At last success! I've captured Rowan saying some of his words and signing too. I'll have you know that it took all day yesterday and lots of video editing to come up with this. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The Stroller Story
Rowan and I walk everyday around Laguna del Náinari near our apartment. We go along with two friends we know from CIMMYT. I took along some old bread to feed the ducks at the end of our walk one day and after we had made our loop I started down the hill to do so. As soon as I took a step down the hill I noticed that it was muddy, but we have a really nice stroller that can handle it and I had on my running shoes.
Pause...We have a Kelty Speedster Swivel Deluxe that was kindly given to me as a birthday present last year by Esten's parents. I wish it had an odometer so I could tell you how many miles we've ran/walked. If you've been reading this blog for a long time then you may remember a picture of Ro in the stroller from long ago.
Continuing, I was going down at an angle and moving very slow so that I didn't slip. One of the ladies that was with us came down the hill too (she had her son in our moby wrap tied onto her) and she slipped in the mud probably because of her flip-flops. Two ladies walking on the trail came down the hill to help her up and they both slipped. All the while, Rowan and I are standing still on the hill watching this happen.
Man to the rescue right? Wrong! A man, with good intent, came down the hill and he had the worst fall of all. He slipped and grabbed the hood of Ro's stroller to try and stop himself. Instead of him stopping, he flipped the stroller over and over and over. Rowan was rolling side over side down the hill in his stroller. I was holding the handle and I immediately starting pulling back on the stroller trying to get it back up and prevent him from going into the water. I was dragged down the hill too, on my knees. I was pushing the man off of the stroller while this was happening and after he finally let go, I flipped Rowan over and pushed him back up the hill as fast as I could, without slipping might I add. He was crying and I was worried that he was going to have a broken bone since that huge man was on top of him. I took him out and walked down the hill to feed the ducks(distraction from the chaos), the tears subsided and my heart rate slowed. I made him move all of his limbs and put him down to walk, he was fine. I was covered in mud, as was the stroller, and blood was running down my legs and off of my hand.
I'm so grateful that Rowan was in a good stroller with a five-point harness and the sturdy metal frame that probably kept the man's weight from being directly on him.
If at any time you find yourself slipping down a hill and see a baby stroller that might stop the fall, may I advise you to just fall?
Pause...We have a Kelty Speedster Swivel Deluxe that was kindly given to me as a birthday present last year by Esten's parents. I wish it had an odometer so I could tell you how many miles we've ran/walked. If you've been reading this blog for a long time then you may remember a picture of Ro in the stroller from long ago.
Continuing, I was going down at an angle and moving very slow so that I didn't slip. One of the ladies that was with us came down the hill too (she had her son in our moby wrap tied onto her) and she slipped in the mud probably because of her flip-flops. Two ladies walking on the trail came down the hill to help her up and they both slipped. All the while, Rowan and I are standing still on the hill watching this happen.
Man to the rescue right? Wrong! A man, with good intent, came down the hill and he had the worst fall of all. He slipped and grabbed the hood of Ro's stroller to try and stop himself. Instead of him stopping, he flipped the stroller over and over and over. Rowan was rolling side over side down the hill in his stroller. I was holding the handle and I immediately starting pulling back on the stroller trying to get it back up and prevent him from going into the water. I was dragged down the hill too, on my knees. I was pushing the man off of the stroller while this was happening and after he finally let go, I flipped Rowan over and pushed him back up the hill as fast as I could, without slipping might I add. He was crying and I was worried that he was going to have a broken bone since that huge man was on top of him. I took him out and walked down the hill to feed the ducks(distraction from the chaos), the tears subsided and my heart rate slowed. I made him move all of his limbs and put him down to walk, he was fine. I was covered in mud, as was the stroller, and blood was running down my legs and off of my hand.
I'm so grateful that Rowan was in a good stroller with a five-point harness and the sturdy metal frame that probably kept the man's weight from being directly on him.
If at any time you find yourself slipping down a hill and see a baby stroller that might stop the fall, may I advise you to just fall?
Friday, March 26, 2010
Toddlerhood
Our once tiny baby is a toddler. Developmentally, he has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. Many of the toys that he had no interest in when I packed them in December are mastered now. Blocks, check. He stacks them and then releases a high-pitched scream as he knocks them over. Sorting shapes, check. Puzzles, check. Books, check. Finger painting, see pictures below. He painted, said "Agua," and then proceded to lap the paint off the paper. We have some work to do on painting.
