his door first thing, then closed it, as I overheard, "Now no one can come into our room, OK, Nico? Except Mommy. If she wants to, she can come in. But not Daddy. Only Mommy."

Surprise hugs

Came around the corner today as the kids were getting ready for bed and saw this. I don't know where it comes from sometimes, but every once in awhile the kids get really close and get along really well and hug and console each other.

Looks like this weekend might be one of those times...

Marshmallow smile

That title makes me think of the lyrics to Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Sometimes the only way we can get Nico to eat is to promise marshmallows for dessert.


Whatever works, my sister would say. Whatever works.


Big brother always gets a kicks out of Little Brother's antics.

It would be fun to be little again.

Here is what a typical evening looks like for them.
(Approximate times)
3:30 Get home and play (cars/legos)
4:00 Homework
5:00 Play (cars/legos)
6:00 Arts and crafts time
7:00 Supper
7:30 Play (Transformers/stuffed animals)
8:00 Get ready for bed
8:15 Sleep

Sometimes I wonder what they'll remember of these days. I remember our after school routine vaguely. It always consisted of a little TV (Little House on the Prairie, Gilligan's Island), dinner around 5 (Oh how I remember waiting for the daycare kids to go home so we could finally EAT!), and TV sitcoms at 7 (with a treat - Cheetoes, popcorn, pop).

Laundry: Bombs away!

The kids got a kick out of playing on the stairs today as I threw the laundry down to be washed. The mommy in me cringed the whole time. No mommy lets kids play on the stairs! But they were having so much fun. They were only five stairs up. Not too bad of a tumble, should it happen. And I yelled, "Bombs away!" every time a fresh batch came flying down.

This is the robot...

Coming off a three-day beach weekend isn't easy. We got to celebrate Grandma Shushu's birthday at lunch, but had over 2 hours of homework to catch up on. Agustin was a trooper though and barely complained. I think he is getting used to his homework. When he was finally done he said he deserved some play time. Of course, said play time revolved around this robot.


Yes, this robot. The one from Monsters vs Aliens.

This is the robot we only have one of.

This is the robot that Nicolas wants if Agustin has.

This is apparently the coolest toy we have in the house.

And both kids want it. Always.

So today, after three days at the beach where the kids got along so well, we were back to the same fights. Over the same robot.

And since it is no longer Nicolas's birthday, and Agustin "had it first", guess who got to play with it?

BFFs

Lately the kids have been playing so well together. They will invent a game and play for hours. The newest one is "Hot Wheels Spies". There has been considerably less fighting around the house as I see them acting like best friends.

ETA: Andres made me realize that almost all my pictures of the kids are in their pajamas. It's true! And it's sad, that I only see them early morning and late evening... :(

First Birthday

I will have to try and get some pictures up of Nicolas and his first birthday. We had a small party and he received some cute gifts. Of course, big brother monopolized the gifts and is having trouble using the word "yours" and not "mine" with them, but after the novelty wears off I suppose it will be easier. It is so hard to teach kids to share. I need some of your advice. Do I take the toy away and give it to the other one? Do I take it away and give it to no one? Do I force big brother to play with little brother and possibly get pushed or something else if little brother plays with the "wrong" toy?

In the meantime, I am enjoying the fact that the two are actually old enough to fight. I don't like seeing them grow up so fast, but it is fun watching them interact like little people.