Celebrating 34

Today is my 34th birthday and overall it was a great day. I received lots of wonderful birthday wishes, had a great meal and was serenaded by various friends and family. I would say that 34 feels a lot like 33, but this birthday actually felt a lot like my 31st birthday (the summer Mateo was born).

Mateo, Mommy and Lucia pose for a picture while eating a birthday cupcake

Mommy and Lucia in matching white Ts

Mateo and Papi sing the "Happy Birthday" song before Mateo and I blow out my candles

Snoozing and Calling

Today was a pretty laid back day, so the 2 little ones tried to occupy their time by finding things to do inside.

Lucia decided to try sleeping on top of Mommy's chest

Mateo made harassing phone calls to Aba and Abu

Later, Lucia tried to mix up her routine by opting to sleep in her swing...rough life

Mother of 2

I am rarely in front of the camera, but Papi caught us all hanging out on the love seat. Mateo was trying to tell me that Lucia was crying because she wanted to be left alone on the little sofa. I was telling him she probably wanted to eat. First we tried his solution and when she kept crying he told me to feed her.

Mateo, Mommy and Lucia pause for a photo

Visit with Abu and Aba

So there are some people who are scared, terrified even, to hold new newborns. Mateo and Lucia's grandfather Abu is one of those people, but today he decided to face his fears because he couldn't stand not being able to hold her close. I think he did a great job.

Abu and Lucia share a moment

Not to be upstaged, Aba and Mateo join in

Thumbsucker

One of Lucia's favorite things to do on tummy time is sleep (she takes after Papi) and I caught this picture of her soothing herself to sleep by sucking on her thumb. We are going to try as long as we can to not give her a pacifier because it was a beast to get Mateo to give it up, but if she actually becomes a thumbsucker that will be 10 times harder to give up.

Zzzzzzzzzz......

Big Brother - Little Sister

At last, we captured a decent picture of Mateo with "baby sister", Lucia. He requested several times to hold her and we agreed, but the deal was he had to sit still for a photo. As you can see all parties honored the agreement.

Mateo needed a little help managing the wiggle worm - as you can see from the extra hands in the photo

Alex's 8th Birthday

Today was Mateo and Lucia's cousin, Alex's birthday. Unfortunately Lucia is still to little and tender to attend a birthday party filled with lots of children and germs, so she and I stayed home and Mateo and Papi went to the celebration. I was told it was a blast and he was knocked out when he got home so I guess that is a good indication.

Clockwise starting from the left - Antonio, Ashley, Isabel, Alex, Mateo and Ayden. Note all are sporting cheesy smiles except for the rebel Mateo

Best Buds - 3-year old cousins, Mateo and Ayden hung out the whole day

Lucia is Slinging It

So today's weather was hot, rainy and miserable. With that in mind, I tried to figure out a new method to transport Lucia and Mateo around town without having to take 2 strollers or subjecting Mateo to have to stand on his wheelboard (leaving him uncovered in the case of rain). I didn't want to have to dig up the Baby Bjorn, so I attempted to use the Hot Sling which was a disaster with Mateo when he was a newborn.

As you can see this bundle of sleepiness took to the Hot Sling very well

Mateo took a peek inside the sling to make sure "baby sister" was not crying

Lucia sound asleep and comfy

This was the result when we tried to use this with Mateo 3 years ago

Vielot Gonzalez Dinner with Grandparents

Tonight the whole family went out to dinner at a local restaurant favorite and were accompanied by 3 out of 4 of the kids' grandparents. The meal and conversation were great.

L to R: Papa FoFo, Abu, Aba, Papi, Mateo, Lucia and Mommy

Lucia Meets Papa FoFo

Today Papa FoFo (aka my dad) flew in to meet his newest grandchild Lucia and to catch up with grandson, Mateo. Let's just say he was smitten from the first glance.

