28 August 2009

A couple of weekends ago, we went to the mountains for Merritt's first vacation--and it snowed! Merritt wore some onesies that said, "Let it Snow," so that must have been it. Needless to say, we stayed inside and admired the view from there. Here is Merritt and his mom in front of the picture window in the cabana where we stayed in Villa la Angostura: Merritt enjoyed the five hour car ride, kicking back in his comfy seat.

Surprised Merritt!
The grainy photo below may represent Merritt's first captured grin; it's dated August 6. He looks a little sheepish or unsure of what's going on.
Some of his cutest poses happen while he's on the changing table:

On August 20, we celebrated Aunt Reagan's birthday by going to the art museum in Neuquen (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Neuquen MNBA) and looked at some interesting paintings by Ricardo Laham. Perfect for Merritt because babies supposedly like to look at high contrast shapes and images. However, take a look at what Merritt did during our cruise through the museum:
Sleeping in his Sleepy Wrap! The painting above is called Relaciones V (1979).


These last few photos are at five weeks old, playing on his hippopotamus gym mat. Tummy time! Excellent!
Finally, a real grin!
Back at home, spring comes very early to Neuquen, as evidenced by the plum blossoms on the trees in front of our house. Also pretty are my box flowers, which flourished in wintertime, and Chiana wearing Merritt's diapers!

Merritt has finally outgrown some of his clothes. We are sad to see "I Love Hugs" go into storage. He wears it one last time for Aunt Reagan:

23 August 2009

One-month Birthday, Grins and Pimples

Merritt turned one month old officially on August 13! Here are a few photos:



Some more cute pics from the past couple of weeks:





An especially groovy outfit below and in "arm monkey" action: his Baby Legs and Zutano socks.

Merritt starts to grin! On August 17, we noticed the first, real grin, but baby smiles are hard to capture. Here are a few from the past week. Now he's mimicking our smiles more predictably, especially if you tickle his chin. He loves his Hedgie shirt and his Ducky coveralls!

Some unusual modes of conveyance: the Sleepy Wrap, which he loves, and true to its name, makes him sleepy, and his faithful steed, Chiana the Boston Terrier. (Note: this is just a pose and not representative of reality; no Chianas were harmed in the staging of this photo.)


09 August 2009

Dia del Nino

Today is the Dia del Nino here in Argentina, and to celebrate, we went to a party at Judith and Mauro's house. Everyone brought their kids, and the toddlers and the bigger kids (plus the adults) played lots of games, like races where we had to sit on and pop balloons or dress kids quickly in funny clothes. It was a nice, cool, sunny day, so nice to spend it outdoors. The party was really fun and relaxing, and it was so nice to see everyone we had not seen in a long time and introduce them to Merritt!

03 August 2009

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my and Lance's ten-year wedding anniversary! Merritt also completes three weeks of age today. Here are some cute pics of him this past week:

Merritt is an arm-monkey! His pediatrician suggested this position to help relieve gas, and I think he looks like a leopard on a log.

To celebrate our anniversary, we made Thanksgiving-style dinner, complete with a homemade walnut pie (pecans aren't that common in Argentina). I weighed the pie shell with a collection of mostly foreign coins; you might see some from the United States, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.


Sleeping with his Dad today!

After a satisfying milk-snack!
He tries out his present from Uncle Louie: a Boppy baby swing.


Today with his Daddy and Chicharoni:

When Merritt was ten days old, I woke up and found the dried-up curl of an umbilical remnant on the sheets beside him. Now he has a cute little bellybutton. A few days after that, Merritt took his first bath!

Merritt learns about his dad's cell phone:

Some more cute pictures of Merritt: