Entries tagged as ‘Arnold’
Oh man I have been waiting SO LONG to publish this video! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to share the awesomeness of this epic battle between my beloved son and my sweet husband. This video was taken at Martiza’s parents house our first week in Colombia with Elian. The whole week was equal parts overwhelming joy and nightmarish struggles. Because the adoption was not yet finalized I chose at that time to only write about the joyful moments but let’s get real, it wasn’t all fun. Elian refused to eat anything but yogurt for the whole week among other issues. Keep this in mind as you see my child battle with Arnold over his sovereign right to EAT ROCKS. That’s right we spent the whole week stressing about his eating only to watch him sneakily try to devour pebbles at the playground. We watched this video almost every night we were in Colombia and it still makes me laugh hysterically. ENJOY!
PS-I can’t believe how much bigger he is now. Crazy.
PPS – Thank you to everyone who shared their encouraging words and crazy parenting experiences yesterday. I truly appreciate your support!
Categories: Adventures in the World · Casa Perez & Co.
Tagged: Arnold, Bogota, Elian, Funny, Parenthood
Becoming a parent is stressful. I know that’s a duh, but it’s a transition that has broken up many a marriage and I think in the back of my mind I worried about how the stress would affect us. I know how lucky we are to have each other and at night I’d ask myself the question I was afraid to ask aloud in the daylight? Would growing our family break us apart?
Okay who I am kidding? Before we adopted Elian I used to grab Arnold and random intervals and demand “What are we doing? Is this a good idea? Are we going to hate each other after we do this?” There was pretty much nothing hidden about my fears. I had a similar type of panic attack right before we bought our house.
Despite my natural tenancy towards anxiety one thing I’ve never worried about is whether Arnold would be a good father. Anyone whose seen him fuss over Nutella can immediately see that he is “Bestfatherintheworld” material. I’ve always known he would be a wonderful father and now that I’ve seen him in action I can’t help but think not only are we the luckiest parents to have Elian but that Elian is the luckiest little boy to have Arnold.
One morning the first week Arnold single-handedly fed Elian breakfast (incidentally the third breakfast he made, since Elian rejected the first two) while keeping him away from the Christmas tree ornaments and distracting him so that he wouldn’t have a fit about not being allowed to touch the Christmas tree ornaments. It is no joke feeding a toddler without a high chair in someone else’s home. Trust.
The first day we broke out the stroller I asked Arnold if he needed help and he waved me off indignantly “I used to wheel my Tia all over Bogota” I’m a professional. And you know what? He totally is.
At night Arnold puts Elian to bed cooing in his ear and tucking him in snug as a bug as a rug. In the middle of the night he wakes me up saying “I think his blanket is on his head, do you think he is okay?” He plays with Elian spoiling him with kisses and has infinite patience with the hard parts of each day. When I spent 20 minutes flossing my teeth the first week because I couldn’t handle one more minute of tantrums Arnold sat on the floor with Elian as he kicked and screamed. He picked him up and held him tight as he cried hysterically for his beloved foster mother while I sat in the bathroom with my head in my hands and the cleanest teeth of my life.
Arnold is now and always has been a wonderful husband but he is an incredible father. We’ve been married for almost eight years and together for almost 10. After so much time together I didn’t think it was possible to love him more but now I know that I was wrong. Like most people I hate not being right but every time I see Elian in Arnold’s arms, I think that being wrong never felt better.
Categories: Casa Perez & Co.
Tagged: Arnold, Elian, Marriage
Remember how it was Arnold’s Birthday last Sunday? Usually his birthday kind of gets swallowed up in the post-holiday hangover but this year with Carmen as my wingman I decided we could do it up right!
Surprise party!!!!!
It all started out pretty simple but then as more people got involved I decided it might be better if my organizational contribution might be to “take Arnold out to the movies” so the party could be prepped. I have to say this was a very smart move on my part. I avoided a lot of boring discussion about what beverages should be served with cake plus I got to go to the movies. Miraculously Arnold didn’t suspect a thing. When Carmen called and asked if he was at the door yet he turned to me and said “We better get back now, I think my Mom’s tired of being with the baby.” Then he detailed out an elaborate plan for the rest of our night which included taking Elian on a walk and taking Carmen to mass. Meanwhile I nodded in agreement as I plotted my dastardly surprise birthday plans “Muwahahahaha!’
