Driving

Matthew and Renee went into my Dad's car for the first time a few weeks ago, and loved it.

The love "driving", as does Samuel. For Samuel though, it's for real. I frequently let him drive n my lap for the 6 houses from where we live to my sister's house. Sometimes though, he prefers to stand between the seats and asks me to drive crazy (meaning I accelerate and turn). All three kids roar with laughter.

Matthew and Renee love staying in the car when we get home. They figured out how to turn on every possible button, and best as we try to undo everything they leave on, on more than one occasion a caring neighbor rings the doorbell (usually just as they're about to fall asleep) to let us know that the lights are on, back door is open, etc.

Mazalada

The Mazal family (my mom's side of the family) had it's first ever reunion - dubbed the "Mazalada". We gathered from all over to my uncle and aunt's beautiful home in Monterrey, Mexico. To be surrounded by aunt and uncles who doted on us and our kids, by nieces and nephews who loved playing with them, by cousins to relax with, was priceless. To travel 12 hours each way with connections and layovers, was not so proceless, but we did well all things considered.

Matthew insisted on pulling this carry on bag (could he have subconsciously known it was full of food?), once in a while he stopped to rest, but insisted on doing it himself without help.

Samuel showing matthew the view from the window seat

A view into traveling with 3 young ones

The pool at my uncle and aunt's home. It's a roof-top pool in a home build into a mountain side, aptly dubbed "the spa" by my cousins

All three kids loved the motorized Dora bike . . .

And pushing my aunt Laura, the hostess, on her "car" too

Matthew and Renee enjoyed their first, second, third, etc, popsicles. Lucia, one month their junior, shows them how it's done.

The play ground at my aunt and uncle's house

"And you shall tell your granddaughter" Regi and Renee at the Seder.

Matthew and Samuel had coordinated outfits that matched Renee's (sorry we have no pics)

The girls (my aunts, cousin, mom, sister, Renee) at the hotel

Samuel and Eduardo loved "driving" my cousin "Big Alejandro"'s mini

The three ids on a boat ride, wearing their Canadian Olympic t-shirts

The family enjoying the pool and surroundings

Renee loved wearing her life vest, especially when out of the water. She put it on by herself.

Renee took a day or two to warm up to her great aunts and uncles. Mateo, the host, persevered and soon enough Renee as happy with her "Matoto"

Taking a carriage ride

My uncle and aunt's house

We did a ton of fun activities, this is just one - they have these giant plastic balls for kids to go into a float in a large pool of water. Most kids run around the balls like hamsters, tossing themselves around. Samuel took a more Zen, floating gently approach.

And matthew had his own (age appropriate) pool of balls too

Renee and Lucia (my cousin's daughter) lvoed kissing and hugging each other

My mom and sister let us take their first class seats on the first (and unfortunately shorter) of the flights home

And, if you were wondering what traveling with a four year old and two 20 month olds looks like . . .

Mateo, Laura, Mateo, Moni, Alejandro, Alejandro, Any, Rodrigo, Alejandro, Lucia, Sophie, Maria, Ricardo, Fabi, Julia, Sophia, Cuqui, Sue, Alex, Dave, Seth - que padre la pasamos, Dick y Renee ubieran estado felices, what a great time we had, Dick and Renee would have been proud. XO

Regi and her Grandchildren

Yes and No, Swimming

The lack pf blogging in February does not correspond to a lack of activity, or fun, or anecdotes, or significant events. Nor to any diminishing of how much I miss the people I love who are far away and who I wish were part of our daily lives. In fact, it's the opposite.

Here then is a quick recounting of some of the goings-on of our lives in the last month.

When asked a question, Renee is likely to say "no, no, no, no". She says "no" all the time, even in her sleep. Matthew will generally say "u-hm" nodding his head yes.

Me: "Renee, is your name Renee?"

Renee "no, no, no, no, Mami" waving her finger

Me: "Matthew, are you a green train?"

Matthew: "U-hm"

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Samuel started swimming lessons, it's our special time. We drop off Matthew and Renee at my parents (once again, being the most fantastic support imaginable!) and take Samuel to his swimming class. He's mastered blowing bubbles and kicking, does OK with his arms, great at jumping in. Yesterday he got his "report card" and badge which he referred to as his gold medal. he though it was a bit shabby though that he only got 1 gold medal, as Canada got 14 gold medals and the US got more medals than anywhere else. After his class, we do whatever he wants - play in the park, play PlayMobile or Harvest Time, make hot chocolate, go to the candy store. It's great to spend time dedicated to him - he's all smiles and laughs.

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Today, Matthew and Renee both mastered going down the stairs, unaided. And Renee proved that she does in fact fit between the banister that separates the dining room from a 3 foot drop to the living room.

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Here are a few winter pictures:

Matthew and Samuel loved the snow, Renee would have been happier to avoid it (smart girl!). At every chance, matthew ran towards the snow while Renee would stop dead in her tracks and ask to be carried.

And, from an afternoon on the swings - note the Canada olympics gloves (thanks Andy!):

And a few to show that spring is here early (fingers crossed):

Another important milestone in the last month - Samuel got a haircut. He went with my mom and sister and next thing you know, his curls were gone. He loves it, and looks great.

A few more pictures:

NeNe and MaMa

A few recent pictures of NeNe (what Matthew calls Renee) and MaMa (what Renee calls Matthew, she calls me Mami)

In the toy twin stroller (Ellen - they love getting on it and pushing back until they get stuck, and sometimes the dolls get a ride too)

Good Morning!
(note Matthew's bloody nose - they kick or hit each other at night sometimes, and have both come out a bit bloody. The odd thing is they don't seem to wake me up when it happens, they do wake me up at other random times in the night, but I've never been witness to blood-drawing contact)

Dressed as twins, just for fun

Parents of twins talk about a time when you get payback - when they are more interested in each other than anything else and don't really care if their parents are around. Well, we're there - Matthew and Renee can spend 30-45 minutes alone together, playing, talking, laughing, singing, wreaking havoc.

Mathew loves to sing and dance. He's a super flirt. He can get very angry at times, like when one of his siblings takes a toy and he shakes his fists and his whole body.

Renee is reserved and appears to be skeptical of people until she gets to know them. She's the leader at daycare. She's showing signs of being ready for toilet training.

They both talk and have a bunch of words in Spanish and English, and a Hebrew one thrown in for good measure (Renee in particular likes to repeat words from Friday night blessings). They also have their own language which sounds like Ewoks from StarWars and they use little hand gestures with each other and laugh hysterically.

Sometimes they sleep well, but generally they don't. We're still nursing.

That's it for tonight. I need some rest before they get up.