Fefe CAMPEON

Our big ball of love is 2! He will tell you "dos" himself. He held it together quite well on his bday, even if he was clearly saturated by the end as this classic photo indicates. . He loved sitting at the head of the table for his bday snack at BT and emulated Cookie Monster to amuse his friends mini muffin after mini muffin. He got offended at the doctor when his blood was drawn and demanded that I remove the bandaid "quita esto, mamá beso." He was no big fan of the shot in his arm either. Most of all though, F is a happy go lucky kid. He is as comfortable in Spanish as he is in Italian and English (which he speaks with a Hispanic accent) and he loves his siblings fiercely. F is bossy (surprise!) and can be naughty too. He loves to read books and gets obsessed with 2-3 books at a time. We love you gordito and could not have asked for a more affectionate and easy fifth. No more growing!!

¡7!

A week ago my double trouble turned 7. I am a bit late, kind of a theme (I am always reading old newspapers as well). It is not official that they are not little. We had a family party with limited attendance, an all-girl party on Friday with 14 guests (plus my 5) and then took 14 boys to a movie and lunch on Saturday. I am so proud of these two first grade monkeys. They are kind and thoughtful hooligans. I love you AleVit. I started this blog when you were in utero when I couldn't imagine how fun you would be.

I leave you with a V thought: Mamá, why does Pepsi always have those colors?
Me: It is the brand, they want you to see the colors and think of Pepsi. What do those colors make you think of? Which flag?
V: The French flag?

F, the entertainer

Taylor Swift's annoyingly catchy tune is only the latest song to enter the midget's repertoire. I thought I was hallucinating the first time I heard him clearly sing the first three words/notes (and then go on to mumble the rest). Last night, after sleeping half the day at BT, he spent almost 2 hours!! singing on and off to himself. Old McDonald, Cucu cantaba la rana, los pollitos, Taylor Swift... too funny. I listened to him inadvertently serenade me on the bbay monitor as I worked on the computer. He woke up singing "ee-i-ee-i-oh" like he had to continue the song he left off at the night before.

He is the funniest and sweetest child I could hope for. He asked me this morning as I put him in the stroller. BT? He likes to know where we are headed off to. He runs to the computer and says "ciao papi!" when we video chat with F.

I may have to eat his face!!!

¡Ya está!

F woke up and stated this several times. Too bad it was 6am as he usually sleeps until later. Regardless, he is able to express himself more and more each day. He was done sleeping so he told me "ya está." When we got to BT yesterday morning he yelled "Yay, BT" with arms in the air- A huge difference from a few months earlier when dropping him off at BT was tragic.

He sings the whole way to BT or to his friend's house every morning. He is like a DJ caught in a loop. We alternate between "cucú" and "ee-i-ee-io". When we sing the latter, his repertoire is impressive. He can make the sounds for vaca, caballo, chancho, burro, oveja, gato, pollito, perro and pato.

F plays like a madman with V- running around yelling "attack" and wrestling but he also spends lots of time cooking in his play kitchen and leafing through books.

I wish I had been more regular in chronicling his development or that I filmed him more so remember this golden era. I will try to do more. In the meantime, he is a happy and easy toddler. We cannot imagine what our lives were like before him. We are Fefe fans!

F in July

So our little Buddha is now 15 months old and he is as delicious as ever. He now calls his two sisters by name (Ah-leee and Moh-ah) and yells mamá at me, his father, and anyone else whose attention he wants.

F is as fat as can be despite his almost 100% walking. Only when he was deliriously tired at camp in VT last week did he crawl a bit as he stumbled all over the lawn.

F is picky about his fruit and will not eat any mushy fruit, melon, or nectarines. Strawberries are his obsession.

He squeals with delight when he sees V, playing like a maniac with him at all times.

When he is feeling annoyed or smothered he will let you know with his voice and his teeth if necessary:)

It is hard to believe that he is so big. Nursing stopped about a month ago and in two months he will start BT. Trying hard to savor this last big baby while we can.

June Jest

A to M: Who are you going to marry?
M: I don't know. I hope I don;t know him yet.
V: You need to make love.
M: No, you don't. Love just happens.