I have to hand it to the Restrepo-Perez-Carrascal families. They really know how to surprise the right way! We opened up that door to a “Happy Birthday” chorus and a never-ending stream of people who poured out of Andres’ bedroom.
It was a great day, wish you all could have joined in the fun!
It was Arnold's Day so of course our first stop was Juan Valdez. I got chided for taking pictures which is "Not allowed at Unicentro". Look at baristas indignant face! While she lectured me I took the opportunity to "Not speak good Spanish, am gringa"
We saw Avatar in 3D and ENGLISH! So happy about that. Not as excited about the weird "cows show you how to do yoga" cartoon that preceded Avatar. Long and weird.
We ate lunch at Wok. I swear I almost cried when I ate those noodles, it tasted like home.
Elian observes Dad's technique. Jorge Hernan approves.
Party People in the HOUSE!
Categories: Adventures in the World · Casa Perez & Co.
Tagged: Arnold
Elian took to his first flight like a seasoned road warrior, he perused the in-flight offerings, rejected them, looked out the window for 10 seconds and then fell asleep until we left baggage claim. There were many other children on the flight. All were screaming except ours! It was such a nice change. :)
Why are we getting in this big long line? I'm pretty sure it's nap time.
Saying Goodbye to Tios Andres and Martiza
Perusing the In-Flight Drink Options
Checking out the window with Dad
Safely asleep in Daddy's arms.
Categories: Adoption · Adventures in the World · Casa Perez & Co.
Tagged: Arnold, Elian, Santander
Are these people nuts? Don't they know that we're not in Sacramento? It's really not cold enough here to demand a ski hat or a fleece!
Arnold and Elian check out the Colpatria building.
I ended up with Elian's ski hat after I realized we dressed him for Minnesota and it was like 70 degrees outside. The beautiful weather didn't stop me from having a little aromatica bought off the street though.
Beautiful Bogota with Bomberos on standby.
As you can tell it was perhaps not the most calming environment to put Elian to sleep.
We were pretty much obligated to buy some street food. Patacones and churros. Si, porfies!
Elian is too cool for New Year's Eve. He opted to go to bed early... okay so did we!
A Street Food binge should always be followed-up by onces. Agua Panela, queso fresco and a little pan de coco.
We watched the fireworks from Martiza and Andres' bedroom window. They were out partying, as all proper Colombians should, all night long.
Categories: Adoption · Adventures in the World
Tagged: Arnold, Bogota, Elian, Travel
Today I’m guest blogging over at Raising Colombian Kids about what it’s like to spend New Year in a small town. To check it out click here. We’ll be laying low today as I’m sure all of Colombia except us will be sleeping off their hangovers. Well except for us and Abuela Carmen. As she’s told me many time “A little brandy does no harm.” While we enjoy the empty traffic-free streets, enjoy these pics of Arnold and I showing off our new acquired parenting skills.
My GAD gave us the best airplanes. I'm working on my technique but Elian is a little squirmy not to mention the drool... EVERYWHERE!
SuperArnold shows off his hipster urban Dad credentials.
Categories: Adventures in the World
Tagged: Arnold, Colombia, Elian
I think I’ve mentioned before that my mother-in-law Carmen will be coming back with us from Colombia to care for Elian when I have to return to work full time. I think I might have also talked about how we let her pick Elian’s middle name because we greatly appreciate this act of love because she is extremely afraid to come to the US. Abuela Carmen is terrified of planes. She is to planes as Indiana Jones is to snakes. It has always been my hope though that my children would be able to have a close relationship with their grandparents the way I was able to spend everyday with my grandmother. But I have a feeling that Abuela Carmen and Elian might end up having more than just a close relationship because I am now convinced that Abuela Carmen has superpowers.