Papa FoFo and Lucia sharing a moment

Mateo sits still long enough to pose with Papa FoFo

Shortly after arriving Mateo and Eddie dragged Papa FoFo to an outdoor kids concert. Mateo's favorite band, Polka Dot was playing

Leaving on A Jet Plane...

So after four great (but short) weeks, my mom aka Grandma left to go back home to Miami today. I must say I was not looking forward to it and we were all very sad to see her go. Mateo and Eddie took her to the airport while I stayed home with Lucia. From what I hear, Mateo was incredibly upset when she said her goodbyes at the airport and I can't say I was any different after they left for the airport. It is times like these when I wish we lived closer. I am truly thankful for everything she did for us over the past month. It wasn't just the 50 loads of laundry, the cleaning, the cooking and the caring for Mateo and Lucia, it was also the support and help she provided whether it was planning Mateo's birthday party or holding my hand and head during my labor and delivery of Lucia. While she of course was excited to see her grandson and be there for the birth of her granddaughter she never forgot about me and gave me the consideration, comfort, love and support that only a mother could provide.

Thanks mom, we miss you!

After Grandma left, the family went for a stroll to watch Mateo at soccer and then later at swimming class

Finishing Touches

Today was spent balancing out Mateo and Lucia's room. Although Mateo's first room started out neutral, over the past three years it has clearly taken a turn towards a more boyish feel. Now that the room will be shared with his baby sister, we (especially Grandma) felt that in order to balance the boy side we needed to add a girl side. I was against anything too girly, but I really liked the geometric and fun design of both the wall art and the crib bedding (despite the fact that pink was included) . We needed to get it done today because Grandma is leaving tomorrow morning and my fear is once she leaves nothing will be finished.

Lucia's wall and new crib bedding

Mateo and Lucia pose (almost similarly) with Grandma just before bedtime

Week 2 - Doctor's Visit

Today Lucia went to the doctor again to get checked out. We are happy to report that she has blown past her birth weight and is now a hardy 7lbs 4oz. She does have a healthy appetite, so any worries I may have had about her not getting enough have been squashed.

Lucia sporting a super cute outfit given to her by Ant, Tara and Aiden

Prrrrrr!

So we are now in the second week of Lucia's life and we thought it would be great to start it out with pizzaz care of an outfit from California Maddie. I like to think of it as part newborn part cougar.

Tummy Time

Today Lucia started her official tummy time. I say official because it is not technically the first time she has been on her tummy, but it is the first time we put her on the mat and watched the clock. It wasn't too bad, but it is definitely not her favorite thing to do.

Lucia trying with all her might to lift her head

Pooped after 5 minutes - she decides to take a mini-nap

Mateo & Lucia Receive More Visitors

Today was a busy day filled with lots of visitors of all ages.

Ant, Tara and Aiden (who is now over 1 month old) came to visit with Lucia

Tia Raqui and Tio Jon came to visit and play with Mateo later in the evening

Grandma and Lucia were pooped after all of the visits and fell asleep together on the sofa

Tia Audris Visits

Today Auntie Audris came to visit all the way from the island of Manhattan. She was happy (and comfortable with) holding Lucia, catching up with mommy, and eating Japanese food.

Sleep

So Lucia has proven one thing - she knows how to sleep (at least in the day time). I think she is much more of a sleeper than her big brother was when he was a newborn. I find it very difficult to get a picture of her with her eyes open.

Sleeping in the swing

On Papi's lap - profile

Mid - yawn - will she wake up?

No. Papi blocking Lucia from the paparazzi

And back to sleeping

Lucia - 4 days old

Today we took Lucia to the pediatrician where she got her Hep B shot (not so happy) and weight reading (happy). When she was born she was 6lb-14oz, when we left the hospital she was 6lb-8oz and at today's appointment she weighed in at a healthy 6lb-11oz...way to go!

