My Dear Dear Enzo.

If I had to describe your second year in one word, it would be ARTICULATE, in all caps. You have an astounding affinity for the spoken word and have been speaking in complete sentences for almost 6 months! At times, you talk your brother under the table. Seriously! You have been singing the alphabet since you were 19 months old and can sing more songs than your Dad and I put together. You’re favorites are “You are My Sunshine”, “Un Elephante” and “De Colores,” but you can sing many many others and can often repeat a song you heard for the first time later in the day with few mistakes. You can and will repeat ANYTHING you hear – something that gets your Dad and I in trouble occasionally. Without a doubt, the quote of the year was when the pediatrician walked into the exam room for your 2-year-old check up and you said, “Hi, Docca. Is dat yo stetscope?” She was at first speechless and then said, “How long has he been like this?”

If, however, I had a second word to describe you over the past year, it would be JOYFUL. Unless completely frustrated, you are happy, happy, happy and I can hardly find a picture where you are not smiling or laughing. You make friends with every person you meet and take great care to do kind things for the people you love. You are consummately polite, saying please and thank you without prompting and even thank your teachers after they change your diaper!

Like your brother, you have always loved the water and this year marked your first experience swimming on your own. You looked forward to swimming class every Saturday morning and adored your instructor, Anthony. Our great neighbors, Meta and Sharon have continued to be two of your biggest fans, and swimming at their house remains one of our best summer pastimes. You have been eager to climb on a Strider bike since the moment you could toddle around on 2 legs and your Dad and I cannot believe how quickly you’ve become proficient at riding. You and Diego pretend to chase each other on your bikes when we go out for walks in the neighborhood and you can’t wait to ride any chance you get.

Last winter we went up to Bear Valley with Meera – a monumental trip for you for a few reasons. First, it was your first real encounter with snow and, let me tell you, there was tons of it! A big blizzard had blown through the day before and the whole area was just digging out from the storm. We drove into “town” just as power was being restored. The snow was so deep the grown ups could hardly move! You wanted nothing and I mean NOTHING to do with the snow – wouldn’t touch it, wouldn’t play in it, wouldn’t even sled in it! We have always known that you held strong opinions about your likes and dislikes, but this trip was one of the first times you dug your heels in and wouldn’t budge no matter the coaxing and cajoling. The second reason it was a monumental trip is that you got bitten by Meera and Matt’s dog, Auggie. You have always adored animals, especially dogs, and you were at the age where you wanted to pet him relentlessly. Needless to say, he is not particularly fond of children. We were getting dressed to go out in the snow and turned our attention from you just long enough for you to corner Auggie to try and pet him. He responded by biting your arm. Oh, Meera was so upset and worried about you! More upset, I think, than even you were. I was really worried that you would become afraid of dogs after that but it didn’t slow you down in the slightest. You were still trying to befriend Auggie at the end of the weekend! To this day, you want to stop and pet every dog we see and Morena and Baxter are your favorites of all the family pets. It makes me proud and happy that one dog byte experience didn’t spoil your love for dogs.

You are a very brave and bold horseback rider as well and love it when we have the opportunity to go out to the barn. Anytime you see horses, you think of your Nana and anytime you see Nana, you find a way to bring up the horses. Nana might, in fact, be your most favorite person in the entire world – I’m not kidding. You love spending time with her and run to her, hugging her tightly around the legs whenever she comes over. You also absolutely adore your “Lolo” (your name for Abuelo) and want to visit him whenever we have a spare moment. That is not to say that you don’t love your “Lala” as well. You take great care to give her gentle hugs and kisses every time we visit. Your tias, Maria, Maritza and Griselda are also incredibly important to you and you ask to visit them often, as well.

This year marked your transition from the Phoenix School to Merryhill, a transition that was hard because you were so attached to your teachers at Phoenix. For a few days, Dad and I wondered if we’d made the right choice, then suddenly you were all about your “cwass” (class) and you have never looked back. Ms. Julia and Ms. Lee take fantastic care of you and you take care of them in return by making them coffee in the play kitchen in your classroom. The coffee making has become such a tradition that we now go to Starbucks every few months and bring coffee for all of the teachers! You are so thoughtful!

Your dearest friends are Diego (more on that later), Isaac, Jacob and Savannah. You are so sweet and gentle with Isaac and seem to know that he is so small in comparison to you. You worship the big kids and want to be doing any and everything that they do and, of course, want to be doing it as aptly as they are. Not being able to do “it“ (whatever “it” might be) yourself truly represents your greatest frustration and is really the only time you have the potential to fall apart.

I know I’ve said it in past letters to both you and Diego, but the single thing that impresses me most about you both is the depth of your bond. Your Dad and I imagined, hoped and wished that you would be great friends, but we had no idea how powerful that friendship could become so early in your lives! You and Diego are inseparable and each constantly ask for the other when you are apart. You are not always patient or kind with each other, yet every time we give you the opportunity to work out a solution, you do. You, Enzo, are often the peacekeeper and will give up something to pacify Diego even when you truly want to keep it. When you are upset, Diego will try to come up with things to do to cheer you up or redirect your sadness. You and Diego got to be the ring bearers for Heather’s wedding – your Dad and I couldn’t believe how well you did walking down the aisle together! After the wedding, you both sat on the shores of Lake Tahoe, throwing rocks in the lake and playing in the rocky sand. It was a peaceful and private memory I will never forget especially as it happened in the midst of a very public, social day.

The Wednesday Davis Farmer’s Market is your favorite outing with Dad and you speak of it all the time. Invariably, if we ask you what you want to do on any given day, it will be to go to the Farmer’s Market only you say “Fahmahs Mahket”. You can recite all kinds of facts about the Davis Farmer’s Market, what they sell, where & what you can eat, where you can dance and where you can play. Your love of Wednesday’s at the Fahmahs Mahket epitomizes your love for your Dad. You love him through and through and sneak into our bed every morning around 5am to cuddle and sleep awhile longer with him close by your side.