V to me while reading a book: Are you going to science school?
Me: Yes.
V: Is it fun?
Me: No.
V, still behind his book: Are you learning?
Me: Yes.
V: Good.

V's latest joke: There is a megalodon and a whale shark. The whale shark asks "aren't you extinct?". The megalodon replies "Did you just say I stink?"

1 Añito

So you turned one more than a week ago. Too late for happy birthday but not too late to tell you that you have literally brought nothing but joy and smiles into all of our lives. You make everyone you meet happy with your fat cheeks and bald head. Your favorite hobbies include standing on the windowsill to spot people coming over and then banging on the window, climbing up the stairs (yikes!) and eating. We asked several family members to write you a letter for on this occasion to be read by you at 18 years old. I think/hope this will be a valuable gift to you in the future and that we are around to enjoy it. Fefe campeón, we truly adore you. XO your tribe

Adiós Abuela

gracias por todo lo que hiciste cuando era chica y lamento no haberte estado más cerca de grande. te quiero mucho y espero que estés en paz. XOXOXO tu primer nieta

F Update

Oh my, I have been more than lax in my chronicling of the incredible baby F's first (almost 9!!) months. He is a dream baby. He is funny and patient and quite easy going. We drag him here and there and he really barely ever cries. F will eat anything (hummus and lentils are among the favorites along with pastina of course), sleeps and poops well, and withstands constant manhandling from A, V, and J, all of whom are inept at caring for him but treat him like a big doll. Recently (quite late for a regular baby) f learned to sit alone (yay!) and to pull up to standing in his crib (no!!)  Both of these abilities mean that he can physically opt to not sleep but he still goes down without much of a fuss between 7-7:30pm and does not get out until 5-6am. Pas mal. He doesn't crawl yet but he does a crazy fast military drag. F can point to parts of his body and clap. He gives passionate "kisses" which involve lots of saliva and sometimes one of his very sharp five teeth. I feel truly grateful to have such a fat and happy baby. It is of course flying by and it is hard to believe that he has been out almost as long as he was in baking. Stay little a bit longer pretty please?

F my LOVE

no, not the big one of 20+ years, the little guy. He is a true delight (it sounds like a line from one of the reports I am writing). No, really, I could not have asked for an easier and more loveable ball of blubber. I have been meaning to write about him for weeks and time eludes me. He is just over 7 months now and cannot really wear much due to his chubby feet and overall girth. For a while, we could squeeze into 12-month clothes but them feet holes are too small. We have to content ourselves with onesies and pants and socks that fall off. Baby socks do not fit, he wears V's to accommodate the cankles, but those do not stay on overnight.
so how do you describe a baby? he is mostly bald still. Like many of his siblings before him, he goes nuts and starts flapping at the sight of anyone's food or drink. his main dishes are batata, pastina, banana, pear or apple sauce, avocado... we have not branched out too much though he will eat almost anything (mushrooms, brie) if you cut it up for him. sucking on a huge carrot or celery stalk is a good distraction (choking hazard I know). For the most part F is an impeccable sleeper by night (down at 7 or 7:30 and up bt 5 and 7am as of late) and a totally random one by day. Some days he takes three 30 min naps while others he takes 2 2.5 hour ones.
he is nowhere near sitting or crawling but does roll around all over the place. we have eliminated all of his chairs and mats and let him roll around on a blanket. toys are not as interesting as pulling the books off the shelves.
what is most remarkable about little F to me, besides his rolls, is his friendly and patient disposition. where did he come from? with the exception of m, all of his siblings bother him. they poke, pull, smother, and he is content. if he sees one of them in a crowd (think a whole class of kids running down the stairs) he can recognize him/her and squeals with delight.v is the most obsessed with him and i can't remember if i mentioned this before, but a month or so back, f almost jumped out of my arms to hug his crying brother. he hugs and he will kiss you (chin is a favorite spot) with drool and teeth. the boy is passionate and vocal. when he wakes up he usually doesn't cry but rather vocalizes all sorts of sounds as if warming up for a performance.
okay, i am sorry not have posted more and earlier but somethin' be better than nothin'. may the next seven months go more slowly than these.

