Lucky they Come with Instructions*

*This post has no baby pictures.
The Horror!
But never fear, cute baby pics are in the works.

They say non-verbal communication is essential to child rearing. The image below, taken from the instruction manual of Sylvia's new bouncy chair, is the ultimate and should be stamped on the back of every parents' hand before they leave the hospital.



I'm thinking of getting a t-shirt made with it embossed on the front.

36 Years in the Making

Soon after finishing her bath Sylvia received her first visit from Nana Linda. Since she has patiently awaited the arrival of her grandchild for 36 years it was with much joy that we were able to finally bring them together. I think the pictures say the rest.











I think this might make up for the time I put firecrackers in her tomatoes and blew up the entire summer crop.

Not a pressure washer in sight.

There is nothing like a bath to make one feel brand new. And if you're already brand new then a bath at least makes you feel less sticky. Since day five seemed like a good time to introduce Sylvia to the joys of bathing we trooped into the kitchen to watch a master at work.

~interlude~

Once again I must count my blessings and note that Aurelia is an experienced professional who has bathed many babies. So instead of the following images being a documentary on an unfolding disaster complete with me, laundry detergent, a pressure washer, and a mile of toilet paper we find a pleasant sequence that starts with a happy baby and ends with a cleaner, happy baby.

For the record it should be noted that I actually gave Sylvia her first bath at the tender age of 27.5 minutes. It should also be noted that I was guided by two nurses and was in no danger of actually using a pressure washer (though I did pack one just in case).

The Dangers of Leche Addiction

Yes, you've heard about that dreaded affliction that strikes at anytime....LECHE ADDICTION. Those who suffer from this scourge of the little class can be identified by the following signs:

1. They crave leche at all hours, regardless of the sleep patterns of those around them.
2. They become irritable if not provided with leche exactly when they want it.
3. After consuming immoderate amounts of leche they enter a stupor "leche drunk" and look a bit silly.

See below for a handy clip out image to aid you in diagnosis.


When not consuming leche, the addict may be found visiting the doctor's office where the following phases can be heard:

1. "Her heart sounds perfect."
2. "She's lost some weight but that's to be expected and nothing to worry about since the leche has come in."
3. "Look at all that hair!"

Finally, those who love a leche addict may discover the car seat's powerful soporific effect a tempting storage solution. It should be used in moderation and only under the careful monitoring of the fashion police (look at those pants!).

Who is Sylvia?

Sylvia and her entourage are doing well (even if the latter are a bit sleep deprived). She gets more beautiful with each passing hour. Since pictures don't tell the whole story, here are a few fun facts sure to embarrass her in the future:

Day 1: 3 diapers, 6 trips on the leche train
Day 2: 4 diapers, 8 trips on the leche train
Day 3 (so far): 3 diapers, 7 trips on the leche train

momma and baby enjoy a little chat

grandma baby + comfy chair = contentment

It's great to have her home. Susan and Stephen have been wonderful, making sure that there's warm food and open arms when we need a break.

One last item. When I told my mother the name of her grandchild she recollected a stanza from Shakespeare's "The Two Gentleman of Verona". I've reproduced it below and here's a link to a fragment of a musical version.

Who Is Silvia?

Who is Silvia? what is she,

That all our swains commend her?

Holy, fair, and wise is she;

The heaven such grace did lend her,

That she might admirèd be.

Is she kind as she is fair?

For beauty lives with kindness.

Love doth to her eyes repair,

To help him of his blindness,

And, being helped, inhabits there.

Then to Silvia let us sing,

That Silvia is excelling;

She excels each mortal thing

Upon the dull earth dwelling:

To her let us garlands bring.

William Shakespeare

Presento Sylvia Joy Hidalgo

Without further ado...

SYLVIA JOY HIDALGO

Born:
APRIL 22, 2008 (Earth Day)
3:43 am
Portland, Oregon

Weight:
7lb 6oz

Length:
19 inches

We in Oregon love you all and can't wait for you to meet our little one.

And now we're going to bed.

78 Degrees and Sunny

Chris, Aurelia's bro, winged into town this last weekend (April 12-13) to participate in the 79th annual meeting of the Pacific Sociological Conference Association where he and a colleague presented on some work they did in New Orleans (where he lives) last year. Chris works for Tulane coordinating student volunteers and community organizations so that the former gain valuable real-world experience and the latter obtain work help they otherwise could not afford. The specific topic of his presentation related to a neighborhood survey undertaken by Tulane Students for a New Orleans aid organization. The door to door canvassing was done by the students freeing up organization funds.

After his Saturday presentation, Chris, Aurelia, me, and some of our friends retired to Navarre on 28th street for some tasty brunch morsels.


Saturday was one of those days in Portland where the clouds part and the day is warm and sunny. False spring to some but appreciated by all. The three of us took advantage of the fine weather and headed to Washington Park to walk the paths and sit in the daisies. Beautiful.

Baby Birthday Betting Pool

Let's bring this kid into the world right-with a little interstate gambling!

$5 gets you a chance to win big. Just let me know on what day you think the baby will arrive and if you're the closest you get all the money. Remember, the official due date is April 28th.

Rules: 1. One entry per person. 2. One day per person. 3. All disputes resolved by Aurelia (as the new momma-what she says-goes.)

Entries:
Aurelia- April 24th (wishful thinking perhaps?)
Susan-May 1st
Stephen-May 2
Linda- April 23
Victoria-April 26th
Christi Reed- April 28th
Miguel-April 30th
Chris-April 13th
Lisa-April 17th (do they know something we don't?)
Brick-April 27

Woo hoo!

