The Soto Update

2011-10-11T23:04:00.010-04:00

Tiger, Tiger, Roar! Part 1

Our son, Gideon, turned 5 years old today. We would normally have thrown him a birthday party, and invited his friends from school. But parties can get expensive, and this year Gideon really, really wanted to go to the zoo. To see tigers. And, I didn't know this, but the zoo is really expensive too. So, we had him choose! We let a five year old choose! And, surprisingly, he chose the zoo. He chose tigers. Over his friends. Nice. Hi-five, Gideon.

We decided to go the Bronx Zoo. We verified that there were tigers, and booked our tickets using the Optimum Online discount. I took the day off from work, and Alex put work on hold until later that day. It was an exciting morning. Gideon woke up early, so completely aware of the day and the importance of it. It was the first year that he totally got it. This was a big deal; he was five today! There was going to be a trip to the zoo! He would see tigers! And later, (later!) there would be cake and presents. It would be the best day ever. I read him a Happy Birthday text message from his Aunt Shelley, and he jumped up and down on my bed in total joy. It was pretty awesome. And did I mention the tigers? He was going to see tigers!

The entrance to the Bronx Zoo.

Father and Son.

My darling Lucia, feeling a little left out from all the Gideon birthday celebrating.

Their first stop. Ducks. Of all things.

A sleeping bear. We saw him later that day, and he was dancing.

Now, we weren't there to see ducks or bears (oh my!). We were there for the whole tiger experience. They have at the Bronx Zoo an exhibit called Tiger Mountain. This was our goal. It was quite a walk, and we hadn't brought a stroller or rented one. My mom was with us, and although a really good sport, sometimes suffers from some pain when she walks too much. So, by the time we arrived to Tiger Mountain our expectations were high. We were there to see some tigers! Imagine our disappointment when we entered and saw a lone tiger, asleep at the top of the hill. There was a crowd of people at the glass, waiting to see action from the tiger. He just lay on his side and blinked.

And then Gideon approached the glass. He stood there and touched the glass, and looked at the tiger. Suddenly, the tiger stood up. He started down the hill, and walked in a straight line, right toward Gideon. It was almost menacing, and Alex and I were a bit startled. My mom let out a silent shriek, and we all moved in to be closer to Gideon. The tiger approached him, and Gideon reached out. The tiger walked by, and then returned to his hill. It was all surreal, as if the tiger had been waiting for him.

I almost didn't get this shot, since we were all feeling flummoxed.

Gideon wanted to take him home.

It looks like the tiger wants a bite of his head.

Until we meet again.

Stay tuned, there are more zoo posts to come...

2011-08-09T22:23:00.009-04:00

The Following Photographs Brought

To You By An Almost-Five Year Old

His Mommy's Arm (comfy like pillow)

His daddy and his fajitas.

His Cutie Sister

She likes being the subject of his photographs.

And then becomes inexplicably exhausted.

His Daddy and His Sister.

His Feets. (We call them feets)

Just chillaxin'

Lucia decided to try her hand at this photography thing.

2011-08-09T20:08:00.002-04:00

Gideon's First Performance (and maybe last)

This post is super old, since I meant to post it in June. Some of Gideon's classmates graduated from Preschool in June, and Gideon had been non-stop practicing for his "debut". The song of choice was 'God Bless America'. We heard it in the morning, and in the noontime, and during bathtime. He sang it in his sleep, and even Lucia memorized it.

Of course, on the big day, Gideon woke up not feeling so hot. He had a fever the day before, and was kind of feeling out of sorts (to put it mildly). He refused to sing, and would only sit in a blue chair. Of course, the blue chairs were only for the graduates, so he couldn't. He ended up sitting with his embarrassed parents.

I was able to only snap a couple of shots, and took a very shaky video. You may want to take an anti-nausea pill before viewing, in case you get sea-sick. (Or video-sick)

2011-04-06T17:54:00.005-04:00

A Fun "Spring" Day

So far, "Spring" has been kind of a gyp. From slightly warmer temperatures, to then...oh yes...snow. Outside days have been few and far between. However, with two small children in the house, we have to get outside when we can. Last weekend was one of those days.

Last year, Gideon's school was giving out free playground equipment. They had been able to buy new toys and houses and things, and needed to get rid of the old stuff. Well, we were happy to take something for the backyard.

Our "new" double slide!

You can climb in from the back.

Or from underneath.

With two slides, there isn't alot of fighting.

In fact, it has brought them closer together.

Especially when Gideon shows her his cool moves.

Lucia especially likes her secret hiding spot.

Although, she will peek out and say hello.

Oh, and yes. We have termites. Lovely.

2011-02-20T14:54:00.009-05:00

Home Sick...and a late Valentine's Day craft

Everyone knows that I work. Full-time out of the house. On Mondays and Tuesdays, Gideon and Lucia are at my moms until at least 9:30pm. By the time we get home and into bed, it is after 10pm. And on the other week days, they usually get picked up by 6pm, and then we have to get dinner made, and baths and stories, and so there isn't a whole lot of time to sit and do a craft. Any time when I am home with them for a full day, is a great day.

Last week, both of them got sick. We actually have been quite blessed with zero sickness. This is the first time they have been sick since last summer! And for those of you that know our track record with illness, that is quite a feat! My mother credits the cod liver oil she has been spooning into their mouths. (I know, gross. But it's orange-flavored, and they actually like it!) But this time, Gideon got sick with a cold, and by Wednesday night, Lucia had a fever.

For two days straight, Lucia was very sick. But, by Saturday, she was feeling better. And on Sunday, I got sick. Am still sick, as I type. However, I was determined that we would actually sit together and get a craft done. I had been holding on to this heart box, and had meant to have it ready for Valentine's Day. However, V-day came and went, and we never started it. I took some TheraFlu, and decided to make sure we had a fun day. "Let's do a craft!", I said, "Let's paint!"

We set paper towels out, and Lucia picked her paint colors. Gideon, was sort of helping.

They were all girly colors. Pinks, red, and purple.

These were on hand.

She was a good painter. Very detail-oriented.

She loved that the paint brush was purple. "It's my favorite color!"

Did I mention there was purple glitter glue?

"I can do it myself! No helping me!"

"I did it!"

More glitter glue!

"It's so beautiful, Mommy."

Gideon decides to join in the fun.

He decided red was the most masculine color he could pick.

Lucia needed to fix his mistakes. "He left spaces, Mommy!"

I had to hold the heart up so she could do the sides.

Oh, did I mention there were jewels? There were. This is the top of the heart.

This is the profile shot.

And where was my darling husband during all this extreme fun? Upstairs, working. But, he decided to make sure to play with them, while I was dying on the couch.

They are playing with Lucia's dollhouse furniture.

See the pink box? That is the box the craft came in, but Alex thought it would make a great TV entertainment unit.

Did you guys have a fun day? Their faces speak for themselves :)

2011-02-20T14:27:00.005-05:00

Pictures that Gideon Took

I don't tend to let the kids play with our camera. But, every once in a while, under our supervision, we let him take pictures.

Here are a few examples:

His Favorite Girls

His Feet!

Lucia in Motion

This one isn't terrible.

We are obviously giants in this picture.

Hi Daddy.

2011-02-20T11:05:00.003-05:00

Groovin' at the Breakfast Table

Gideon loves playing on my laptop. And Lucia loves watching him. Here is a little clip of their time together.

2010-10-03T14:16:00.008-04:00

The Best Day (part two)

So, I mentioned in the last post about something life-changing that took place last night. The thing is, for some of you, it might sound silly. But, if you are parents, you just might get it. You see, Alex and I have found...a babysitter! The lack of a babysitter has really taken it's toll. We needed a night out pretty badly. And I was getting so tired of begging my sister to watch them, or feeling guilty of asking my mother, since she has them for most of the day. How could I say, "Um mom, I know you have watched the kids for 8 hours, but do you mind watching them another 3 hours, so Alex and I can go watch a movie?" I couldn't.

So, ever since we moved to the house, I had this fantasy of the perfect teenage girl living across the street. And she would come over, and have tons of babysitting experience, and be super cheap, and love my kids. Well, there actually is a teenage girl across the street, but she has never come over with her Babysitter's Club inspired tote bag. Sigh. But, but! We have a new youth pastor at our church, and they have 4 kids. And out of those four kids, there is a teenage girl. And she is the oldest child, which means she has changed a diaper or two. And the minute I heard about her, I felt a sense of rightness about her. Like I knew.

So, I stalked her on Facebook for a while. And then I talked to her in person. And guess what? She was very excited about the notion of hanging out with my kids. And we texted back and forth. And set a date. I showed the kids her picture on Facebook, to remind them of who she was. And we talked about how she was coming over to play with them. And THEY were excited. And Alex was excited.

So, she came over. Her parents dropped her off. And we walked around with the kids trailing behind us. They were shy at first, but eventually warmed up, and started showing her their toys. We hung around for about 30 minutes, and then felt like we could go. And because we live in such a cool town now, we walked to the restaurant. It was a beautiful night, and I felt so great about this whole new stage we were in.

I have been wanting to go to this crepe restaurant for a while now, but was concerned that Alex wouldn't like it. But he told me he was game, so we gave it a try. It's called Creme de la Crepes. It's on River Rd. in Fair Lawn. I was under the impression that it was kind of a gimmicky restaurant- because of the crepes. But actually, it's like a small French bistro. The owner is French. And our waiter was French. Very Frenchy.

The walls are red, with Eiffel Tower decor. See? Bisto-y.

This flower was on our table. It was pretty.

Perusing the menu. I take this part seriously.

There was actually alot for Alex to choose from. He was debating between being safe, or being adventuresome.

Can we decide on the dessert crepes first?

We ordered the Creme Champetre as an appetizer. A crepe with brie, homemade pesto and tomatoes. Nice and light.

This is my entree. The Croque de Mer. Scallops and mushrooms in a garlic bechamel sauce.

This was Alex's. The Stroganoff. Sliced sirloin, sauteed with Roma tomatoes in a wine sauce. All in a crepe.

Definitely dessert was the best part. I would go just for dessert. This was the Bananas et Cream Glacee. Without the cream glacee (ice cream). Bananas, caramel sauce, and almonds. With fresh whipped cream. Loooved it.

I had a cappuccino. So good. I don't know if everything was truly as delicious as it was, or if I was so enamored with being out, but everything was fantastic.

Fancy sugar packets!

Adorable tiny salt and pepper shakers!

We walked back home, totally happy, and anxious to see how the kids did. I don't know if they had even realized we had left. They had so much fun, and apparently babysitter-girl did too. She told me that Gideon told her that he loved her. I asked them both if they would like her to come again, and they said YES! Alex took care of getting them into bed, and I drove the nicest girl in the world home. Notice I have not mentioned her name, mostly because I am trying to protect her privacy. But, also I don't want anyone to steal her.

So, thank you thank you thank you! You know who you are. We will definitely do this again. I feel like it's a step in the right direction. A step toward more crepes.

2010-10-03T07:56:00.003-04:00

Sesame Street Live! Live!

A short video of me interrogating my children, and forcing them to say that they are having a good time. Also, proof of Lucia shoving popcorn in her mouth, for those of you waiting to report me to child services.

2010-10-02T22:42:00.015-04:00

The Best Day (Part One)

It has been awhile since we posted, and alot of that has to do with the moving in to the house, and getting settled part. Also, we "lost" our camera for a few weeks, and "found" it under one of the seats of the van.

So, today was Saturday. Yesterday, I went to the dentist and did not die. Hooray. But, then I came home and my Gideon was sick. AGAIN. He had a fever, and cold symptoms. And he was clingy and sad. So, I didn't go back to work, and I thought, "Well, there goes the weekend." But today, he woke up feeling better. And ready to go to a birthday party. A birthday party with a bouncy house.

He had a ridiculous amount of fun.It was an outdoor family/friends party. The backyard was decked out with kid's stuff.

One thing I noticed about my son. He likes the ladies. I told him to play it cool. So, there he is, pretending that he is not having the time of his life on that tire swing.

We cut the birthday party short, much to Gideon's disappointment. But for a very fun reason. Sesame Street Live! We won free tickets, thanks to NJ Library Champions http://njlibrarychampions.org/. We entered a contest and actually won! It was very exciting.

The seats were pretty far away, but they were free after all.

But we still could see the characters.

Lucia was kind of amazed. She sat enthralled for at least an hour of it.

Gideon was amazed at how much popcorn he was able to shove in his mouth at the same time.

We tried to take some pictures of us with the kids. Here is Gideon and Daddy, happily posing for the camera.

Here is Mommy and the kids. Notice Lucia's extremely forced smile. It actually was just supposed to be a Lucia and Mommy picture. Gideon snuck in at the last moment.

Here is a silly Gideon moment.

Back to the popcorn. For those of you that are judging me for letting my child eat a choking hazard, let me tell you that you are right! Because I was allowing Lucia, when suddenly she started making a sound in her throat. She gagged and spit out pieces of a kernel. Lordy. Elmo probably heard her. And is judging me too. No more popcorn for Lucia! Daddy went and got her a soft pretzel.

Here she is. No worse for the experience. Doesn't she look older already?

Later that night, the most exciting thing happened. But I am very tired right now, so I will post about it tomorrow. Just know that it was life-changing for Alex and myself. Stay tuned.

2010-07-21T21:53:00.006-04:00

Here's the Play-by-Play.

Boy meets Lucia. Boy tries to say hi to Lucia. Lucia walks away. Boy follows Lucia closely. Lucia starts running. They pause, then Lucia proceeds to run full speed. Surprised at her acceleration, Boy focuses in on catching Lucia, so much so that he bumps into a group of boys, falling down. Lucia has him beat; the Boy is nowhere to be seen. But he returns with a vengeance, and Lucia takes it easy, walking towards daddy, whose recording. Boy is persistent and gets her to smile and she runs away again. Boy's parents indicate that he should stop chasing Lucia. He does and runs off onto the sunset. Lucia can now get back to seeing the band play.

Cut to next scene.

Lucia is showing off her moves, and catches a glimpse of older girls, who are talented dancers themselves. She studies, then joins in. Then she walks away, but returns to check out what the girls were doing. She sees that their interest in her has faded, so Lucia makes her famous dance move, winning the dance off. Lucia walks off to the left towards Mommy, celebrating her victory. The camera focuses in on Gideon.

He notices the camerman, Daddy, and waves. He then begins to dance the hop-along-Gideon. Showing off his fancy moves again. The play ends with a flurry of activity, whereby Gideon and Lucia join in on the chaos.

Enjoy!

2010-07-17T21:37:00.004-04:00

Taking a Bow.

Lucia and Gideon have become accustomed to performing in front of the camera. It comes natural to them I guess. They also like to dance, and I think they have pretty good rhythm for their age. Notice how Lucia takes a bow at the end of their "performance." She's a natural!

As parents, Alexa and I often talk about our kids' futures.

Gideon is awesome with words, and enjoys putting letters together to build words. He's also a good singer, funny, and as the video above shows, a great dancer.

