Woah Nelly!

 It's a play date at our place!  SIX toddlers, THREE infants and half a dozen fatigued, frazzled mommies.  All in all, it was a success!

 (Tiago and Laila are pals, ever since he let her borrow his light-up sneakers)

 (The kids loved watching the dog through the windows, and noticed some other "nifty" things while standing at the windows.  For example, "Hey mom, these windows are made of cellophane and beat like a drum!" or "Check out the grating noise that my little toy train makes across these heating vents!" and, best of all, "Hey mom, they didn't even bother getting rid of this glass-top table or live plants--fools!")

 But, no harm came from the making of this play-date, and the kids, plants and windows made it out in tact.....although....

 ....Tiago ended up with a terribly high fever the following day (either he contracted a bug whilst drinking from someone else's sippy cup--they so love to do that--or someone else is gonna get it good this weekend).  Here's hoping that we aren't banned from future play-dates!

So You Think You Can Dance!

 

Even with a fever, this little guy's day isn't complete without a good 'ol dance off!  If you're wondering what's got him grooving, listen below:

 

We don't know why, but Tiago loves himself some Carlos-Vives-Colombian-Cumbia!  He knows every song by heart.  Where does he get his love of music...and more importantly, where does he get those awesome moves?!

(he get's it from his mama)

Babies Without Borders

These past two weeks, Tiago has amazed his parents with his rapid development, drive and overall ability...can we say growth spurt? (Actually, he CAN literally say it. And he might even say it in English if he thinks you don't speak Espanol.)

As some of you may have heard, it's 2011 and Tiago has already overcome several "hurdles" and is challenging mom & dad to get creative with setting new limits. He recently surprised his parents by jumping out of his crib after returning from a trip to Canada. After catapulting himself out of his crib for the 2nd time, mom and dad realized that the 'wall must come down' (or at least the front panel of Tiago's crib). BUT, not only is Tiago the proud new owner of a nifty toddler bed with free reign of his bedroom, the baby-gate to his bedroom has also proven obsolete (yep, he scaled that too)...

It seems that, in the blink of an eye, little baby G became mighty toddler T. He's on the move, ready to explore and wont take "no" for an answer (sigh). In these pictures: The toddler and the pooch enjoy a warm, sunny MLK weekend.

(Apparently it is easier to photograph a dog than a toddler--Tiago kept running out of my shot before the shutter would release)

Before nap-time (thank God he has resumed napping) he decided to help mommy sweep up the leaves in the yard and dispose of them in the waste-bin. Talk about whistle while you work, this is one happy-helper!

At one point mommy excitedly witnessed him count to cuatro (4) and was stunned to hear him breeze right on through to diez (10). What?! Did I teach him that? So, he's been listening to mommy this whole time? (It's a selective hearing, I see.) I didn't catch it on film but rest assured that I squealed so loudly that I actually startled him upon his uttering "diez." Below, he seems to be zoning off into space (as mentioned, it's just about nap-time), and he speeds through to get to ten before hiccuping but doesn't make it in time :

(it's not a perfect count but it's cute!)

Ooot and Aboot

Family Portraits are for sissies!!!! This photo, taken in beautiful downtown Victoria, was one of my many attempts at getting a nice updated photo of the G-Unit while we were out and about (see below for various other attempts):

We visited Grandpa Josh's office at Royal Roads University and toured the grounds of the Japanese gardens. Despite the clear skies, it was freezing (literally) and the kids were turning into popsicles. This made mommy's idea for a nice family photo in front of the old castle, quite improbable...After a couple of attempts in front of the X-Men castle, and dealing with a tantruming-toddler and a less than enthusiastic daddy, mommy decided to just take a picture of the castle (Nate's head in the bottom right):

The peacock, though, was all about getting his photo taken. He posed at several different angles and didn't seem at all bothered by the camera:

In downtown Victoria, we visited the Empress hotel. We thought about getting a cup of tea, and realized that Toddlers and tea (especially @ the Empress) don't jive. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory instead.

Above, Tiago is ready to make a run for it. Below, daddy and Tiago are high-tailing it through the Empress to get to the exit (what about all of the blurred trees--isn't it just beautiful?)

Apparently, outside of the Empress, in 0* celcius, is actually the better element for Tiago.

Man, we are just NOT going to get that family picture, are we?! (Parliment, shmarliment) Tiago, look at the camera!
Three generations of Guilar men in beautiful downtown Victoria:

(Below: shortly after this picture was taken, the kids were overrun by hungry ducks, flocking to a little boy with a bag of seeds. Tiago's mantra for the rest of the day, "Patos--semillas.") Tiago loved the park with the ducks and kids' playstructure...

And Natasha entertained at the Waterfront restaurant:

Our trip to Vancouver was absolutely delightful. The kids were so much fun, the weather (while freezing) was nice and sunny, and mommy was even told that she looked "refreshed" upon returning to work (a true sign of a good vacation).

winter wonderland

Up in Mount Washington (on Vancouver Island), we saw more snow than we had ever seen before! It took Tiago a few minutes to "warm" up to it, but he ended up loving it!

He really enjoyed the toboggan rides down the pedestrian only neighborhood roads, where we stayed.

Tiago loved the snow and practiced shouting both "neve" and "noe" (nieve and snow). Below are a few random clips of our snow trip:

Christmas in Victoria

Christmas in Vancouver

...with the BC Guilars

OK, someone was not in the mood for family portraits--let's move on to the gifts...

...You can never go wrong with a Tonka truck--first thing in the morning!

It was a lovely Christmas in Vancouver. After opening presents on Christmas morning, we celebrated Christmas in the Guilar tradition, where everyone opened their "popper" to find their fortune, a small gift and a party hat. Tiago was most amused by the party hats and learned to utter his first mocking laugh--a slow, deliberate, "ha. ha. ha." with a pointed finger at all of us (bah humbug).

Video 1: Tiago's 2nd Christmas was very exciting because we flew on an airplane and stayed at "Gappop" Josh's house, in BC, Canada! Tiago was delighted to find out that Gappop is even on a similar sleep schedule as he--so he had someone awake bright and early on Christmas day!

But just because everyone else wanted to stay asleep, it didn't make it so. Tiago and Gappop made the rounds. First, Tiago tried to coax daddy out of bed. Then, he and Josh attempted to remind Natasha of the urgency of Christmas morning. It eventually worked, and we were all up and ready to celebrate before the sun came up (of note, the sun comes up about an hour later in BC)!

We enjoyed listening to grandpa Josh sing and play the guitar:
:

Happy Birthday Nate!

The pendulum shifts. Tiago saw this picture and insisted it was his. I corrected, 'No, that's daddy when he was a baby.' So, Tiago put his pudgy little fist to his cheek and demonstrated, saying, "No--Gago." (You see mom? It's me!) Well, then, Happy 1.5 Birthday to you, son!

All I Want For Christmas is...

...a TDI, a TDI, a TDI.

That's right! Mommy got a Turbocharged Direct Injection VW Sportwagen (clean diesel--whoo, hoo!!!)

(I never expected to be so excited over a mom-car...but I finally got my clean diesel engine! So what if it's a station wagon?! And, check out the handy-wipes in the front door, ha-ha.)

Equipped with a panoramic moon-roof (I think Tiago liked the view better from the driver's seat--he didn't appreciate the photo-opt from the back--but he loved playing with all of the gizmos and gadgets on the dash--just like his father!)

(Above: from the parking lot at work.)
I spent 7 straight hours at the dealership unbending in my price and drove off with my dream car (and low blood sugar); HEY, I'm a pragmatist, I'm lucky to even get enough sleep to dream.