...these are a few of his favorite things...

Jairo's latest favorite discovery is The Sound of Music -- both the movie and the soundtrack. We had noticed that he has been humming "Do, a deer" for a while, so we broke out the movie to see if he'd be interested in it, and he loved it! He sat glued to the TV for the full two hours, which surprised us given that there's a lot of adult talking in the movie, and it's all in English. But he was mesmerized, and really enjoyed the music. So we got the soundtrack, and now listen to it in the car every day. He really likes "Climb Every Mountain," and has almost memorized all of "Do, a Deer," -- it is so precious to hear him singing in his sweet little voice.

Here are a few of his other favorite things:

Movies
- Ratatouille
- Piglet's Big Movie
- Sound of Music
- Cars
- Ice Age


Music
- Sound of Music soundtrack
- Anything by Lady Gaga, especially "Alejandro" and "Bad Romance" (that's my boy!)
- Princess Fiona's theme song from Shrek
- Anything by Abba, especially "Chiquitita"
- Latin music, especially Gypsy Soul and Mystic Warriors
- "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry
- "Rock Star" by Pink
- "Break your Heart" by Taio Cruz

He's come a long way from his favorite song in Ecuador, which was "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." :)


Books
- Disney Stories (Lady & the Tramp, Jungle Book, Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh, Up, etc)
- Curious George
- Tortoise & The Hare
- Goodnight Moon


Food
- Fruit (Any kind, every meal, he can't get enough of it -- which we're so happy to oblige!)
- Cheerios
- Chicken
- Vegetables (A pleasant surprise to us that he not only eats, but asks for seconds, of squash, edamame, broccoli, etc. Though he draws the line at peppers and onions. Go figure.)
- Not surprisingly, he loves the American staples: hot dogs, pizza, tacos
- Chips and soda (A rare treat -- only for "special days." Of course, now he often tells us, "I think today is a special day.")


Toys
- Legos
- Flashlights
- Play-doh
- Our electronics (We gave him our old non-working phones, cameras and battery packs, and he loves charging them, putting batteries in and taking them out, pulling them apart to see what's inside, etc.)


Activities
- Tickling, tickling and more tickling
- Riding his new bike
- Playing tag
- Going to the pool (he's a great swimmer)
- Playing at the playground
- Watching home videos (we've been watching our Ecuador videos on weekend nights, and he loves remembering and recounting all the things we did there)

Jairo's "First Words"

This is a really fun phase with Jairo, because there are so many things he's experiencing for the first time. Eric and I are having a great time watching him learn and grow, and seeing the delight on his face with each discovery. One of his latest discoveries is the English language; he is adding words to his vocabulary at an unbelievable pace, humbling us as we recall our journey to learn Spanish. We're delighted to hear his new words every day, and we're so thankful to get to experience this unique phase of life with him.

His English progression began with individual words and then phrases that he heard us say. He's now beginning to string words together to form sentences, which is so sweet to hear. You can see him searching his mind for the nouns and verbs, and then using body language and facial expressions to fill in the gaps. And it's clear that he understands much more than what he verbalizes -- my parents speak only English with him, and he seems to understand most of what they say. I'm afraid it won't be long before he is speaking English all the time. For many reasons, it would be so good for him to retain his native language, so I'm going to try to continue speaking Spanish with him, and we're looking for opportunities to bring Spanish-speakers into his life.

Here's a look at his first words in English...

March
Mother/Father
Happy/sad (Pronounced with a Southern accent, like "say-ed" -- not sure where that came from!)
Hey!
May I have please ________? (Inserting whatever he's asking for)

April
What are you doing?
You're a little chicken! (Meaning actual chicken, not coward. He gets such a kick out of this, always full of laughter as he teases us with his favorite saying.)
Tickles
You did it! (Pointing at one of us after he burps)
Watch out
Wow!
This chicken is delicious! (April 28, his first complete sentence. Good thing he likes my cooking -- would have been a bummer if his first sentence was, "This chicken is awful!")
What happened?
"Chispy" (His attempt to say our neighbor's dog's name -- "Gypsy")

May
Don't peek
Oh my goodness!
You can do it!
Cool
1,2,3...Red! What kind of red? Big red! (His baseball team cheer)
Smells good. (Said with a mischievous grin after he "toots")
Come on, people. Let's go! (Clearly a nod to time spent in the car with his father in traffic.)
I'm hungry. (At which point he lifts up his shirt to show us his flat stomach. Conversely, when he's done eating, he lifts up his shirt and pushes out his stomach to show us how full he is.)
I am very strong.
I can do it!

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day marks the official kickoff to the summer season at my parents' lakehouse, and as always, we had a wonderful weekend there! This was Jairo's first time to visit the lake, so we were all really excited to experience it through his eyes.

We figured Jairo would like the lake, but that was an understatement! He had the best time -- he couldn't get enough of the water and all the adventures and discoveries it had to offer. Eric calculated one day that Jairo had been in the water for 10 straight hours, despite his purple lips and chattering teeth! He loved looking for turtles, baby ducks and other wildlife; fishing with his Abuelito (my dad, who may have loved this even more than Jairo did); swimming and playing in the water with his cousin Emma; and riding all the various watercraft.

We've always cherished our weekends at the lake, but now, with Jairo to share the fun with us, our time there is even more memorable!


Playing in the water




Jairo decided to jump out of his kayak and pull it...



... along with the rest of our flotilla!




Boats and rafts and jetskis, oh my!












Fishing
















Peaceful smiles -- a common sight at the lake