WELCOME LITTLE F- Your Birth Story

We did it! You are here. Truth be told, I did not not think I would make it. I won't get into all of the gory mundane details now, but let's just recap: I woke up at 5:30am with my water broken (weird). I proceeded to alternate between gushing and dripping (why didn't I buy diapers?) all day, speckled with some painful manual interventions from our favorite OB. Whoa, that was painful and still no contractions. Mid-afternoon we headed to Mt Sinai, which seemed more like a third world clinic than a NYC hospital. They had no pads (when I asked), or room, or information until the last waterfall of fluid came out of me and they thought it more quaint to set me up in triage. I had a minimal dose of pitocin only to have it be halted because "all of the ORs were in use." Who cares? Well apparently this happens never, but when it does, they do not want to encourage anyone else to go into labor so all pitocin stops. Suffice it to say, that 2 hours later I was really in labor and trying to breathe and think about how I had done this, how each contraction was one down, visualizing the baby coming down.. I was not yet out of my mind. But in this third location where they had me birth, I had another 40 minutes or pitocin and I am not sure but I suspect that this what was brought on the most violent and painful rash of contractions of my life maybe. Think oscillating between sweating, wanting to vomit, not feeling my hands (which were purple at one point?!), feeling an elephant smashing my cervix while another one was trying to come out of me from the back. Not pretty. I was thinking "this is a 20" (earlier I had rated my pain at 6 like an asshole from 1-10). Thank goodness this excruciating pain I described was under an hour. I started to push soon after and in 2 (or 3?) pushed you were out. I screamed so loud while I pushed that I surprised myself. I have never made such a primordial and loud sound. I always thought women yelling in labor was TV stuff, unrealistic and for dramatic flair. I may have woken up the whole hospital. Bu there you were. Little boy. 8lbs 3oz- not the 12 lber I thought you were. Perfect and quiet (probably scared). I began to shake like never before. I was freezing and my teeth were clanging and it went on and on despite the blankets. I was shaking so violently, that they said I could not hold you. Now all is calm. We are in a beautiful room overlooking Central Park. Your father slept with us last night. Thank you tía A for keeping the monkeys. All you have to do today is meet 4 crazy siblings and anyone else who ventures here to see to our latest and last love bug. We love you little F!

Home Stretch Baby!

Well, here we are. A mere six weeks and one day away from my due date. Science tells us that I could meet this baby in even less time (though I doubt it). While this has been my most uncomfortable pregnancy, I am trying to soak it in as it is truly my last. My body is so much achier and older than just five years ago and I think five, a stellar odd number as it is, is a good place to stop. Can we even manage the ones we have? I think so. I hope so. I do not think anyone every regretted having too many siblings and my hope is that these 5 monkeys will grow up knowing how lucky they are to have each other and with some glimpse of appreciation that we did our best. My best doesn't always look (or sound) that graceful, but I try. I digress. My belly looks huge and is quite uncomfortable but most people still don't offer me a seat on the subway. That is okay, I am more comfortable standing. Sitting and laying down don't seem to suit this baby. It is so odd how I cannot imagine anything about this baby- note even gender- and in weeks time I will not remember life pre number five. Only a few days ago did I begin to look through my meager collection of baby keepsakes. Most went to charity. Baby clothes gets discolored. I went into a Babies R Us and felt overwhelmed by the countless products, many non-existent last time around. I did acknowledge and buy some basics like a nursing bra and some bottles. I am thinking this baby will make due with less crap than the others, though I will always welcome hand me downs. A dear friend kindly asked me if I wanted a shower. I was embarrassed to have one for M and really embarrassed to have one for AleVit. I would never want a shower this time- I feel much more private and simple this time. I do not even want a birth announcement email or any of that jazz- social media is too much for me. If we are close (or if we are in the same family), you will know and you will see- no need to parade the baby- though it is virtually impossible to stop other people. Okay, I am rambling. I need to go wake up one tired boyfriend and four slumbering students who must wear green for St Patrick's today. Daylight Savings Time has kicked our butts. M competes in the spelling bee today (hurray!) and sings in the talent show tomorrow (yikes!). Two days until spring break. Will this baby be born in Miami? I hope not. We'll see. Onward!

Belated Birthday Post- J is 9!!!

