The Mysterious Case of the Flying Bowl

Thanksgiving Giggles

Emilio's First

As on most mornings, Emilio started the morning of his first birthday by waking me up, and as on most mornings, I lifted him out of his crib and found a place for him under the covers on the bed beside me. Once there, he soon went back to sleep. And so did I (making me the human snooze button, I guess).

I love this morning ritual.

On most days, it is followed by another morning ritual of bed-play in which the sheets, duvet, and bedspread become cave walls, tent sides, submarine windows and/or premature night skies.

But Emilio had a doctor's appointment on his birthday, so Mari made sure we all got up in time to eat breakfast and catch the bus we needed to take to get there in time--which we did.

Before we left, Mari showed me the happy-birthday photos Emilio had been receiving that morning from Spain, France and Argentina. More were on the way, she had been told, I recommended that she put them on her blog as a way to say "thanks" and "keep 'em coming."

At the Ravenswood Medical Clinic, Emilio measured in at 23 lbs. 7 ounces (10.6 kilos) and 29.5 inches (74 cm), which, Dr. Samayoa informed us, puts him near the 50th percentile in both measures.

Dr. Samayoa confirmed our sense that Emilio is in perfect health. Then, to make sure that he stays that way, he asked the nurse to give him two innoculation shots, one in each thigh. Ouch!

The nurse, who was the first to sing happy birthday to Emilio, told us that the mumps/measles/rubella shot stings a little after the initial pinch. Emilio confirmed as much. The experience was painful for us all, but Mari had brought a bottle of formula with us and she hooked Emilio up soon after the shots were given and that seemed to help.

When we made our way out to the lobby to check out, we realized that it was 11:30, which made Emilio exactly one year old (see photo at right).

When we left the clinic, I helped Mari and Emi onto the bus and then I took the El downtown to get my work hours in. Over the course of the day, I was able to check in to Mari's blog and see more of the avalanche of congratulatory photos that were coming in for Emilio.

Gifts had been coming in, too, I found out when I got home. When Mom came to visit a few weeks ago, she gave us a toy-purchasing check (which we have not yet fully used up). Earlier this week, Emilio received an Italian-designed Modo Activity Car 2000 from Brian, Lyndsae and Olivia (in the video clips below you can see its tempting Emilio away from other gifts) and two sweet cards from Ruth and Haley in Plano.

We waited until Emilio's birthday to open the gift which his babysitter Emily brought him on Thursday--a beautiful collection of stacking cubes from the Land of Nod and a bounceable rubber coil (see second video clip below). And--good timing--a gift from Lisa and Melissa arrived on the day as well: a pair of stylin', long-sleeved onesies; cargo pants; and several engrossing books (see the video immediately below).

On Saturday, more congratulatory photos (and on Tuesday, a"Mirror Pound-a-Ball") came in from Maria Estrada--a fellow blogger--and her family, and when we met with Nathaniel Lewis and his peeps at Sweet Occasions on Clark, Emilio reeled in still more gifts from the Lewis Crew: more stacking blocks, a ball-sorting machine with accompanying hammer and two sports-themed long-sleeved shirts. And on Sunday, when Emilio had his first play date--with Robert, the son of a Romanian couple Mari and I met in the birthing class we took at Weiss Hospital--he added more winter clothes to his wardrobe (and, I am told, had a blast playing torero to Robert's toro).

Other than Mari taking a day from work to be with Emilio all day, we didn't make special celebratory plans for Emilio's birthday, but the day and the weekend could hardly have turned out better if we had. To all of you who helped make Emilio's first birthday and his first year a great one, I send you deepest thanks from the Ruiz-Benton collective.

E and L Take a Dip