The Grass is Greener on This Side

We have spent a little time this week in Coban.  We had to go to meet with two of our bosses from Mexico.  I'll post about that tomorrow.   It was fun to visit and hang out there.  We'll always love Coban!  While there we enjoyed letting Cruz play in the grass.  One of the things we love about the Coban property is the pretty yard.  He wasn't sure what to think about the grass at first, and wanted me to pick him up.  He later decided he liked it and had fun picking at the grass and leaves.  Here are a few photos I took of him-

his first mini futbol

He loves balls and will chase this one all over the house.

You can see all six of his teeth in this photo.  He has not cut any new ones lately.

He loves to play with leaves!

having one of his "I don't like this grass, pick me up Mommy!" moments

sweet feet!

He also enjoyed some more time with Precioso.  We forgot to take his walker so he just crawled after him this time.  He really likes the dog although we are still unsure just what the dog thinks of him.  In the photo below it looks like Cruz is crying and Precioso is biting him but actually I snapped the photo just as the dog approached him and he squinted.  We think it's funny how the picture turned out.

It was a refreshing break for all of us!

Wordless Wednesday

It Was A LOVEly Day

First of all let me mention that we had planned to spend a few days this week in Coban visiting with our supervisor who was scheduled to be here to do some leadership training for the K'ekchi' pastors.  But, his father-in-law passed away on Saturday, so he had to postpone his trip.  We had planned to buy groceries in Coban while there.  When our visit got cancelled we decided instead to head to the Santa Elena area on Monday to buy groceries and eat lunch for Valentine's Day.  It turned out to be a fun outing! 

Cruz really likes his stroller these days (as long as you are moving).  He's not a fan of sitting still.

We went early because I wanted to stop by the local El Mismo Precio (The Same Price).  It is our version of the Dollar Tree.  I didn't need anything, but just wanted to look around.  I ended up buying a few bilingual children's books for Cruz, and David wanted to get him this maraca- 

He loves this thing!  He likes to shake it, hit it on everything, and especially put it in his mouth.

We also thought it would be fun to let him ride a few of the rides they have there.  He didn't know what to think at first.  He mainly wanted to eat the steering wheel.   

David was constantly moving his mouth away from licking it. 

Here is a short video of him in action-

We also put him on the motorcycle.

Afterwards we visited a local hotel to have lunch by the lake.  Some missionary friends of ours recommended we try it.  They like to visit it when they host teams. 

We ate under this tent.  You can see the lake in the background.  We were the only ones there so we had the whole place to ourselves.

my little Valentine!

This was my plate.  David and I both ate fish.  It was yummy! 

Cruz enjoying his Valentine's lunch, with a little maraca on the side, ha

After eating we spent a while walking around and seeing the property.  They have a lot of walking and bike trails.  We ended up putting Cruz in the stroller and he fell asleep.  Here are a few photos we took-

Cruz and I in the BIG chair next to the pool.

David and Cruz

Can you guess what they are looking at???

this crocodile!

our family on Valentine's Day

They have a large fenced in area with many deer.  We enjoyed watching them. 

They also have several of these beautiful birds. 

It was nice to walk around and enjoy the fresh air.  When we left we visited the grocery store and purchased some groceries.  We also picked up a Pizza Hut pizza to take home for dinner, and drove back to Sayaxche.  The neighbor kids saw us drive up and came running to see us.  We spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining them.  We had a fun, relaxing day!

Valentine's 2011

Scrapbooking Ideas Photo Tinks by WiddlyTinks.com

Sunday Afternoon Silliness

The Great Outdoors

Our temps here have been in the low 90's this week.  It's been rather warm!  We have been spending a lot of time outside in the shade.  For one reason, at times it is cooler outside than inside (we don't have a/c) and secondly, because Cruz just loves the outdoors.  We hope he will always like being outside and not become a couch potato.  The fact that we don't have t.v. either might help that, ha.  We take a blanket and spread it out on the ground outback or on our front patio and give him several toys to play with.  He likes listening to the birds chirp and watching the people walk up and down the road.  Yesterday I took a few photos of him while we were out.

