mateo's 3rd birthday

 

 earlier this month, our tiny just-born baby mateo turned 3.  he started the day with a special breakfast of pan au chocolat and leche and naranjas.  i told him, as always, the (edited) story of his birth, mostly how we waited and waited and waited, but how he was so cozy inside my belly that he just didn't want to come out.  :)

 

this year was fun because he could really get into the anticipation of his day coming, especially after seeing me, ruby and his uncle's birthdays so recently.  he was so excited.

after breakfast he opened his gifts.  3 was different than 2 opening-wise.  when he was 2 he had to play and put on each gift immediately and had no interest in moving on the the next one, but at 3 he was excited about each card and gift, but couldn't really relax and enjoy them until everything was uncovered.

 

 

 

 

 

he was equally excited about the cards he received, can you tell?

 

and an absolute highlight for him was when something needed batteries and we had to stop everything so he could help his papi put them in. 

 

he and luke played in a kids tent sent from his grandma.  we had to laugh when we set it up because this "kids" tent is bigger than our family tent!  of course he loved it.

 luke planned to make him a swing for his birthday for his one gift from us because every day he looks out his window at our tree and says "i wish papi could make me a swing" in complete innocence and sincerity.  but we found one for $2 at savers the day before his birthday, and of course mateo isn't interested in the details of where it came from. 

 

 his special birthday lunch request was "ta- ki-cos" (taquitos) so we indulged him in that.

 

we had planned on having a little playdate with friends the weekend before, just like we've done for all of his birthdays, but the weekend was over-booked for us so we decided to have a monday evening picnic on his actual day with our friends.  we had it at the secret pond down the street from our house.  it ended up being pretty dreamy.  we were afraid no one would be able to come on a monday during finals week, but everyone did and it was perfect.  we made 3 quiche (broccoli, cheddar, caramelized onion and port-mushroom, leek, gruyere, and a bacon-green chile, i am listing them because each year luke and i wonder which kind we made the last year) like we do on all of his birthdays and also a potato salad and fruit salad and a beet dip and random snacks.  looking at this photo i realize i never had a chance to make the table pretty. :)

 

 this blurry shot is one of the only ones i have of him.  he ran mostly and ate and played with his friends.  it made my heart so happy to see him with little friends, since it has taken awhile here to make some.

i brought the rainbow from our house and the hanging puffs from ruby's day and the birthday banner and at the last minute grabbed every hangable wind chime and string of bells from our house for the trees.  it was SO windy, that was the only not so perfect part of the evening.  we had kites for the kids but apparently they required some kind of set-up, so running around was the preferred activity.

 the magic hour came and the sun glistened and we ate and picnicked and enjoyed this little community we've found here.

 

 mateo had been asking for weeks for "blueberry cake" for his birthday so i made him blueberry cupcakes.  here he is during his birthday song about to blow out the candle, except the wind got to it first.  he didn't mind of course since all he really wanted was to eat the cupcake.

 all in all, it was a pretty great day celebrating him.  he felt special.

ps, thank you thank you thank you for all of your emails and calls and comments on ruby's finger.  they went straight to our hearts.

the high and the low of this weekend with ruby

we had a big weekend.  maybe i will start with the low part?  early sunday morning i was getting dressed in the bathroom with ruby standing next to me.  suddenly she screamed and i looked down at her and she was covered with blood.  so much blood that i couldn't tell where it was coming from.  we soon figured out that mateo had slammed the bathroom door on her finger.  her finger was losing more blood than i'd ever seen or smelled, so we were immediately in panic mode and ran to the car to get to the emergency room, some of us half-dressed, some with dirty diapers, some with no shoes on, later realizing we'd left our front door wide open.  luke and mateo waited while i went past triage holding this scared girl.  over and over, doctors and nurses came with warm washcloths and said how ruby and i looked like we were in a horror movie with blood all over our faces and necks.  they gave her something to numb her finger and she cried off and on and i nursed her so she slept and they could easily clean up her wound.  the doctor said the tip of her finger had been cut cleanly off, so there was nothing to do - no stitching, etc - and that she would heal but always be without that tiny bit of her finger.  i know it may not sound like much but that is when i somewhat lost myself and started crying.  that she was given to us whole and then there with me she lost something.  of course i have been through it a million times, wondering if i could have known the door was shutting, or seen something that could have prevented it, if we should have the doors removed from our house.  later a nurse came to tell me that the exact same thing had happened in her family - her dad shut the bathroom door on his little brother, but in their case the brother lost his whole finger.  so of course this gives perspective and i thank God it wasn't so much of her finger but it also makes me so terrified of the doors in our house.  we have implemented a "no touching doors" rule since coming home, but understandably it is hard for mateo to remember being that it is such a basic part of life to open and close them.  ruby is doing alright - mostly shiny and happy as usual, just with a giant sock over her arm to cover a giant bandage on her finger, and some pain if she hits it the wrong way. 