Our big trip of the summer was for the Beil family reunion in Lincoln City, OR. We stayed at this magnificent house that had like 5 stories and I am proud to say that everyone in the family pitched in to keep a close eye on you and you never fell down any of those flights of stairs! You and Diego really enjoyed meeting the extended family but especially adored Johan. In fact, you spent weeks after we got home asking, “whehs Johan?” at random times throughout the day. “Johan at da beach?” You’d ask. Johan has rock star status around here. It was a great treat to spend time with your Uncle Lyman and Aunt Sarah on that trip – we see too little of them! Luckily they came out to see us last Spring as well. You and Sarah quickly became close friends!

This year you really “got” what holidays are about (candy and presents, mostly) and threw yourself wholeheartedly into the Easter egg hunt at Sierra 2, collecting eggs as fast as kids nearly twice your age! Halloween was no exception, it took about 2 houses before you were chiming “twick o tweet” loudly from door to door. Enzo, you totally kept your Halloween cool and would walk right up to skeletons and monsters alike for the sake of more candy. You’ll be mad at us, I think, in the years to come when you realize that we didn’t let you eat more than a few pieces of those hard-earned treats.

Really, we have had so so much fun this year I could recount great memories for pages and pages without end. We have made the most of weekend outings to the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Exploratorium, Stinson Beach, the shoreline at Chrissy Field, Southside Park, picking strawberries at the Davis Market in Sloughouse, trips to Cloverdale to see your Tia Griselda, weekends with Tia Maria and Jollie, hanging with Tia Maritza and Elda, homemade tamales (your most favorite food) cooked with love by Abuela and so many great dinners with Nana.

This year has been filled with laughter, love and joy, thanks in part to the happiness you bring to Dad and I every day. I love you, my Enzo, with all of my heart and can’t wait to see what next year may bring!

Love,

Mama

Dear Diego,

Your fourth year has been this wild rush of transformations that leave me dizzy and bewildered and so proud of the person you are becoming. Your list of “can dos” is so long and so varied that I now have no hope of keeping track. You can ride a bike, you can swim the length of the pool at the Y, you can sled down a snowy mountain at great speed, you can recite and recognize your letters and know what sounds they make, you can get dressed on your own – even down to your shoes!, you can ride Eclipse without a lead line, you can pour your cereal and milk, you can buckle your self into your carseat, you can sing songs that I’ve never even heard, you can draw cartoons and tell stories. Sometimes I look at you and it’s like you have grown taller and increasingly mature over the course of a minute! You have become a bit more reserved with strangers and yet, when you warm up to your surroundings, you ham it up, trying to win over anyone who might not have been charmed simply by your presence. You have nearly left awkward behind, becoming quick and lithe, whether jumping off of a curb or navigating the playground. Nowhere is this more profoundly evident to me than at gymnastics where you can go from doing the splits to swinging effortlessly from the high bar then letting your self free fall into “the pit”. The smile on your face is delight mixed with a splash of awe. I cannot believe you are so brave.

Our scariest moment of the year was probably when you became sick last Fall – you had a fever that just kept rising despite giving you Tylenol then Advil then Tylenol as often as we could safely treat you. We took you to the doctor the following morning and by the time we got to the exam room your were bright red from head to toe and your fever was a whopping 105! It turns out that you had Scarlett Fever, a disease I thought kids didn’t even get anymore. Luckily you recovered quickly and it became nothing more than a short scare. Phew!

Not all of the transitions have been easy – we moved you from Buena Vista CDC, a school that you truly loved, to Merryhill after a very trying couple of months. You were not getting along with your fellow classmates and your teachers were having a hard time keeping you challenged and out of trouble. You hated the move and cried bitterly every morning for the first 10 days, as if I was leaving you in a torture chamber. Magically, by the end of the second week, you were a complete convert and you have been happy there ever since, to the point of lamenting that it is not a school day when the weekend rolls around. It turns out that the move was one of the best choices we’ve made for you. Your new teachers, Ms. Stephanie, Ms. Bouba, Ms. Blanca and Ms. Zalika embraced you immediately and have taught you so much! Two of the most vivacious children in your class, Wyatt and Jo Jo soon became your best school friends and the 3 of you, although mischievous, have been inseparable. Sadly, Jo Jo moved to Woodland just before you all started Pre-K. Luckily, we have kept in touch with her mom and she got to come to your birthday party. Now, since I mentioned Pre-K… how can it be that you, Diego, are only a year from Kindergarten! You are now in Ms. Sami and Ms. Staci’s class and expectations are getting a bit more strict. Still, they seem to genuinely enjoy your company and have recently commented that you are especially good at writing.

One of the best parts of being at Merryhill that is you get to attend these awesome music classes taught by none other than Music Matt – a living legend in these parts, and that doesn’t mean he’s old, either. He’s young and hip and kind of rockstar-ish and he comes to your school every week! He teaches you all about different instruments, teaches you new songs and about music. This summer, he’s started you on the path to reading music by teaching a “precorder” class – which reminds me of a funny story. One Music Matt day you came home and told me about the instrument of the day – the “precorder”. I corrected you, saying it was called a “recorder”. “No Mom, it’s a ‘precorder’,” you said emphatically. Then, when you got home, you told Dad about the instrument. “I think it’s a ‘recorder’,” Dad said. You totally stood your ground with both of us and we dismissed it as a cute mistake. It wasn’t until we got the literature from Music Matt about your summer class that we realized you were right! It IS a precorder. Guess we better trust you next time, huh?

We enrolled you in gymnastics both to develop you sense of discipline and to give you a little more exercise time to “get your wiggles out”. It never occurred to us that you might have some aptitude for the sport. You are so incredibly flexible and strong! Without a doubt, the biggest influence on your success has been Coach Gabe. He has been an incredible role model, has taught you discipline and pride in your accomplishments, and best of all, you love learning from him. He holds you and the other boys to a high standard and you respect him and try hard to do what he asks. Nana loves her job of taking you to gymnastics and proudly tells us of your progress each week.

