Funny Boy

One morning Tavo put on his sister's dress, all by himself. He had a mischievious smile while he did it, and we thought it was pretty funny too.

Magdalena's First Swim

It is finally warm enough in the pool at our bunglalows to swim. Magdalena enjoys being in the pool, just as she has always loved taking baths. Isn't she adorable?

We know who Tavo would vote for. . .

We pass by this billboard for the Green Party almost every day. Each time Tavo points at the toucan and now he even says "can." His language explosion started about a week ago, with a lot of his words having something to do with food or animals. Some of the new ones are: libro (sounds more like bobo), rana, pato, mano, mango, juevo, jamon, silla (book, frog, duck, hand, mango, egg, ham, chair). He also points out and says arbol (tree) and globo (balloon). He always says "ball" in English, also "night night", "mouth" "nose" and "eye." It's a lot of fun for us, but sometimes difficult to decipher what he is saying ("peya" for piedra/rock).

Magdalena's First Serenade

While eating at one of our favorite restaurants (El Jardin, excellent vegetarian food), a musician popped in. Magdalena was so excited to hear him singing and playing the guitar that she was bopping up and down and smiling. He appreciated her enthusiasm and cuteness and sang directly to her, a song about "la preciosa."

Parque Solidaridad

We spent one Sunday morning at Parque Solidaridad. It's a nice park, that has a mural, several ponds with ducks and lots of playground areas. The highlight of the outing was watching a boys soccer game, with very animated parents. (22 March 2009)

Happy Birthday Nino!

We celebrated Nino's birthday with our friends, Margarita, Neza and Roberto, who brought a guayaba cheese cake for the occasion (which Nino says is the best cake he's ever had!) Nino was also treated to live music by Ninito and Roberto.

Ex-Hacienda de Cortes

We celebrated the morning of Nino's birthday by visiting the ex-hacienda de Cortes. It was established in the early 16th century, one of the first industrial haciendas in Mexico. It is now a hotel with beautiful gardens and a restaurant. We enjoyed a brunch buffet and the musician sang "las mananitas" to Nino.

Brotherly & Sisterly Love

Tavo and Magdalena can be so sweet together. But there are times that he wops her on the head and she pulls his hair. It is really, really cute when they laugh together.

Magdalena and Frida

Magdalena is experiencing a lot of art and culture in this trip!

Ex-Hacienda de Chautla

Near Puelba, we visited the gorgeous ex-hacienda of Chautla,built in 1887 and used a as place to make pulque for many years. Today it is a famous back drop for movies and telenovelas and has a museum, fishing and camping facilities, and a restaurant in the castle.

With Grandparents in Puebla

Tavo and Magdalena are very lucky, they got to visit a new city with grandparents from both sides of the family. Here is a shot with the McDonalds in the zocolo in Puebla and Magdalena with her grandfather Ricardo in Restaurant Fonda St. Clara (which has very tasty food, by the way!)

Acuna Family Reunion

On March 7th, we attended the Acuna family reunion in Mexico City. It was amazing to meet four generations of Acunas, here is Nino with his great Aunt Irma (from the first generation). Ninito was busy the whole day running around with all his cousins (pictured here with Aunt Margot and cousin Manuel, born 3 days before Ninito). Magdalena was the youngest Acuna in attendance, and impressed everyone with her calmness while being passed around from person to person (Here is she being entertained by cousin Maria Jose).

Tavo at almost 22 months

Our little boy is getting closer to two, hard to believe. He loves books and we are building up quite a collection of books in Spanish about animals. He also likes to play with little plastic animals. Here he is with one of his favorite books and also a shot of him and Roberto (he is holding a plastic mango, he also likes to play with pretend food). (3 Mar 2009)

Magdalena Turns 6 months

Here is our 6 month old girl petting bunnies at Parque Chapultepec. She really enjoys animals just like her brother. She gets excited and kicks her feet. She is a very grabby girl and fast. One day in the market, a woman came up to me and told me that Magdalena had just touched some really hot chilies. I cleaned her hands but she had already put them in her mouth and cried like crazy. (Mar 2 2009)

Founding of San Anton Celebration

The neighborhood we live in (previously the village of San Anton) had some festivities celebrating the anniversary of its founding. Neza, Margarita, Nino, the kids and I walked down the street to the festivities. Tavo and Roberto enjoyed running around with the neighborhood kids and, at the very end, tiredly danced with chinelos. Chinelos are the costumes used in this region in Mexico for various celebrations.

Magdalena Sitting Pretty

Magdalena started sitting (and falling over) around 5 ½ months. By 6 ½ months, she perfected it. (pictures from 28 Feb 2009)

Nino at School

Here’s a few school photos of Ninito and Roberto, and one with their teacher Ana. Every Friday, they paint their faces. Magdalena gets a kick out of seeing her brother as an animal each week.

La Iglesia de los Reyes Magos

This is a unique combination: a 16th century colonial church and a modern MS Escher-style wall around its perimeter (by British sculptor John Spencer). The two actually fit together well aesthetically. The dips in the walls also make it quite practical, as a sitting spot and play area for kids.

Magdalena & Zapata

Here is Magdalena with Emiliano Zapata, from Diego Riveria’s murals in Cortes’ Palace.

Mmm, Paletas

Ninito and Magdalena both like paletas, here they are enjoying a lime popsicle.

Teopanzolco

We visited an archeological site within Cuernavaca itself, called Teopanzolco. It consists of several ruins of pyramids from the post-Classic period (1250-1521). Tavo and Magdalena are going to so many cool places that they’ll never remember. . .

Jardin Borda

Right across the bridge from where we live is Jardin Borda. Originally built in the 1700’s as an opulent home and garden, it is now an oasis in the middle of a congested traffic area. The entrance area has rotating exhibits of art and a museum and the grounds have fountains, a variety of species of trees from all over the world and a pond with ducks. Of course the latter was what Tavo was most excited about. Tavo and Magdalena were looking so cute in their Nepalese clothes on this day (Feb 19, 2009)