We've discovered that Lucia has a love for shoes, and she does well in selecting the right ones for her mom and aunt when they're picking out their outfits. Really, she does. Just last night before dinner, her Tia Andi asked her what she felt about the shoes she was wearing. Lucia did not approve of her aunt's black shoes, and selected a metallic silver style. The choice was clear, Lucia was right, and Tia Andi changed her shoes.

A bit later, after about an hour of sporting her new lavender Crocs and looking at her feet while walking in them, Lucia decided to change her shoes to better match the torquise dress Mommy selected for her. She was right again, the lavender clashed too much with the torquise, and she wore her pink ones which had little shiny things on them.

Is Lucia destined to be a famous shoe designer?

Will my kids' love for the camera translate into eventual fame on TV, or the big screen?

Don't know. I do know that I think that both my kids are natural performers and love the camera. And, I'm pretty sure the camera loves them.

I've actually done quite a bit of research and thought about calling an agent to see what needed to be done to see if my kids got "It." But, just the other day Alexa provided "Words of Wisdom" out of the blue. It was deep, and I was surprised because in the ten years I've known Alexa, as girlfriend, then fiancee, then wife; she has never shown an interest in philosophy. But there she was, providing a philosophy that made me think. Pensively, she asked, "When has fame and fortune ever improved someone, from the inside, spiritually?"

Straightforward question, but "wow," I said in my head. Because if you think about it, the answer is, hardly ever. When people you know become famous, all of a sudden they disappear. They are ever present on the screen, but just not around anywhere near you. And, then phone numbers change, and you are uninformed about it.

There are the few that have actually used their fame to contribute to society, but I think the story with fame is that it usually separates; the famous from the common. Fame and fortune causes people to wall themselves up against those who are not famous. And, the riches associated with the fame is something you need to worry about.

To lose the sense of peace with the world and fellowship with the common person - not sure if it's worth all the fame and fortune. I wonder what you think?

2010-07-12T14:57:00.004-04:00

A Day by the River

What river? I have no idea. It was Memorial Day weekend, and we had promised the kids that we would go to Bear Mountain! Bear Mountain! Gideon was very excited. I am pretty sure he thought that we were going to see bears everywhere. However, we weren't that smart about it, since we didn't leave until late morning, and by that time, Bear Mountain was closed. There were people everywhere; parked on the side of the road, pulling coolers and carrying babies. We were disappointed, but Alex was determined to find a playground or something fun for the kids.

We drove for awhile, Gideon and Lucia asleep in the back. Driving in upstate NY is pretty; winding roads and lovely vistas. Suddenly, we saw a giant sign advertising a PUERTO RICAN DAY PARADE! Alex took it as a sign from God, and we pulled into that town's main street. We followed the road until it took us to the banks of a river, and thank God, a playground. The children woke up and Gideon asked, "Are we at Bear Mountain?". "No," we replied, "we are at a river! with a playground!" Gideon was satisfied.

Water! We must touch it!

Gideon found a plethera of sticks.

Some of the sticks looked EVIL.

Lucia was unsure about dirt touching her sandals.

Throwing rocks with Daddy!

Umm...why is the sun touching me? Why am I warm? Why am I slightly sweating? Can you make it stop?

A breeze. God hears Lucia. Do you think either of them inherited my nose?

2010-07-10T18:10:00.012-04:00

Playing Catch-Up

Today Alex informed me that the Soto Update can lose it's status on Google. Meaning, that when you type in "Soto Update", it might not be the first thing that pops up. The horrors! That was his subtle way of informing me to get off my tuckus and post something already.

Ok, so this will be a little of a wrap-up of the latest happenings. The following pictures are from Mother's Day. I know, that's like sooo 2 months ago.

We went out for Japanese. This is Lucia doing some kind of intricate arm flapping maneuver. She is practicing to be a ninja.

Gideon with Daddy. It is very hard for him to actually look at a camera directly. He is practicing for when he is famous, and he has to act all indifferent to the paparazzi.

Lucia with Ya-Ya. They are pretty much in love all the time.
This a family shot that the waiter took of us. It is, for us, an excellent picture. No one is blinking or sneezing. We all look pretty happy, and the kids are looking at the camera.

Lucia had the brilliant idea of wearing matching outfits.

We tried to get a nice picture of Mommy and the kids.

Not successful.

She is checking out my shoes. She loves shoes, and usually picks mine out for me.

I thought I would take a sweet picture of my parents walking arm in arm. Instead, I got a picture of my father lifting the back of his jacket to show me his butt. He is so classy, my father the ELDER.

Alex and Gideon had run up ahead to scare us.

Surprise!!
And Lucia is really surprised!

Will post again very soon! Have lots more pictures to make fun of :)

2010-05-14T10:19:00.006-04:00

Getting Our Hair Done

I don't know how it is for you moms out there, but finding the time to get my haircut happens like once a year. Literally, I got an actual professional haircut at a salon last fall. And for those of you that see me on a daily basis, my hair totally reflects that.

However, the kids are a different story. You see, Gideon's nursery school had a picture day. Picture Day! And, as my dad likes to say, Gideon was looking a little bit like a hippie. Those hippies. So, off to the the salon we went. Now, I used to take them to a kid-friendly salon. In Paramus. However, they charge $25.00 a haircut, and for two kids, that's $50.00. Did you see that bit of math-wizness? I know. Amazing. So now we go to a hair salon in Passaic. A Mexican hair salon. We can watch telenovelas while we wait. And they charge ten bucks a pop. That is less than one haircut at the Paramus place.

This was pretty much Lucia's first haircut. My mom had trimmed her bangs before, but nothing at this level.

She was not entirely sold.

Gideon is a pro. He is even fine with the clippers.

Unbeknown to me, the girl doing Lucia's hair was planning a major 'do. It was only when I saw her come out with a big box of rubber band things, did I even guess at what was going to happen. Lucia did not like it, but she did like all the attention she got afterwards. I was still unsure.

Here she is sitting in the salon.

Here she is in the car. They both got lollipops for good behavior. Another salon trick.

Hey, what is this kid looking and smiling at? Could there be something cute to his left?

Hey, who is she looking at? Could there be something cute to her right?

Yup! Two cuties!

2010-03-30T11:35:00.015-04:00

Our New "Firsts"

The cliche is "Time flies when you're having fun". And it is (flying), and we are (fun). Our children are growing so fast, and it is wonderful, and it is heartbreaking. I can't imagine a time when they won't be this small, and if I could I would keep them like this forever. Except that I wouldn't. Because seeing them grow up is amazing. They are truly a gift. And we are very blessed.

This past January, we decided that Gideon absolutely needed to start nursery school. He needed some friends, and he needed to stop talking to crayons. The dance moves we assume will never go away, and really why would we want them to? He is attending a nursery school in Paramus. It is very close to my job, and I can pick him up on my lunch.

This is us on his first day. A mom saw us trying to take a picture and she leaped out of her SUV and offered to do it for us. Nice, right?

Here we are walking in. I was more nervous than he was.

He wasn't entirely sold on this school idea.

Once he saw the other children and the toys, he felt better.

All in all, he seems to ok at school. He definitely isn't in love with it or anything. If given the choice, he would stay home with Lucia. However, he never cries. He always runs in to see Miss Jeaninne, his teacher. He actually calls the school Miss Jeaninne's house. He eats his lunch. He plays outside. He brings home crafts. We get to order books from the Scholastic book orders! My favorite part :)

The Dentist

Another new thing we started this year was going to see the dentist. If any of you know me at all, you know that I abhor the dentist. The dentist is scary and frightening. The dentist puts his hands in your mouth and

youcantbreathandthenyoupassoutandsomeonehastocomerescueyou.

So, the fact that I had to bring my precious children to the dentist and pretend that it was going to be OH SO MUCH FUN! was kind of ironic. It was like going to the circus and being surrounded by clowns. (Did you know that I was afraid of clowns?)

It started off great. They had a playroom, and they seemed to really enjoy their surroundings.

Lucia had to check everything out first.

Gideon went first. Big mistake. He refused to open his mouth, and pretty much screamed and cried and gagged the entire time.

When it was Lucia's turn she didn't seem that excited. She also cried, despite the hygienist using cherry-flavored gloves.

However, both kids got to pick a prize when it was over. They seemed pretty happy about that. I am glad we don't have to do this again for a while. But I realized that I can't put my fears on my children. I don't want them to grow up afraid of ridiculous things, like clowns. I want them to enjoy everything life has to offer. Even the circus. And the dentist.

2010-03-14T14:31:00.013-04:00

If a tree falls in a forest (or in your backyard) and no one is around (or sleeping) to hear it, does it make a sound?

After dropping my cousin off at her house, I headed back home amidst heavy winds and rains produced by the latest Noreaster to hit us this year. Throughout the trip, I was actually worried about the tree in our backyard. It's large and old. It looks like an evergreen, but I don't know much about trees.

Seeing twigs and branches strewn about on Garden State Parkway didn't help either. The van vibrated violently; suddenly ... a flat tire. I pushed on through, as changing a tire in a heavy rain storm with barely any light on a highway wasn't something I wanted to do ... again.

Over 12 years ago, a friend of mine and I had arrived from a road trip, and about 30 minutes away from town, we got a flat. We hung out on the edge of the highway, talking about guy stuff and deep thoughts about life .... I guess what single 23 - 24 year old guys see as deep. Eventually we installed the bicycle tire-like spare and made it home safely. It wasn't fun ... the tire changing that is, but my friend being there turned the experience from being really bad to pretty okay.

This time, I was alone and didn't want to change the tire by myself, considering that it was dark, wet, and windy. I pushed forward, noticing more and more shaking as I was nearing the exit, but then remembered what happened 2 years ago, when the same van shut down in an unexpectedly deep pool of water in a nearby exit. Not wanting to wade in thigh high, dirty water again waiting for the tow truck for several hours, I headed towards the next exit, which was a bit farther, but on higher ground.

A few blocks from home, I heard metallic scraping noises. Only 2 blocks away at this point. I kept driving home. When I made it home, little did I realize that the tire, whatever was left of it, was actually off the rim. But, I was home, finally, glad to be alive, but still thinking about the tree in the backyard. I went to sleep.

I woke up bright and early the next day, and headed to church, completely forgetting about that tree in the backyard, as there were no more winds to remind me of it. So, I just got into the other car and headed out. Roads were closed due to fallen trees, and despite all this, the tree was not on my mind, at all. My mind was writhing with thoughts of the van, and what we were going to do with it, as it isn't drivable. Arriving from church, I pulled into the driveway.

I saw it ... that big ole tree, laying on its side; atop the roof of the neighbor's shed, completely uprooted. I was glad, because it could have easily fallen towards our bedroom, only about 10 feet away. The roof of the house we live in, which is very old too, probably would not have withstanded the weight of the tree. It's my estimation that had the tree fallen the other way, I would not be writing this right now.

Roots no more.

Hey Neighbor! (This picture was taken right outside our bedroom window)

It's simple. The direction the tree fell was the determining factor on whether my wife and I (and, Gideon too; as of late as he's been sleeping with us) should live or die. It's that basic.

I didn't know what to think at first. I was flooded with the absoluteness of life and death. Lucia, who was in another room, not within reach, would have been left alone. A tragedy. We joked that Lucia would have been angry at us for not getting her out of the crib, with a bottle of milk ready.

We never heard the tree, so there was nothing we could have done to protect ourselves. Alexa and I believe God protected our family.

God's hand appears in many forms, in the life a new baby, in the majesty of nature, and in the humanity and love we show to others ... and yes, even when a tree falls and we don't hear it.

2010-02-22T17:05:00.014-05:00

Knock, knock...is anyone still out there?

I don't have a real reason why we haven't blogged. I can use the "exhaustion excuse", or "the house is a mess excuse", or "chasing Lucia around making sure she isn't electrocuting herself takes all my time excuse".

Maybe, part of the reason is because we were in Costa Rica! In January! Which is over a month ago! So, that's not a good reason either. But here are some highlights:

The Pacific Ocean!

Fruity Monkey Poop!

Lucia walking in my abuelita's backyard. In her bathing suit. Wearing her sunhat. Holding a pail.

Gideon doing a freestyle dance. Holding his cup. In my aunt's courtyard.

Palm Trees! In January! Oh Costa Rica, how I miss thee.

Let's put all the kids in the hammock! Look at how happy Lucia is! Not.

Alex and I enjoying a typical frozen treat. Shaved ice with a fruity syrup thing on it. It's...(to quote Dora) delicioso!

The main event: My Abuelita's 80th birthday! Look at how good she looks for 80. Look at how good I look for 34! Look at how good Lucia looks for 17 months! Good genes, people. Good genes.

Lucia all dressed up for my grandmother's birthday. The hat gave her a sense of self-importance.

One of the best things we got to do in Costa Rica was to hang out with family. Especially Jerry and Adriana. You all remember my cousin Jerry? If we all lived closer to each other, we would hang out all the time. We are very compatible.

The gang's all here.

Awww...Look at how pretty Adriana is. And Jerry. Look. At. Jerry.

Triple A. Andrea, Adriana and Alexa. Out on the town, people. Out on the town!

A trio of cousins!

This is Lucia's threatening face. She is warning me not to be so lax about blogging. Ok, Luce! I promise! I will blog...I will blog.

2010-01-22T13:59:00.003-05:00

A Very Happy Birthday Mama!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. Her name is Alejandrina Soto, and she is a wonderful woman, mother, and grandmother. My kids call her Mama.

Without her, I would not be able to work full-time, since she is the main caregiver for my children. This video is for her. We love you Mama!

A disclaimer: Please ignore my messy house and dirty children. I was not prepared.

2009-12-22T09:52:00.006-05:00

A Snowy Day

I had planned on having a day filled with merriment with family and friends at our tree trimming party. The weather had other plans. We ran out to buy Gideon some snow boots on Saturday, knowing we would need them the next day. We did need them.

Here is the evidence:

Lucia was unsure of the whole experience.

This is her looking at me, wondering why I am making her stay outside.
For those of you that know Gideon, you know that he doesn't like getting his hands dirty. Or sticky. Or, apparently, snowy. So, I told him to clap his hands to get the snow off.

Hee hee hee, I knew this would happen.
But, he didn't mind some snow in his face.
He then proceeded to try to make a snow angel.
I put Lucia down to see if she wanted to try too. She did not.
Daddy and the kids, posing for a shot.

Mommy and Lucia, who is trying to escape.

Gideon needed a break. Playing in the snow is exhausting.

2009-12-21T14:42:00.005-05:00

Oh.... How They Grow!

Gideon - December 2008 - What a smile!

Gideon - December 2009 - Such a handsome boy!

Lucia - December 2008 - Her first Christmas!

Lucia - December 2009 - The camera loves her! What a cutie!

2009-12-21T01:33:00.004-05:00

2009: Go Away ... No Wait, Stay A Little Longer.

Finding the time to post a new story on our blog has become a big challenge for me. I love writing, but I’ve had less time to do it these days. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I posted. On my Facebook page, I recently suggested a link to our blog with the following comment: “After 4 years, The Soto Update continues! It's been a long time since the last post, but life got really busy ... fast.”

