Monday, January 28, 2008

Our little bookworm

We took this video yesterday of Eric turning pages in a book. Eric's mom didn't believe he could do it by himself. He loves to read books and turn the pages on his own. We usually go through the same book about 5 or 6 times in a row each time. And, he starts turning the pages faster and faster each time, so we're pretty much just looking at the pictures by the end.

He is talking away these days. He actually looks up at me in the eye sometimes and I know he is trying to tell me something. He just babbles on and on. And, he is getting to be a pretty proficient roller. He will roll all over the living room to explore, and if he sees something he wants to get his hands on he'll just roll from his front to his back in a series of rolls that take him right where he wants to go. I think it's time to plug up the outlets and make sure there isn't anything around he can get himself into trouble with.

The weather is going to be a bit milder this week (in the low 40's), so we are planning to get out as much as possible. Yea!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lDMPxt3axQ

A Break in the Snow


I walked into the kitchen yesterday afternoon and saw two bright red cardinals in the tree outside our kitchen window. I grabbed the camera as soon as I could, but one flew to another tree. The picture isn't as clear as I would like it to be because it's taken through the window. It was an amazing sight to see these two brightly colored birds in the barren colorless landscape. It was a reminder that God has not forgotten about us. He will bring the color of Spring to us again after the long winter. We've just got to hold on for another couple of months. It was a highlight in my day and I wanted to share it with you.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

A Toothy Smile

Our baby is growing up. Before long he is going to be off to kindergarten! If you look closely at this picture you will see the top of one tiny tooth in the bottom of Eric's little mouth. So cute and so grown up.
And, he's a really busy little guy these days. His favorite thing to do is crumple up paper. Any paper in sight is the target of his obsession. The other day he spent almost an hour destroying this magazine. Don't you love cheap toys!



He is also getting over a cold. It started as a little runny nose and ended up turning into a case of the Croup. We went the ER and then to our pediatrician and after a healthly dose of steriods, which to Eric's relief will not keep Little E from the Major Leagues one day, he is good as new. Still coughing and the humidifier has been on in his room for two weeks, but I think he is on the mend.

It's super cold again, so I don't think we will have any outings this week. But, Eric is off tomorrow for MLK day, so at least I will have company around the house.

Hope you have a good week!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Waiting for snow

Once again we are waiting for a huge snowstorm to dump a new pile of snow to shovel. We have had record snow this season. It's always bittersweet waiting for the snow. It's beautiful to watch coming down as it sticks to everything it lands on. For a few hours it feels like a winter wonderland. The feeling wears off quickly, though, as the snow turns dirty black and slushy, or competely freezes over and becomes an ice skating rink. And, the worst part now that I am staying home with Eric is that we can't get out of the house until it warms up enough to brave the elements. I have a rule that we can go out if the temperature is above freezing. Below freezing just seems cruel to walk around in a stroller, even with the weather cover on the stroller.

So, here I am at 8 p.m. waiting for the inevitable storm to bring another week of indoor activities.

Maybe the weatherman lied and it'll be 5o degrees tomorrow. Whaddayouthink?

Monday, January 7, 2008

Dia de Reyes

Today is "Dia de Reyes" or "Three Kings Day". It's the day when the three kings visited the infant Jesus and brought Him gifts (remember...gold, frankinsense, and Myrrh). It's a big holiday in the Latino culture, especially in the Dominican Republic, so we decided to make it a part of our Hernandez family tradition.

The way it goes down is like this.

You place some grass or hay outside your door (or on the Christmas tree if you follow Dominican tradition) for the king's camels to eat. And, the kings leave you a present. We decided to put grass outside the door, because putting it on the tree caused a great deal of confusion for the young Eric (papa). He couldn't figure out how those camels got inside the house if the house was locked up for the night.

This year we actually didn't put grass outside the door because we were too lazy to go out in the cold and pick grass in the dark from a nearby lot. It's little Eric's first Dia de Reyes, so he's not going to remember anyway, right? I don't think he will mind that we left that part out, because he got a gift. An alligator shaped xylophone/piano. Here are some pictures I took of him playing with it this morning under the Christmas tree.



This is the classic, "Am I supposed to be touching this?" look. Priceless.

And, now I can take down the decorations and clean the house.