He still prefers to chew on the books rather than sit still for me to read one to him.  Actually, he doens't like to sit still for anything these days.  He is a busy little boy!

One of the neighbor kids brought their tonka truck over for Cruz to play in/ with.  He really liked it. 

Finger Foods

We recently started Cruz on finger foods.  He is enjoying learning how to feed himself.  I first feed him his regular baby food and then let him have finger foods while we eat our meal.  It keeps him entertained more than anything else, but he is learning as well.  Here are a few photos of him yesterday during lunch.

  

Eight Month Update

We don't know about you, but we are finding it really hard to believe that our "baby" is 8 months old today!  It's like we wake up to a different child everyday.  He is changing soo much and soo fast these days.  It's very exciting to see him growing, changing, and learning, but sad at the same time that we can't keep him little forever.  These are precious days and ones that we are trying our hardest to savor every moment of.   We don't want to look back one day with a lot of regrets because we did and didn't do certain things enough with him.  Parenting is hard!, but you only get one shot at it.  Our prayer is that we will get it right, and lead him in the best way possible. 

WHAT IS CRUZ UP TO LATELY?
*   He is wearing size 9 and 12 month clothes
*   He is wearing a size 3 diaper
*   He is wearing a size 3 shoe (but prefers to go barefooted)
*   His eyes are blue/ gray
*   His hair is really growing and is still a blond/ red/ light brown color, depending on the light.

*   As you can see from the photos above, he is VERY active these days.  There are not many moments when he is awake that he is still.  Those little arms and hands are constantly moving and grabbing.    Taking his photo is starting to be a difficult task.  He is way to busy for photos (he gets that from his dad).
*   He loves to laugh.  If we laugh he will start laughing with us or he will try to do something to get us to laugh.  He is such a funny little person!
*   This month he started sitting up (from a lying down position).  He is doing really well at that.
*   He also started to crawl recently and is now always on the go. 
*   He got six teeth this month- four on top and two on the bottom.  There were a lot of sleepless nights for all of us, and we all rejoiced when they broke through the skin.  Teething is not fun!
*   He does not like to be on his back.  He will flip right over when playing and sleeping.
*   He now pulls up on everything!  He likes to stand and tries to walk alongside whatever he's holding on to.  He also likes to try to walk when we hold his hands to help him. 
*   He throws everything on the floor and grunts for us to pick it up and give it back to him.
*   He is very rough and rowdy these days- ALL BOY!  It makes this mama really tired. haha
*   He likes to make noise both with his mouth and his toys. 

*   He loves to look in the mirror.  He will laugh and smile at himself and whoever is holding him.
*   He likes his story time at night but fights to eat the books. 
*   He loves his bath time! 
*   He ran fever for the first time on January 2, but it was due to him teething. 
*   He is still nursing four times a day and eating three meals a day in between.  New foods he has had this month include english peas and guicoy (a type of pumpkin).  He eats very well.
*   While in his highchair he always crosses his foot over his leg.  We laugh at him doing this.
*   When he is tired he slaps his arms around, wipes his eyes, and makes a humming sound.

*   This month we moved him out of his infant carrier and into a regular car seat.

*   He also moved up to a regular stroller.

*   Because he is pulling up now we had to lower his mattress.

*   He is very social and will let anyone hold him.   This has been a great/ positive witness to the locals.  They eat him up and love that he likes them so much.

*   He started saying Da Da and can say Da Dee when he wants to.

*   On a good day he will take 2-3 naps lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours each.  He will fight to go to sleep for nap time and can be very hard to get down at times.

*   He weaned himself from his pacifier this month.   He started relating it to sleep (which he doesn't want to be still long enough to do) and would not take it.  We quit introducing it and he has not had one in a month now.

It's hard to believe that our baby is turning into a little boy.  He brightens our days in ways we could not have imagined.  We love him more than anything in this world and count everyday that we have with him as a blessing.  He was truly worth the wait and we thank God for entrusting him into our care. 

HAPPY 8 MONTH BIRTHDAY, CRUZ!

YOU ARE THE APPLE OF OUR EYE