I cannot forget to tell you about the impressive riding you do – both on your horse, Eclipse and on your bike. This year marked the first times you’ve ridden Eclipse on your own without a lead line. You have great posture and a natural seat but what makes me most proud is the kindness you show toward Eclipse and the other horses. You never forget to praise him after a job well done, the mark of a true horseman. Your love of animals has continued to expand beyond the horses, Baxter, Johnny and June. Another of my proud moments (and I am full of them) was at the petting zoo at the State Fair when you closely guarded your feed so that the less pushy, more shy and more skinny goats and sheep could get a chance at some treats. Baxter has slowed down quite a bit over the past year but luckily your Tia “Mitza” got her puppy, Morenita this Spring and you and she have become great pals.

We bought your trailer bike about a year ago and I have to say that one of our favorite weekend past times has been biking around town as a family. You always have a great time when we’re out biking and work hard to help Mom by pedaling your heart out. We love going out on our bikes so much that we don’t even really need a destination. Southside Park, Old Sac, Temple Coffee, any place will do as long as we are out together, pedaling along, enjoying our family time. You received your “pedal bike” for your third birthday and could ride it the very first day! I must say, I’m not sure we really believed the Strider bike hype until you proved it! Even though you could balance and pedal right away and have enjoyed your “pedal bike” throughout the year, you still love, love, LOVE your Strider bike. One of the highlights of our whole year was the Strider World Cup race at Laguna Seca in July. We had just returned from the family reunion in Oregon and we were all kind of over tired. You totally rallied for the race and dominated the 4-year old field, winning all of your heats and taking 2nd place in the finals. It was a proud day for your Dad and I without question, but for you? …just a fun day at the races.

Your love of water has not wavered and another one of our favorite summer pass times is to go swimming either at Nana’s house or at Meta and Sharon’s pool across the street. I would count Meta and Sharon as two of your biggest fans as well and some of your dearest adult friends. They love having you and Enzo over to swim and they have the best, I mean, THE BEST pool toys! We are lucky to have such fantastic neighbors. Some of the other neighbors, Laurie, Jason and Lisa, and Brian and his kids, Mikaela and Tyler are also some of your favorite folks. What an awesome neighborhood!

One afternoon you were drawing while we were driving home from school – you handed me the picture and told me it was, “Little Man with Big Hands”. You had traced both of your hands at the top of the page and then drawn arms attaching the hands to a small man figure at the bottom of the page – your first cartoon! The perspective was great – it totally looks like a little man with big, big hands. Later, Nana helped you write down the story of “Little Man with Big Hands”.

I guess what has impressed me the most about the last year is your profound connection to your brother. When your Dad and I look through all of the pictures we have taken of you both, the overwhelming theme is true brotherhood. While you and Enzo have your share of disagreements over toys, television and who gets to spend time with Mom or Dad, you have always been very loving to each other. I have never seen you turn him down if he asks you for help and you are a natural teacher when he is learning new things. You run to him when we come to pick you up after school, give him a big hug and then show him off to all of your friends. One of my biggest and strongest wishes for the two of you is that you are close and can always rely on one another. So far, my wish has come true and your friendship makes your Dad and I proud every day.

Your abuelo Gilberto was away for about a year and we welcomed him back with love and gratitude early this Spring. Since then, you and Enzo have become much closer to both your Abuelo and your Abuela. In fact, if we ask you what you want to do on a free afternoon, your answer will invariably be to go see your Abuelos. This also marked the year that you and Chito Carlos really became close. When we visited last Fall, he’d take you off on the Komoto at a moments notice, careening around the logging roads and visiting the trout farm. By far the best day of our trip to Oregon, as far as you were concerned, was wading in the creek. I have never seen you, or Chito, for that matter, laugh so hard and look so happy. Pure bliss! There are so many more wonderful people in your life that you love and that love you that I could write on and on. You met some new cousins, Johann, Ardina, Tracy and Derek, at the Beil family reunion this summer. Johann took you under his wing, playing with you and performing magic tricks for you and you loved it! You still bring him up in conversation when we talk about your cousins. Ashley, Brian and Mel also top the list of favorite people in your life. You and Ashley have a great friendship and you love our trips to Cloverdale to visit.

Jacob and Savannah are still your very very best friends and some of my best memories of the year were times we spent with them and their families. Trick-or-treating in Curtis Park was such fun! You, Jacob and Savannah were master trick-or-treaters this year and couldn’t get enough. Remember when we had our own little “screen on the green” and Dad hung a white sheet over the window and we watched Ponyo with Jacob and Savannah and their families in the front yard? The neighbors and passing cars would stop to watch for a few minutes before moving on. Of course, we can’t forget Mother’s Day out at the barn, either-you, Jacob and Savannah are the wildest cowboys and cowgirl in the west. What a team! When I make up bedtime stories at night, you still insist that the characters are named Jacob, Isaac, Savannah, Diego and Enzo whether you are super heros, race cars or fish.

I think I’ll end your letter with some of your best quotes of the year:

Just after your 3rd birthday 2010:

Mom: When we get home we’re going straight to bath, then books, then bed.

Diego (whining): But I don’t want to take a bath. I don’t want to go to sleep.

Mom: Well, it’s past your bedtime.

Diego (matter of fact): If I don’t want to, I don’t. If I want to, I…. (thinking), If I want to, I AM.

August 27, 2010

Waking up after a long nap in the car near Olympia, WA:

You look around then out the window at the lush forest surrounding the highway, rub your eyes and say, “Is this mother earth?”

January 22, 2011

In the car:

Diego: Mom, can I have a motorcycle?

Mom: When you are a grown up and have your own house, you can have a motorcycle. As long as you are in Mom and Dad’s house, you cannot.

Diego: MOM! I wasn’t going to ride it in the house…..

Diego (after 5 minutes of silence): I need to get my own house.

April 22, 2011

After your Easter party at school:

Mom: Diego, I don’t want you to eat any more candy today. I think you’ve had enough.

Diego (grabbing a chocolate bunny): Mom, chocolate is NOT candy. It’s just regular food.

And that about sums it all up, my son. I love you just as you are with all of heart, always. I can’t wait to see what next year brings!