Running, check plus! He can boogie. He was trying to catch this bear of a dog named Toby. He's an Old English Shepherd that belongs to a co-worker of Esten's.
We were at a party honoring Dr. Borlaug and Rowan didn't leave Toby's side, except to eat and watch the mariachis. Someone at the party snapped a photo of Rowan on all fours, next to Toby. I wish we had the picture. He loves dogs, just like his Mom and Dad!
Climbing, see photo :)
He is mastering the skill of napping once a day. He's not what you would call a nice baby come bedtime but refuses to take more than one nap a day.
He speaks gibberish most of the time but he can say, agua, bus, this, night-night, Mama, Dada, bath, Ava, Rowa(no N is his pronunciation) and probably others I'm forgetting clearly. He also signs please, more, all done and as of last night is dabbling in signing thank you. And nevertheless he can get his point across by taking you by the hand and putting your fingers on exactly what it is that he wants. No communication problems here!
Yesterday we took a Sunday drive to a little village about an hour from here called Alamos. It was quaint. That's all I can say about it.
It's Semana Santa here. I don't think the Easter Bunny comes to Obregón or Mexico for that matter. The plethora of pastel, plastic eggs, baskets and stuffed rabbits are not to be found here. If I get really crafty I might dye hard-boiled eggs and hide them for Rowan on the beach in San Carlos. We'll see. People will think we're crazy.
Running, check plus! He can boogie. He was trying to catch this bear of a dog named Toby. He's an Old English Shepherd that belongs to a co-worker of Esten's.
We were at a party honoring Dr. Borlaug and Rowan didn't leave Toby's side, except to eat and watch the mariachis. Someone at the party snapped a photo of Rowan on all fours, next to Toby. I wish we had the picture. He loves dogs, just like his Mom and Dad!
Climbing, see photo :)
He is mastering the skill of napping once a day. He's not what you would call a nice baby come bedtime but refuses to take more than one nap a day.
He speaks gibberish most of the time but he can say, agua, bus, this, night-night, Mama, Dada, bath, Ava, Rowa(no N is his pronunciation) and probably others I'm forgetting clearly. He also signs please, more, all done and as of last night is dabbling in signing thank you. And nevertheless he can get his point across by taking you by the hand and putting your fingers on exactly what it is that he wants. No communication problems here!
Yesterday we took a Sunday drive to a little village about an hour from here called Alamos. It was quaint. That's all I can say about it.
It's Semana Santa here. I don't think the Easter Bunny comes to Obregón or Mexico for that matter. The plethora of pastel, plastic eggs, baskets and stuffed rabbits are not to be found here. If I get really crafty I might dye hard-boiled eggs and hide them for Rowan on the beach in San Carlos. We'll see. People will think we're crazy.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Cumpleaños de Shannon en San Carlos
Living in Ciudad Obregon does have some advantages over the interior of Mexico, one being that the ocean is located only a short drive away. For Shannon's big 30th we decided to head to San Carlos, a beach community about an hour and a half north of Obregon. We were planning on leaving Saturday but got sidetracked taking Rowan to the little animal safari near the Laguna by our apartment. I say little, but this thing has a lion, huge black bear, and a number of other large predators who's living conditions would have PETA up in arms if this place were in the states. Rowan loves animals though, and was of course naive to their poor habitations, so we let him enjoy himself. So being that you really don't want to drive to an unfamiliar place in Mexico in the dark, we decided to leave early Sunday morning. Monday was a Mexican holiday for former president Benito Juárez, so I had the day off.
