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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Joseph Tree

There are trees called Joshua trees that grow around Arizona, and here in our little Maes land we have Joseph trees. We planted this one in our back yard last spring after Joseph was born, and recently it has started blooming for the first time.

It's spring time after all, and so everything is blooming including my sweet little monkey; he has been exploring the back yard with the intensity of an experienced globe trotter. With him, two hours spent outside equal four outfit and shoe changes. No, it is not a fashion statement; the amount of dirt this little person can accumulate on his little body is astounding, you'd think we have nothing left for the plants in our garden, and yet, every time we venture outside, he manages to find more.


His concentration in doing so is truly remarkable.



Until, of course, dirt gets into places.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Last Year / This Year

How much can change in a year, isn't it amazing?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Walking Boys and Wild Hogs

We saw this coming for weeks. He'd stand up and pluck up courage to make whole three steps from the couch to the coffee table, get overly excited and fall on his behind. He'd 'forget' that he can't walk and toddle over to get his favorite toy from the toy box. Oh, it has been fascinating to watch Joseph finally reach this glorious milestone.



It is unbelievable that in this short time he has evolved from a little helpless being that had no control whatsoever over his extremities, and got freaked out by the sight of his own hand passing by his face to an upright standing, proudly walking, and oh so independent precious little boy.



Thursday, April 10th, 2010 was a beautiful spring day, you could taste the cherry blossoms in the air, feel the warm licks of the sun on your face, and finally, finally (!) break out sunglasses and summer hats. We were leisurely lounging on the park lawn of the Albuquerque Zoo, somewhere in between the polar bear exhibit and elephant watering hole. And just like that, Joseph stood up and WALKED. Not just a few steps, he walked about a hundred feet, and then more. His excitement could only be surpassed by the joy that filled our hearts as we watched him head for the closest group of school children as if walking was an integral part of his life since birth.



What a wonderful day. Never mind that the sun hat was leased indefinitely to some wild hogs - I guess to our son they looked like they needed some sun protection; and that the pacifier found a new home in the cage of one of the jaguars. On such a day all is forgiven and forgotten.



Go, Joseph!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Spring Road Trip!

These days it is a rare occasion that we all get a weekend off together. So when such opportunity came around, we decided to take advantage of it and go on a road trip (woohoo).
The trip turned out to be very different from the original plan, but let's face it, flexibility is an integral part of any road trip as there are no set schedules , no plane hopping, no exhausting layovers.
Day ONE. Spent roaming through Albuquerque downtown, and Joseph's very first visit to a Children's Museum. Well, second visit to be honest, but he slept through half of his first one and spent the other half retrieving a rubber ducky from the kiddy pool. So, officially, this was his first visit.
In my opinion, Children's Museums are the best thing in children's edutainment since invention of the stick, all those things to touch, and pull, and push, and look at, and drool over. Joseph's reactions varied from meditative observation to focused obsession to bewildered surprise, as can be seen below.



Albuquerque is only about 45 minutes away from us, and look, the spring is in fool bloom, unlike Santa Fe, where there is not even a hint of anything green anywhere on the horizon.





Day TWO. Sky City, Acoma Pueblo. This is one of the oldest native American pueblos in the country. Located on top of a mesa, it houses about a hundred buildings, a church, plus, an unidentified number of stray dogs.
It blends so well with the surrounding environment, when you are at the foot of the mesa, you might not quite notice it.





And Joseph? Well, he thoroughly enjoyed himself.