More Celebrating!

Yesterday we invited some of Lucas's best buddies for their first visit to our favorite New York Transit Museum.

Lucas was so delighted to be gathered together with Mateo and Andrew on the subway train.

Once we arrived, there was lots of running up and down the corridors of the former subway station...

And through the old subway cars...

There was some bus driving...

...and a bit of sleeping at the wheel?

There was PLENTY of being cute together...


Then after some snacks the three train lovers received a little souvenir...

See?

...which helped to keep them distracted on the way home as we waited for the delayed subway trains.

Sweet babies always serve as good distraction, too...

Lucas is going to begin thinking that all birthdays are celebrated for an entire week! (As they should be, right??)

For Tio Bryan

You want it? You've got it!

Celebrating!

Lucas and I keep talking about what a special day yesterday was.

Our hearts were full of love for this little boy...

...and of warmth for friends like Robyn, Andrew, and Isaac who came over to help us sing and blow out candles...

...and of joy for the cyberpresence of Mema and Mempa (and Buster the dog) who joined us on the computer...

And our hearts were later filled by the best gift of all: a chance for our children to grow up during the Obama Years. You're welcome, Lucas and Jesse!

Yes, We Did!

3 Years

Dear Lucas,

Today you are 3! You are 3 years old! Holy cow, you're 3! (Had to say that 3 times.)

This is how we woke you up this morning. You're at an age when you can finally appreciate these silly gestures, so today we're going for broke with lots of surprises. And we wanted you to know how wonderful and special you are all the time but especially on this day just because you came to us exactly 3 years ago.

Here's how else we honored the day you were born, by Baracking The Vote! We imagine that every Kid Blog On The Block will likely also feature a photo of their child helping to vote on this historic day. But you already know that we're a big fan of this guy, and we wanted you to be there with us when we helped contribute to this momentous time in your life that will hopefully affect your future for the better. It's cheesy I know, but it's that important - really! We wanted you to learn early on just what a privilege it is to be able to do this. And though you won't be able to vote yourself until the year 2023, here's your fair warning: if you ever become a single-issue voter, we'll probably bop you on the head. Lovingly, of course.

You've been practicing how to show three fingers for weeks. Today we'll bake a cake together and blow out candles with Tata, Maquin and Liam, and on Saturday we'll celebrate with a few friends.

Lately we've been telling you your birth-day story, which you request to hear over and over again at bedtime. Your favorite part is where we called a car service to take us to the birthing center during Friday evening rush hour (in New York City!) and the UPS truck (it was actually FedEx but you know our local UPS guy and truck well) helped part traffic to get us through. You also liked the part where I burned my hand making cookies during early labor and never fail to remind me to be careful because that oven is hot.

But the part of telling your birth story that we always leave out is where your left arm presented first just before your head. Perhaps because it gave us a bit of a breathing scare and what ensued affected your desire to feed and suckle, we always look back at that part of labor as pretty traumatic. But now with 3 years of time and perspective and loving on you, we now see that, true to form, you were just making your way into the world in your own unique way, perhaps even with a little wave. And though this fact can often make our lives more challenging than we ever imagined, we also love that about you and love learning from you.

Since that moment, you have always marched to the beat of a different drum. Though we're not the kind of parents to use the "See? The other kids are doing it!" tactic to get you to do something you don't want to do, even if we did use it, it wouldn't work. You always go your own way. Papi and I remark to each other all the time how we've never met another child like you. There is no other Lucas!

In fact, the first year after your birth was like walking on egg shells for us because you were so intense and fussy and high-need and sensitive. We kept saying to each other "this just isn't normal!" But that was alright! We are convinced that no other parents could have worked their butts off in the same way or could have allowed you to be who you were so that you could eventually blossom into the awesomely delightful and silly kid that you are. We make a good team, Lukie! We're the Annie and Clarabel to your Thomas. And we'll both always be right there if you ever need us, chug-chugging behind you and encouraging you along your path.

Love,
Papi and Mama

NYC Marathon

Marathon Sunday always falls on or around Lucas's birthday (Tuesday!) and gets us inspired to start doing road races again. You might be able to just make out from the first picture that mile 3 of the route follows along the street at the end of our block. Lucas seemed to feel that exciting adrenalin kick one gets from all the buzzing and people as we sat there for a good hour watching and clapping for the runners and spotting helicopters.

Trick-Or-Treat! (An Epic Halloween Story)

We mentioned that Lucas is into hearing and telling stories, right? Here's one from today:

"Once upon a time there was a boy named... Chef Lucas!

...whose favorite cooking ingredient was a red pepper!

Jesse was certainly as fiery as a red chili pepper [handmade by the talented Aunt Mamie], but being the tubbers that he is, he probably most resembled a round bell pepper...

Though he didn't mind it, at first Lucas was confused as to why folks kept planting one on his cheek. When asked to smile for the camera, this is what Chef Lucas did:

Once he was transformed from Toddler to Chef Lucas, he decided he wanted to stay home and cook in the kitchen instead of trick-or-treating as planned. But after one or two tastes of the ritual that involves getting free candy just for being cute, he was hooked...

Along the way they saw their friends and neighbors, including Lucas's buddy Mateo.

...who had been transformed into Pajama Batman and was going in a different direction to collect his goods and to battle evil in the world. So Chef Lucas gave him some pointers...

'Dude, I wouldn't go to that house. I wanted Nerds and all they gave out was Mallow bars.'

Finally, Batman Mateo and Chef Lucas stole a few nibbles of the little red pepper before going their separate ways...

Then it was off to meet their friends Andrew and Isaac to hit the stores on the commercial street where they lived. But those little fingers no longer belonged to the Andrew they knew...

They belonged instead to a green martian! (And a very affectionate martian at that.)

The cries for "more candy!" became persistent, demanding, almost maniacal. Chef Lucas was headed down the path of no return...

Chef Lucas hadn't eaten in hours because he had been too excited to eat his lunch...

So the gods decided to intervene with slightly more substantial food. Luckily, Chef Lucas, Pepper Jesse and Martians Andrew and Isaac live in Bay Ridge, where there's a pizza joint on practically every block...

It was just too easy for the countless restaurant workers along the street to offer Chef Lucas a job.

A passerby was overheard saying that he had just seen Chef Boyardee! (But Chef Lucas assures us that he does not cook with preservatives or artificial ingredients or hydrogenated oils.)

Though their bellies were full, that sweet pepper was too irresistable to stop munching on!

Later they met up with Lobster Liam, also known as Lucas's second favorite cooking ingredient...

...especially freshly caught Lobster Liam.

And everyone had a great time and ate lots of candy and went to bed very late but happy.

The End."