A bit of background: Elian is a hyper-active kid, I mean even for a toddler he seems a little bit on the Richard Simmons side. He is a ton of fun every day, but he is not the type to quietly play with his blocks in the corner. He is the type to open and close the door while shrieking at full strength for 2 hours or so. He can also spend hours throwing cell phones or screaming because we won’t give one to him.
Abuela Carmen has not yet met Elian yet because she lives in another state. She’ll probably be coming in a few weeks to Bogota to get her visa etc. but she is VERY anxious to meet Elian so she calls everyday. Tonight we decided to make the extremely dubious choice of letting her talk to him on the phone. I was pretty sure that he would try to throw the phone across the room and then scream when we wouldn’t give it to him. If we were extra lucky we’d get a full blown-parents start-counting-to-100-must-stay-calm style temper tantrum.
Instead something unimaginable happened. The second he heard her voice he was lulled into a state that was equal parts comatose and tender. He smiled sweetly, placed his hand gently on the phone and snuggled into Arnold’s chest for a long chat with abuelita. For the next 10 minutes or so he laid on Arnold’s chest babbling softly to her and when they were done chatting he turned to Arnold’s face and I held my breath as I saw my son kiss his Dad’s cheek for the first time.
First conversation with Abuela Carmen
Categories: Adventures in the World · Casa Perez & Co.
Tagged: Arnold, Carmen, Elian
Elian shows off his Hip-Hop swagga with his oversized hood.
One of my favorite things about Latin America has always been the bus. I grew up in public transportation deprived California and as a result have an unrequited love affair with public transportation. Weirdly after I studied abroad in Chile I fell even deeper into the love affair with everything that other people hate about busses in South America.
I love it when they are so crowded that you get to shove people out of your way to get off. I love the small adrenaline rush of knowing you’ve got to get OFF THE BUS before the driver take off without you and I especially love it when people get on the bus and sell stuff like ice cream or miniature paper models of Chilean navy ships (true story). I love that there’s no schedule, you just hang around till one comes and I love, love, love watching the city whizz by out the bus windows. And if I loved busses before today I entered into a domestic partnerhsip with them because the bus blessed me with a memory that will endear me to them forever.Today we walked all over downtown Bogota much to mine and Elian’s delight. Bogota is especially beautiful at Christmas time and Elian was beaming with joy watching the bubble vendors in Plaza Bolivar and laughing as the other children jumped up to pop them. We were having so much fun in fact that our party of 5 walked about 2 miles and then realized we would have to walk 2 miles back. We couldn’t get a taxi so we decided to take the bus which I thought was a great idea except… the four of us were also carying 5 bags of heavy groceries, a crib mattress, a stroller, a toddler bathtub and a very active toddler. And uh, bus drivers don’t like just sit at the curb cause you’re slowed down by your million pounds of food or small toddler.
But this is Colombia, the land of possibility and qustionable safety rules so Arnold took a firm grip on Elian and the rest of jumped on the bus whilst hystericlaly throwing on packages, mattresses etc. I would’ve been embaressed but it’s too much fun being the crazy people who are basically moving into the bus. Besids I’m a parent now, I don’t have time to be embaressed. And where’s the fun in that anyways?
So we’re all sitting seperately in the back of the bus packed with people and 4 weeks worth of groceries laughing or asses off at the ridiculousness of it all when I spied Arnold and Elian sitting four rows in front of me. They were sitting in front of a man who was playing an Andean pan flute (again totally normal). Elian was dancing and babbling and generally crowing with joy. Apparently he loves buses, music and dancing, just like his parents. His pleasure was so infectious he seemed brighter and more alive then the thousands of Christmas lights floating over La Septima. And as I watched Arnold through the crowd of people I saw him holding Elian up and at that moment I thanked God for busses and the joy they give little boys, new parents and their family friends, all sitting like sardines in a bus, weighed down by 5 grocery bags, one baby bath, a stroller, a mattress and the insanity of being totally infatued with a small boy.
Categories: Adoption · Adventures in the World · Uncategorized
Tagged: Arnold, Colombia, Elian, Funny
You scream. I scream. We all scream for ice cream!
Categories: Adventures in the World · Sunday Foto School
Tagged: Arnold, Bogota, Elian, Funny
