Baptism, finally

We did a practice run with her dress before the baptism. You can see she's not happy.

Teary, after the baptism, while we tried put her white dress on her.

Maya, nearly naked, with our priest.

Waiting this long to get Maya baptized wasn't a good idea. I know that. And I knew going to church today for the service wasn't going to be our best hour. But really, did she have to scream so much?

This is how the baptism ceremony at my church works. At the beginning of mass, the parents, godparents, and babies are to gather in the back of the church, near the baptismal font, to be introduced. Later in the service, the families return to the same spot, this time with their babies naked, so they can be immersed in the baptismal font, which is like a basin, and baptized by the priest. Then the priest puts chrism oil on their foreheads and then the parents take the babies to get changed into a white dress or outfit. At the end of the service, the babies, parents and godparents go to the front of the church for a final blessing and then walk out of the church with the priest. 

Maya started the day well. She was happy sitting in the pews, coloring in her Dora book. Then, she decided to find her belly button. She calls it a butt. "Butt, butt," she said, pointing to her bellybutton. She pointed to mine and then decided to turn around to the people behind us.

 

"Butt, butt," she said, pointing at strangers, who surely could hear her. 

Embarrassed, I explained quietly to the man behind us that she meant bellybutton, she wasn't calling them mean names.

She continued, pointing at strangers. 

"Butt, butt, big butt." 

"Big butt!?!" I thought and could barely control my laughter. My friend Pat, who was sitting in as a witness for Maya's godmother, my grandmother, nearly lost it too. "Who did she point to and say big butt?" I wondered, but was too embarrassed to look. 

 

Finally it was time for Maya to be baptized. I took her to the font and tried to put her in. She started screaming and refused to sit.  At my church, all of the children gather around the baptismal font and everyone else turns in their pews to watch. They giggled, while Maya screamed. The priest laughed and I laughed too, mostly out of nervousness. He splashed water on her and she was baptized. 

She calmed down when we wrapped her in a towel, but after all the babies were baptized and the priest came back with the chrism oil, Maya lost it. She turned her head away so he had no choice but to put it on her shoulder as Maya screamed some more. At last, we were able to leave the church so we could get her changed. 

She was screaming and screaming. (Not one other baby cried, by the way.) I put on Maya's diaper, socks, and shoes first and then tried to put on her dress. She wouldn't have any of it. We gave her a snack and then slipped on the dress. While all the other babies returned to the mass dressed in their white outfits, Maya went ballistic. 

She ripped the bow out of her hair and threw it on the floor. She kicked off her shoes and then pulled off her socks and threw them to the ground, all the time pulling at her dress to try to get it off. I tried to distract her, but she wouldn't calm down. "Hurt, hurt," she screamed, tugging at her dress. 

I gave up when communion started. I took the dress off her and carried her back into mass. She wore only a diaper with white bloomers over it. Oh, and she was clutching a plastic bag filled with Cheerios snack mix. 

At the end of the service, we took her to the front of the church with all of the other baptized babies. They looked beautiful in white, while Maya, as happy as could be eating her Cheerios, was nearly naked. 

Cardinals, Ankees

Guillermo, Will showing off their Cardinals gear

A young Maya getting in the spirit.

Guillermo's new Cardinals hat

Guillermo and I were chasing each other around the living room today while we listened to our daily dose of "Here Comes the Power Rangers," which ranks Number 1 on Guillermo's Greatest Hits these days. I needed a break and just happened to spot a pretty bird through the window. 

"Guillermo, look at the red bird," I said. 

"There's another Cardinal bird," he said, pointing to a different red bird nearby. 

Then he spotted another bird, this one blue. "Uh oh. There's an Ankee bird," he said. 

"A what?"

"An Ankee bird," he said. 

I knew he meant Yankee. 

"Where did you learn that word?" I asked, wondering if someone had called my son a Yankee and then almost immediately wondering why I cared if someone called him a Yankee. (Though to be truthful, he's not a Yankee. He's a Texan!)