the high of the weekend happened the morning before all the trauma.  see below.

today he's 3

a morning at biff's

the day we felt community

you might remember how i went crazy for mom2mom sales in michigan - so much stuff for so cheap, and i would bring home enough that i wouldn't ever have step into a mall.  flagstaff doesn't have these sales, so when we moved here i told luke i was going to start one.  i joined the local mops group here and this year i was surprised to learn that one of their goals was to hold a m2m sale as a fundraiser.  i was asked to be on the committee (thanks to me talking about what a big fan i am of them, ha!), and after some hard work, we held the first mom 2 mom sale in flagstaff!

i was so happy with how many people signed up to sell, and how many people came to shop - especially since it is a new thing here.  i overheard one woman telling another that she thought it would all be junk but how it wasn't, and another saying she'd just finished texting all her pregnant and mama friends about it.  it was a success!  i loved being a part of it and shopping here and there (see above) and i really loved getting to know the volunteers and sellers and shoppers all day long.  but my favorite part was seeing so much sold for cheap to people that seemed to appreciate it.  it is just a sale, but it is a community sale, and definitely one of the first times i felt like part of the community here.

 meanwhile, luke was with the kids all day long, talking to neighbors, meeting friends at the library storytime, and then meeting other friends at the earth day celebration downtown.  they had a great community day as well.

to celebrate being done with the sale we went out for barbeque afterwards.  ruby wore her new cow suit.  :)

it was just milk

 it was just milk that the barista at late for the train offered him for free, but he was so, so, so serious about drinking his "coffee" there on the square just the way he sees all of us doing it.

also: i love her chub.

a few pretty things from this past week

 

a few pretty things we found this week:  blossoms everywhere, and the most perfect weather.  this is the tree outside our kitchen window.

and the tree outside mateo and ruby's window.  i didn't think arizona would have much of a spring, but i'm so happy i was wrong.

 

i know, i know, so many dandelions, but i love them.

  

mateo says it smells like cinnamon, i say like flowers.  :)

 

 we walked to the pond near our house a few times, enjoyed the views, and i almost stepped on a snake.

 

after naptime, this weekend.

 

we went to yard sales this weekend in our neighborhood and i found these pretty dresses.  one sale was all of the things left over (not picked up) from a local dry cleaner's business and i fell in love with the blue dress on the left but decided we shouldn't spend the money.  when i gave it back to the owner, he put it back in my hands and said "you take it, the good will come back to me".  i had no words (except thank you) and gave him a long hug.

we saw these guys while we were out scooping the yard sale loop.

 more blossoms, more flowers, more sun.  this might have been my favorite weather week since moving here. 

pretty babies

we went to a park to meet a friend and all of the trees were exploding with pink.

a local church had set up bounce houses and free lunch and a post-easter egg hunt.

mateo and ruby had a great time.

i visited a friend's house who lives right off of one of the urban trails.  i'd never been on that trail and i loved it so much that i had luke walk it with me again the very next day.  

we walked from our front door, past a pond, through some little league games, next to a river, behind several gardens, under blossoms, found a secret pool, and a homemade bike park.  luke has been laughing at me because this trail is my new obsession.  (last month it was pizzicletta).