Warning: This is one of those reflective, sometimes long winded posts where Alex invites readers of the Soto Update to see what’s in his head and heart. You’ve been warned. =)

To know Alex is to know that he aims to be transparent, and that he wears his emotions on his sleeves. He’s a believer in God’s love and grace, but Alex’s imperfections are many. He may be in leadership roles in church life, but he’s a regular guy who faces challenges of faith everyday … probably more so now than ever before.

You’re probably asking, “Why is Alex writing about himself in the third person?”

I’ll ask him when he’s back to his normal self.

(Transition to first person. Black background, dim spotlight on Alex’s face. Mic set. Soft violin music playing. And, ACTION).

Life has taken a turn that I wasn’t expecting. As I start to look back on 2009, I don’t know whether to wish 2010 a fast arrival or to let 2009 continue for just a little bit longer. Allow me to debate this within myself.

2009 has truly been a year of change, not only on the political front with the election of the first African American President and the drastic deterioration of the US economy, but in my personal life as well.

I’ve been independently employed since 2005, but not until the end this year has my business experienced growth. In early 2009, my family was in dire straights financially, but within a few months things really did turn around. Now, I’m still learning about taxes and how to be a good manager to my team of virtual contract writers, but on the financial front, 2009 has been mostly good!

On the personal side, life got really busy, and as a result, my relationships have suffered a little. Alexa and I have had more arguments than I wish we ever had, my patience with my kids had grown thin on different occasions, and blowing up on family, friends, and even strangers had become more commonplace.

Physically, I’ve become greyer and gained more weight. I’ve discovered new pains in my knees and back and was diagnosed with asthma and sleep apnea this year. My knack for organization has seemingly slipped away, as the house becomes more and more controlled by the stuff that accompany 1 and 3 year olds, mainly toys and clothes.

In 2009, both my kids were hospitalized for several days for different things. Gideon spent 9 days in the hospital with double pneumonia and H1N1. Our experience with Gideon’s sickness caused me to adapt a “do not take any chances” attitude, which is unlike me. Anybody who knows me is aware of my cautiousness when making decisions. I attribute this to the consequences of my hasty decisions of the past, many of which still rear their ugly heads when least suspected.

This change in my personality was on display for all to see when we experienced Lucia’s strange behavior with her eyes rolling to the back of her head 3 times within a 2 minute period. I thought the worse … that she was having seizures. I exclaimed to myself, “not this time, we aren’t waiting for the Pediatrician’s recommendation … we are going to take Lucia to the ER right away … no more hesitation in my life when it comes to my kids’ health!”

Yes, I exclaimed to myself in my head. Weird right?

Throughout the hospital stay, I felt bad as they put her through sleep tests, which involved getting sensors glued to her head, so that her brain activity could be monitored in case the “seizures” happened again.

But, they never re-occurred.

I felt pain in my heart when they put her through the MRI, which in itself is not as risky as the act of giving a 1 year old anesthesia in preparation for the MRI. I doubted my decision to take her to the emergency room in the first place, and putting her through the hassle of getting poked by needles, having a bright light shined on her eyes, and having the cold metal of the stethoscope interrupt her sleep. Plus my wife was once again stuck in the hospital; sleeping in an unfamiliar convertible couch without her son nearby … she was saddened because she wasn’t able to see Gideon for 4 long days.

2009 thus far in a nutshell:

Strained relationships with the ones closest to me; health issues with my children, Alexa’s parents, and me; and complex personality changes, not necessarily for the better … these are all things I’ll gladly bid farewell to at the end of 2009, just 10 days away. The experience of these aforementioned trials are what makes me want 2009 to go away … to leave, never to return …

Except, I’ll hold on to the good memories.

Like the laughs we’ve enjoyed together at the dinner table.

Seeing my wife and kids sing and dance in the living room to songs they don’t know the words to.

Hearing “I love you, Daddy” from Gideon the very first time.

Seeing Lucia master the art of walking, then running, then bumping into things … but getting up right away.

Getting surprise hugs and kisses from Alexa when I needed them most and the date nights I’ve had with her, though sporadic and scarce.

Taking the kids outside to play with the snow, or at Ikea, or in the playground.

The deep and enjoyable conversations I’ve held with friends over coffee, and sometimes cake.

Times when I was able to sit in solitude to reflect on the serenity of nature or the beautiful architecture of city skylines.

Yes, there are plenty of good memories and I’ve had business success in 2009, but the personal challenges that took place this past year makes me want 2010 to arrive ASAP, so that the only things that remain in my heart forever from 2009 are the times of joy with my family and friends.

Perhaps I’ll be my old chummy, normal self in 2010, who knows, maybe even the rest of 2009, as I am starting to get the Christmas spirit.

Wait … I haven’t even started shopping for gifts yet … and Christmas is only 5 days away!

(Fade to black)

Alex exclaims aloud, “Don’t get Alex started on shopping!”

(And, CUT!)

Another post from Alex coming after Christmas. Alexa is working on a more happy story about snow fun and cute kids to be posted in the next few days. Stay tuned!

.

2009-12-20T18:08:00.014-05:00

A Very Merry and Healthy! Christmas

After going through so many health issues with my babies this year, I decided it would be fun to have a low-key family get-together. I scheduled a tree trimming party for this past Saturday, with cheesy carol singing, and yummy eats. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans and we got 9 inches of snow. So, no one could get here. Boo.

We tried to make the best of it, and I started decorating the tree, hoping that Gideon and Lucia would join in. Alex had the camera ready, trying to capture unforgettable family moments. Sigh.

First of all, forgive my weirdo hair. Here, Lucia looks like she is trying to help mommy. Awww...so sweet. In reality, she is whining because I took the ornament away from her.
We had Spanish Christmas carols playing. Here I am shaking my groove thing.

Here is Lucia, shaking hers.

A totally staged shot of Gideon being interested in an ornament. He got some Swedish Fish after.

When they were born, we got ornaments for them at the mall. This is Gideon's.

Here I am, trying to show Gideon his ornament, and waiting for him to be SUPER EXCITED about it. I am still waiting.

This is Lucia's ornament.

That's what I'm talking about! Who's my girl?

Hey, who's manly arms are those?

All of this festivity, came on the heels of a really hard time for the Soto family. Most of you know that Gideon was in the hospital for nine days with double pneumonia, and the H1N1 virus. However, not to be left out, Lucia was also in the hospital recently for a possible seizure episode.

Here is my brave boy. Smiling through his oxygen tubes.
He is the sweatiest child. Guess who he gets it from? One guess: he has manly arms.
This is in the playroom of the hospital. Once Gideon was out of isolation, we went there to play. I challenged these to girls to a Jenga throwdown. I am awesome at Jenga. They never had a chance.

This is Lucia on her the first "day", since we technically were admitted at 2 am. She had her head wrapped up so she wouldn't pull the wires out. They glued wires to her head, to monitor her brain waves.

Here is she in her own sleeper. She was a very popular girl in the unit. All the nurses loved her.

Let me tell you, staying at Hackensack Medical during the holidays is a must-do. We got visited by a major league soccer player, and a whole mess of NJ Devils. Also, a couple of groups came by and gave out toys to the sick children. She got a Fisher Price tea set, and a stuffed puppy.

The following are videos on our tree trimming night. You only have to watch these if you are family. I don't want to crush your dreams that I have perfect and lovely children.

2009-11-16T12:04:00.002-05:00

Waiting

I have not been in the mood to blog. I have this long post in my head regarding Gideon, and our hospital stay, but everytime I start to write I want to start crying. Even though he is ok, something inside of me is not ok. I can't seem to let go of what happened, and alot of it is because I blame myself. Most people will tell me that I am being crazy, although I know a couple of people that blame me also. So, right now I have to wait to write. Once my life goes back to normal, maybe I will go back to normal too.

2009-10-27T15:44:00.005-04:00

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

The other day, we decided to put the kids in a wagon, and drag them around our neighborhood.

Here is the photographic evidence:
Here they are, shell shocked. Why are they sitting out in the cold elements, being wagon'ed around for all to see?

The main dragger-arounder.

I take a turn. These kids eat too much. That wagon is heavy!

I don't know why I continue to humiliate myself by posting pictures like this. Internet, what is wrong with me?

Seemingly having a good time.

A video: More evidence of wagoning.

2009-10-14T22:01:00.014-04:00

The Party Continues...

Gideon's Party Part 2

So, after the kids were finished with their Olympic event, they herded the kids into the eating area, where a long table was already set with pizza.

Gideon sat, as he should as the birthday boy, at the head of the table.

Funnily enough, Lucia toddled over to the other end of the table. I think she felt she was hostessing this event. At one point, she walked over to everyone sitting and greeted them.

There is Gideon self-eating! He normally does not like getting his hands dirty, or sticky, or messy. But, peer pressure prevailed, and he sat and ate just like everybody else. Hooray peer pressure!

Lucia ate pizza too. She is so over baby food.
The triplets commandeered their side of the table.

Here is Mr. Innocent. Look at that face!
More cute kid pictures.

Speaking of cute.
So, one of the issues came cake time. Gideon was so fond of the pizza that he kept eating it.
Here is the cake. That is Wow!Wow! Wubzy! He is happy to meet you.
Ok, so remember all that pizza he kept eating? Well, when the cake came out, and candles needed to be blown, guess who's mouth was full of pizza? Check out the left side of his mouth. So, if your piece of cake had a tiny bit of pizza on it, now you know why.

Other than that, the cake was a success. We had some happy customers.

Happy kid here!
Another satisfied client. Notice the self eating again. Can you all come to my house everyday and eat with us?
Yummy cake! But what is mommy looking at over her shoulder?
Could it be this guy taking handfuls of cake?

Wait! Did you get frosting on your ankle? How did that happen?
Houston, we have a problem. There is frosting on a cute ankle.

Sadness, because the party is over. Don't worry, part 3 is coming soon.

2009-10-11T14:47:00.009-04:00

Happy Birthday Gideon! Part 1

When it comes to children, all the cliches in the book are true. "They grow up so fast", or "It seems like just yesterday that he was just a baby", or even, "Time flies". This year, my son Gideon, who should still be a tiny newborn, turned 3 years old. Of course, if you ask him about his birthday, he will deny any and all evidence. Days before his birthday, I would ask him "Gideon, do you want a birthday party?". His answer: "No thank you" or "I don't think so". He apparently did not want to turn 3. Well, as my friend Jen said, 3 is the new 2:)

Well, despite his many protests, his birthday did arrive. We celebrated with a birthday party at the Learning Experience in Waldwick http://www.thelearningexperience.com/waldwick.html. My sister works for the Learning Experience as a business manager person-something, so we were able to get a discount. I was so impressed with the way the birthday party was run. All we had to do was bring a cake, and any food we wanted to feed the adults. They offered to order pizza for the adults, but I opted for cheese, veggies, and fruit instead. I just joined Weight Watchers, so if I'm on a diet, everyone is on a diet. They took care of everything else, including the goody bags.

When you first arrive, the children play in this awesome pretend area. There are all these little buildings, where the kids can play. There is a little store, and a little garage with a mini car, and a tool area. I wish we had gotten more pictures of that, but we were busy chasing the kids around.
A picture of my nephews inside the "store".
Oh! They had a slide, that would go down into a ball pit. Here are some party guests waiting patiently for their turn. The person in black was one of the girls who worked there. She made sure the kids behaved themselves as they went down the slide.

A view of the slide. That is Gideon holding everyone up.
Landing into the ball pit!
Another party guest putting the steering wheel back where it belongs.

They had us all sit in a circle.

And showed the kids what to do when they wanted to get their attention and be quiet. They were to "catch bubbles" and put them in their mouth.

We then moved into a larger room for the Olympics!
First some stretching. Gideon need some direction.
Touch your toes!
Run around the cones!
Some of the younger kids were just observing.
Some were helping clean the floors with their bodies.
Walking the balance beam. Notice the cheering. Hooray Gideon!

Everyone joins in!
This mom BECOMES the balance beam. That's how she keeps in shape.

Other kids just stood on the sidelines and danced. And danced. And danced.

The Olympics can get exhausting!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

2009-09-19T14:09:00.010-04:00

A Mish Mosh: Rachel Ray and Lucia pictures

So, a few weeks ago I had tickets to a taping of the Rachel Ray show. I took the day off from work, and along with my mom, my sister and cousin-in-law Stephanie, we hightailed it into the city. Of course, nothing really went smoothly, since the bus was late, we couldn't get a cab until my mom prayed one into being, and none of us had a chance to eat breakfast, so we almost expired right on the set. The thing with getting tickets to these talk shows, is that you are not guaranteed entry, regardless if you have tickets or if you are coming in from out of state/the country and had to fly and book a hotel room to get there. So, I was petrified of being late, and not getting in. We saw a couple from Germany who got there too late and didn't make it in.

This let's you know you are waiting on the right line.
The security guard. He didn't notice my covert picture taking. Ha! Got you security guy person! Take that!
Andrea and I waiting on line, faking happiness, since we were about to pass out from starvation.
Stephanie, contemplating ways to kill me if I took her picture. HA! I am still alive!
Andrea actually threatening me.

You weren't allowed to take pictures in the studio, so I took a picture of this portrait of her dog in the waiting room! Ha again! Take that Rachel Ray! I promise I am done with the HA's. Too much coffee this morning.

After we were done taping, we made a beeline to Ellen's Stardust Diner. Andrea really wanted to show Stephanie the singing waiters/waitresses, and I was dying to pay too much money for mediocre food. Mission accomplished on both ends.

Me and mom. Do we look alike? Everyone is always telling us that we look alike.

Stephanie and an adorable looking female. Wait! Is that me? Why, thank you for thinking I am adorable. You are too kind, my loyal reader.

This is Lucia on her actual birthday. We went to Friendly's for lunch, and she wore 3D glasses.

Her first cake. I forgot to take a picture of it, so it had already been cut. It was strawberry, and delicioso.

The family blowing out the candle. This was a replay, by the way. The original shot was taken in the dark, and you couldn't see a thing.

The crowd eagerly awaits cake.

Lucia receives her second birthday present.

It's a doll! She seems perplexed, but that is only because she has not figured out how to put it in her mouth.

Cake number two at Casa Soto.

This is not a reenactment.

I think me likee the cake.

A picture of Lucia in her new fall jacket.

Ok, and now I leave you with one of the funniest videos ever. Ok, it's no baby dancing to Beyonce, but I was laughing. It is Andrea and Stephanie dancing at Ellen's Stardust. Enjoy.

**UPDATE** I just saw the video again, and I don't know what is wrong with me. It is not that funny. I need a nap.

2009-09-16T11:26:00.012-04:00

And She's One!

One year ago, at this very time (11:00am), I was getting ready for my noon appointment with Dr. Gallo. Two hours later, Lucia came shooting out into the world. Literally.

Coming home from the hospital.

The following pictures are of Lucia opening up a present that her Aunt Shelley gave her. We haven't really planned for a major party for her. Just maybe some kind of cake tonite with my family, and tomorrow night at the ritual dinner at the Sotos.