"There are the Cardinal birds and there is the Ankee bird," he said, ignoring my question. 

It then occurred to me. Cardinals, as in St. Louis Cardinals, as in my family's favorite baseball team. And, Yankees, as in New York Yankees, as in Will's parents' favorite baseball team. One year they gave him both a Rodriguez and a Jeter jersey. He's since outgrown them and they'll be headed to my nephew, where in his family, they are fans of the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Colorado Rockies. 

Will will cheer for the Yankees if  the Cardinals are out of the picture. But first and foremost, my husband, the baseball lover, is a Cardinals' fan and he wants Guillermo to love the team too. 

To be sure, the Easter bunny brought Guillermo a St. Louis Cardinals baseball hat.  He'll be wearing it, no doubt, for the Cardinals' season opener against the Rockies on Monday.

Goodbye bottle

The princess has no use for a bottle anymore.

It took nearly 22 months, but Maya has finally given up her nighttime bottle.

I forgot to pack it when we went to the beach for a few days with my mother earlier this week. She didn't seem to notice. She drank out of a sippy cup, read books with me, and then went right to bed on the first night. No complaints (at least not until the middle of the night, when she demanded more milk and I didn't cave ... until she had screamed for an hour and I was afraid our neighbors would never get any sleep ... and then I caved. "She sure can throw a tantrum," my mother said.)

Tonight, we're going on our sixth-straight night of no bottle and I think I can finally throw the bottles away, for good. It took us long enough!

 

Beach trip

Maya, on Easter morning.

Guillermo's first day on the beach. 

A shivering Maya and me on the beach.

He had so much fun. 

Sorry for all the pictures. I couldn't leave out Maya's Easter dress (Guillermo, by the way, wore sweat pants Easter morning) or pictures from our beach trip!

We finally saw the North Carolina coast and Guillermo fell in love instantly. Watching him was so much fun. He didn't notice that the temperature was in the 50s or that the water was ice cold. As soon as he saw the ocean, he ran straight across the beach and dipped his feet into the water. He ran around in circles and then sat right down in the wet sand and built a castle. He was filthy and having a great time. At least a few times on our vacation, Guillermo was down on all fours as the waves crashed into the shore, soaking him head to toe. He never complained that he was cold. He was having too much fun. 

Maya, on the other hand, didn't like the beach one bit when she first saw it. She didn't like the cold weather, she didn't like the sand seeping through her crocs, she didn't like the water, and she wanted only to be held. It took a bit, but eventually she put her feet down on the ground and gathered a few shells for Guillermo's castles. And, later, she was even digging in the sand with a shovel. By the end of the trip, I was convinced that when the weather is warmer and other kids are playing, she would enjoy a day at the beach.

We spent three days along the coast with my mother. Will, not one for the beach, or water, stayed home. Our first two days we stayed at our friend's parents' condo near Southport. On the third day we drove to Wilmington before driving home. It was a wonderful, quick road trip. Oh, and we even took the ferry to the aquarium. I've never been on a car ferry and my mother said she didn't know who was more excited, me or Guillermo.  

My mom left today. I hated dropping her off at the airport, but found solace at the Carter's outlet store. Nothing like shopping (even if it isn't for me) to cheer you up. I know that would make my mom proud. 

Easter

My mom is visiting and we've been having a great time. Today was the best. My mother took Guillermo to see the Go Diego Go, Live show! He loved it. Follow that with lunch at McDonalds and she was the queen of his world for awhile. While they were at the show, I took Maya to a few museums, and what luck! It was duck day at one of them. There were three or four ducks outside of the museum and Maya was so excited. She even touched one, but barely. A man held it up for her and she stuck one tiny finger out, touched it, and them immediately pulled her hand back, but she was beaming, squealing. Inside were a few baby swans. They were tiny, gray, and beautiful and made Maya so happy when she saw them. 