Love,
Mom

Dear Enzo,

I don’t know how a year could have passed us by so quickly! From the moment you could smile you’ve been doing nothing but smiling then giggling then full-belly laughing. Your Dad and I can barely glance your way and you break out the most delightful ear-to-ear grin. No one can resist those smiles and you have been charming every person you cross paths with almost from day 1.   You have been the happiest of babies from the time you were born. I remember your Nana and Tia Ellen saying to us early on not to “forget” about the baby. We could pretty much park you anywhere as an infant and you would just hang out and take it all in.

All this laid back, happy personality stuff makes you the life of the party. You hate missing out on ANYTHING and will rally and rally and rally if there is fun to be had. I can’t help but wonder if that trip to Las Vegas when you were 5 weeks old wore off on you in some profound way! Your easy-going nature does not mean, however, that you don’t have an opinion about things. You want what you want when you want it, thank you. You’re not super disagreeable, though, unless we ignore your request. At that point, watch out! Sleep is something you’ve never been so committed too. Dad and I often have to force the issue and let you “cry-it-out” for a few minutes before you’ll let go of all that fun you might be missing.

The most cherished person in your life is, without question, your brother, Diego. The moment you could look around for anyone, you were looking for Diego and your face lights up the room when you and he are together. Your very first belly laughs were when Diego was making faces at you. You’d laugh and he’d laugh back and pretty soon you were both in hysterics. The two of you laughing together is something that sustains me and gives me great strength and happiness. No matter how tired and overwhelmed I feel, the moment the two of you laugh, I am renewed. There is nothing in the world that makes me feel better.

One of the best parts of your first year has been your very close relationship with Elizabeth, who took care of you during your first year while Mom and Dad were at work. She couldn’t love you more and gave you a cozy, nurturing and supportive environment. Your best friend, Bode was with you at Elizabeth’s and you always wanted to be doing what Bode, who is 3 months older than you are, was doing. When Bode began to crawl, you had to crawl. You were unbelievably jealous when Bode began to walk and you would not rest until you, too were walking. This dedication made for some very precarious days since you are quite big for your age and didn’t really have the balance required to take your first steps when you did, at 10 ½ months old. It took another month before you were toddling reliably and Mom and Dad could rest a little easier.

You have always wanted to talk and were barely home from the hospital when you started trying to strike up conversation. You seem to pay attention to every small detail. I remember being astounded when you were about 9 months old and I told you not to play with one of the dog toys because it belonged to Baxter. You took one look at the toy and crawled over to Baxter and gave it to him. Wow. Your first words were, “no, no, nooooo,” which you said with a smile and a wag of your little finger. Not long after you began pointing at things and asking, “dat?” We’d answer and then you’d move on and ask, “dat?” pointing at something else nearby.

You are a cuddle bug and give hugs and big slobbery open-mouthed kisses freely, occasionally when the person on the receiving end isn’t so receptive. It’s hard to resist those hugs, though, and Dad and I cannot get enough! You love your many stuffed animals and your “boojie” and will smile joyously and burry your face in it if you stumble across one in the toy box as if you’ve just found a long-lost friend.

You are an unbelievably resilient little guy – you went on your first hardcore road trip to OR when you were under 2 months old. Even though you really didn’t like your infant car seat, you rallied the whole way. It was so impressive. You loved your Grammy DiDi and Chito from the second you met them. You were as content to sit with them as with Dad and I and seemed to really love the peaceful atmosphere of Sandy, OR in the winter. We headed out to Bend to see Wendy and Martin next and again, you adjusted to whatever we threw your way. We then took you to CO just 3 weeks later to meet your Grandpa Jim. Man, you were fantastic in the car at that point. Unbelievable! You loved meeting little Addie and Melissa, too. It was at that point that we knew that you were going to be as social as your Dad and Chito and make friends with everyone who crosses your path.

My favorite memories could fill a book so I’ll have to just recount some of the highlights:    

Diego fed you your first solid food (rice cereal) when you were 4 months old and you didn’t hesitate for a minute to eat every last bite. After all, you’d been watching the rest of us eat for months, just biding your time until you got a little piece of the pie, so to speak. Since that day you have been incredibly opinionated about the food that goes into your mouth. You weren’t too fond of baby food, in general, so we had to keep rotating to keep you interested in anything. You started eating like a rock star the day we threw in the towel and let you have what you really wanted – REAL FOOD – although you prefer fruit and veggies over everything else. It’s unbelievable to me but you really aren’t that interested in bread/cereal/crackers or cheese. Is that even possible? Who ever met a baby who didn’t care much for crackers?

You have loved the beach from your first visit. My favorite beach trip was at Stinson Beach for your Tia Maria’s birthday. You had a blast playing in the sand and the waves with Diego and your cousins. It was truly the BEST family day and you and Diego wore yourselves out. After lunch you took a long nap under the umbrella and then were up again to play in the sun.

Your second OR road trip was early this Fall – we really had the very best trip. You and Diego spent hours playing outside in the grass at Chito and Grammy Didi’s house.   You had your first corn-on-the-cob at a late night BBQ and you loved it! We then drove up to Snohomish to meet baby Abby. You seem to really love babies and were fascinated by her even though she was so small. You, Dad and Diego took a bike ride along a beautiful bike trail in Snohomish and you fell fast asleep in your Wee-Ride. What a perfect nap it was!

We went trick-or-treating in Curtis Park with Savannah and the gang and you were just barely walking reliably. You caught on to the Halloween thing in a flash and would toddle slowly and methodically up to each house to get your very own handful on pretty colorful packages even though you had no idea what candy was. You did, however, suck on the end of a Hershey bar long enough to get a little chocolate out of it. Jackpot!!! It was hilarious and charming and priceless.

This year has gone by all to fast and I wish I could have captured even more moments in this letter, on camera and in my memory. I can’t wait to spend your second year with you and know that our future adventures will eclipse those of our past. I love you, your brother and your Dad in more ways than I can express and I cannot imagine how my life was “full” without you in it. You, my son, are the icing on the cake. Happy Birthday!

I love you with all my heart. Always.

