little maestro

He was just there, in his little maestro walker, he pushed a button and a symphony started playing. I, amazed at how more agile he has become with his hands, reaching, touching and grabbing toys, said to amatxu: "He's a genius!". "I know!" she replied, "I didn't know he could compose music so well".

his first words

Gabo has been a lot more verbal the last few days, I swear I heard him say "mama" yesterday, although amatxu thinks he said "obama".

Either way, I'm cool with that.

anti-chef monday

I’ve never been a good cook, but that’s ok, I’ve never liked cooking anyway. Since the baby has been here I’ve found myself eating more veggies and buying less processed foods (I’m a mom now, I need to take care of myself). Working all week outside of the home leaves me with almost no time to cook on a daily basis AND spend quality time with G, so I’m trying to make up for that during the weekends. No cookbooks or recipes though, I’m kind of experimenting in my “lab”. Good thing my partner eats EVERYTHING and is the one doing the tasting almost all the time, since I’m too scare of my own concoctions. Have I told you I’m not a good cook? If you’re going to use it as a sauce over meat (it goes great with pork chops) I would suggest dicing the peppers into small square pieces or long thin strips. I pureed mine and ate it with some cheese.

secularism at home

Can a child be raised in a 100% secular household? That's a question I often ask myself and I guess is something that will only answered as G grows up.

Religion is everywhere, whether we like it or not, it's a big part of who we are, of how we were raised. So far G has not been baptized, circumcised or presented in any church or temple. My partner swears she's going to get him baptized, even when she is a non practicing catholic who despises organized religion. For her it has to do with her culture, a tradition passed from one generation to another, like Christmas (but more boring and without presents). Should I get him circumcised then? Seeing as even my agnostic father had his "Pepito" sniped. (It's a good thing he's no longer alive, since he would have died if he knew I was writing on a public blog about "Pepito").

What about Easter, Christmas, Carnival, Halloween? Should we treat those holidays as a time for fun and not focus on their religious meaning or should we just ignore them altogether? Did my mother had the same questions, or are those questions for our modern times? Religion was not something we talked about at home. Abuela took me to church every Sunday and both my parents gave me presents at Christmas and for the Reyes Magos Day without attaching any kind of religious connotations to them. Did they have the same questions I have now?

I don't want G to miss out on things both my partner and I remember fondly from our childhood, but are we being hypocrites if we “celebrate” those holidays?

As I write this I’ve been told that the costume for Carnaval is a must, so I guess we’ll just decide as we go along.

Gabi says:

"Vaccines suck!".

We tried calming him down with words like "It hurts us more than it hurts you", but who are we kidding?

I know vaccination works, but is there no other way to get rid of a desease than making al healthy baby sick?

“Why Shlomi, why?”

Today my heart goes out to Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish.

This must be unbearable for any parent, specially for someone who has always talked about peace.

I had hope, but I'm finding it hard to believe that a peaceful resolution will be possible. I don't think Dr. Ezzeldeen will be thinking of peace anymore.

paper or fabric?

A few months ago, BB (before baby), I took it upon myself to save the planet one bag at a time. A basic plastic bag served as a template for a much better, eco-friendlier version of that disposable classic. I had great plans and good intentions; I just didn’t have the attention span needed to make more than one. And so my small creation that was going to change the way our family went grocery shopping now just hangs there, stuffing its belly with scraps. The tote hanging next to it was made after I found the cross stitched cherry jam my mother had made and never used. I used it a few times, but it has gone into “retirement” and now spends its lazy days guarding some unfinished cross stitch projects.

(As I was finishing this post Amatxu and the baby waltzed (or tangoed) in while Gardel was playing in the background. I SO love my love right now.)