Having received mixed reviews about San Carlos from my co-workers, we really didn't know what to expect. I booked a cheap hotel on-line, as it was really rather difficult to find an expensive one, packed up three six packs of Pacifico beer, some fruit and snacks and set out. The drive was easy, as most of the time we take the cuota (toll-way) as oppose to the libre (free-way) and these roads are generally very good, better than Louisianna for example. Apparently we must have gone to a different San Carlos than some of my more negative co-workers, because this place was beautiful. The water was clear and the view was excellent. Mexican beaches, like the rest of the country are often mountainous, which gives them a different feel than in the states. In addition, the humid and sticky feeling was missing, I'm guessing because this area of northwest Mexico is mostly dry and desert. We arrived before check-in so we spent some time in the sand followed by some excellent fish tacos and shrimp stuffed avocados for lunch. This is Rowan fourth trip to a beach. He's been to Padre Island, Galveston, and Mazatlan as well. He loves the water, but I'd say it is a love-hate relationship between him and the sand. He hates for his hands to be dirty, so he's not much for building sandcastles at this point, but he loves to run into the tide. He'll also pick up the occasional shell, making sure to use his finger tips and get as little sand as possible on his hands. Nonetheless, he had a great time, we did as well. Our $70 hotel (San Carlos Plaza and Resort) could have easily been $170 in a more touristy local, beers were only $280 pesos (or about $2.30 US) and food was extremely cheap and very good.
Having received mixed reviews about San Carlos from my co-workers, we really didn't know what to expect. I booked a cheap hotel on-line, as it was really rather difficult to find an expensive one, packed up three six packs of Pacifico beer, some fruit and snacks and set out. The drive was easy, as most of the time we take the cuota (toll-way) as oppose to the libre (free-way) and these roads are generally very good, better than Louisianna for example. Apparently we must have gone to a different San Carlos than some of my more negative co-workers, because this place was beautiful. The water was clear and the view was excellent. Mexican beaches, like the rest of the country are often mountainous, which gives them a different feel than in the states. In addition, the humid and sticky feeling was missing, I'm guessing because this area of northwest Mexico is mostly dry and desert. We arrived before check-in so we spent some time in the sand followed by some excellent fish tacos and shrimp stuffed avocados for lunch. This is Rowan fourth trip to a beach. He's been to Padre Island, Galveston, and Mazatlan as well. He loves the water, but I'd say it is a love-hate relationship between him and the sand. He hates for his hands to be dirty, so he's not much for building sandcastles at this point, but he loves to run into the tide. He'll also pick up the occasional shell, making sure to use his finger tips and get as little sand as possible on his hands. Nonetheless, he had a great time, we did as well. Our $70 hotel (San Carlos Plaza and Resort) could have easily been $170 in a more touristy local, beers were only $280 pesos (or about $2.30 US) and food was extremely cheap and very good.
Rowan running in the sand and me trying to finish as much Pacifico as possible. Shannon said I would come home with a 12-pack of my 18 left. I came home with 11.
There is a story behind the hat, it finally fits him now.
No worries, we rubbed him down good with sunscreen and he had a shirt on most of the day.
He only got in to about knee deep, no tumbles into the ocean water. The kid pool, that is a different story.
Dunes and some mountains in the background.
A little Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See before Rowan called it a night. He partied pretty hard up until around 7pm.
All in all a very good time and we will definitely be planning a return trip, or trips when possible. As part of my birthday present to Shannon, she wanted me to write a blog, so, feliz cumpleaños mi amor!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
La Purificación to Obregón
Well it happened. After nearly 3 months we received our shipment from the United States. Apart from a few broken glasses and banged up furniture it arrived unscathed. Our new gardener, Hector, helped Esten unload things from the huge trailer into a borrowed CIMMYT truck and then unload them again at our house.
Our street was too narrow and the power lines too low for the truck to make it to our house.
Esten, Rowan and I unpacked most everything as quickly as possible, packed up some different toys and clothes and headed north for our "two-month vacation" to Obregón.
While Esten and Hector were working hard, I took a few pictures of plants in our yard.
Some apples are blooming.
Some are small and tasty.
And the avocados are bountiful. We’ll likely miss some of them but there are plenty more on the way.
We left for Obregón last Saturday and let’s just say, Ro and I are flying home. We live just east of D.F. (Mexico City) and had to drive through that unorganized, over populated city (you can only drive your car certain days according to your license plate number because there are simply too many cars) to be on our way. We had a GPS system that works really well, minus the times when it told us to turn left into a field or onto an unpaved road, but still managed to miss ONE turn. That one missed turn cost us three hours of two lane, slow, windy, steep, tiny village, mountain driving. I was pretty sure we would never get to Guadalajara. That was our first stop. We made it, barely, but later than expected. We couldn’t find a hotel for over an hour but while stopped at a red light, low and behold a cop pulled up beside us. We asked him where to go and he told us to pull over ahead and we did. He asked if we were looking for a particular hotel but we told him any nice hotel would do. He must have saw our diplomatic plates because he kindly weaved us through centro (downtown) Guadalajara and led us to Hotel Moreles. We passed the valet parking, but no problem, he held up the traffic while we backed up and pulled in. The hotel was very nice and we were so tired that we ordered room service and passed out. The next morning we grabbed breakfast at Chai, a hip bistro and hit the road. Day two goal: Mazatlán.
