Seriously, how many parties can a 2-year-old handle?!?!

Here is the inventory:

Party #1: Baptism party at ChuckECheese

Party #2: B-day party at daycare on 09/27

Party #3: Another trip to ChuckECheese on B-day 09/28

Party #4: Dinner at our house the night of b-day 09/28

Party #5: Gymboree on 09/29

Is anyone tired yet?!?!

Here are some pics, I will tell more about them all tomorrow, when hopefully I will be more recovered from all of the partying of the whole week!!!

Now the best part?!?! Try fitting all the presents from all these parties into a 3-bedroom apartment, and dealing with a 2-year old stuffed in cake, cotton candy, chocolate, lollipop, tea and diet coke!!!

Noah, mommy will write about your 2 years later this week, today she is way too exhausted to even think! But I love you, my sunshine, and I am headed to put you to bed, one more night...

Another great week for us

It has been another great week in our household.

Oliver is growing so much and learning so many new things at daycare with Carrie and Claire.

He is cooing and giggling a lot, loves when we play songs to him, and when we play with puppets. He is starting to rock his hips from one side to another, trying to run already! We continue to be really happy with his sleeping patterns. Mommy and daddy can't complain you are sleeping 9 hours straight, can we? He has outgrown his 0-3 month outfits, and is now on the 3-6 month ones. He has been eating better at daycare, and takes good naps too. Oliver is such a calm and laid-back baby. Mommy feels so much peace just by being close to you and loves watching you grow and learn new things, Oliver!

Noah is such a little man. He has been doing poo-poo and pee-pee on the potty quite often, and enjoys hearing the sound of it, and of course "fushing it". He is talking like it is going out of style, and Marcio and I get surprised every day by something new in his vocabulary, either in Portuguese or in English. He loves spending time outside and his best meals lately consist of ice cream and cho-ca-lite, as he would say it. Oh, I can't forget Target...his favorite store. He loves going around in the toy department, pressing all the possible buttons in all the toys. I can see the manager coming to see us someday soon. Noah know his birthday is coming. That is all he talks about: Noah's "bithday" coming...everyone at school, at home, and neighborhood already know that. :-) Noah has so much energy and is always smiling and happy. Mommy feels recharged and loves discovering the world again when she is with you, Noah!

Now the best part of it all is to see the two of them together. Noah is so proud of having a little brother and going to visit him every day. Oliver loves seeing Noah play silly, and always smiles when Noah gets by him. I agree with a good friend of mine more and more each day, when she says that my life is so much better with two!

My parents and father-in-law got in this morning for Noah's baptism and birthday. We will have a busy couple of weeks, but we are sooo looking forward to it. Noah is in heaven around all the grandparents (and all the presents too). We can't wait! It will be a lot of fun. Just wait until you hear from us on it!!!

For the ones who think they look alike...

We got Oliver's pictures taken at Celebrity Kids, finally.

Without even knowing, the lady took a closeup picture from Oliver that was pretty similar to the one we have from Noah.

I am posting both of them here, for you to come with your own conclusion...but so you know: mommy does not think they look alike at all!!!

My first week back at work and the best part is: Oliver is pooping! :-)

Things are going really well so far this week.

Our morning routines are somehow established, and Oliver has been making that magical thanks to his sleeping pattern. Mom is able to get ready and get Noah ready before Oliver is up to be changed and fed, so that works really well for all of us! And for the ones asking: yes, Oliver sleeps through Noah yelling at 5:30 in the morning that he wants a snack...Bless his heart!

I really like my job and love my new team (or should I say old? For the ones who don't know I am back with the team I was before becoming a TL). I am happy with my management, very happy. They are engaged and participate on things. The only thing that sucked was coming back to a reallocation…but I guess it comes with the territory.

The best part of my days, though, I have to say, are getting the phone calls from Miss Claire.

Here is how it goes most of the days: “...I just want to tell you that Oliver is having a great day, he is kicking the ball, he is looking at himself in the mirror…and guess what? He pooped today!”

Those words were sooooo good to my ears!
You might be asking: What mom is ecstatic about the fact that her baby pooped?!?! Yes, that is me! Poor Oliver has been pooping once a week for the past 6 weeks. As soon as he started daycare he started pooping again! It is magical!

So, here is today's voicemail: "Hi, Ana Paula, this is Claire, I just wanted to tell you that Oliver is having a great day, he had his first bottle, drank 3,5oz of it, then had his second bottle and drank it all, and then guess what? He pooped! And it was a lot...I mean a lot...oh man, it was a lot!"

I laughed so hard people around me had to come see what was going on!

Claire, thanks for making my days so much fun! Thanks for taking such good care of our little precious Oliver. Seeing him smile at you in the mornings makes my day so much happier!

We love you!!!

Oliver is 3 months old today!