Love,

Mama

aka Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma

Dear Diego,

If I could choose one word to sum up your persona in the past year I would choose undaunted or maybe even undaunteable even though that isn’t a word. You are, my son, adventurous and brave and I cannot think of a thing we threw at you this year that you didn’t attempt with gusto (except eating spicy food – sorry, Dad). We have so many fantastic memories from the past year that this letter will be only a brief glimpse.

You learned to do so many things by yourself this year and your mantra, if you have one, has been, “I CAN DO IT” and sometimes “I CAN DO IT MYSELF” accompanied by tears of frustration when we didn’t at least let you try. But you know, honey, many times you COULD do it by yourself and did – sometimes to our complete surprise! Your Dad and I are proud of all the little accomplishments we see every day but this year held some really big ones. The one that tops my list, at least, is swimming. You have loved water since your very first baths as a baby and have never shown an ounce of fear despite waves crashing around you or stumbling face down in the baby pool only to exclaim, “Mama, I’m swimming!” when I pulled you out of the water. Well, son, now you really can swim! One of the highlights of our summer has been heading to Nana’s after school for a swim before dinner. You are truly a little dolphin when you have your life vest on, but you’re now swimming pretty well without it too. You beamed with pride when your swim teacher said, “Congratulations, Diego! Now you have graduated to the next class where you swim without Mom and Dad in the pool.” You couldn’t wait to tell everyone that you’d “gradulated” in swimming.

Your second but equal love is bicycling and you are truly amazing at it. We gave you a Strider running bike for your second birthday and you were thrilled with the idea, but a little intimidated by the reality. It was a challenge though, and a big one, so you threw yourself into it and were soon cruising around the neighborhood. Of course, just cruising along walking then even walking fast wasn’t enough for you and you started picking your feet up and balancing a few seconds at a time. A few seconds turned into a few minutes and then (even though it scared Mom to see it), you began coasting down hills with your feet up whole blocks at a time. I had crazy visions of you careening into the middle of the street but somehow you always remembered to stop before (if only inches before on occasion) the curb. One afternoon you were cruising down the hill at “90 miles per hour” so to speak and you lost your balance, fell and scraped your knee pretty badly. Not only did you not cry , but you jumped right up, picked up your strider bike, pushed it right up the hill and rode cruised down again. At that moment, I saw your future career at the X games as clear as could be. Nana bought you a 2-wheel pedal bike for your third birthday and you rode off down the sidewalk your very first pass – no training wheels! I’m sure the biggest even of your 3^rd year was the birth of your brother, Enzo. When you got home from school on the day we brought him home and you realized that Enzo wasn’t in Mom’s tummy anymore, you ran to the bedroom and peered into the bassinet. You were in absolute awe – he was finally here! From that moment you have treated him with love and understanding almost all of the time (almost). You often want to involve him in your play and share beyond your years. You are so eager to spend time with him that we have to watch and make sure you don’t sneak into his room and wake him up because he “wants you”. You are constantly translating his baby talk so we know what he wants, you stand up for him if we scold him and you call our attention to him whenever you feel that he wants or needs us. Your Dad and I couldn’t be more proud to have raised such a mature, loving and fair little guy

One of the best things about being 2 was that you could finally start attending Buena Vista Child Development Center. Your Dad and I visited your school long before you could actually attend there and we were thrilled when you became a student there. Ms. Amber, Ms. Sonia and Ms. Gloria are now 3 of the most respected and influential people in your world and your Dad and I delight daily in the lessons you’ve learned at school. You’re friends are all terrific but you especially love Love who plays with you and watches out for you with just a little bossing you around on the side. Highlights of your school year have included a field trip to Effie Yeaw Nature Center with Nana at your side, the trip to the Sacramento Zoo and a wagon ride to the Old Spaghetti Factory where you all went out to lunch together.

You have really begun to look after Baxter as he gets older and like to be the one to feed him his dinner. He sleeps in your room with you every night to keep you safe. He’s been having more health problems and you were very grown up and strong when you and Dad had to bring him to the veterinary hospital because he was having neurological problems. The vet that saw him thought he was recovering but wanted to make sure we left a light on for him at night so he could see if he had to get up and wouldn’t loose his balance. You took this advice VERY SERIOUSLY and still make sure we leave the light on “just a little” for Baxter when you are going to bed. You have really begun to love other animals as well and always make sure that you give Eclipse a pat on the neck and a “good boy” when you are riding him. You were the only kid that pet his pony while on the pony ride at the state fair and that made Dad beam with pride. At the petting zoo you were very careful to make sure that the more timid goats and sheep got some of your treats and didn’t just feed the pushy piggy goats that wanted all the grain to themselves.

Some of my favorite memories include a warm afternoon in Berkeley while your Tia Ellen was visiting. We visited the botanical gardens there and were resting on a sunny patch of lawn. You had a wonderful time rolling down the grassy hill with Dad and playing with Tia. At your Tia Maria’s birthday on Stinson Beach you and Ashley stalked the waves “hunting sharks”. I loved making cookies with you at Christmas time and reading book and singing every night before bed. I love that you are lightning quick when solving puzzles – definitely faster than I am and that you paint amazing abstract paintings with color combinations that delight me. You’re sense of humor, infectious smiles and uninhibited laughter delight me every day. I’ll leave you with your current favorite joke that you figured out almost by accident!

“Knock knock…”
“Who’s there?”
“Boo…”
“Boo who?”
“Why are you crying? (Except you usually say, “Why you cryin’?” in your Brooklynesque accent.)

Most of all, I love you just as you are with all of my heart. I can’t wait for all the fun that awaits us next year.

Love,

Mom

Mama: When we get home we’re going to have teriyaki chicken for lunch. You’re favorite!

Diego: NOOOOOO!!!!!! I don’t want yucky chicken.

Mama (not getting it yet): But you love teriyaki chicken.

Diego: I DON’T WANT YUCKY CHICKEN!!!!! I want CLEAN chicken!!!!

A few hours later at dinner:

Diego (about to eat some pork ribs): Is THIS yucky chicken?

While cleaning up before bed…

Diego: Look! I found a coiny! (pointing at a penny on the floor).

Today was a great day.

