Another B-day, Another Engagement

In October's blog post; "Pooh makes friends with a Cat" I announced that Alex my friend and I, decided that if our Colombianito was a boy he was to be automatically engaged to her Colombianita (the girl that they are also expecting from Colombia).  We’re going old style… parents choose who you  marry and you learn to love him/her after marriage.  Freedom?  Nah… that was only applicable to our generation.  Things change, you know?  :) 

However,  planning our child’s future love life doesn’t end there.  The statement above begs the question:  And what if  Tavo and I get a girl? That’s when Tavo starts to get all worried… you can almost see the sweat going down his forehead.  So to ease his pain,  I decided she’ll marry her little cousin: Jose “chiquitin”.  (Or, Jose the very small one.  – I know it doesn’t sound very cute in English but in Spanish is a very loving word… seriously).

The way I see it, there are many benefits to this union.   Jose “chiquitin”  already lives here in Calgary- so no relocation expenses.  He is also a cousin and in Colombia we have this say : “Entre primo y primo mas me arrimo” , which means that for whatever reason, in our country, cousins end up dating at some point in time.  So in a way is kinda of extending our Colombian heritage,  without possible genetic issues involved!  Bonus! 

Additionally, he’s the cutest 3 year old boy I know,  he’s already bilingual (he sais; train, apple, plane and many other important words in both languages! Pretty impressive uh?) and he already has a good relationship with the in-laws (read Tavo, Duna and me… ha ha – No relationship with Milu because she keeps hiding under the bed… but I guess that’s ok cause she does that with anybody under 10).

So there! All I need is to get  his parents’,  Jose & Carmen, approval for the future wedding and we’re all set!  

Introducing... our future son-in-law:  

Well…  since he’s the groom-to-be, and we’re proactively networking with our Colombianito(a)’s future acquaintances,  we celebrated Jose “chiquitin’s” b-day this past Sunday.  

There were gifts (see truck above) and Carmen prepared “ajiaco” which is a Colombian soup and Tavo’s favorite food EVER!  He actually had 2 and ½ bowls of soup, salad and rise.  And then, he had a great smile in his face for the rest of the afternoon.   I must say… it was kind of embarrassing, :)  It also highlighted my lack of skill at cooking (again).  My poor husband never gets to eat that well! oopsy! Anyway… digressing as usual. 

Going back to the main event, Jose "chiquitin" became 3 this year... which is amazing considering the fact that he was only 10 months old when he got to Calgary. But anyway... I thought you might enjoy some interesting things about him:  

1. He likes lying in Duna's bed.  Of course he gets up and he's full of dog hair! I don't think Carmen enjoys that as much as he does though. 

2. He loooves grapes, dinosaurs and trains.  

3. First word I hear him say: Wow!!    

4. He used to have an addiction to fruit juices. He would drink and drink and then... he wasn't hungry anymore. (No wonder!)

5. First complete sentence I ever heard him say was: Duna No!  (which I don't really know if qualify as a full sentence, but it is definitely a bilingual one). 

This is him being already loved by all the ladies... what a ladies man! 

I'll end with a story. You see... I wasn't born with what you would call a "natural maternal instinct". I don't remember playing with the baby dolls (like I was the mommy situation)... instead, I used to build castles with cassette cases or had barbies which I dressed up.  On top of that, I  never interacted much with kids mainly because I didn't exactly know what to do around kids.   

That's until my uncle and his family moved to Calgary.  So one day they decided it was time for our first baby sitting experience. Jose & Carmen were going out somewhere and Tavo & I were to take care of the kids.  I was totally OK with that... until my dear husband's boss decided to send him in a one day trip, that very exact, same day (to this very day I still wonder about that "coincidence").  Anyhow... you guessed right... I went into total OMG - panic mode.  Three kids: A 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old... all at the same time... ALL BY MYSELF! Nooooooo!!!!!  :)

Tavo proceeded to laugh about the "coincidence" (hummm) and then he game me some great advise: Use the TV as a hypnotic devise.  So we devised a plan build around pizza & movies to keep the kids occupied.  I have to say I was mainly worried about the middle child who's really, really, really active... but... to my surprise everything went ok.  (Ufff!)  I thought I was a total hit until the oldest child... Ana Maria, who I've introduced in a previous blog,  told everybody else (in a big sister voice): "Remember... you have to behave... my mommy said Luz doesn't have any experience with kids so we all have to be good"... I guess I was getting some outside help uh?

Anyway... as a result of that night I discovered a common interest with Jose "chiquitin" : Dancing.  I got him on top of the kitchen table and we went from Merenge to Salsa and other types of latin rhythms.  How about that?  Pizza & Movies was also a success. The only issue was next day when the parents came to pick up the kids and a comment was made about Jose's diaper being "kinda" of backwards.  Ooopss... a little slip in a perfect evening.  

Until next post,

Luz J.