Funny face - Lucia back in the car seat and on her way to the doctor's office

Lucia (in a pretty dress from Grandma) posing with Grandma (looking like a Caribbean Queen) in front of a Cuban painting

Homeward Bound

Lucia and I get to go home today. All our bags are packed and we are ready to get back to Papi and Mateo. After getting her ready and putting her in the car seat, I started to remember what it was like when we brought Mateo home. Since she is using a lot of his old stuff and because there is a strong resemblance between the two of them, it makes the memories of the first time so much clearer.

Lucia was very grumpy in the car seat - she was not a fan. This was the first time we heard her sob and scream with such passion

Lucia hanging out on Mommy's shoulder bares a strong resemblance to big brother Mateo as a newborn

Mateo with Grandma at about the same age

Father and daughter share their favorite past time - sleeping on the couch

Lucia - Receiving Visitors on Day 2

Lucia's first night was pretty uneventful. After cleaning her up the nurses brought Lucia to me so I could feed her and bond with her in my room. It was a peaceful and precious experience because it was just the two of us getting to know one another. I don't think I slept much because I spent most of the time just looking at her. The next day, she was lucky enough to get a lot of family visitors. Her big brother Mateo came to see her (although we haven't managed to get him to take a picture with her yet), she also got to visit with primos, tia, tio and grandparents.

Prima Mima came to the hospital to visit and brought along some beautiful Peridot earrings for Lucia to wear once her ears are pierced

Aba holding Lucia (please note that Abu, Tia Raqui and Tio Jon also came to visit, but they were all too scared to hold her because they thought they would break her)

Mateo's Padrino and primo Julio got in some bonding time with Lucia

Mommy (looking tired and puffy) cheeses it up for a pic

When the nurses brought Lucia to me after her bath she had this faux-hawk. They combed her hair down on either side and in the middle they swirled it up. In Cuba they call this style a quiquiri and it is commonly seen on cupie-dolls. I just had to document it because I thought it was cute (which grandma completely disagrees with)

3 Becomes 4 - Lucia's Here

So today the family had a life changing experience. Our family of 3 has now become a foursome. It was thrilling, anxiety-filled, frightening, and wonderful all at the same time. I started feeling contractions at 4:15AM and was in denial for about an hour. I thought, it can't be happening now, I still have errands that I need to run. I tried to go back to sleep, but they continued to come. At around 6:30 AM I resigned myself to the fact that I was in labor. We called the doctor and packed up my stuff to go to the hospital. I think Mateo could sense something was up because he woke up earlier than usual and sort of just monitored me as I was going through the contractions asking every once in a while - "Are you happy Mommy?" to which I would respond "Yes." I kissed him goodbye (he was going to stay with Grandma until his other grandparents and aunt came by to relieve her) and we were off to the hospital. After waiting a little while, I finally saw a doctor who checked me out and I wasn't very far along (3cm), there was also a very minor indication that as I had contractions the baby's heart rate would drop. I thought to myself "oh no not again" as this was the reason Mateo was born via C-section. The doctor wanted to check me in so they could continue to monitor my progress and figure out a plan. I did progress slowly, but there was some concern that progress wouldn't continue to progress quickly enough. The plan was really to be patient and luckily the baby's tracings were no longer an issue, so after getting a little something to boost my labor my body took over and I was ready to push by about 9PM. When I heard the doctor say that I was shocked...I couldn't believe I was actually going to get to do it my way. My mom held my head and Eddie took a leg and it was pushing time. As a first time pusher the doctor predicted I would be pushing for about 45 minutes to an hour, but much to everyone's amazement (especially mine) our beautiful baby girl was born at 9:18pm. Welcome to the world Lucia Vielot Gonzalez the wait was worth it!

Mommy and Mateo take a pic together before Mommy heads to the hospital to have baby sister Lucia

One last shot of me at 39 weeks 2 days

Lucia, right after birth gets weighed in at 6lbs, 14oz

Papi, looking wild-eyed, holding Lucia (please note that this time around I got to hold the baby first)

Grandma (who was in the room during labor and delivery) gets to hold her granddaughter as well.