Wow. It seems like just yesterday that I sat here typing Diego’s letter for his second birthday and yet, nearly 6 months have gone by, we have added dear Enzo to our family and Diego has grown up so much that I hardly remember the toddler he was when last I wrote. I want to be a regular blogger – and have been good about journaling intermittently in the past but can’t seem to steal the moments to do justice to my fantastic family life. Never have I had more to write about! Our family life has just gotten better and better since Enzo’s arrival. Marco and I are much more in tune with each other – family decisions are much less stressful – and we can focus our energy on raising our happy healthy boys without succumbing to as many silly arguments.

So many funny things are sprouting from Diego’s mouth these days – he keeps us in constant laughter. His new favorite phrase is, “I have a good idea.” He then elaborates, ending with, “is dat a good idea, DaDa, is dat a good idea?” I could listen to him speak night and day. His 2 1/2 year old accent sounds a little like he is from Brooklyn, a little Mexican and occasionally British. I haven’t the slightest idea where it all comes from! His imagination is astonishing – he tells long involved stories, some of which start out with, “Once upon a time, in a land far away when Nana was a little boy….” Priceless!

Enzo laughed for the first time 3 days ago. Like everything he does, it was a little understated but no less delightful. He is a mellow little guy that is constantly charms me with his beguiling smile. He is content to sit and watch family life unfold in front of him and, of course, especially likes to watch his older brother play and carry on. He has a hard time sleeping in the early mornings, waking up every hour after 1am, making me feel a little delirious from sleep deprivation. I hate letting him sleep in the swing all the time yet that is the only place he seems to get any prolonged rest. I have visions of him as an 18 year-old sleeping poorly unless he is in a car or on a plane or on some futuristic perpetual motion machine. I know, logically, that he is only 2 1/2 months old and this is only a phase but the little voice inside my head is repeatedly telling me that I’m enabling a miniature insomniac!

“You see what?,” I ask Diego.

“Tash.”

“You see that?”

“No. It tash, Mama.”

“It’s that?” (At this point I cannot for the life of me come up with anything other than lame “that” to try and understand what he’s pointing out.)

“Tash, Mom, TASH!”

“I’m sorry, Diego, I don’t understand what your trying to tell Mama.”

“It garbage, Mama.”

“OHHH, you see trash!”

Thank God my two year old already gets the concept of synonyms!

Two days later…

Dada: Should we put 10 gallons or 15 gallons of gas in the Subaru, Diego?

Diego: Ummmmm, 15.

Dada: Why should we put 15 gallons in?

Diego: 15 moe than 10 gallons.

Where did this kid come from?

Dear Diego,

I thought time went by too quickly during your first year and here it’s gone doubly fast during your second. You’ve gone from being my big baby to my little boy in the last 12 months and you are truly an independent little being at this point. I have so many things to reminisce about over the last year that I don’t know where to begin… You’ve gone from uttering a few garbled words beyond Mama and Dada to full sentences and you look at us with exasperation when we don’t understand exactly what you’re trying to tell us. Your steps were tentative and slow 12 months ago and now you run, sometimes leaping just for the fun of it, with reckless abandon. You were completely dependent on us 12 months ago and now you don’t even look back when running off to join your friends. And what great friends you have made this year! Jacob, 4 months your senior, is the guy you look up to. You’ll follow him anywhere. Although your personalities are different – Jacob has a pensive way about him and thoroughly thinks through his next action before making a move. You, on the other hand, are quite reckless and jump right in even when you are literally “in over your head”. That being said, you listen to Jacob and will often follow his lead. I think he will likely be the voice of reason in your future. Savannah, 3 months your junior, is even more head strong than you are! She is always game for any trouble you might lead her into and she is the most apt to hurt your feelings if she doesn’t want to play or hold your hand. The three of you are perfect friends and inseparable.

You have shown us, over the past year, so many facets of your personality. You are at once sensitive and brave. Your feelings are hurt by any perceived injustices – like when Savannah refuses to hold your hand – and yet you have no problem running headlong into any exciting adventure. When we were in San Diego in October, you tried your hand at skateboarding – all on your own – and didn’t shed a tear when you landed head first on the concrete. You ran right into the ocean over and over again despite being bowled over by the strong waves. Your Dad took you out into the surf on a boogie board and you LOVED it, making Mama shiver with your love of the unknown. Just a month ago, when we visited your Tia for her wedding in Indiana, you lost your balance and fell face-first into the deep end of the kiddie pool. I was terrified, but when I pulled your up out of the water, you looked at me with a huge grin on your face and said, “I swimming, Mama!” I think that sums up the juxtaposition that is uniquely your personality. You are a just little boy who thinks things in this world should be fair and are crushed when they aren’t. At the same time, nothing scares you much and you will try anything – from eating sushi at Mikuni’s to horsebackriding to climbing up to the highest slide on the playground (you know, the one for the “big” kids) without looking back.

In the past year, you have gone from being unbalanced and tentative as you walked across the living room to running across the park so fast that I cannot catch up with you. You were always good at kicking a soccer ball but now you can run toward it and kick it “on the fly”. You have gone from pushing your little John Deere tractor to riding the tricycles at school on your own. You now love putting your head to the floor, trying to do somersaults without assistance. You’re not quite there yet but I know it will be any day now that you gleefully make it over your head and land sitting on the floor, filled with delight and accomplishment. In November, we “ran” the Toddler Dash at the Turkey Trot in Davis and you toddled along slowly, holding my hand. I cannot wait until next year when you can run along side your peers even though I will miss walking slowly by you side holding hands.

One year ago you were babbling a word hear and there, still calling all of the women in your world, “Mama” and now you can say so many sentences that I can’t keep track of them all. I remember distinctly one of your first complete sentences. You walked into the dining room from your bedroom, looked up at me and said, “I need shoes, Mama.” I couldn’t believe my ears! One minute you were barely uttering one word at a time and the next minute you’d figured out sentences! Since then you have become more opinionated every day and use the phrase, “my turn” whenever you’d like to take over whatever Mama or Dada are doing.

