My Emilio

Oh, my Emilio.  So little but yet so big.  What is Emilio up to these days?

TALKING:
Well, at a little older than three he is fully talking up a storm.  He is just starting to perfect his English and he sounds like the cutest little foreign exchange student you will ever meet.  He mixes up words and talks with an accent.  I find it to be one of the cutest things about him at the present moment.  He isn't shy so he is sure to strike up conversations with everyone he meets; caring little for if they actually understand him.  He is an extrovert. 


LOVING:
He is so lovey.  He loves to give "snuggy snuggies" which means he is with his banky on your lap rubbing his head into yours and attempted to wrap his little arm around your neck to bring you in closer.  I love those moments.  He actually sits still, much unlike his brother, so you can really just soak him up.  He is especially snuggly with Angel and continues to be somewhat of a Papa's boy. 

FUNNY:
He is funny as all get out.  He is definitely the clown of our family.  He says and does the funniest things, which almost always make dinner time a laugh attack time for me.  He makes up words to songs; making Twinkle Twinkle go on forever and suddenly be about things he is looking at in our living room.  He shakes his waist so funny and fast when dancing he has you on the floor laughing. Most precious is that he can really make Ignacio laugh and he knows it.  He is into burping and the other day at the table I told him he wouldn't have friends if he did that to which he responded, "Kids think it is funny."  Got me there.  When he smiles he shows every tooth in his mouth and they are so big and white it just makes his whole face light up.  Can I also just say that every day is backwards day at our house with Emilio.  He puts his underwear on backwards, his pants and most days his shirt as well.  If you point it out to him he just says he likes it like that.  This leads us to the next category....

STUBBORN:
Emilio, while able to calm down faster now than ever, is still stubborn as all get out.  You really have to know how to work with him because God help you if you are working against him.  He wants to be right (sadly most times he is), wants you to see things from his perspective, wants to do things his way and is particular.  In psychology we call this "differentiating" but at our house we call it "God give me patience."  As his brain develops it is getting easier and Angel is especially good at working with him.  The key is to stay calm.  Calm and steady wins this race.  It is amazing. In one day the same child can make you the most frustrated and then an hour later laughing the hardest you have in weeks.  He is "fire and ice" and I love him for it.

OUCH!!

Little peanut is not so little anymore.  I officially got my first kick to the ribs this week and I had forgotten what that feels like!  He is one active little guy and 8pm to 11pm seems to be his time to dance Samba or something because he is a moving!!  You don't even have to touch my belly to notice the movements.  All you have to do is just look at it and he is shaking my abdomen with his thumps.  The boys, of course, think this is awesome. 

Excitement!!

The belly is growing bigger and baby boy is moving and a grooving!  He woke me up for the first time with one of his kicks! He is getting stronger and I just love seeing my belly move.  The boys are getting more excited as well.  Ignacio continually tells everyone that he is going to be the oldest in the family; as if he wasn't already.  He also stated that it was going to, "be a lot of work because I'll have to protect him and give him things."  So true.  Emilio smiles every time he sees another kid with a baby brother or sister and makes sure by asking that he will have the same experience.  I always confirm and he smiles even bigger.  With only eight more weeks of preschool we are starting to gear up for summer.  We have done so much spring cleaning that all the closets have been gone through and the baby clothes are starting to fill in the new drawers.  Thanks to Aunt Kathy the baby already has wardrobe to last him for a year!  I don't know who is more excited, my aunts or me! It is such a blessing to have their support and love during this exciting time for our family.  Love you guys!!

With only fifteen more weeks to go it is starting to get really real.  I am cherishing every moment with this baby inside me and falling in love with not only him but also the idea of our family growing with so much love.  I can't wait to meet him.  I can't wait to see all my boys together.  I can't wait to see Angel with a baby sleeping on his chest again and Ignacio carefully doting after him.  More exciting is to see Emilio become a big brother.  He is such a great boy that I know he will be a great BIG brother.  And he is getting bigger.  Almost one whole month with not changing a diaper!  Mommy gets a break before baby come! YEAAA!!