She has discovered her gift!

But wait! What is this? An Elmo card?

Taking it over to the couch for a better view.

Walking around reading the message from Aunt Shelley.

And now she rips it. She does that to everything she loves. Luckily, Gideon is still intact.

Speaking of Gideon, how is he dealing with all this birthday fuss? Especially, since it's not all about him?

Well, he's not impressed.

Here are two videos. In the first one, she is opening her present. In the second one, I am attempting to get her to stay still to get a shot of her in a tiara. However, she is not having it.

2009-08-31T11:52:00.011-04:00

The Sotos Do Science!
or
Our Day at the Liberty Science Center- Part One

This past Saturday Alex and I decided to get out of the house. Even though Saturday is our designated house cleaning day, we realized that we are not taking advantage of our only day "off" with the kids. So, at first I thought about going to the NJ Children's Museum in Paramus. However, it costs $10.00 per person, including adults and children. It seemed a little steep for what you get. And the reviews online weren't great. So, we thought about the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. It is even more expensive than the Children's Museum, but I thought more worth the price. $15.75 for adults and $11.25 for children.
Here we are waiting on the security check line. Lucia is wondering what the hold up is. Gideon is trying to disguise himself by wearing a finger mustache. He thinks security won't notice.

Daddy waiting patiently.

The museum is definitely geared toward older children, but they do have several areas for the littles.

The first exhibit we went to is called "I Explore". It is meant for children ages 2-5. There is alot going on in a kind of small space.

This was a bin that just had rice, and some measuring cups to play with. Simple, yet effective.

They had this ball machine, and you would turn the cranks to make the balls go where you wanted them to.

These are the balls. That is Lucia there, and Gideon is reaching in to get more balls. Lucia would just take them and throw them.

They had foam building blocks.

Lucia could almost reach them. I didn't really want her to grab them, since whenever she did, they became a chew toy. Wait, chew toys are for dogs, right? Not babies.
Ok, tell me this child is not up to something.

You could "paint' this slate wall with brushes and water. Lucia kept trying to suck the water off the wall.

There are more pictures that I need to upload. So stay tuned for Part Two...

2009-08-25T14:11:00.004-04:00

Baby Girl

We all went to IKEA just a few days ago to have a cheap, but tasty dinner, all while giving the kids access to the loads of fun IKEA offers children of all ages. In a play area, Gideon went jumping around with children he just met, in particular this 3 year old boy who enjoyed screaming. And, Gideon joined in on the ear-piercing fun.

Lucia was sitting in the shopping cart seeing all that was going on with the cutest smile on her face, as if saying, "soon, I'll be able to jump around just like my big brother." This same boy playing with Gideon noticed Lucia and must have thought her to be the cutest baby girl he's seen. He proceeded to run towards Lucia yelling and making funny noises that didn't make her laugh, but did force her to crack a smile. She kept looking away, but he would come back again and again, and finally gleeful noises came out of Lucia's mouth.

The whole time, I was sitting on a bench inside the play area holding onto the shopping cart. Everytime the boy approached Lucia, I would unconsciously strengthen my grip on the shopping cart. I knew I was doing it, but didn't know why. I just couldn't seem to help it. When Alexa arrived from getting our food, I told her that I knew what type of Dad I would be when Lucia reached boy-liking age.

Lucia, why must it be an inevitable thing that you grow up. Sigh.

2009-08-23T23:34:00.010-04:00

Alex and Alexa Go to Rockport

I have been putting off writing this post, because I feel like the second I write it, all memories of Rockport, and our lovely getaway will be a thing of the past. Alex and I used to take lots of road trips when we were sans children, and we very much enjoyed them. But, I don't think there has been a trip that I have enjoyed more. Maybe it was the fact that I could sleep in if I really wanted to, or that I didn't have to change any diapers. Whatever the reason, I highly recommend Rockport as a relaxing change of pace. (it sounds like I am writing a travel review)

When we were first talking about the possibility of going away, Alex kept saying his only criteria was to "do nothing". He wanted to sit and look at nature, preferably a view of the ocean. I didn't have any criteria. Just NOT HOME. I probably would have been happy at the nearest Hilton, just as long as I could get room service.

We wanted to do Cape Cod, but of course being the non-planners that we are, it was pretty expensive and there really wasn't anything available. My co-worker (technically, my boss) Annie suggested Rockport, MA. Her in-laws live there, and she thought we would like it. I Googled it, and behold:

That is picturesque, people.

I emailed every hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast in town. I got back a lot of "sorry, we're booked", but I got one very friendly email back letting me know they had one room available, the Seacrest Manor http://www.seacrestmanor.com/. After getting everyone at my job to vote, we all decided that yes, this was the place. (It wasn't much of a vote, since it was the ONLY choice, but whatever.) I called to book, and was told that they only had a room for Friday night. However, they had a cancellation, so we could have a different room for Saturday, but would need to switch rooms. We thought that was fine, so we booked it. My Facebook status instantly changed and alerted everyone of our plans.

We left Friday morning, and after TONS of traffic, we arrived at the Seacrest Manor, and met our new best friend, Pat. She is the innkeeper, and the loveliest woman in the whole wide world. She had been waiting for us to arrive, and seemed very happy to see us. (I don't mean seemed, as she if was up to something. I am sure she was genuinely happy to see us.)

Here is my darling husband, posing in front of the inn.

Myself, and Pat! Hi, Pat!

Our room for Friday night. This room had no air conditioning, which we were warned about. However, the night was very cool, and the lack of air conditioning did not affect us. I forgot to use the flash in this picture. It also is a lot larger than it appears.

Our room for Saturday night. This room was extra lovely. See the pink thing on the bed? That is my robe. When Alex and I came in from being out, someone had laid it on the bed for me. I had left it out all sloppily, and I came back to find it all genteel and stuff.

The deck! The marvelous deck! The perfect place to sit and do nothing and look at nature with a water view! I think I fulfilled Alex's criteria. I am the fullfiller of criteria!
This is the view from the deck. With a some zoom.

The lovely dining area where we sat, and Pat brought out delicious breakfasts. Like baked French Toast. And vegetable quiche. And eggs with bacon or sausage. And toast with 2 kind of jam. Two kinds of jam! That is really living.

This is what you would get before the hot breakfast. See that cute white dome? That is the secret butter holder. And the little cylinder behind it? One of the jam holders.

Someone asked us to take their picture, and in exchange we asked them to take our picture. Nothing is free, people! Do we look adorable? And matching? We never plan on matching, it just happens.
The Annisquam Lighthouse. It took us forever to find it, because it is actually in a residential neighborhood. The "parking" was adjacent to someone's driveway. It was beautiful, and we usually go looking for lighthouses for my dad's sake.. He loves lighthouses, and I like to bring him a picture of one he hasn't yet seen in person.

A pile o'kayaks. Alex liked the way they looked, so he snapped this picture. I love them. Not enough to go kayaking, but I like the colors.

The lovebirds. Don't we look relaxed and rested? We loved our little getaway, especially staying at the Seacrest Manor. Alex promised me that we would return again. I think it is really important to take a break from your everyday, and just be a couple again. Of course, we missed our babies. I even shed a tear when we left. But we need to recharge, and be a wife and a husband again, not just a mommy and a daddy. We are both feeling better, and although we are back to our busy life, we have been more patient and loving with each other.

Happy Anniversary, Hunnie.

2009-08-17T15:02:00.008-04:00

Crayon Rocks!

Alex and I went on a weekend getaway to celebrate 6 years of being married. I will write a post soon about our trip, and the lovely inn where we stayed. This post is about the souvenir we brought back for Gideon. It would be the first time we brought him anything, since it's the first time we have been away from him for any length of time, and it's the first time he may have noticed.

Gideon loves crayons. He loves to play with them, and have conversations with them. He's all like, "Hi Blue, what are you doing?" and apparently they answer back and tell him about the wonderful day they are having. Gideon also loves rocks. He usually picks up whatever rock he finds outside and also talks to it. I know, he's a little weird. But, he's my weirdo, and I love him.

So, when Alex and I saw this, we knew it would be the perfect gift.Right? Of course right.

He LOVES them.

They are pretty much what you think they are. Rock-shaped crayons. They are all natural, made of soy wax. (I don't know what that is), and are "Designed to strengthen the tripod grip muscles, preparing fingers and hands for handwriting." The woman at the store was very excited about them.

He likes to put them all on the mini canvas bag they came in.

And of course, he has meaningful conversations with them. Probably about why he can't watch They Might Be Giants whenever he wants to.

2009-08-15T22:13:00.006-04:00

Alleys

As a junior in college, I often walked quickly down a street in Alphabet City in the East Village going to and from my part time job just trying to keep pace with the fast pulse of NYC life. Not wanting to miss my bus and train, I often focused on what was ahead, and maneuvered my way down the sidewalks to arrive at my destination in a timely manner. But one day, after visiting my boss's client somewhere closer to SOHO and making dozens of pitch calls to random journalists about a story they didn't care about, I was fired. It was my birthday and I went through a range of emotions, from immediate anger saying to myself, "how dare he fire me on my birthday." Come to think about it, I don't think he knew it was my birthday.

My next emotion was a little less distinguishable, but life was a puzzlement to me in this phase. I quickly moved on to visible sadness, and adopted a "woe is me" attitude as I aimlessly walked the streets of SOHO and other parts of the city. This time, I was walking at a normal pace, not speedily as everyone around. I was pushed, prodded, bulldozed .... and somehow felt like, whatever, all this being pushed around by people is nothing compared to being fired on what's supposed to be a happy day - my 21st birthday. So, my attitude quickly turned toward rebellion, not in a take over city hall kinda way, but in a "just see if messing with me is a good idea" kinda way. I guess I was challenging everyone and anyone to a fight - at least in my head.

Not so focused on trying to catch the bus before it left me, I ventured off into some unknown streets. I found myself in West Broadway, and then Houston. Along the way, I peeked into an alley, something I wouldn't have time doing if I was employed. It was shadowy, with grey brick laid out on the ground and plastered against all walls, but there, I saw a camera crew with a bunch of beautiful people (I think they were models) standing around seemingly waiting for instructions. I think they were shooting a commercial or something. I didn't stick around to see what they were actually doing. But, right there it was clear to me that amidst an alleyway that was less than inviting, can exist beauty, or hope. And, I wasn't so sad anymore about just losing my job.

So I like alleys, or at least the idea of hope in a dark place. Here are some pics of alleys in Rockport, which as you will see are nothing like the ones in NYC. Enjoy.

2009-08-13T22:50:00.007-04:00

Mrs. Perky Bird, Storytime Mascot

Storytime Drop-Out

We have baby story time at the library, and Lucia has been signed up all session. Unfortunately, with Alex's hectic work schedule, she has managed to only make it to a few of them. I was able to take some pictures of the very last one. Imagine my shock and dismay, when I told everyone that we would see them next session, and someone said, "But isn't she going to turn ONE in September?". Yes, she is! OMG! That means that she is moving up to the older story time.

I thought this picture was fake at first. Lucia rarely sits and just looks at a book like this.

Miss Annie doing "Twinkle, twinkle". Lucia not paying attention.

Going for Mrs. Perky Bird.

Lucia and her posse.

Gideon is usually a big help with the babies. He sings along very loudly and off-key. He helps hand out the scarves by hogging them all for himself. Apparently all the helping has exhausted him.

The video below just shows a little bit of the "action". Miss Annie wants the kids to play with the scarves, and Gideon is putting his all into it. Lucia is running away, and then she proceeds to block a baby and mom walking. I have to, as usual, apologize.

2009-08-02T22:14:00.005-04:00

Down the Shore

One of my mother's birthday requests was that the family spend a day down the shore. With my work schedule and Gideon's swimming lessons, it wasn't the easiest thing to plan, but I have been CRAVING beach. So, this past Saturday, we sat in 2 hour traffic on the Parkway, discovered an alternate route, and finally met up with my parents and sister at Belmar.

First we stopped for some breakfast. Gideon is a "big boy" now, so he rarely needs a high chair. Here he is matching his crayons with the array of artificial sweeteners. Blue is for Equal, red for Sweet&Low, and where is the yellow for Splenda?

He is such a Daddy's boy.

I, of course, sit next to Miss Non-Smiley.

Gideon is a total beach kid. He loves the water, loves the sand. Doesn't care how wet he gets, or how sandy. He spent all day asking me if we were going to go back to the beach.

Giant wave splashed him in the face. AWESOME.

Who didn't think any of it was awesome? You guessed it. Princess Picky. It was too cold and wet. The water was TOUCHING her.

I do love her so. She was most content on the beach towel, sipping a margarita. I kid! Of course.

She was eating her puffs.

Can you stand that hat? I loooove her. However, sand was not allowed to touch her.

I just found this shot funny. We put our kids to work early in the Soto household.

No great day is complete without swinging in the ocean air.

2009-07-29T22:35:00.006-04:00

YouTube in the Morning

Gideon's new obsession is the band, They Might Be Giants. They play alot of children's music and have a bunch of videos on YouTube. After "Hi Mama", Gideon's first words in the morning are, "They Might Be Giants, Here Come the 123's, pweeease". No joke. I usually can convince him to eat breakfast first, and to go potty. But after that is out of the way, all he wants to do is watch these videos. I mean, they are educational, and totally tolerable, since they are pretty funny and interesting.

Here he is with his morning coffee.

I have been caught watching him!

And he's back.

Meanwhile, what is Lucia up to, you may ask? Well, she is not walking yet, although she did walk a few steps by herself toward me today.

Here she is in the highchair making a frown-y face.

A change of expression. Less frown-y.

Pretty smiley now.

Totally laughing. Like, totally.

And....she's back.

2009-07-23T00:06:00.009-04:00

Wacky Wednesdays at the Library

Most of you know that I work at the Paramus Public Library. With the economy being what it is, the library has decided to amp up the summer programs, so that our patrons can enjoy free summertime fun. One of our more popular programs is Wacky Wednesdays. The library has hired family friendly entertainers to come and perform every Wednesday night, outside in the band shell. Families come and bring their chairs and blankets. The kids get to run around and dance. A delicious ice cream truck comes, which sells soft serve.

Since I no longer work Wednesday nights, I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to hang out with my kids after work. Alex came with me to the first concert, and my mom came with me to the second. Last week, no one could come, so I wussed out and left Lucia with my mom, and came out with the Gidster.

The performers were a tiny bit lame-o. However, I think just the parents thought so. The kids seemed to have a great time.

Gideon does not sit with me. I bring his little camper chair, and he likes to set it up, but then he goes running to the stage, and stays there the whole time. Here he is jumping with kids.

He kind of ignores me when I am standing there with my camera.

Some more jumping and dancing.

I could have taken more pictures of him dancing and singing, and playing with rocks, and laying down on the grass, and begging for ice cream. However, I decided it was more amusing to watch him try to open up a bottle of water. Let's watch:

Hmmm...it does not seem to be open.

Nope, no water is coming out.

