Ignacio loves putting hats on right now. He will bring me one and, immediately after putting it on him, he scurries over to a mirror to see himself in it. Some afternoons he will wear this monkey hat playing. He is already cute but watching him play without care with a monkey face on his head is priceless.

Cousin Cristian came over for an afternoon and Ignacio was such a good cousin to this little one. He would approach with caution and touch gently and then go back to playing. Cristian smiled so big when he saw Ignacio. At one point Cristian was in the swing and Ignacio went up to him and took the nook out of his mouth, walked around with it and then approached the swing with hand extended as if to say, "Okay Cristian, take your nook back."

Ignacio after waking up from a nap with some seriously bad hair. He is so snuggly after naps. The other day I was looking at him stroking his arm and wondered what he was doing. Then I realized I was putting on lotion and he was imitating me! When I am cooking he likes to have a bowl and spoon to pretend to mix too. He also learned to stick out his tongue...the good news is he only does it after you do it.

Word Play

Ignacio can say FIVE words! (repeatedly and in context)

1. Mama

Now of course this had to be his first word. I blogged about it when he first said it. Recently he has been more interested in his second word, which is just fine by me.

2. Papa

Ignacio says papa about 50 times a day. When he hears a door slam in our hallway he springs up and says, "papa!" thinking that he has come home. I even taught him how to yell "papa" to get his attention.

3. Kitty

He is in love with kitties although it is quickly fading. He used to say kitty, pronounced
"titi", tons but now it is reserved for rare moments that I wait for.

4. Up

Ignacio quickly learned how to communicate his needs! These are all the meanings of "up" that I have been able to discern:

Take me out of my crib.
Pick me up.
Put me down. (A bit confusing but in context makes sense)
I don't want to do this anymore.
Hold me longer.
Stand up with me.

5. Agua

Last night Ignacio said "agua" and, let me tell you, it is the cutest things ever! My little bilingual babe!

Gap Baby

Here are some pictures Marlenita took in Panama. They are beautiful!

We couldn't fly down to Panama without stopping to see grandma and Roger! It was so nice to head to Florida to spend a few days and see how the relaxed live! Here are Angel and Roger with their Panamanian hats on. They definately turned the heads of the ladies at the pool! Good thing Angel doesn't have thing for older ladies!
Grandma is so great at keeping Ignacio occupied, which is a blessing for a smart and quick little one like mine! Her imagination and creativity is unbelievable. Here is Ignacio with a spatula (which we couldn't pry out of his hands and he ended up taking shelling) and a strainer.

Here are some of grandma and Roger's friends who came over to meet Ignacio. Ms. Sara even brought him a doll. We put a music CD on and he danced and brightened everyone's evening. He is such a ham!

Here are my mom and I getting ready to go to the pool and we are standing outside of what I call the "love shack"! We even attended water exercises in the pool until I got a cramp in my foot and had to resort to just being my mom's spotter. We laughed, lathered on the Banana Boat and relaxed together. What a great day!

In the morning we went shelling at Honeymoon Point with grandma. She took time to explain everything to Ignacio and he loved banging two shells together. We picked some really nice ones out for her shell garden. I am so happy we had this time together.

Ignacio is officially an international traveler with stamps in his passport to prove it! Panama was definately not Venezuela but it was an adventure! After eight flights and over two weeks we have returned to the frozen tundra with smiles on our faces and memories to last a lifetime. Here we are in Panama City after buying a few things and eating a frozen treat while walking around.
Ignacio loved putting on mama's glasses and then he would make a funny face, just make sure we all knew he was putting on a show. Here we are out to eat at the marina with the abuelos. I made the mistake of ordering him spaghetti (please reference previous posted pictures of eating spaghtetti!) This time we didn't even have to change his clothes! After, we went sight seeing and then picked Tia Marlene up from the family restaurant where she as working.

Enjoying a walk and a beautiful of the expansive skyline of Panama City.

With abuela at a mall before going out to eat. It is HOT in Panama and really humid because of the oceans on both sides. Getting to air conditioning is a good idea!

Abuelo was the only one besides mama and papa that could get Ignacio to sleep. Here he is in sweet slumber after a cool afternoon shower. Abuelo eventually put him in his crib but I could tell he would have been just as content to have his stay on his chest.

We took a trip across the country to the Atlantic side and after three hours in the car through beautiful countryside we finally hit the ocean and followed the coast another half an hour. After a short, WAVY boat ride to an island we spent the day with cousin Javier at a prestine beach on quaint Isla Grande. Ignacio didn't like sand on his hands (somewhat complicated at a beach!) so he spent most of the day with papa in the water.

On the way across the country we stopped at some ruins from the 1600's. Don't ask me the details! They were old and pretty. That's all I remember! Seeing the Atlantic ocean was the closest we felt like we were in Venezuela. It felt refreshing to spend the day on this side of the country to make it feel a little bit more like we had gone home.

Here is abuelo with Ignacio teaching him how to swim. The community where they live has a pool so we spent most days there with Ignacio, who preferred to walk with his stroller around and around the pool as his confidence and speed as greatly improved over time.

New Year's eve with the family and we just had to put on the suit that Tio Miguel and Tia Maria gave Ignacio. We slipped it on, took pictures and then got him to bed. He was so tired. Maybe in a few years he will make it to 12am. He didn't even wake up with all the fireworks!

Hey cuties pie, give mama her Panamanian hat back!