Missing Daddy

The Quartet

We had another gathering of the fabulous four babies from our childbirth education classes. This time it was at Rea, Chuck and Jackson's place...a boat on Lake Pontchartrain! Tavo is the youngest of the group, but he is the first to scoot/almost crawl. Everyone was impressed at how athletic he is. That's our boy!

Photo 1: Ladies Man (Tavo has one hand on Evie and one on Tiba!)

Photo 2: From left to right: Evie, Jackson, Tavo, Tiba

Photo 3: Serious play time

Photo 4: Jackson eating Tavo's hand (and Tavo is not sure he likes that)

Enjoying the Fall Weather

We had a nice afternoon out in the yard with our neighbors. Tavo gets lots of attention from Benecio and Anjali, both four years old. Benecio gave Tavo the straw hat in the photo. Tavo also had some of Kamal's butternut squash soup, but probably got more on his clothes than in his mouth.

Big Boy

For the first time, Tavo sat in a high chair at a restaurant. We took Jason and Amy for breakfast at Lil' Dizzy's and decided to give it a try. Tavo enjoyed it, and mama loved being able to eat her meal peacefully.

Photos for Papi

Querido Papi

Hoy jugue mucho con mi tia Amy y mi tio Jason. Tambien fuimos caminando en la calle Royal con mi mama. Me diverti mucho todo el dia y no quise dormir.

Te mando unas de mis sonrisas bonitas.

Nino Octavio

Buenos dias Papi!

Baby Nino's father is working in California to provide support for children evacuated from their homes due to wild fires. We are missing him as much as he misses us. . .especially at 6 am, when Mama usually gets to sleep while Papi plays with the bebito. Here are some photos for daddy, taken this morning, one of Tavo playing with his toys and the second one wearing his cousin Galo's cute hat.

Pulling off Shirt Trick

It seems like every day Tavo is doing something new. Last night we were all entertained for a long time with this game you see in the video...putting the shirt on Tavo and watching him pull it off...and his laughing, which is of course the best part!

Tavo's First Bites of Food

Having reached 5 months, we decided it was time for Tavo to taste rice cereal. Actually he had been wanting to try food for weeks, always reaching for our food at the dinner table. So he was ready. When we tried he immediately grabbed the spoon in his Papi's hand and guided it to his mouth. Since then he has tried bits of aguacate and banana.

Grandparents McDonald Visit

Here are Grandpa, Grandma and Tavo in front of Jackson Square, the classic tourist photo of New Orleans. Tavo showed his grandparents how he moves around, plays with toys and laughs. Grandpa says he is "a great little guy."

Manoune's visit

Here we are with Manoune, a good friend from Mirebalais, Haiti. She came for a visit and we enjoyed showing her around New Orleans. It was her first time to eat a strawberry, first time to go to a casino and first time to go to a zoo. I was at Manoune's house every weekend in Mirebalais, and am glad that I could have the chance to have her as our guest. She loved Nino's migas and beans and also liked the bbq shrimp po-boy at Liuzza's By the Tracks so much that we went to eat there twice.

Yoda I Am

Nino Octavio has mastered sitting up (since about 2 weeks ago, I am behind in the blog). He is wearing an outfit from Oaxaca (thanks Ama, Alex and Ian). I think he looks like Yoda here, with his hands folded, his bald head and his big ears!

Too Many Kisses

Trying to Sit Up at Lake Pontchartrain

How did the baby get sand on his face? We went to Lake Pontchartrain on Friday for a picnic and Tavo discovered sand for the first time. We decided it would be a good opportunity to get a photo of Tavo sitting up for the blog, but instead the camera caught something funnier. We think the pictures tell the story.