Maybe a pep talk will help. And some glaring.

O-P-E-N!!

Oh well, I wasn't thirsty anyway.

2009-07-22T23:35:00.007-04:00

My Sister Is Not 16 Anymore

I am 34 years old. My little sister (who is taller than me), is 4 years younger. You can do that math, it's easy. However, I never seem to remember that we are no longer in our twenties. In fact, forget twenties, I still think my sister is a teenager in high school.

To celebrate this birthday, I was instructed by the birthday girl to throw her a birthday dinner party. I wanted it to be a surprise, but my sister is a big snoop, and she hacked into my facebook page to look at the invitation. She claims that she didn't, so that also makes her a giant fibber as well.

I am about to post some pictures below. Please be warned: Andrea is ....ummm...kind of...well-endowed. Have all small children and the elderly leave the room. We want to avoid any permanent damage.

Myself and the birthday girl.

Bharat and Wayne. Notice the ghost waiter behind them. Weird, right?

Alex loves getting to hang out with these guys. They discuss important social and political issues. As you can see, Alex is really passionate about this conversation. And Bharat is obviously riveted.

Andrea with our friend Rachel. Rachel has a husband named Rey. Get it...Rachel and Rey....Rachel Rey! (Like Rachel Ray the TV cook. Do you get it? You get it.)

Wayne again, with his beauteous wife Donne. They are both from South Africa, and have super cool accents. I love being friends with people with accents. Not that it's the only reason they are our friends. They are just super cool people.(but the accents don't hurt)
Andrea received this present. It is a Lia Sophia bracelet. It is really gorgeous. Donne sells Lia Sophia, and I am hosting a party at my house this Saturday, 7/25 at 7pm. Please come. That was a total shameless plug, but I am not sorry.

The girls at the party. Christa is missing in this one, but she had a family emergency. I don't know why I am standing like that. Please don't judge.

Happy Birthday to my sister Andrea!

2009-07-13T23:12:00.005-04:00

Swim Classes at the YMCA.

You may not think to look at me now, but I used to be a swimmer. I was on a swim team at the YMCA in Ridgewood, and I used to love it. Lately, I have been thinking of getting back to doing laps to lose weight. However, I am afraid that the lifeguards will mistake me for a beached whale and call the Coast Guard. But, this post is not about me. It's about Gideon's swim classes at the Y. We started last Saturday, and I have been very excited about it for weeks. I think it is really important for kids to know how to swim, and feel comfortable in the water.

I occasionally would mention the classes to Gideon, but Gideon has no sense of time. If I tell him that we are going to do something, he thinks it means IMMEDIATELY, and rushes to the door. So, I tried not to get him too excited about swimming, because he would start crying if we didn't get into a pool AT THAT EXACT MOMENT.

Here are some photos of the time in the pool. Forgive the quality, since someone who I will not mention forgot to lift the flash thingy. Someone whose name is Alex.

Getting ready to go in. No, I don't know why I look like a crazed squirrel. Focus on the cute boy looking at the pool with trepidation.

Sitting on the edge, about to jump in. One of the important things we learned was to jump in, and then immediately turn around and grab the edge. That way, if he ever falls into a pool, he can instinctively hold on to the edge.

I am explaining that he cannot splash the other kids in the face, nor kick in their general direction. There were some cry babies in that class, and they did not like getting splashed.

Waving at daddy. Look at his totally fake smile.

Also, please please notice how Gideon's hairstyle very closely resembles a certain TV mom with eight children. Yes, Kate Gosselin's hairstyle! Maybe that is how she gets that hair. She gets into a pool with a million children. Gideon's is of course, completely natural. No stylist for him.

2009-07-06T10:41:00.010-04:00

Lucia Does Not Like Fireworks...

is the understatement of the year. We had thought about not going to see fireworks this year. Our reasons were: 1. It was too late, 2. They were too loud, 3. There was too much traffic and bother. However, Gideon really loved them last year, and I hate depriving him of fun experiences. It didn't even occur to me that Lucia would not be thrilled to in the presence of booming noises and bright flashing lights.

My sister and I loaded up the van with chairs, blankets, and lots of diaper bag necessities. We drove into Garden State Plaza, and found a parking spot among the sea of cars. We meant to go to the block party, but with a baby in tow, I thought it was better for us to just go straight to the grass.

At first, all is well. She always needs to put something in her mouth.

Lucia in the Sky.

A sweet Mommy and Me moment. Alex stayed home to work:(

And THEN...

Get me away!

Gideon did love it, despite this picture. They were just a little too loud. Next year, we won't sit so close.

Well, actually next year we may not go at all. Not if Lucia has anything to do with it.

2009-06-08T09:31:00.004-04:00

Lucia in the Sky

Well, almost. Because this child of mine is almost walking, people! At 8 months. It must be stopped. I remember despairing because at 14 months, Gideon was barely walking. And I wanted him to walk SO BADLY. Everyone used to tell me that I shouldn't rush him, since once he was walking, there was no stopping him, and my life would never be the same. Well, I am so not rushing Lucia. In fact, I have jokingly said that if she starts walking now, I am going to push her over.

All jokes aside, this little baby girl is constantly surprising me with her many accomplishments. I am posting pictures where she is actually almost smiling. That is another thing about her: she is a very serious baby. Her smiles are reserved for her brother Gideon.

Here she is with my dad. This is her natural facial expression. It's a mix of disdain, sprinkled in with some disbelief.

She loves propping herself on the coffee table.

She is a very sturdy baby.

Doesn't she look older than 8 months?

Here she is standing in her crib. The video below shows her standing and falling. My mom is making her laugh by pretend sneezing.

2009-05-31T00:13:00.004-04:00

A New Camera...Finally!

Internet, meet our new addition, the Nikon Coolpix L100. Isn't it pretty?

It was a bit of a spontaneous buy. We were at Target, looking for a ten year old girl's birthday present. Alex and I got separated, and when I found him, he was looking at flat screen tv's.(another electronic item we do not possess; we still only own a bulky tv) I managed to convince him that a new tv was not a necessity, while a new camera kind of was. What kind of bloggers would we be, with no photos?

So, I got to break it in at the birthday party. It was Margarita's tenth birthday, and I got to show off my new camera. I still don't know what all the features are, so I am sure I could have taken better pictures if I had bothered to play with it a bit more.

But here are a few examples:

Annoyingly, it shows the date and time. I didn't know how to remove it. I do now.

Gideon purposely ignoring me, as I yelled out: "Gideon, look at Mama! Gideon!".

Happy Birthday Maggie!

2009-05-02T21:16:00.003-04:00

Lucia Doing Her Thing.

2009-04-30T21:52:00.012-04:00

3 Years and Counting (Oh, and Lucia says Da Da)

It's become our annual tradition. Every year we pack up our clothes, toys, diapers, baby bottles, and babies and head to Long Branch, NJ for a librarian conference. I joke around with Alexa and say that the police department of Long Branch always have their hands full every year when multitudes of NJ librarians get together to party!!! But really, it's fun for me and the kids because we get to go to the beach. Beach weather it wasn't this year, but we still found a way to take our traditional beach shots. In case you are new to this blog, below is the very first photo we posted of our first annual trip to the conference.

As you can see, Gideon is still a baby. I have this picture framed and on my desk. It reminds me of how I felt that day. This is what I wrote then, "As we approached the Atlantic Ocean, the more excited Gideon became. He stared out into the horizon and on occasion would turn to me to smile, only to look back in amazement at the crashing waves. I have to say that these are one of the most special moments in my life. Gideon leans his head on my shoulder as he contemplates what's ahead. And I am there carrying him for now and as long as I can, but one day he'll go on to face the world without me carrying him. I just hope he's a much better swimmer than I am. "

Things are a little different now with our second child, Lucia. With the photo above, you see a man that had just gone through the absolute toughest period of his life - Gideon's surgery for his Craniosynostosis. So, being pensive, contemplative, whatever you want to call it, came with the moment at the beach. I was carrying my son who had just been healed from his disease, but he helped to carry me just months before as he bravely beat the odds of his sickness, with God's gracious hand.

Nonetheless, I wished I had spent more time contemplating the future with my daughter as I did with Gideon in April 2007. Unfortunately, I sort of forgot what the purpose of going to the beach was. It was to enjoy the crashing waves, see our footprints in the sand, and appreciate the beauty of life. We were focused on taking our annual picture. While the weather was not ideal for a long stay at the beach, nor were we prepared to walk on the sand as in previous years, I regret not spending alone time with my daughter so that we could contemplate on our future together, as father and daughter. Don't get me wrong, I did see that she enjoyed the waves and was very interested in what Gideon was doing - he was mainly trying to run towards the kids play area, which was not far off. So, this perhaps was a bit distracting and disabled me to feel the moment with my daughter like I first did with my son a few years ago.

Lucia, I want you to know that I love you and I'm looking forward to being there for you through thick and thin, and to be the main man in your life - at least until you start liking boys. Until then, just know that holding you in my arms makes me want to protect you forever from any harm. All I can do is try my very best to keep you from ever hurting, but I can't guarantee that life will not bring you pain. For now, just know that I will carry you until you can make it on your own.

Here are some photos from this year's trip. Enjoy.

Gideon has fun on his mind and is heading towards the play area, while Lucia and I try to get him to pose for our picture.

Lucia and I looking at the crashing waves from the safety and warmth of our 12th floor hotel room.

Gideon and I looking at the view.

I call this the "Mom" picture. I think this photo depicts Alexa well as "Mommy."

The girls.

Lucia is sort of hidden in this picture - she's the little pink bump on my left arm.

Alex and Lucia enjoying the crashing waves.

Gideon arriving to his destination of choice, the playground that was right on the beach.

Oh, and as the title indicates, Lucia says DaDa. I really tried to get her to say Mama first, but I guess Dada is easier to say.

2009-04-20T17:52:00.006-04:00

We currently need a new camera. Our camera is old, and it doesn't charge on the charger anymore. So, we keep putting batteries in it, and it sucks them dry, and then it spits them out while laughing and taunting us. That is why there haven't been any Easter pictures. So, we have been currently taking pictures with our phone. The quality isn't great, but it works for now.

We had a nice weekend. The weather was awesomeness, and I actually went outside with the kids. Lucia was out in sunshine for once. She sat in the sun for like 3 whole seconds, before making a squinty face and whining.

She acts like I am trying to melt her.

So, I moved her to the shade.

She celebrates.

Gideon, meanwhile, is doing lots of big boy stuff. He is getting better at the potty training. Meaning, that when I ask him if he has to go to the potty, instead of saying no and running away, he thinks about it, then he quickly changes the subject by singing or hugging me. However, he lets me lead him to the bathroom and usually won't fight me if I try to sit him on the potty. I feel like he is growing up and knows he has to listen to me, since I am his mommy. Also, I have been giving him M&M's.

Here he is at our favorite after-church breakfast/lunch spot. That is my cap he is wearing. He wore it in the car before church, and then he put it on after church. I told him that he wasn't allowed to wear it inside the church. He looked at my with a 'duh' look, and said "I KNOW, Mama". Yikes. Can a two year old make me feel stupid? Apparently.

They give him crayons, and spends the entire time there talking to them and drawing.

He likes to sport the backwards cap look.

Cap-less, hanging out with his "colors". That is what he calls crayons.
My boy. Cute, right?

2009-04-12T22:35:00.003-04:00

Happy Easter!

Egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, and lots of pastel colors all around, but Gideon woke up this morning with a tune in his head that reminds us what the Easter Holiday is all about. Unfortunately, this morning I discovered that our much abused camera has decided not to work anymore, with little hope of reviving it. So, the video below was taken from my cell phone and is of very poor quality. But, at least you get to hear Gideon sing a little. Keep in mind, this morning and afternoon he was more lively with the singing, but after a long day that included many activities in church and my in-law's house, he was exhausted. So, the video below is Gideon's attempt to perform in front of my cell phone, even though he is visibly tired. Sorry ahead of time for my singing, I usually sing much better. Enjoy!

2009-03-31T18:16:00.003-04:00

Burger Love

In case you didn't know, Alexa and I are burger experts. Here's why. On our honeymoon 5 1/2 years ago, what did we order for room service, first at the Park Ridge Marriott, then the next day at The Library Hotel? That's right, burgers. What was our joint of choice in one of our recent wedding anniversaries? Exactomundo, White Manna in Hackensack, home of the best little burgers. White Castle has nothing on them. What did Alexa want after giving birth to our first born, Gideon? You got it, a burger. And, we celebrate the almighty burger during our road trips. We even have introduced our boy to the wonders of the Five Guys burgers. Lucia is just venturing into squash and rice cereal, so she's yet to understand the love the Soto's have for the burger.

Now that I've established our burger expertise, let me tell you about Bobby's Burger Palace in Paramus. Alexa and I try to have date nights, but today we had a date dinner during her 4:30 pm dinner break from work. We headed to Bobby's despite the fact that we knew today was the grand opening. We knew it would be busy. When we got there, there was a bit of a wait, but not too bad. Only about 10 minutes. Good thing we arrived there at about 4:35pm, for as soon as 5pm approached, the line snaked outside the door of the restaurant.

I ordered a burger with potato (or potatoe for all you Dan Quayle fans) chips in it. I guess I can tell you the name, but perhaps I shouldn't. I noticed a little TM symbol after the name of the burger, which means it's trademarked. I wouldn't want to misname the burger.

Anyway, once we got to our seats, Alexa and I smiled and giggled like little kids waiting to open up their Christmas gifts. We couldn't wait. Alexa then told me that the burger will most likely be closer to medium rare, which I could do if it was a piece of steak, but a burger? I usually eat my burgers medium well to well done. I didn't care. I was too excited and I didn't think that a celebrity chef would make a bad tasting burger. Therefore, in my head, I convinced myself that medium rare is just another way of saying almost non-existent.

A few moments later, the tall burger arrives. I had already peeked at the burgers of those around us and noted its height, but as it drew nearer to me via the hand of the unnamed person holding the tray, I realized its true height. As always, we said grace, then we dug right in.

It didn't disappoint. Alexa and I stare at each other still with bits of burger in our mouths, and there, we realized that this was one of the best, if not the best burgers, we have ever tasted.

There you have it. That was our early dinner date today - exactly 9 years after meeting each other for the first time. Time flies by so fast when you're having fun, and the burger has been a continuous point of joy in our relationship.

2009-03-25T13:51:00.012-04:00

While Daddy's Away...we all play! (including the cat)

Alex had to go to Virginia yesterday for a work thing. I took today off, because I didn't have any childcare. It is always so much fun to stay home with the kids, (even if I had to clean Gideon's poop out of the bathtub!). This potty training thing is so not working.

For the most part, all housework gets put on hold, while we play non-stop. I try to get stuff done while they nap, except I am blogging right now while they nap, so whatever. One of the Gidster's favorite things to do, is to hand stuff to Lucia. He likes watching her try to devour whatever stuffed animal, toy, or miscellaneous piece of whatever he gives her. Except, of course, if it's a favorite stuffed animal, like Pooh or Pluto. Then he lets her have it for two seconds, and the instant there is baby saliva on it, he is all like, "I don't think so..", and he snaps his fingers in her face and walks away in a huff. Oh wait, that is what I do to Alex when he wants me to cook. Hee hee, ho ho. I am so-o-o funny.