Sleepover

Sometimes during the week the boys and I have a "sleepover" which mean we all pile into the King Size bed and snuggle in.  Yesterday was one of those days.  The boys requested I be in the middle, which I begrudgingly took although I knew in twenty minutes I would have to go to the bathroom and would have to find my way out of the bed.  Angel Ignacio pressed his back into mine because he knows it relieves some of the pressure from the pregnancy and Emilio was practically on top of me snuggled in.  Within five minutes Ignacio was out.  I could feel his little twitches; a sure tell sign he was off and dreaming.  Emilio took a little longer but was soon breathing in a steady rhythm and becoming the little hot pocket he does when he sleeps.  I, of course was in between them like the ham in a ham sandwich.  I just took a moment for gratitude.  What a blessing to be with my boys every day; to watch them grow.  There was no where in the world I would rather be.  No board room, or session, or meeting.  I was meant to be right there; at a sleepover in the middle of the day with the sun pouring in the window onto us. 

Take that!

Today Ignacio came to my tummy to say hello to the baby.  He put his mouth on my belly and started talking.  "Hola bebe hermanito!! Quieres jugar?" (Hello baby brother!! Want to play??)  All of a sudden the baby kicked his chin!  We laughed so hard.  He then put his mouth back on my belly and said the same thing and, sure enough, the baby kicked his face again.  He called Angel at work to tell him.  He was so excited and felt so special.  He then went back to playing and said, "He is looking for a best friend."  I looked at him and said, "You are going to be a great one."

Meant To Be

Baby number three is a boy!!  We found out at our ultrasound and we are so excited.  Thankfully everything looked great and the doctor says that the baby looks normal and healthy; two things that are absolute blessings.  The baby was moving around so much and at one point I had to get up and go to the bathroom to see if we could get him to move so she could see his heart.  Ultrasounds are amazing.  You can see in such detail all the little inner workings of the baby.  It made me think about grandma and how different her baby's life may have been had they known about his heart defect before he was born.  Angel was with me and it was so cool for him to see the baby, even if he has been feeling it for a couple of weeks.  We got it on tape when we told the boys it was a boy.  Ignacio said that they could now be the Boy Scouts and Emilio followed up by saying they could be a "superhero squad."  They both had smiles ear to ear.  We went out to eat to celebrate and I couldn't stop smiling for hours. 

I have imagined this baby being a boy, partly because I am so used to boys it only made sense it would be boy, but also because I wanted it to be a boy.  Before getting pregnant for the first time I wondered what I would ever do with a boy.  Coming from a household with all women, the thought of parenting a penis was odd.  Then Ignacio came and snuggled into my heart, followed by my little Emilio who has captured my full love and attention since the day he was born.  I love being a mommy to boys.  The relationship is so unique and special and even deeper and greater than I could have ever imagined.  There is a sense of security and safety that having boys brings me...maybe because boys adore their moms in Latino culture and take VERY good care of them. Sure, it would have been a blessing to have a girl.  There are such precious experiences that only a daughter can give you; this is true.  But I can honestly say I don't feel I am missing out.  I am not crying over never buying a prom dress or never watching Angel walk her down the aisle.  In some ways, to be perfectly honest, I am relieved.

And there are benefits to having three boys.  For instance, they can all go to the bathroom together, share clothes, fight over the same girl, have boy time with Angel, share a room and develop a band of brotherhood that, with a girl in the mix, would have left her a little left out. And so the journey continues.  What will he look like?  Who will he look like? How will our family adjust?  How will the boys be with a baby brother? How will their personalities be alike or different? So much to unfold.  For now we are thankful to God for the opportunity for a new addition to our family.  He was worth the wait and there is no doubt he was meant to be. 

Disbanded

Ignacio returned home on Wednesday and informed me that the "Girl Scouts" have officially been disbanded by the teachers at school.  A decision was reached that their group was disruptive to class and was hurtful to other kids.  Ignacio then made me a promise to not form a group called the "Boy Scouts."  Little does he know they already exist and are also, ironically, led by a bunch of bullies....especially if you happen to be a gay kid.  Things are looking up and he is "back to normal" in the classroom.  This whole thing of releasing your kids into the world sure is an anxiety provoking endeavour for me as a mom. But I trust that our family is strong enough and safe enough for our kids to land softly and safely when the world gets a little rough.