Waiting for Baby & Hurricane Gustav

Today, August 30th is the due date for the birth of our new child. The possible arrival of Gustav along the Louisiana coast is making the wait more stressful than we ever imagined. With Gustav not yet in the Gulf and quite a bit of uncertainty as to its path, we'd rather not take the chance of evacuating and getting stuck in hours of traffic (especially since the second birth should be faster than the first). However, it sounds like there will be a mandatory evacuation called for New Orleans early Sunday, and we will leave to Baton Rouge. We have a place to stay (a friend of a friend) and recommendations, directions to hospitals and a copy of my medical records. If labor starts before then, hospitals will remain open here for emergencies. We are very excited to meet the newest member of our family, to know if it is a boy or girl and, now, to know where s/he wll be born!

Quiero mas queso

Here is a video of Ninito. Around 13 months, he started using sign language for "mas" (more) and has since added "caliente" (hot), "abajo" (down), "comer" (eat), "libro" (book) and "afuera" (outside). He also has one word for many purposes "anya", which usually means "I want" or "look at this." The latter is used very frequently when he is looking at books. He likes books about animals, plays with little plastic animals and is very excited to see the animals at the zoo. He enjoys swimming (we always take a ball) and isn't afraid of the water. Oh, the big news is that Tavo has been weaned since July 21st. He took it much easier than mama and papa expected. Perhaps he knows his little brother or sister is coming.....as you see in the video, he is now an expert at pushing a mini stroller around. Oh, one more trick: when you ask "Donde esta tu nariz? Where is your nose?", he puts his index finger IN his nose.

The Baller

Tavo is fascinated by balls and has quite a collection, as you can see. Notice his shirt says "Baller." People often comment that he throws really well and will be a pitcher one day. His favorite book is one about Elmo and his collection of balls. His 4th word (after mama, papa and bye bye) was actually "touchdown."