Here she is, having been handed the container of baby cereal puffs. Notice the innocent expression, that's all, "What? I am only six months old.". I've got her number.

Here they both are in our very messy play area. Gideon refused to look up. He was saying, "Cheeeeese!", but not looking at me. Like that counts.

Lucia is now eating real food. She and Gideon share the high chair. She really likes sitting there. Of couse, in two seconds, she will have banana and cereal all over the place. This is definitely the "before" picture.

She makes these high pitched sounds, and coos. And she blows raspberries. Oh! Also, she got her ears pierced! Click on the pic for a closer look. I am trying to download some videos, down below. Hopefully, they load. If they do, you will see, (and hear) her eating and making her noises. You will also hear my man laugh, and Gideon making a huge racket. Enjoy.

2009-02-27T22:18:00.009-05:00

Uppa Sky

Lately, Gideon has been on a singing spree. He likes to join me when I sing some of those Noggin songs that Moose A. Moose sings in between some of his favorite programs. One particular song that he's been unable to get out of his head is one that he recently sang during Storytime at the Paramus Public Library, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. When you play the video below, you'll soon hear for yourself why I called this post, "Uppa Sky."

And, here's a bonus video of Lucia at play, with her big brother not far behind.

Enjoy!

2009-02-25T21:52:00.004-05:00

Gideon Makes Lucia Laugh

Gideon is a funny kid and makes his little sister laugh often. Here's an example.

Note: Alexa and I apologize for the low quality video.

2009-02-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

Rice Cereal for Lucia

Lucia's first day eating rice cereal. In this photo, she just finished her meal. She is sitting in the high chair all by herself, so very proud of what she just accomplished.

2009-02-18T21:32:00.005-05:00

Mirror Image

I'm on the road alot to take my kids to my mom's house, who cares for them during the day at no cost, though I owe her a large chunk of my life. One day, I looked in the rear view mirror (which, by the way I think is an oxymoron because you always see what's behind you with any mirror). Anyway, as I was looking in the mirror, I glanced at Gideon as he was gazing out the window. I also saw part of Lucia's car seat, though I couldn't really see her face since her car seat is still facing the rear of the car.

At a red light, I got a glimpse of life.

Life was reflected in the mirror, but as soon as the light turns green, I'll step on the gas and then, life will start passing me by. Indeed, the light turns green, and I move forward. The images in the mirror move further and further away from me. While, there wasn't really anything interesting happening in the mirror worth mentioning, I did get a sense that life was passing by, rapidly.

My parents worked hard to put my sister, my brother, and me through private (Catholic) school. To them, it was a sacrifice worth making considering the public school system in Jersey City at the time. Jersey City is a new town these days. I almost don't recognize it when I visit one of my best friends, Jeff, who is a Washington DC and Pittsburgh native.

Perhaps you pass by Chill Town (Jersey City) on your way to work to NYC and you'll notice some of the tall buildings in the Newport Centre and Exchange Place sections, not far from the Holland Tunnel. When I grew up, all that acreage was one expansive empty lot with bottle caps and broken glass encrusted atop the pavement, near the cracks filled up with weeds.

I used to play there with my brother often. We tossed a baseball around talking about our teams - my brother about the Yankees and me about the Mets. I knew the game, but didn't know much about it. I mean, I liked a guy on the Mets with the name of Joel Youngblood. I didn't even know why (This is before the 86 Championship). Other times, my brother and I would play handball on a graffitti-filled wall while my dad waxed his skyblue Chevette.

We were not rich, but my parents gave me the best that they could provide so that I didn't have to go through what they went through. I'll never say we were poor though because even if the rent was paid a little late sometimes, there was always a roof over our heads. They tried not to do it in front of me, but sometimes my parents argued about money, or lack thereof.

Today, I'm the dad with kids. While I live in a pretty good town with an OK school system, I understand my parents decision to work their hearts out - for us ... for me. We don't own a home and with little income coming in, I've been stressed lately. So Alexa and I have sniped at each other as she mentioned in an earlier post. We're working hard as a team during this tough time, as my parents did.

This week, there was a period of days where no work at all came across my desk. I've been recently demoted. Even after several months of complaining that not enough work was coming in, the financial situation kept deteriorating. So I had to speak up. I have a tendency of being a little too forward sometimes, which is sometimes construed as confrontational. When the news that potentially no more work will be arriving at my desk as a result of a misunderstanding, I blew up. I got upset, closer to enraged.

All I could think about was how was I going to keep a roof over my children's heads. I thought aloud in the presense of my wife and kids that at this rate we'll be out on the street, or worse, have to move in with the in-laws! (he he... just a little joke =).... now back to being serious).

Then, my wife, my life partner talked some sense into me. As if divinely inspired, she picks Lucia up and asks me to hold her. I was still burning up because of the lack of work coming in and the reasoning behind it. I refused to take Lucia because I was angry and I didn't want her to feel my stress. But, Alexa insisted. So, I take Lucia., rub my cheek to her chubby cheeks. I raise her up in the sky and say, "Super Baby!"

Alas, I began to hold back tears. Perhaps this is what Alexa wanted. She knows that I'm really a teddy bear and that my rants are just temporary puffs of smoke. I became emotional because I remembered how my parents sacrificed for me, but not just for me, for my children too. For if I was successful, they would be successful, and so would my children. I teared because I didn't feel successful, at least not anymore. I teared because Lucia's innocence overtook the humanity that took control of me. I lost my vision. I lived only in the negativity of the moment, as opposed to seeing a hopeful tomorrow. I was affected by my little girl's presence because I felt that I have failed her and my family.

A few days later, I watched Kung Fu Panda ... yes, the cartoon movie with Jack Black as the Panda. I couldn't help but relate to the Panda, who at the outset of the movie, was a lover of Kung Fu, but not a practitioner ... much like me.

(ASIDE: Yes, I LOVE old Kung Fu movies where the actors' lips don't match the actual English words you hear).

So, as the story of Kung Fu Panda unfolded, I started to get into it. I usually watch House Hunters, some history show, or CNN, but because we were unable to make a timely Cablevision payment, our cable service was cut, so I put on a movie to take my mind off things.

I saw how Kung Fu Panda was selected to be the one to fight and defeat the antagonist of the story (sorry, I'm not good with remembering character names). I felt like the Panda. I mean, I look like a Panda too. Here, see for yourself and imagine me doing a Kung Fu move.

But I also felt like I couldn't fulfill what I was called to do, just like Panda.

And, instead of believing that everything will just be fine, I fell prey to my fears only looking at the problem, as opposed to looking ahead to a better future, with God's help.

So, I continue battling for a better tomorrow and am hopeful, as are many Americans in this very tough economy.

Sorry, guys no pictures. This is my blog and I can cry if I want to. =) Not really crying though. Just venting, sharing, and being transparent.

2009-02-15T14:55:00.018-05:00

BFF's 4 Life

Many of you have asked me how Gideon responds to Lucia. Well, let me tell you, Gideon and Lucia are the sweetest brother and sister ever. Lucia literally, lights up whenever she spots Gideon. Gideon wakes up in the morning, and runs over to "my baby".

Here is some photographic evidence of how much love there is between Gideon and Lucia.

Gideon clapping because he is finally allowed to hold Lucia.

Hey, look! One hand!

Lucia holding on for dear life.

Sitting watching TV together. Look at my poor baby's bald spot :(

One of Gideon's favorite lounging spots is right on Lucia's boppy pillow.

It looks like baby Lucia has inherited Mommy's frizzy hair. Sigh.

Hanging out.

Yikes. Too much love.

2009-02-15T11:22:00.008-05:00

A Very Family Valentine's Day

Alex and I had already planned on staying in this Valentine's Day. We had gone out for date night last weekend, so we were prepared to make this V-day about us and the kids. I had spoken to some of the moms in storytime, and they had confirmed that, they too, would be celebrating at home with their kids. I was thinking of all sorts of fun activities to do with Gideon. Making a valentine for daddy, and maybe baking some kind of heart shaped cookie.

Unfortunately, by Thursday afternoon, I started feeling the twinges of a sore throat. By Thursday night, I was full on fever, coughing, and a really painful sore throat. I called out sick from work on Friday, and spent a miserable day at home with my kids, who were also sick. One thing they don't tell you in mom school, is that when you are sick, your kids don't magically disappear to a wonderful land where they are happy and taken care of, and reappear once you are back on your feet. All I wanted was to be in bed, but there were babies to feed, and books to read, and lunch to be made. Thankfully, on Friday night, my mom swept to the rescue and took Gideon overnight, and fed him dinner.

So, like last Valentine's Day, I was sick. Except last year, I was pregnant. However, like the year before last, Alex decided to surprise me with a culinary surprise. Now, if you know my husband at all, you know he doesn't like rules or directions. So, why follow a recipe, if he can just throw together ingredients from the pantry, and voila! out comes corn muffins and corn pancakes:

Here is a picture of me, being excited.

Here is a picture of breakfast. The plate on the right is a corn pancake with bacon and a fried egg.

After my mom dropped off Gideon, we decided to go out to Vitamia, an Italian speciality food store in Lodi. I bought a couple of packages of fresh, homemade, heart-shaped ravioli, and two homemade sauces. I am going to post pictures of the ravioli, but they did taste better than they photograph:

Cheese filled ravioli with bolognese sauce.

Same ravioli with sauce and fresh mozzarella. About to go into the oven.

Sun dried tomato ravioli with vodka sauce.

After dinner, Alex and I exchanged cards, and then the four of us hung out on our bed.

Here is Alex with the kids.

A picture of me with my babies. Notice Lucia looks like this is taking up too much of her precious time.

Mommy and Gideon laughing, while Lucia looks like she wishes she was adopted.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

2009-02-08T21:57:00.003-05:00

Bedtime Wins

Lounging on the couch, bonding and relaxing, Alexa and Gideon seemingly have their eyes glazed over as if nothing was in their minds. The reality is that they are devising their own distinct strategies to overcome the next challenge of the day: bedtime.

Alexa's day was long today, as it was Lucia's Baby Presentation (sort of like a Christening) at church. In the morning, Alexa had to get a teething and irritated Lucia in her precious black and white Guess? dress, which by the way we found in Bloomingdale's for $14 on Friday. What a bargain huh?

Then, there was cake, juice, and coffee to be distributed after the morning service to hungry church congregants. After that - a brunch to go to with a large family of 18 people.

It all worked out, but Alexa was exhausted.

Gideon also had a long day. Because his sister was the baby of the day, he had the "fortune" (notice the quotation marks inferring sarcasm) of having Daddy pick out his clothes and dress him up. Then, when he was in church, he was rudely taken away from all the fun of children's church, where he's in the presence of toys galore, so that he can go upstairs to witness his little sister being the star of the show. Then, because we were all at brunch until about 3pm, he had a late nap, which he was not happy about at all.

Laying on their backs in the living room, Gideon's head resting on Alexa, they both know that the time is fast approaching. For Alexa, it means that she can finally sleep. For Gideon, there is a different meaning. Basically, he is thinking in his head "Oh No! It's time to go to bed! What can I do to distract my parents today?"

Gideon knows the routine. We read books before going to bed. One of his favorite books right now is Dinosaur vs. Bedtime.

I think he likes the story because he can relate to the little dinosaur who roared and conquered all of his challengers, a pile of leaves, a bowl a spaghetti, and toothbrushing, among other opponents. But Dinosaur's nemesis, bedtime, always wins. And, Gideon knows this because we've read the book dozens of times.

We pick up the book and begin to read. We continue and we all laugh and have a grand ole time. Gideon knows that the last several pages of the book describe how dinosaur always loses to bedtime. So, what does Gideon do? He exclaims "No, No" when we approach the end of the book. He literally tries to turn the pages back or forcefully take the book out of our hands. He's a strong kid, but he doesn't succeed. Sometimes he buys time by pointing to another, less interesting book that has suddenly grabbed his attention so much, that it becomes imperative that we pick it up and read it to him at once. But, this only works 50% of the time.

Eventually, we finish reading the book where it becomes clear to all of us that once again bedtime is the victor. Gideon can't believe it so he denies it by whining, as if to say, "let's start again, I'm sure the ending will be different next time."

As a united front, Alexa and I work together to gather some of his bears and stuffed toys that will accompany him to bed and then do our prayer, bid him good night and sweet dreams, and walk out. This is where the cries begin, the screeching, the yelling, the singing, the toy playing ... a lot like dinosaur when he's roaring. Finally, sleepiness takes over and bedtime wins, sometimes more than an hour later ... but Gideon's fast asleep.

After that, it doesn't take Alexa more than 5 minutes to fall asleep, since sleep is her friend and she wishes not to argue with it ... oh and as Lucia is already in her third dream of the night.

Now it's my turn. Good night.

2009-02-07T09:58:00.004-05:00

Date Night

Life has been stressful lately. I have been stressed. With driving the kids back and forth to Newark everyday(although Alex does the majority of the driving), arriving to work breathless and frazzled(because once again I am LATE), and our fun new financial situation, our life has gotten really complicated. And when we are stressed, we tend to snipe at each other, hurting each others feelings, and there is usually some crying and pouting. Can't you see Alex pouting?

So, someone at work said, "You guys need a date night". A date night? But, that would involve spending money(which we don't have), and spending time together(so what happens to the pouting?). Well, I soon became determined to have a date night. I looked at the calendar, and decided on a date. It would be the first Friday in February, because that is when I get a paycheck, plus Alex had given me a gift card to P.F. Changs for Christmas, so I made reservations. I called my cousin Gaby to babysit.

And then I sprung it on Alex. "We are going on a DATE NIGHT.", I proclaimed. "What?" he exclaimed. (did you see my rhyme? I am sooo a poet.) And the excuses to not have a date night started. We don't have any money. We don't spend enough time with the kids. Can Gaby handle both kids by herself? What does the P. and the F. stand for anyway? I had a rebuttal for each excuse ready and waiting. I had the money thing covered. The kids would benefit from our time together. Of course, Gaby wouldn't be able to handle both kids, but that is how babysitters LEARN. Trial by fire, baby.

So, off we went. And it was lovely. The atmosphere at P.F. Changs was nice, and the food was ok, but it was so good to just sit there, just the two of us, and hold hands. We had a nice talk about how we can work together as a team, about handling our stress in a better manner, and about trusting God to take care of our family. Alex confessed that he feels burdened with the responsibility of keeping our family afloat, and I voiced my frustration with his seemingly inability to wash a single dish. We both promised to try harder, and to remember that we are working together on this, not against each other.

After, we went to Pathmark to buy cat food. So romantic.

2009-01-07T22:44:00.002-05:00

Moments Saved and Cherished

I've been using Facebook more often these days, though I see myself growing a bit tired of it. I'll try to continue being a good Facebooker, but honestly, I'd much rather tell a story than to just succintly let all of you know what I'm doing at the moment.