Oh bless you day two, long, straight, toll road the whole way. We arrived and downgraded our hotel (mistake) but enjoyed ourselves anyway. We took Ro down to the beach and at first sight he was frightened by the waves, but after we played run away from the waves he warmed up.
We walked on the seawall and watched the sunset that night and packed up and left for day three early the next morning.
Day three was uneventful also and after paying at least $200 from D.F. to Obregón, we arrived.
Obregón is a newer city and is much more like the US compared to Texcoco. It's easy to navigate, restaurants are abundant (hot wings, sushi, tacos, Spanish, etc...), and get this, people stop at red lights. We’ve been here a week and it’s been rough. Let’s see: Ro's first head bang resulting in blood, no hot water in the kitchen (good thing about the restaurants), and a rollover stroller accident. Rowan was in his caddy of a stroller so he was fine. I almost boxed a 200 lb man, came up with muddy shins, shoes, hands, and clothes, bloody knuckles and knees. It’s a long story and we're getting ready to leave for San Carlos for my birthday so it’ll have to wait. Things can only get better from here.
And I'll leave you with Rowan getting busted unrolling the toilet paper.
Our street was too narrow and the power lines too low for the truck to make it to our house.
Esten, Rowan and I unpacked most everything as quickly as possible, packed up some different toys and clothes and headed north for our "two-month vacation" to Obregón.
While Esten and Hector were working hard, I took a few pictures of plants in our yard.
Some apples are blooming.
Some are small and tasty.
And the avocados are bountiful. We’ll likely miss some of them but there are plenty more on the way.
We left for Obregón last Saturday and let’s just say, Ro and I are flying home. We live just east of D.F. (Mexico City) and had to drive through that unorganized, over populated city (you can only drive your car certain days according to your license plate number because there are simply too many cars) to be on our way. We had a GPS system that works really well, minus the times when it told us to turn left into a field or onto an unpaved road, but still managed to miss ONE turn. That one missed turn cost us three hours of two lane, slow, windy, steep, tiny village, mountain driving. I was pretty sure we would never get to Guadalajara. That was our first stop. We made it, barely, but later than expected. We couldn’t find a hotel for over an hour but while stopped at a red light, low and behold a cop pulled up beside us. We asked him where to go and he told us to pull over ahead and we did. He asked if we were looking for a particular hotel but we told him any nice hotel would do. He must have saw our diplomatic plates because he kindly weaved us through centro (downtown) Guadalajara and led us to Hotel Moreles. We passed the valet parking, but no problem, he held up the traffic while we backed up and pulled in. The hotel was very nice and we were so tired that we ordered room service and passed out. The next morning we grabbed breakfast at Chai, a hip bistro and hit the road. Day two goal: Mazatlán.
Oh bless you day two, long, straight, toll road the whole way. We arrived and downgraded our hotel (mistake) but enjoyed ourselves anyway. We took Ro down to the beach and at first sight he was frightened by the waves, but after we played run away from the waves he warmed up.
We walked on the seawall and watched the sunset that night and packed up and left for day three early the next morning.
Day three was uneventful also and after paying at least $200 from D.F. to Obregón, we arrived.
Obregón is a newer city and is much more like the US compared to Texcoco. It's easy to navigate, restaurants are abundant (hot wings, sushi, tacos, Spanish, etc...), and get this, people stop at red lights. We’ve been here a week and it’s been rough. Let’s see: Ro's first head bang resulting in blood, no hot water in the kitchen (good thing about the restaurants), and a rollover stroller accident. Rowan was in his caddy of a stroller so he was fine. I almost boxed a 200 lb man, came up with muddy shins, shoes, hands, and clothes, bloody knuckles and knees. It’s a long story and we're getting ready to leave for San Carlos for my birthday so it’ll have to wait. Things can only get better from here.
And I'll leave you with Rowan getting busted unrolling the toilet paper.
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