Of course, we spent most of our time at the museum in the cafe for snacks, but that's OK. She was content. Plus, she then had a chance to ride the elevator down two floors. "Whee" she exclaimed, as she stood next to me, holding my hand. I think it was her first ride on her own two feet. 

Later, my mom and I ditched the kids, leaving them with my mom, while we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. Moms are great. 

We rushed to dye eggs with the kids after dinner and they had a great time. Guillermo loved coloring the eggs with the magic crayon before he dyed them. Maya would swipe the undyed eggs out of my hand and then throw them in the bowls full of dye like she was slam dunking a basketball. I don't know if we have any eggs that aren't uncracked. "Prettyo, eggsss," she said, when she pulled one out of the bowl, held it in her hands for a bit, and threw it back in, just to do it again a few seconds. I couldn't get the dye off her hands during her bath later. 

Goats and Donkeys

I should have had my camera with me today (the pictures above are from last week). We went to story time at a bookstore in a little village near our home. Afterward we walked with some friends to see the cows and goats in a nearby field. 

Maya and Guillermo were so excited. The goats came right up to the fence and ate out of their hands. I really wasn't too happy about that, afraid my kids' fingers would get gnawed off by the hungry goat, but my friend said she'd never heard of that happening. (I was already nervous because hidden behind the wooden fence, on the animal side, was an electric fence. "Electricity can't go through the wood, right?" I asked. "No," my friend said, and I'm sure she thought I was crazy. Of course, she hadn't touched an electric fence when she was younger, like I had. She'd never felt that shaky sensation that didn't so much hurt but still stayed with you for a long time. So, I wasn't being crazy, right, just protective of my kids, right?)

So, I let go of my anxiety (a little) and let the kids go to town, feeding that hungry goat weeds and grass. When that one was full, another came to get an early lunch. Guillermo was having so much fun. Maya didn't do too much feeding. She just threw grass through the fence and yelled "goats." Later, a donkey came over to get in on the action. By then, there wasn't much tall grass near the fence. Most of the older kids would fetch the taller weeds a few feet away. Not Maya.  

"Goats don't like to eat rocks, Maya," I said as she threw one through the fence, near the goat. 

"Rocks," she said.

I warned again later.  

"No rocks, Maya."

Too late. It hit the donkey in the face. 

"Donkey, donkey," she said happily. 

Sick day

 A cold that kept my nose working on overdrive and forced me through a box and half of Kleenex (and a few shirt sleeves) yesterday also made me a very cranky mom. Lucky for me, Guillermo and Maya were great. I skipped my morning workout, slept in and woke to find Maya and Guillermo eating breakfast. Guillermo wanted to color more construction paper Easter eggs and that activity filled up a good amount of time. Against my better judgement, we went to the library but that turned out well too, despite a troubled start with Maya screaming because she had to leave her crackers in the car. I also had to serve up reminders that mommy didn't feel well and that they needed to be on their best behavior because I had no patience.

When we got home, my plan was to feed them lunch, read our new books, then let Maya nap while Guillermo watched TV until soccer practice, even though that meant 90 minutes straight of PBS Kids, including the never-ending fund-drive that drives him bonkers. Unfortunately Maya wouldn't nap and Guillermo wanted to watch only 30 minutes of afternoon cartoons. (this is a first. Some of his biggest tantrums stem from a blank television screen.) I let them play on the deck while I laid on the couch listening for any sign of fighting or, more importantly, silence, which indicates worse trouble. Maya kept trying to make a break for the backyard, though, and I had to get up and act like a mom. 

Poor Maya was the brunt of my barking that day, though it didn't seem she minded or paid much attention. She continued to sit on Guillermo when he whined and I yelled for her to get up. Despite my not so quiet reminders that we don't hit doors, she still banged on Guillermo's when he closed it to play by himself.  And, Guillermo, well, he got the mean look a lot and threatened with a few time-outs, when time-outs weren't really justified, but they were great and I was just, well, not feeling well.  

At dinner, Guillermo played doctor: "You need to go to bed early tonight. After dinner, you go right to bed."