This is what I mean. I just updated my status on Facebook and it reads: "Alex just finished having a conversation with Lucia and soon after got an 'I love you daddy' from Gideon before he went to bed. =)."

Pretty special moments, wouldn't you agree?

But, a lot of detail has been left out. It feels out of character to limit my words to about 50 characters (I think). Here's the extended version.

Lucia is growing more fond of me and likes sitting pretty on my lap for minutes on end. As I wrote in a previous post, she sounded the crying alarm all the time after being in my arms for only 1o seconds. Now, she relaxes on my lap, looks up at me with her green/hazel eyes, and begins to tell me what is on her mind in squeeky, cute-pitched sounds. I have no clue what she is saying, but it feels like she trusts me. It feels like she is telling me that she is appreciating the moment as much as I am.

Soon thereafter, Gideon comes into the living room. Alexa tells him from another room, "Ok Gideon, say good night to Daddy." He comes to me and says "Hi Daddy."

I did not know that he was heading for bed, so I said "Hey Buddy." He then turned around and walked to his room and I continued wrapping up some work.

On any given night, Alexa or I, or both of us, go in after him, lift him up to put him in the crib, and then say our night time prayer aloud.

Alexa walks into the living room minutes later and asks me, "Did he say goodnight?"

"Oh, is he going to bed?"

Realizing that Gideon did not say goodnight, Alexa tells him, "Go say goodnight to Daddy! It's time for bed"

Gideon walks into the living room wearing his pajamas and both hands full with 2 of his teddy bears, one of them being Pooh. He kisses me on the cheek, hugs me, and says "Night Daddy!" With a sense of urgency he walks away knowing that he must go to bed.

As he neared the hallway at the edge of the living room, I say, "Good Night, Gideon. I love you."

He stops in his tracks and looks right at me.

"I love you Daddy."

Gideon continues down the hallway to his bedroom as if nothing special just happened. Alexa, being at the entrance of the living room and witnessing the event, raises her right hand with a softly clinched fist to her heart and became teary-eyed within milliseconds. Then she looked at me with the eyes of loving wife that understands what just had happened. Our child expressed his love, verbally.

"I love you." It's a phrase we take for granted. Sometimes, we just walk out the door without saying it to the one we love. Other times, we say it, but really don't feel it because it's become routine.

When "I love you" comes out of the mouth of babes, it reminds us that love is truly something special. We learn how to say it, just as Gideon did, but true love in itself is not learned. It is something that is embedded in us and is up to us to cultivate or grow it to the point of verbal expression.

"I love you, Daddy." Though said innocently, it means that Gideon loves me. Sure, I always knew this was the case. Gideon does love me and knows that I'm different than the other men in my family, church, and everywhere else. Perhaps he's always told me that he loves me, but I just didn't understand. Maybe Lucia already told me that she loves me, perhaps even tonight.

These are memories a loving father can't forget. The first time their son, their first born says, "I love you, Daddy," and the growing bond between a dad and his daughter.

2009-01-02T11:12:00.001-05:00

A Lucia Picture

Because I realized that there aren't enough pictures of Lucia in the post below.

2008-12-31T15:54:00.013-05:00

A Merry Soto Christmas
So, guess what? We forgot to bring our camera to Christmas. Well, to my in-laws for Christmas. So, I don't have any actual photos of Christmas Eve. Which is good, in a way, since we don't open gifts until midnight, and by then Gideon is a bit of a zombie. However, my brother-in-law did take pictures, so as soon as I badger him to death about them, I will post them here. Do not worry, I am very good at pestering.

We usually go to my parents for Christmas Day, and we did. But this year, we decided to open one of Gideon's presents at our house first.

We got him a couch thing. A Backyardigans couch.

It folds out. It's pretty much so he can watch mindless tv in comfort.

Lucia fits on it too. And yes, I own pink cat pajamas.

This year, it was a bit different, since my mom was in Costa Rica for Christmas. My grandmother is really ill, and my mom is actually still there. We miss her, and Christmas was not the same. However, this is the first year that Gideon sort of got what was going on. So, it was fun to watch him open presents. Or watch him watch us open his presents.

My parents obviously don't love me. Or maybe it's some kind of revenge thing. Because they bought Gideon a talking, singing Elmo doll. We opened this in front of the web camera, so that my mom could watch his reaction from Costa Rica. And he was really excited. But not as excited as when he opened...

His Handy Manny Toolset! What!!??!! Talking tools?

The thing that shocked me the most about this, was that he knows all the tools names. All of them. Rusty, Turner, Pat, Dusty, Squeeze, Stretch, and Filipe. Filipe, people. He doesn't know his cousins names. He calls Miggy the cat...cat.
Here he is introducing Elmo to his tools.

My sister also bought him this weirdo dancing, rainbow afro thing. Gideon yelled out "Wow Wow Wubzy!" when he saw it. I am suspecting that he watches too much television.

After the gift opening, we bundled up the kids, set up Alex's new GPS thing that he got from my sister (thank you Andi!) and set off for Chinatown for our Christmas Chinese Lunch/Dinner. This year, I had done some research. After reading one of my favorite food blogs, "The Girl Who Ate Everything", and seeing her mention Famous Sichuan on Pell Street, I decided to trust this complete stranger, and set the GPS to Pell Street. The restaurant was small, and packed. We had to wait about 30 minutes, but it was oh-so-worth it.

We ordered dumplings. And ribs for Alex because he doesn't like dumplings. I know. Crazytown. But I do love him anyway.

The dumplings were really good. Sorry that my food photography is so bad. I never do this, and I feel awkward taking pictures of food in a restaurant.

Gideon needed to bring Turner and Felipe to dinner.
He really loves these toys. Oh, and Pluto totally stowed away in the diaper bag. He must have sensed dumplings were involved.

We ordered way too much food, as usual. But, man alive it was good!
Gideon started playing with his chopsticks, and Alex kept saying that he was going to poke himself in the eye. I was all, chill out, dude, let the kid play with the chopsticks. And then Gideon poked himself in the eye. I hate it when he's right.

The other culprits. They did the majority of the ordering when I was in the bathroom changing Lucia's diaper on the sink counter. When I came back, they looked guilty. Notice Andrea's face. That is the look of a person that has ordered 2 shrimp dishes, knowing we only needed one.

And where was baby Lucia in all of this? Well, she was busy looking like an angel in her carseat:

I have to admit, that I was quite proud of my mommy abilities on this little trip to Chinatown. I knew that Lucia would get hungry, and usually I chicken out and bring a bottle with me. However, I decided to nurse her right in the restaurant. Luckily, we had a corner table, so I was able to discreetly turn around to the wall, and nurse her in relative privacy. I don't think anyone knew what I was doing. AND, I changed both kids diapers in the small restaurant bathroom. Lucia on the counter, and Gideon on the CHINESE RESTAURANT FLOOR. Thank God for the giant changing pad that I had with me, the Patemm. That was one of the most useful baby shower gifts that I received. Of course, I sterlized it the minute I got home.

And then Christmas Day came to an end, and it was bedtime. Gideon's favorite toys ended up in bed with him:

Pure happiness. Oh, and see that St. Bernard stuffed dog? I gave him that from Lucia. He also loved it, but I put it in his crib. Who wouldn't want to snuggle up to that? Alex accused me of buying it for myself.

They kind of creep me out. Look at their eyes.

2008-12-20T11:49:00.004-05:00

Gideon's Mad Face

2008-12-13T15:00:00.002-05:00

You Don't Get Out Much

So, yesterday was my work holiday party. I straightened my hair, and put on makeup. I got picked up by a friend, and got to sit on heated seats. And then I sat at a table with other grown ups. At a RESTAURANT. I had a glass of WINE. I ate salmon. I had a cappuccino and a slice of cake that I did not have share with ANYONE. I received a gift of chocolates.

I sat at that table and was so clearly delighted with everything, that someone laughingly said to me, "You don't get out much, do you?" To which I earnestly replied, "No, no I don't!".

I got home to find my babies asleep. I sat on the couch, and shared my chocolates with Alex.

It was a good night.

2008-12-10T12:28:00.003-05:00

Funny Boy!

Today, Gideon came up with a joke. A little history first.

He loves to count and carries plastic, wood and cardboard numbers all over the house, placing them where ever he feels there is a need for a number to be present, like right smack in the middle of the floor, in the bathroom near the tub, under the kitchen table, or under the sofa. Lucia will learn to count in no time as Gideon teaches her to count every day and high fives her at any given moment. So, we have established that Gideon has studied numbers and knows alot about them ... he's a numbers expert.

These days, while numbers are still of great interest to him, he is experimenting more with the pronunciation of words. He's even saying simple 2 - 3 word sentences. As you all may know, Gideon is also bilingual. So he knows both English and Spanish words, and sometimes to show his linguistic versatility, he counts in both languages. Sometimes he counts to 6 in English and then switches to Spanish .. siete, ocho, nueve, diez .... yay!

My dad is sick this week, and since my mom is watching the kids, Gideon hears grandpa sneezing all the time. After Pop Pop (Gideon's term for both of his grandfathers) sneezes, Gideon says, "Achoo Pop Pop," which roughly translates to "God bless you."

Now, to Gideon's joke.

"Ocho," he says almost as if asking a question. He pauses for a brief second, then he yells "Achoo!" Then he covers his mouth and giggles. Then he does it again.

So, while he probably doesn't have enough material to be a stand-up comic at this point, he makes Mommy and Daddy laugh ... and his jokes are enough for us to brighten up any rainy, dreary day.

2008-12-02T11:47:00.006-05:00

We Found Our Camera!

It was at my mom's house. Since my mom has stopped watching the kids, we haven't been able to go over to her house in a while. So, the camera has been sitting over there, waiting for us, feeling abandoned. Poor camera.

Anyway, these pictures of Gideon were taken at my parents. He just discovered that he could shuffle his feet in the leaves.

He likes it.

You can't tell, but he is yelling "Hooray!"

Climbing.

Introspective Pose.

Running back to the house.

You haven't seen any new pics of Lucia in a while. She has gotten chubbier.

She is wearing a headband that my father in law bought her. He bought her a whole set, in various colors. He likes baby girls wearing things in their hair. He thinks they are oh-so-cute. He is right.

As you can see, the headband matches the pants.

See how chubby her cheeks are?

2008-11-25T18:19:00.002-05:00

Lesson Learned

So, don't give your two year old a banana to eat, and allow him to roam the house with it. Because said banana will disappear, and when you ask him where he put it, he will just run away and say, "Bye Mama, see you later!". And then you will find the banana days later. Except you won't know that it's the banana. You will think it's cat poop or something, because it is so disgusting.

And when did he learn to say, "see you later"?

2008-11-24T14:27:00.003-05:00

No Cute Baby Pictures

Due to the fact that we cannot find our camera. So, we don't really have anything to blog about without cute pictures to back it up.

Hopefully, we can find a good deal on a camera this friday. Do you think Lucia wants to stand in a long, cold line at 5am? She is awake anyway.

2008-11-02T12:51:00.003-05:00

Along Came a Spider...

and it was Gideon! As some of you know, Halloween creates a bit of a controversy in our home. Alex would prefer if we ignored it completely, and I can't resist dressing up our son in fun costumes. As the kids get older, we may faze it out, but as of right now, Alex indulges me.

My friend and co-worker Tracey lent me this super cute costume. It is a spider costume, and it wasn't a bit scary. We didn't plan on going trick or treating. We were just going outside to watch the kids and give out candy. However, Gideon wanted to go out for a walk, and I figured, why not score some free candy? Right? Of course, right.
Gideon in full gear.

The Sotos out and about in the neighborhood.

He was a bit hesitant about it at first.

But he got over it.

No costume for Lucia. Just her "My Little Pumpkin" onesie.

2008-11-02T10:03:00.011-05:00

Gideon is officially a 2 year old!

With Lucia taking up so much of my time (nursing), blogging has become a secondary priority. Secondary? Try last on my list, right after my daily strenuous aerobic workout. For those of you that really know me, you will have fallen off your chair laughing at this point. Because that was a JOKE.
Anywhoo, Gideon's birthday was last month, October 11th. Alex's family had a church luncheon they needed to attend during the day, so we decided to take Gideon and Lucia (along with my parents and my sister) to Abma's Farm in Wyckoff for some pumpkin picking.

Here are some shots from that day:

A perfect day for a walk through the pumpkin patch with daddy.

Lucia in the carrier. She slept through most of the day.

We found the perfect pumpkin.

Hanging out with Papa.

His solution to a runny nose.

Oh, and there was a petting zoo. His first experience being licked by a goat created much giggling. Except he didn't want to repeat the experience. We all know that goat licking is pretty much a one time deal anyway.

Later that day, Alex's family came over for pizza and cake. And not just any cake, but cake from a Spanish bakery in the Bronx. Valencia Bakery. http://valenciacake.com/index2.html And if you are thinking, "Alexa, please tell me that you did not shlep into the Bronx on the day of your son's birthday, with a newborn in tow." Well, I cannot tell you that. Because we did.

It was awesome cake. It was actually two cakes. Because I could not decide on the filling flavor. I really wanted the guava filling, but didn't know if the kids would eat it. So, we had to have the chocolate to make everyone happy. I have to tell you, I am craving that guava cake right now, and I am a little sad that I am no longer pregnant, because I can't force Alex to go get me some, and say it's for Lucia. Sad face :(

Gideon, at this point, was pretty tired, so he wasn't as enthusiastic as he would have been normally.

Here he is while we are singing to him.

Opening a gift from his Titi. (his aunt Letty, Alex's sister)

Eating said gift. (Ok, he puts everything in his mouth. Isn't he too old for that? Any advice, moms of the world? He eats paper, crayons, you name it.)

His cousin, pointing out his cool puzzle.

One of his favorites, and I have to admit, that I play with it just as much.

So, there you go. My baby boy is two years old. Stay tuned for a post about his incredible and slightly funny temper tantrums.

2008-10-30T12:03:00.003-04:00

Daddy's Little Girl

It is said that the tight bond between father and daughter is unlike any other in life - a relationship that is inseparable. Over the past 6 weeks as I've gotten to know Lucia, I've discovered that she 'd much rather be with Mommy than with Daddy. How do I know you may ask? Thanks for asking. Simply put, from the moment Alexa places her in my arms to the moment I place her back into Alexa's arms (about 1 minute), there is an evident transition from Lucia being ok enjoying herself observing her surroundings to outlandish fits of crying.

Look, here's the proof:

Yawn! La la la. Life is good and what a great nap!

Wait a minute! Am I ... ?

Am I in Daddy's arms? Is he holding me?

Why yes, yes he is (stares at Daddy and then, pause ... silence)

Waaaa! Waaaa! I want my Mommy! Mommy! Waaaa!

So we're not off to such a great start in our father/daugher bonding. I'm sure things will change in due time, I just hope it's sooner rather that later. Isn't she the cutest though?