You’ve fallen in love with the entire animal kingdom, both wild and domestic, thriving and extinct. You’ve always loved Baxter, Johnny and June but your love has grown over the past year and you lovingly call them all by name. One of your biggest frustrations is that Baxter won’t always play with you and you take if very personally when he is not in the mood to play. Your favorite dog by far, though is a yellow lab named Lola. She belongs to our friend Sandy and she will play with you gently but incessantly for hours. When she plays tug-of-war with you, you laugh and laugh. She never tires of playing like Baxter does. You also love Wendy and Martin’s dog, Jack, who doesn’t play but is a total cuddle bug and loves nothing more than to be hugged all day long. You’ve always been a big fan of the horses but your love and knowledge have grown over the past year so much that you’ve known the difference between a horse and pony since the beginning of the Summer. Your not intimidated by their size in the slightest and will walk right up to Eclipse to brush his legs. You also love dinosaurs and love to hear, “How does a dinosaur say goodnight?” over and over again at bedtime. You never cease looking for cows or deer on the side of the road when we’re on road trips and will chant, “mo dee or mo cow,” over and over again once you’ve spotted one.

Possibly your two favorite pastimes are playing music and playing ball and that would be ANY kind of music and ANY game that involves a ball. Your Nana showed you how to play the harmonica and you caught on immediately! Since then you’ve been great at playing the harmonica, the guitar, drums, really any instrument you can get your hands on. Your cousin Lucy is a pianist and music teacher and you discovered the piano at her house when we visited Corvallis after Christmas. You were so thoughtful as you explored the keys, listening to each note before moving on to the next. We like to go to Southside Park on Tuesday nights to watch the Aztec dancers dance and play drums. One evening you and Jacob joined their circle! You both watched the dancers feet carefully to imitate their moves. Dancing at your Tia Ellen’s wedding and at Carnaval were two of your grandest moments. Of, how you love dancing with your cousins, especially Elise and Ashley! As for balls, well, you’ve spent the last year loving basketball, baseball and soccer. You have a wagon full of balls of all shapes and sizes and you play with them EVERY day, no joke.

Last year you’d only seen snow for a brief afternoon but this year you had two trips, one to Oregon and one to Bear Valley, where you got to spend lots of quality time playing in the snow. We visited Chito and Grammy DiDi after Christmas during a rash of snow storms and got to march around making snow balls and snow angels. A few months later we spent the weekend in Bear Valley with Meera and Matt and did lots of sledding and snow shoeing. You loved the cold but were a little intimidated by the sledding. You were never more content than when you’d fall asleep all bundled up on Dada’s back in the Ergo while we were snow shoeing.

This year has been full of times spent with people who love you. Many of them you’d spent lots of time with last year but this year you’ve realized that they are “your people”. You love going to visit your Abuelo and Abuela, watching out the window for Nana, talking to Grandpa on the phone and visiting with Tia Ellen and Tio Matvei on Skype. You are never more happy than when visiting Tia Maria and Tia Maritza because they never tire of playing with you, You recognize your Grandpa Jim on the phone and go to the refrigerator to get his picture whenever we talk about him. You visited with Will and Max and all of your cousins at Tia’s wedding and had a grand time being “one of the gang” and totally ditching the grownups. Your two favorite “big kids” in all the world are Ashley and Josie and whenever you see a picture of an older girl in one of your books you call her one of the two. You know all of the names of the teachers and kids at your school and even “tattle” when someone has wronged you. We discovered this by accident when I asked you who had bitten you (I was actually asking about mosquito bites) and you straightforwardly answered that one your classmates (who shall remain nameless) bit you.

You seem to be looking forward to the arrival of your brother and are constantly covering my belly with a blanket for the baby. You sweetly bring your baby toys to my tummy for the baby to play with and think that you have a baby in your tummy as well. A few weeks ago you told me very seriously, ” I want baby come out now…” (Some days, I couldn’t agree more.) I know you are going to be the best big brother in the whole world.

You’ve probably had as many “firsts” this year as last: you made your first best friends, Jacob and Savannah, you saw your fist movie in the theater, sled down your first hill, jumped into the swimming pool, rode a tricycle, decorated the Christmas tree, learned to brush your teeth, flew your first kite, built your first sandcastle (and destroyed it), and many more. Mama and Dada have had a fantastic time learning and growing with you every day this year. We can’t believe how far we’ve all come! I can’t wait to spend the next year with you, Dada and baby Enzo. You are the most important people in my world.

I love you with all my heart. Always.

Love,

Mama

Since returning from our amazing trip in Oregon and Washington (that I’m sure you all read about in Marco’s posts), we have been ravaged by a continuous onslaught of evil and I mean EVIL viruses that have undoubtedly come from Diego’s daycare. It began with our first day back at “school” (as we like to call it). Before we had even entered the front door, one of the mothers stopped us to tell us about the 72 hour stomach flu that had knocked out just about every family at one time or another during our absence. Unphased (yet), we walked on only to be assaulted with horror stories by a Dad in the foyer and another Mom in the 2 year old room. Marco and I stopped at that point, bent our heads together and had a quiet parent-parent conference. Should we leave our healthy son to this? Marco was leaving for Mac World that following day and I would be solo parenting for 4 days in his absence. Could I cope with 72 hours of vomiting and diarrhea by myself, knowing that I likely would succumb to the virus soon after Diego did? Did we want to risk it? It sounded from the stories like most of the young children had already had the virus and recovered so we decided to keep Diego home one more day and hope that somehow we could avoid it. Tuesday came and went – no sign of sickness. Wednesday morning was still very promising. Wednesday night Diego spiked a fever and threw up once but then seemed fine – had we dodged the bullet? Diego wasn’t eating much in the evening – but this might just be picky eating, right? Thursday and Friday day – uneventful…. At this point I was feeling positively giddy. We might just have make it! I am usually religious and slightly obsessed with reading Diego’s little progress note at the end of every day at daycare but this Friday evening was special and I neglected to even glance at the sheet. We were off to San Francisco to meet Daddy and spend a family day in the city. I was REALLY looking forward to it. San Francisco is one of my favorite cities and we had not spent any time there since Marco and I first began dating.