Oliver is 3 months old today. I have a hard time believing that. It has gone way too fast.
He is such an easy baby and such a joy to be around!
He has now discovered his hands, and spends minutes looking at them and amazed at how they touch each other.
He has also discovered the TV. One day this week I was thinking he was quietly enjoying lying on my shoulders, when my mother-in-law let me know that he was actually, without even blinking, watching TV!
He started taking real baths (immersed) this month, and has really started understanding the whole idea of his nightly routine.
We eat, then we take a bath, then we eat again, relax for a bit, eat again...then we are off for a good 8-9 hour straight night of sleep! First Friday dad is back from Chicago (and Oliver is turning 10 weeks), he starts sleeping 8-9 hours, and it has been this good since then!
He started daycare this week, and the teachers are amazed by the fact that he falls asleep on his own...yes, so am I. I had to rock Noah to sleep every time, so not really used to that! With Oliver, give him his blankie and his pacie...and he is gone!
Noah is enjoying more and more the fact that he has a little buddy to play with and to rely on. He misses when Oliver is not around, and is the first one to ask about him when he wakes up from his nap.
We could not be happier with our two little boys (actually, if Noah stopped screaming right when I am putting Oliver to sleep... ;-))!!!
Happy 3-month birthday Oliver! We love you so much it hurts!!!

The latest from Noah

Noah, Noah, you are talking so much now...I remember my mom saying she wished I had a on-off button. Now I know EXACTLY what she means! When you don't know what to say next you just go "hummmmmmmmm...." and then something comes.

Here are the ones just from today:

Noah gets daddy's car keys (the ones that are broken): "It boke, Mamae..."
Mamae: "Yes, Noah, it is broken."
Noah: "Ohhhh Noooooooo..." (his face looking so worried!)

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Mamae: Noah, do you want some massage? (after bath, before putting pjs on)
Noah: Yes
Mamae does massage, but when it gets to the feet Noah goes: Mamae, coquinha!
(Translation: coquinha = tickles in Noah's Portuguese dialect)

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Noah, right after dinner (I should say lack of dinner, since Noah did not even touch the plate): Mamae, pretzels?
Mamae: No, Noah, no Pretzels tonight. You did not eat your dinner.
Noah: Papai, pretzels?
Papai: No, Noah, no Pretzels. We are going to sleep soon.
Noah, with sad face: Pleaasseee?
Mamae: We ran out of them Noah, we have to get more later...

An hour later Noah and Daddy are outside playing when daddy remembers he needs to go get bottle water...

Papai: Noah, do you want to go to Target with daddy? (Noah's favorite place lately: "Taget!")
Noah: Yes!
Papai: We are going to go there to get water.
Noah: Pretzels, too, papai?!?

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Noah woke up at 5AM today...so we brought him to our bed on an attempt to get some more sleep. Of course Noah did not want to sleep anymore...so mom and dad kept trying and trying for 1/2 hour, and Noah kept quiet for that long (what a sacrifice), until he notices daddy's eyes opening for a split of a second. He goes to daddy's ears really fast and says really low so that the mean mommy does not hear:"Papai, bincah poco? Cato Noah?"
(Translation: Papai, play the two of us in Noah's room? in Noah's Portuguese dialect)
Of course daddy started laughing and it became the joke of the day on mommy!

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Today was another good day at daycare. Oliver spent almost the whole day there. We went to get him at 3:00. He was on a buggy ride, and looked happy, but exhausted. Looong day for Oliver. Carrie and Claire are taking such good care of him, though. We could no be happier.
Noah paid Oliver a visit during the day, and is very happy to have his brother there with him!
We are very proud of both of them. We are very blessed and very thankful.

Marcio and I had a meeting with Amanda at the house to get an estimate on painting the whole house before we move in. The house is looking great, and really coming along. The cabinets are in! It is so looking like a house already!!!

It is time to go now...Marcio and I are going out to dinner, finally! :-)

It's been a while...

It's been a month since I have written anything in here...and so much has happened during this time!
Daddy is back home for good now, which makes us all really happy.
Noah keeps saying: "Daddy no back Cago woking..." In the beginning he would ask daddy:
"Daddy back Cago woking?"...those days are gone! And we all sleep better. Even Oliver.
First night with Marcio home, Oliver sleeps 8,5 hours straight! And it has been that good since then! Like I said, we are all really thankful daddy is back in our lives every single day.
Today was Oliver's first day at school. Yeah, yeah, we all know it is the best thing for him, along the way it is the best thing for me, and that we should be proud of being able to send him to such a good daycare...but it still hurts like hell.
I would say it is twice as hard this time around. As I was leaving the center I felt like I could not breath, and that someone was ripping my heart apart. Both my babies are there now. As I leave I get a huge smile from Oliver and go see Noah, who is peacefuly eating his breakfast. They are safe, they are happy...that is all I can ask for right now...