2008-10-03T11:30:00.004-04:00

Temp Job

Ok, so for the last few weeks, I have "enjoyed" the position of being a stay-at-home mom. Since I usually work full-time, I have been looking forward to being home with my children. I imagined all the fun and creative games I would play with Gideon. I made myself a to-do list of household chores, that I would get done throughout the day, and my husband would be oh-so pleased to enter the house and see everything so sparkly and clean. Lucia would the picture of sweet baby girl cuteness, sweet smelling and peaceful.

I am a failure.

I can't get a handle on this. My house is in shambles. I have different baskets of clothes waiting to be folded and put away in every room in the house. If you were to walk into my living room right now, you would see (on the couch!) a gift bag with baby clothes, a baby bathtub, and a bouncy seat. There is scattered mail on the coffee table. On the floor there is a basket of baby clothes to put away. And don't get me started on the kitchen. Thank God for my mom. If it wasn't for her help, I am sure that we would need to call 911 to rescue us from the avalanche of laundry.

Gideon is pretty much left to his own imagination. He knows how to insert a dvd into the dvd player, and press play. He has canvas crates in different rooms that have toys, which he likes to scatter throughout. I do take the time to sit and color with him, and do puzzles, but pretty much my boy is like a wandering hermit, going from room to room searching for fun.

And you do know who I blame for this chaos, right? The baby, of course. Nursing Lucia takes all of my time. She wants to eat constantly. How can I get anything done with a baby latched on to me at all times? Alex calls her my add-on module. The baby swing has been my only salvation. She will stay in it for a while, giving me a false sense of contentment, before wailing to be picked up. She is not a big fan of her bassinet, preferring to be held and rocked.

Alex and I constantly discuss the possibility of someday. Someday I can stay home with the kids. Someday, he will find a job that pays enough so that we can buy a house, and allow us to live a life where I can choose to work or stay home. However, I never contemplated the fact that I would not be good at staying home. That I would find it so overwhelming. Like right now, after I finished typing this, I was going to....take a shower! Woo-hoo. And clean up all the stuff in the living room. But my sweet baby girl is crying. Because she has grown weary of the swing, and needs me to go pick her up. So, that is what I am going to do now.

Gideon lounging in bed, watching an Elmo dvd for the 100th time.

In her swing. Semi-content, but the crying is brewing.

2008-10-01T12:28:00.004-04:00

Teeth!

Gideon is energetic to say the least. He has a penchant for touching things he's not supposed to ... including Lucia while she sleeps. He usually listens when we tell him to stop or when we distract him with something else. We've found the best distraction is offering him a chance to brush his teeth, which stops him from whatever he's doing ... like magic.

Gideon and his singing toothbrush.

2008-09-28T13:32:00.007-04:00

I Love Lucia

It has been almost 2 weeks since my mad dash to the hospital, and the quickest delivery known to man. Two weeks since my life changed dramatically (again). Two weeks of getting to know a new addition to our family. Two weeks of staring at the face of a baby girl that is amazingly, my daughter.

I do have to admit that it has been easier this time around. For those of you out there with one child, contemplating a second, it is just like riding a bicycle. Except for the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in like 15 years, and the last time I rode one, I fell into a ravine. But, I digress.

Taking care of a newborn just comes naturally. I am not scared this time around that she may break. Diaper changing is a breeze. I can handle the not sleeping. Her crying doesn't make me cry. Last time, it was very difficult for me to accept help. My mom was over all the time, and we would get into arguments, because I felt like I could do the housework, and take care of the baby, and I didn't need any help! I didn't want to eat the endless amount of soup and smoothies and teas she would make me eat.

With Lucia, I am completely taking advantage of my mom. She has come over everyday since I have been home. She makes me soup that I happily eat. I have been drinking star anise tea that she makes me because it is supposed to be good for the baby. When she tells me to take a nap, so that she can do all my laundry, I say ok, and go to my room to nap with Lucia. When she gives me advice, I don't roll my eyes behind her back, but I listen and nod appreciatively. I must have matured or something. Or Lucia has mellowed me even more.

Today, while Alex and Gideon were at church, I spent the morning ignoring dirty dishes in the sink, and instead spent time taking pictures and a video of the baby girl Soto.

Here is her signature glare. She looks just like my dad does when he is furrowing his brow. She gives us this look alot.

More glaring.

Here is she is sleeping in her bassinet. Don't let her chubby cheeks fool you. She is really tiny and skinny.

She is showing you her foot. In case you want to eat it. Because it is so cute.

She is obviously vogueing.

And the video. Ignore the dirty laundry in the background. You know I can't be bothered with laundry with Miss Cuteness taking up all my time.

2008-09-24T18:32:00.000-04:00

A Giant Cookie
A gift from my crazy co-workers, who are actually the greatest friends a girl could have. The cookie is literally over a foot high, and a foot and half wide. I don't want to eat it, yet I don't want it to go to waste. And I guess, technically, it's for Lucia. Should I save it for her? Should I eat it when I am up at 3am? How can I eat a cookie that is staring at me? Would you have the heart to eat this sweet bear?

2008-09-22T11:54:00.003-04:00

Gideon & Lucia

The picture we've all been waiting for! Gideon gives a cute sigh when he rubs his cheek against Lucia, kind of like a high-pitched "awwwww." Very cute.

2008-09-20T16:08:00.007-04:00

2 Kids

Those of you who have followed our blog from the very beginning are probably wondering why we haven't updated it as frequently as we did when Gideon was born. Simply put, it's very different to be parents of two kids, rather than just one ... and in my case, let's not forget Miggy the cat.

When planning the rest of our mornings, Alexa and I discussed a change in roles. They aren't drastic, but just enough modifications to make everybody's life a bit easier. For example, bathing Gideon is something I have done like on 3 occasions, but now, it's mostly mine to do. I also do the getting Gideon from the crib every morning, changing him out his diapers and pajamas and then giving him his morning milk routine.

This helps Alexa as she constantly has to be with Lucia. Breastfed babies eat more, about every two hours and this keeps Alexa very busy. She also poops a lot more. I don't think Gideon pooped as much as she does. For now, Alexa takes care of this. I've done it once thus far and am a bit comfortable because Lucia is much smaller than Gideon at 4-5 days old. I'm afraid to hurt her with my clumsy, giant hands. I told my mom how I'm hesitant to change Lucia's diaper and she tells me how an older cousin of mine, who now lives in Puerto Rico, mistakenly squished a bird with his monster hands, much to his dismay. Well, that certainly makes me feel better mom! Thanks!

So, we're much busier and tired these days. And our 2 bedroom apartment has become one big toy box with the curious smells of baby and toddler poop and chinese food. Oh yeah, who has time to cook anymore. We just order whatever we're in the mood for. I'm sure this is temporary and if it wasn't for Alexa's mom, we'd probably be a little insane right now. Here, she is putting Alexa's hair into a ponytail, a task I tried many times unsuccessfully ... with Lucia here I'll be an expert in no time.

At least, I get to spend a lot of time with my son now. Work will have to fit in somewhere and I haven't figured that out yet, but I will have to soon. During the last weeks of Alexa's pregnancy I took Gideon out to walk, to my mom's or her moms, to the playground (Van Saun in Paramus is one of my favorites) and to IKEA.

IKEA is such a wonderful place. Personally, I love interior design. I read home & garden magazines while waiting in supermarket lines. Most people find this odd when they meet me and realize that I also love football in a barbaric, grunting way where actual words don't come out when I watch Jets games, but rather noises and uncomprehensible rants ... and I don't drink so it's not alcohol. Anyway, I love looking at furniture and how they are arranged and matched with colors and patterns. But the best thing about IKEA are the strategically placed play kiosks and areas.

Here are pictures of one our most recent outings.

Ridem cowboy

Spinning rings on his fingers

Intensely studying a toy

In a spinning capsule

Jumping in an air filled mattress

2008-09-16T20:47:00.011-04:00

Isn't She Lovely

Welcome to the newest member of the family, Lucia (pronounced Looseea) Ana Soto, born September 16, 2008 at 1:07 pm ET. As always, there is a story with the Soto Family. This is my side.

At about 9:30 am, Alexa starts to feel pains. She assures me that they weren't Braxton-Hicks, so I start the countdown. A minute later she breathes a sigh of relief.

10 minutes later. Gideon pretends to be a bunny rabbit, hopping around the house. Alexa yells, "Hunnie," which is my cue to record the time and measure the contraction. A minute later, a sigh of relief, from the both of us. I was hit with the reality of what was going on.

I continue working. Alexa contemplated going to work today. Thank God she didn't. Another contraction. No doubt, a yet to be born Lucia was on a mission, which was to leave her familiar, cozy and warm world to one where it's a bit colder and much meaner.

Several contractions later .... Alexa decides to take a bath, yelling, "Hunnie" from the tub so that I can record the time between contractions and how long they lasted. I yell back, "There still 10 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. We have plenty of time left." So I continue working.

As Alexa's 12pm appointment with her OB/GYN was approaching, I wrapped up work stuff and got ready to head out. By this time, Alexa's mom had already picked up Gideon, who was a bit cranky. Before leaving, Alexa embraced him and her eyes began to tear. I ask her what wrong? She answers, "This is the last time that we'll be a family of 3."

I drive to her OB/GYN. During the drive she experienced 2 contractions. The office is 7 minutes away. I didn't need a watch to do the math. The contractions are now less than 10 minutes apart, closer to like 6 minutes.

We arrive at the office and Alexa signs in while in the middle of one her toughest contractions. I'm not sure what she signed, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't her name. They take us in immediately and Dr. Robert Gallo sees her and does his thing to find out what's going on. To our surprise, Alexa was 8 centimeters ... only 2 centimeters to go.

Well, I was told to get the car and take Alexa to the hospital immediately. Dr. Gallo tells us that we'll have our baby by 3pm.

We get to the hospital's front entrance. I run out of the car and help Alexa in. The receptionist gets a wheel chair and we're off. We get to the 3rd floor. It was there that I remembered that I had left the car running, right in front of the main entrance, where parking wasn't allowed. Despite my worries about getting a ticket or worse, having my car towed, I took this problem out of my mind and focused on Alexa.

She was admitted and the nurses get to working with her immediately, getting her ready for an epidural. The pain, no doubt, at this point must have been excruciating for Alexa. After she was ready for the epidural, the Anesthesiologist comes in. This meant that I had to leave the room for I wasn't allowed in there.

I took advantage of the opportunity and raced downstairs to the main entrance to park my car in the garage. No ticket and the car was not towed away. I find a parking spot and I impatiently wait for the 2 elevators. Dr Gallo himself was in the elevator with me to get to Alexa's room. We go to her room and the story was dramatically different.

About 5 nurses surrounded Alexa and everyone was running around. Dr Gallo who was dressed in a nice suit, didn't even have time to get comfortable. Alexa was waving to me to hurry. So I did and stood by her side holding her hand. In the middle of one of her first pushes, Alexa moves her lips with hardly a word coming out, saying "No epidural"

"Oh my goodness. Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed. She nodded no. I was fearful that the pain of a 100% natural child birth would be too much for Alexa. But, about 10 minutes and 2 hard pushes later, Lucia Ana Soto was born.

We were admitted at about 12:20pm ET and Lucia was born at 1:07 pm. In other words, labor was less than 50 minutes. Compare that to the 14 hours for Gideon.

Isn't she lovely? I mean aren't they lovely?

2008-09-01T20:07:00.006-04:00

The Word of the Day: Roseola

Gideon was feeling pretty sick all last week. Really high fever, a sore throat, a traumatic visit to the pediatrician's office, and then to top it all off on Friday, a rash all over his body. Woo-hoo! Umm...not.

I had never heard of roseola, nor had I anticipated it. It is apparently, really common, and the worst part of it was the super high fever that just wouldn't go away.

Hey! Want to see a picture of the rash? You do? What a coincidence that I took one:
The rash!
This is Gideon scratching said rash.
You can't really see the rash on his face that well, plus he looks really happy in this picture. He should look miserable. I know I would, with a rash all over my body.

In other news, Gideon has officially entered the "terrible twos". I had a Cracker Barrel craving today (yes, I don't have food cravings, but entire restaurant cravings), so we drove down to Clinton, NJ to our "local" Cracker Barrel. Can you say full out temper tantrum at the table? We were absolutely floored. He has never acted that way in public, and we honestly did not know what to do. He kept saying "No, no, no, no!" and threw things on the floor. People were LOOKING at us. Finally, Alex just took him out to the store area, and then I took a turn with him. He ran around, played with some toys, and came back and acted completely normal again. But really, I almost didn't know what to do. Here is a picture of him when he doesn't get his way:
Lovely, right?

2008-08-26T18:35:00.005-04:00

Cranky boy at the Zoo
(and it was totally our fault)

A few weeks ago, we had the brilliant idea of taking Gideon to the Turtleback Zoo. I had never been there, but Alex had as a kid, and had fond memories of it. And Gideon loves animals, so it seemed like a no-brainer. We had planned on leaving early, before the Gidster's nap, so by the time we had finished touring the zoo, he would be oh-so sleepy and fall asleep in the car on the way home, and then Alex and I would have 2-4 hours of quietness. Sounds good, right?

Well, except of course for the fact that once we got there, we realized we had forgotten to bring a stroller. And no stroller meant that we would have to chase Gideon EVERYWHERE. So, a stroller was a necessity. We drove right past the zoo, and headed to the Livingston Mall. After a long, fruitless search, we ended up buying a cheesy Winnie-the-Pooh umbrella stroller. Of course, by this point, Gideon had fallen asleep. But we were determined! He would LOVE the zoo! And I had to work the next day, so this was our only chance!

We park the car, and wake up a sleepy and very cranky Gideon. He immediately starts with the "Nooooooooo". That should have been our first clue. But once he got more awake, he would LOVE the zoo! (Can you tell we were a bit delusional?) We put him in the new stroller, and on we went! The fun would commence shortly. Any minute now...

The zoo had a train. Gideon has been on the train at Van Saun, so I assumed he would be fine. Can we say...hysterical crying for the majority of the ride? And totally terrified of the tunnel the train went through? The couple in front of us kept turning around to glare at us. We tried to get a picture, but as you can see, he flat out refused to look at me. And my dear, darling husband. Can you tell that his brain matter is literally melting? I do believe that one of the reasons he was so upset was from the embarrassment of the Winnie-the-Pooh stroller. All the other kids were in these fancy, high end strollers, and here he is, in a rinky-dink umbrella stroller. My poor child. Already, with self-esteem issues.

The only highlight was the petting zoo. There were animals there that Gideon actually recognized, and could say the words. Like "cow" and "sheep". However, there was really no petting allowed, since Alex was convinced that Gideon would get malled by one of the fuzzy lambs. Or at the very least...licked. I was all for just throwing him into one of the pens to fend for himself. How else do you teach a 20 month year old survival skills?

He had not learned the word for "llama".

He did know the word for "cat".

All in all, not the worst. We chose to call it a day, and headed home earlier than intended. He did indeed pass out in the car, and slept for like 4 hours! So, now you know a sure fire way to wear out your child. Don't say I never do anything for you.