As I drove west on I-80, I marveled at how little traffic there was. I was cruising at 65 mph with no slowdowns, not even in Fairfield! I kept passing the signs that said it would still take me 90 then 69 minutes to downtown but I didn’t believe it, traffic was flying! Until…… Berkeley. All of a sudden 65 mph turned into 5 mph, then 3 mph. It took me 1 hour to drive from Berkeley to the Marriott at the convention center. Did I mention that I hadn’t stopped for dinner because Diego fell asleep around Davis? Well, he woke up when we got to Berkeley and I had been passing crackers and raisins and grapes to the backseat for eons and he was getting cranky. We finally made it to the hotel at 7:45 (left Sac at 5:15) and scurried down to a nearby Mexican restaurant to get some food in Diego. Did he eat? Of course not and wouldn’t even sit in his highchair for a minute. Marco and I ended up trading off – one eating hurriedly while the other ran around the courtyard with Diego. This was NOT how I envisioned our 24 hour mini vacation in the city. Back at the hotel we gave Diego his bath and put him to bed. Miraculously, he slept all night despite being in the Pack ‘n’ Play. The morning, however, was not so sunny. Diego had profuse diarrhea and was clutching his stomach and crying unconsolably. Although we had an impressive arsenal of pediatric medicinals in the diaper bag, none were GI appropriate and he was only getting worse. At this point it was only 6am. What could we do now? The only thing that might give him so relief was gripe water and Whole Foods didn’t open for another hour. Should we hightail it for home! Crap! (No pun intended, seriously…) We elected to pick up some coffee at Peet’s, wait for Whole Foods to open, buy some gripe water and then head back home. I was feeling not-so-great myself and was at that point where I needed to eat something NOW or I was going to be following in Diego’s footsteps.

I’ll spare you the details beyond saying that it took Diego 72 hours me slightly over 24 hours to recover.

Three days later Marco came down with a cough and cold. Two days later Diego woke up with pink eye. Two days after that I drove up to Tahoe to speak at the Lake Tahoe Equine Conference (talk was great fun and enjoyed my less-than-24-hours there). While I was in Tahoe, Diego was coughing like crazy, wheezing and spiking low grade fevers. Next day we took him in and he was given nebulized albuterol (for those of you who haven’t had the pleasure – that’s tantamount to waterboarding if you are an 18 month old) and he was diagnosed with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) via throat swab (also torture though less traumatic since overwith so quickly). Next day (yesterday) Marco wakes up with his eyes glued shut – more pinkeye-I wake up with a sore throat and congestion, and Diego’s pinkeye recrudesces. Seriously?

If you are wondering when it gets better – not to fear – Diego is no longer wheezing and Marco’s eyes are slightly less red and swollen. I haven’t given Diego any Albuterol for 12 hours so he is actually taking a nap! (Toddlers on albuterol are WIRED, BTW). We are determined to re-enter the land-of–the-living today no matter what. Some how we have managed to maintain some semblance of good humor despite our exhaustion and are looking forward to a healthy week ahead.

Oh yeah, and Diego’s getting his second set of tubes in his ears after 2 nearly back-to-back ear infections amidst the rest of this crap. (I’m pretty sure Diego can say “crap” now along with “dude” and some other aberrations of the English and Spanish languages). Lovely.

-by Betsy

The weathermen had painted a bleak dreary picture of the weekend so Diego and I were delighted when a brilliant sun appeared Saturday morning with no rain or fog in sight. We headed to McKinley Park for Stroller Strides and there was a GREAT turnout thanks to the beautiful weather (and probably a little post-Thanksgiving guilt). Class was awesome as always and Diego konked out about halfway through class like he always does. After class (and a shower), Mom and our friend Alex joined us for a late brunch at Tres Hermanas before we headed up to the mountains in search of a modest Christmas tree at our favorite tree farm in Pollock Pines. Diego was uber cheery as we headed through the foothills thanks to his morning cat nap and chatted the whole car ride. We first headed to Coloma for their small but oh-so-charming Christmas fair (Marco and I stumbled upon it last year while driving aimlessly so Diego could finish his nap). It was an exceptional experience to be there with Alex, who is from Australia. She was charmed by the old-timey costumes and the little houses and shops that look like the set of “Little House on the Prairie”.

We then headed up to Pollock Pines for some tree hunting. When we got to Placerville, a mini snow storm just light enough to be charming surrounded the town. We weren’t swayed, however because we could see blue skies both ahead and behind us. The snow had stopped by Apple Hill and we were all in great spirits as we snugly chugged up the hill in the Subaru. The mini blizzard returned just in time for our walk through the “forest” at Robert’s Christmas Tree Farm. My favorite thing about this place is that it’s not some neat little farm with straight rows of Christmas trees one after the other. It really looks just like the forest only you can tell that little trees are growing up where older trees have been cut down. The trees are a mish-mash of California evergreens and some are so lopsided that they wouldn’t even be called “Charlie Brown” Christmas trees. Still, they are the lucky ones, really, saved from the saw by their awkwardness. It was bitterly cold as the snow blew around us but we marched on, vowing that we’d go further this year than we’d ever gone, feeling like we always stopped short of the “perfect” tree because we chose too quickly. Of course, we’d loved all the previous trees, just couldn’t help thinking that there must be some elusive best tree that we’d missed. We forged on until we found it…     

Just as we were leaving, the scenic, you-couldn’t-fake-this-if-you-wanted-to, snow stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Our beautiful sunny day was waiting for us when we returned to Sacramento.

It was another day for the record books and I wouldn’t change anything, I mean ANYTHING about it and that is saying a lot because I can always come up with something that could have been improved upon. And for all of you who noticed that Diego’s socks don’t look like they match – I wouldn’t change that either -they’re this crazy pair of opposite socks that aren’t supposed to match. What will they think of next…

I have at least one other blog that I’m dying to get posted about the many members of our family that are so strongly connected to horses but, so far, I’ve been writing in my head but the words, frankly, have yet to make it to any page. I’ll keep working on it and hope to get it up soon. Stay tuned!

B