Baby Showah (if you're from Boston)

Saturday morning found Susan and Victoria (who had flown in from AZ) and Christi preparing for a baby shower for our soon to be bigger family. As only my second baby shower (attending my buddy Jake's a few months ago being my first) I did my best to stay out of the way. We spent the morning cleaning the house and setting up chairs and tables. The party really got started when Christ, below, arrived with tasty morsels and adult beverages.


As 2 pm grew near we finished up and started drinking (except for those with child who had to content themselves with sparking water and juice).


We're lucky to have met so many good people in Portland who were kind enough to give up a bit of their Saturday to wish our little one well with a few drinks and food. The crowd included neighbors, friends from work and even one former tenant. To keep them entertained Victoria and Christi had everyone bring a baby picture and then challenged the group to identify who was who. As most newborn pictures are similar (large heads, big ears and only moderate hair) it was challenging and the top scorer only managed to identify 8 out of 15.


One of the best parts of the shower, and of any party in my opinion, was the kids. Nina and Jake brought their four month old Akio and Evan brought his parents Lisa and Adam. Akio, as a four month old, was alert and spent some time doing walking practice with his dad. Evan is a full of energy cat so he and I hit if off well. We cruised the party as a unit and later he helped AJ and I open gifts.




After bellies were full of baby back ribs, baby carrots, baby swiss cheese and baby crab cakes, baby pizza, peas-in the pod (do you detect a certain pattern) we moved to the living room.

Vic was mc and Vanna White as the baby picture game progressed.

Evan helps us with a particularly resistant bit of wrapping.

Hopefully the only medical apparatus we'll ever need.

Our buddies Derek, Kevin and Wendy.

Uber cute! This kid is ready to be President.

The generosity of our friends was overwhelming and I won't even try to list the many beautiful things we received. I'll just say again that we're lucky people and I hope we'll have a chance in the future to return the kindness shown to us. Thanks everyone!

Pillows and Prosciutto

Babies are starting to be the essential theme of our daily lives. (I'm sure all you parents all are thinking, "You ain't seen nothin' yet brother."). We read books about babies, listen to podcasts about babies, go to parties with baby themes and talk about babies at the water cooler. Even our bed has been taken over by pillows to prop up babies.

(Note: 2 pillows are missing from this collection)

Not that I'm complaining. I'm, as the English say, "Over the Moon," and actually looking forward to the baby shower that takes place soon at our house. To get her baby shower muscles in form Aurelia was invited to her friend and co-worker Vanessa's for the first of three baby showers. The theme was High Tea and hats and sass were required.

Tea divas- Molly and Vanessa (r)

Fun, cake, prosciutto wrapped dates and tea were had by all. (I stayed home and watched soccer like a good neanderthal).

Lovely Baby Bumps

Meg and Brick jetted up this weekend (Feb. 9-10) from San Fran to visit his family in Willamina. On their way out of town we were able to connect with them and his mother Rose for a few hours. Brick whipped up a very tasty quiche lorraine and we ate too much coffee cake. Meg and Brick are also expecting about five weeks after us so there was some immediate bump comparison. The verdict: both look awesome. (Like, what am I gonna say?).

Aurelia and I took this as an opportunity to pass a few gifts on to our buddies.

Brick is clearly excited.

The sweater was hand made by Aurelia
and has little elephant buttons.
Cute!

Lovely Baby Bumps al jardin.

Visit from Linda - Part 1

Hey! It's been way too long since the last update. AJ and I have been busy at work, studying for the architecture licensing exam (ARE) and enjoying the company of my mom.


Linda arrived on Friday (Jan. 18th) and we had a pleasant evening stroll followed by AJ's tasty stuffed winter squash. The next morning my mom broke out the real reason for the trip: goodies for the little chicken in the oven. Evidently she's been occupying some of her newly free time (being retired has its benefits) with sewing . So we dipped our hand into the bag (actually a pillow case that once served as the sheets for my crib) and pulled out her handiwork.

Made with scraps left over from a quilt she made for me long ago.
Yes, I am the pearl.

A sweater knitted by my father's mother that, because of its color, was never used.

Baby blanket...check.

"For Chuck"
You gotta be careful what you nickname you kids.

More on the rest of Linda's visit next time.

19 week ultrasound

Aurelia and I just came back from our 19 week ultrasound which is known as the "Anatomical ultrasound." The technician, who turned out to be a a friend of ours, spent most of the time scanning the wand around checking for anatomical mileposts that indicate normal development. The result was a resounding "perfect," much to the relief of AJ and I.

A little left foot.

movie-little one from the side

But the anatomical scan is also when the sex of the baby can often be determined (unless the baby is cranky or demure and refuses to show their stuff). Our child had no such compunctions and let us know it will be a...
.
spoiler alert-stop reading if you don't want to know
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A little girl! Woohoo!!!!!!!

The Little Explorer

Aurelia and I are extremely excited to report that the Hidalgo family is expecting another addition during the spring of this year. We are stoked, tickled pink, jazzed, buggin', worked up, on fire, keyed up and every other synonym for excited that you can imagine.

We are still a a few weeks away from the second set of sonograms that will tell us about the sex of the baby (though we are not 100% decide yet if we will find out) but here's a picture that was taken in early October. For scale, the baby is about the length of your thumb (6cm).

Whistle theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey here

This image left me speechless as I was unprepared for the resolution of the scan. I was expecting a grayish blur that required a great deal of imagination to decipher but instead we got to see individual fingers, toes, vertebrae and proto-ribs. Things are looking very good, besides some morning sickness, so we are proceeding with the important parenting tasks of securing a Red Sox onesie and selection of a video camera system.