Fall 2010

This Fall we have been super busy. This has been far the busiest semester in regards to school. I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. In September we went to Oktoberfest in Addison and Ipolito and his friend Genesis had so much fun (but I think their Papi's had more)! He stayed up late that night until 1115 and partied hard! He rode some rides there with Papi and had a smile on his face that lit up the sky. We also went to a the YMCA Trunk or Treat with some of our boy cousins and cousin Marrisa. We walked there and he would have preferred to walk but Mama was not walking with him for 1 mile. He had fun trunk or treating and he loved looking at all the other kids in their costume. Our little guy was the cutest monkey there! While there Ipolito also seemed to get bitten by mosquitoes all over his head around his hair line. Poor thing! I guess they just love sweet little boys. The next week Jose and I took him to the Spring Creek Farm pumpkin patch. His eyes were so big when we got there! He absolutely loves pumpkins. He had so much fun feeding the goats or as he referred them the "cows." He took his time picking the right pumpkin too...I think he preferred rolling them around and he was biased to those without stems!! Lastly we went on a hayride and he just had so much fun pointing out all of the "cows" aka horses. After we were done there we went to Bucca di Beppo for a late lunch with Papi before he went to work. Ipolito ate so well!

The Friday before Halloween we went to our cousin's Halloween Carnival at their school. It was so much fun to dress Ipolito up again as a monkey. He had fun playing the carnival games over and over. He has amazingly good aim for a 23 month old! People kept commenting on it and he had so much fun. Papi surprised us by being off for the night too so he got to come and have some fun too!

The Saturday before Halloween we went to Boo at the Zoo in Ft. Worth with Cowboy Keenan, his wife Margarita, and their daughter Genesis. It was our first time to take Ipolito to the zoo. He of course enjoyed seeing the monkey's, the elephants, the fish, and the bears. He did not want to get too close because he was little afraid, but all in all he had a great time. We went Trick or Treating there and played carnival games. Ipolito surprised us again with his great aim and love for candy. Afterwards we went to eat hamburgers, french fries, chicken strips, and milkshakes at Pappas. Not a healthy dinner but a good one.

For Halloween we had our 2nd Annual Flores Trick or Treat party with all of our cousins and our friend, Angela and her son Xavier at our house. We had pizza before then suited up all of the kids and went house to house! Papi went with us this year too so he could see Ipolito Trick or Treat. It is funny because by this time he knew what candy was and that the good stuff was being handed out. You see he has never been given candy or too many sweets until this weekend. It was so cut to hear him say, "Where's my puntkin?" when we would arrive at a house. He would stick it out and then immediately dig in it for something to eat. He wasn't picky either....it didn't matter if it had paper or was in a box b/c he tried to eat that as well. As soon as we got home the candy was put away for his pinata. We sure got plenty of use out of our costume this year. I think my money was well spent.

Ipolito has grown so much in the last few months. He speaks so much and says short sentences. Everything round is ball and his favorite "ball" is grapes. He could eat them anytime or anyplace. We go through about two bunches a week. He loves eating pancakes, cereal (Honeynut Cheerios), fruit, yogurt, Danimals, or oatmeal for breakfast. For his other meals he isn't really all that picky but he is not a big red meat eater. He loves to eat and will actually tell you, "I want to eat" when he is hungry. He loves drinking water, milk, the occasional juice, and V8 Splash. He loves all fruit but of course prefers grapes. He also loves cherry tomatoes and cheese quite a bit. He loves spaghetti, beans, cheese, and pizza. For my birthday my brother was messing with him and he told him, "No...you watch football" and pointed at the TV.

He loves reading and our favorite book this fall have still been "Goodnight Moon," "Night Night Prayer" and "Goose and Duck Find a Pumpkin." He loves all of them points out pumpkins everywhere we go. He also knows some of his letters such as A, E, O, U, C, M, T, and B. He will point them out as I drive. He has been doing this since the summer. I am also told he is very friendly and lovable especially with the kids and their parents at the sitter's house. Of course I agree but I am biased.

Our biggest challenge this Fall has been Ipolito's bed time. He for some reason does not like to go to bed anymore. For the past 4 weeks he has cried as soon as the time comes for me to turn off the light and put his aquarium on. It started with him crying for 1 to 1.5 hours at a time before tiring out and falling asleep. Then the time went down to 45 minutes, then 30, then 15, then 10. All of a sudden this past weekend he bangs on the door and flips out even more. He will stay up and make a mess of his room and just cry. As soon as one of us gets him or tries to calm him down he is fine but if we put him in the bed he becomes stiff and screams and cries. We have tried rocking him to sleep and then putting him in his bed but as soon as he touches the mattress he stiffens, wakes, up and flips out. The only thing that has worked has been letting him sleep with us. The only thing is, is Jose and I are TOTALLY AGAINST this. We both love our sleep and enjoy our bed. We have tried putting his mattress on the floor but he does the exact same thing: stiffens and flips out. We are at a loss. So right now the last 3 nights he has been sleeping with us. If you have any suggestions I am up for them. We really don't want him sleeping with us.

Stay tuned for the 2 year old birthday bash, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!