Help Me Decide!

One of the local publications geared towards South Florida families is holding a “Cover Kids” photo contest.  OF COURSE, I plan on entering a picture of Magglio.  Grand prize is his picture on the cover of the magazine! 

Please help me decide on which picture to enter – you can leave your favorite in the “comments” section of my blog.  (Read more about the contest here.) 

1.) 

2.)

3.)

4.)

Bath time!

We used to have a plastic bathtub for Magglio to bathe in, but he’s outgrown out.  Now he takes his bath in our kitchen sink!

Here’s another picture, after we washed his hair.

Here are some pictures I took on Father’s Day.

and

and

Forgive me, but I’m going to get all sappy for a second.  I remember clearly at the hospital, the day Magglio was born, when they wheeled him into my room.  They had wrapped him so snug and tight in those hospital receiving blankets - Edgar said he looked like a little burrito.  But what struck me the most was Magglio’s big, beautiful dark eyes – they were so wide and alert and clear for such a little guy.  He stared at me and I stared at him and we both just stared at each other in complete awe.  

And now, even though six months have come and gone, my heart still does little sommersaults every time I see those eyes light up. 

Which, thankfully, is often.

6 Months!

Magglio turned 6 months old on Sunday!  Where does the time go??  I’m still trying to figure that out.  Magglio’s first tooth broke through on Sunday, too.  We had an appointment with our new pediatrician this week and Magglio now weighs 19.5 lbs!  He’s in the 75th percentile for weight and the 50th for height. 

Here are some pictures:

And here he is, watching daddy play his PS3.

Ok, Erica…here is Magglio in his U of M outfit that you sent. Sorry for the delay, sis!

And here he is, in some green and white:

He recognizes the camera

Magglio is a smart boy.  We’ve taken so many pictures of him that he recognizes the camera and breaks out into a grin every time he sees it.  Photogenic, that kid.

So how ’bout that mohawk?  It’s amazing what a little mouse can do. 

Here is  Magglio on his play mat, sent to him via Italy, from a work colleague of my mother.  Thank you!

I’ve decided that whenever someone sends Magglio a gift, I’ll take a picture of him with the gift and post it on my blog. 

Even if said gift is a matching University of Michigan outfit sent by Magglio’s Aunt Erica, a UofM graduate, and mommy is a Michigan State alum.  Mommy will be the big girl and take the picture and post it, no matter how much her eyes burn from the sight of that maize and blue. 

I’ll leave you with a picture I took of yesterday’s breaktaking sunset.  We’ve been having some horrible weather – severe thunderstorms, hail, flooding – bascially mini-hurricanes.  But yesterday the sky exploded in pinks, purples and blues and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.  Enjoy.

 

As promised … Photos!

This is from Magglio’s prunes yesterday – I think his favorite food so far! And don’t miss the video following this post!

Magglio eating prunes

This is just toooooooo cute.  (Warning, there is sound involved, so if you don’t have a lot of privacy at work turn off the sound.) The best part is around the 1:20 mark, when Magglio starts going, “Mmmmm!” You can hear me cracking up in the background.

 

 

I took some GREAT pictures, too, but those will have to wait until tomorrow, because I’m TIRED!

Magglio does NOT like peas.

Not such a surprise that my boy doesn’t like peas.  I mean, who does?

So far, he’s tried carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches and today peas.  Out of all that variety, I think he likes mommy’s milk the best. 

Here are some more pictures of Magglio:

He’s so strong; he’s starting to “stand” as long as he has something to hold onto.

And this last picture, I just love the look on his face.  I feel like he’s thinking,”Watch out mommy!  I’m going to be one bad boy when I get bigger!”  Bad meaning adorbale, active, curious, lovable and independent, of course.

The Salinas Family Rocks!

I’m always curious as to who is reading my blog.  I’d love to hear what you think.  Yes, YOU. 

I’ve created a brand-spanking new gmail account to reach us:

TheSalinasFamilyRocks@gmail.com

Send me a message.  I’d love to hear from you! 

(starts singing)  … Whooooooo are you? ….  Who who, who who? …. I really wanna know…..!

Starting Solids

At Magglio’s 4 month appt, his pediatrician reccomended starting solids.  I was a little nervous at first, only because I was worried it would effect our nursing relationship.  I was (and still am) afraid it would lean to weaning.  But curiosity got the better of me, and a few weeks ago I started mixing rice cereal with expressed breastmilk and serving it to Magglio a few hours before bedtime.  He loved it!  He giggled and smiled throughout the whole feed.  Ok, Magglio, I can take a hint.  You’re ready for more solids, aren’t you?  

Yesterday at the grocery store, I picked up some stage 1 baby food – carrots and sweet potatoes.  Today was his first day of carrots.  Here’s how it went….

At first, Magglio was confused.  What in the heck is this stuff?

But after he warmed up to the taste, and it was back to his happy, bubbly self:

 

In related news, Magglio is now sitting up by himself.  I am so proud of him.

Such a strong boy! 

Edgar put a cartoon on the laptop the other day, and Magglio thought it was the neatest thing ever.

 

We’re still waiting on teeth, but I bet they’ll break through within the next month or so.  I found a pediatrician here in Miami Beach and made an appointment for June.  I can’t wait for Mr. Charming himself to romance her with his cute little smile.  After all, his middle name is Romeo. 

First day at the pool!

Reason #1,273 that I love living in South Beach: Flamingo Park.  We live only 4 blocks away and I’ve taken Magglio several times.  Inside this lovely park: a children’s play area, tennis courts, dog run, soccer field, baseball diamond, basketball court, and a public swimming pool.  The pool is FREE for Miami Beach residents.  Free to me equals “where do I sign up?” 

Here is Magglio in his orange swim trunks:

 

We sat in the “kiddie pool” together and Magglio kept staring at the water.  He didn’t cry, he didn’t squeal, he just sat there and stared. 

He’s the strong silent type. 

In other news, we took our dog, Chula, to the groomer.  The barber (what do they call barbers for dogs?) was like, “How much do you want us to take off?”  And I was like, “All of it!”  I didn’t want her completely bald, I explained, but just really short.  It’s HOT here, and poor Chula has layers and layers of fur.  Plus, she sheds.  A lot.  Which is annoying. 

Chula used to look like this:

Now she looks like this:

Maybe you can’t tell the difference, but she looks like a totally different dog.  She has a few brown spots on her back that we never knew existed, since they were always covered up by fur.  I think she’s happier now with her summer cut.