After a djembe solo in a chorus concert followed by bowling and NY Ninja the night before and a special diner breakfast the day of, J is officially 9- his last year in the single digits. Almost a week later, I want to tell you what a great midget you are. A royal pain too, but a talented and hardworking little guy. From chorus, music theory, and piano to karate, swim and basketball. You are a sweet boy and our eldest son. We love you ciccione!!

¡5!

Happy birthday to the best duo I could ask for. Hard to believe it has been half a decade. We have been celebrating hard with family and friends for three days now. After many "happy birthdays", too many gifts, cakes and balloons... you are in bed. Both of you said your birthday was "awesome" and I agree. My favorite part may have been brownies and strawberries in your classroom with M and J. I will be back with funny lines soon but I will give you some teasers in typical V (rude and not true) style.

Upon opening a pj from abuelo: I don't want this- you can have it (he has since asked me to wear it)
Upon opening a plastic Spider man set of (to be fair) crap: This is crap.
Upon opening an action figure from J: I don't want this. You can have this/
Upon opening a lunchbox  he had already seen because he snooped in my room: I already saw that.

He is a piece of work.

To be continued.

I am very lucky to have a two feisty 5 year olds and almost 9 year old and an 11 year old. Each one more unique and intense than the other!!

20 YEARS BABY

It was 20 years ago today that we sealed the deal with a kiss at the top of the stairs of some subway station in Rome. While I cannot believe that I chose such an amazing human to share my life with when I was so young, I have to be grateful for my good fortune. He may not be perfect, but F is the true love of my life, not sure who else would put up with all that I come with. He is my number one boyfriend and the best father to these kids we keep having. To 40 more years together (I hope) and then I can die in peace. LOVE JEW.

JK Stars

When I was recently brainstorming with V for his G list (it is G week!) it dawned on me that he has no idea what that means.

Me: It is in a zoo. Guh guh
V: guh guh elephant!

Me: I am thinking of a small fruit. Guh guh
V: Apple!
Me: Gray-
V: Grayberries!

V: How about crap?
Me: That is rude and a c word.
V: Butt?
Me: Also rude and a b word.
V: Mud? Crud?

As part of Thanksgiving, each child makes a wreath decorated with words that describe what they are thankful for. A wrote:

eating, blueberries, my family, my friends, swings, when my dad makes soup, dress up, rainbows

¡11!

How can it be? We love you so much and you are so big on this 11-11. Stop growing. Stay 11!. Hope you enjoyed your frozen hot chocolate, your Family Ties box set, and your purple bean bag chair. You will always be our number one. LOVE LOVE LOVE. ¡Feliz cumple frupi!

V on Marriage and more...

V: Holy nuts!

V: Can you unbutton my shirt so I can show my muscles?

A getting on the elevator: It smells like the mean teacher in here!

A and I were laughing because we had a yawning attack together and V said: I heard the baby yawn too!

When I was trying to put V to sleep he yelled from his bed into the hallway: Is the baby sleeping?

V out of the blue walking home: When I am older I want to get married but I don't know who to marry, there are so many girls.
Me: You do not have to worry about that- so many will want to marry you.
V: Why? Because I will still have my muscles?
Me: No, because you will be funny and nice.
A: I want to get married.
V: No, you can't. You are my sister.
A: You need a a tie or a bowtie.
V: No, that's not for me.
A: Mamá, give him a handsome shirt.
Me: You are only 4, you do not need to think about this now.
V: Can I choose her right now? I saw pretty girls in the entire city!

V pointing to a sign like the one below: Mamá, is that what your heart will look like when papi gives up?

Happy 14!!

It was 14 years ago today that Sargent Pepper asked his band to play. Not really. While our wedding anniversary is not as important to me as the actual number of years that we have been together (almost 20!!), it was a delight to come down to flowers and chocolate and a beautiful and funny card. I am so happy to have you as my number one boyfriend in my life. I hope that one day we can settle down and have a family. Thank you for being a wonderful partner and a man I admire in the interim. Your number one fan, P.

V on Abramovic & Love

Upon seeing this video, V commented:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlf68X2qEpM

They are in a love splash.

They are in s much love that your red goes so red that your face pops like a balloon!