feeding phoebe

Silly guy, loves the cat but the cat's ambivalent about him. The fastest way to Phoebe's heart is through her stomach. In other words, she'll be getting much fatter and she'll let Gus climb all over her.

The holidays were good, Gus was spoiled but not too much. He loves all his new toys, spends hours talking with his "green baby" or Baby Tad. He loves to sing along with her. He mows the lawn alongside the carpet sweeper and plays with his squirties in the tub. He scoots around on his new little scooter (and sometimes the green baby goes for a ride). He's learning to draw on his Aquadoodle - which is an amazing invention obviously with parents in mind - no mess! The pen is filled with water and has a special writing surface. You can also use sponges and other shapes - just get them wet. He just loves it. You can see him in some cute holiday clothes on flickr (see previous post) in his Uncle Warren's new house.

His latest big milestone is mimicry - he talks all the time, tries to say whatever we say (which will prove dangerous soon enough). His favourite words: baby, dip-dip-deep (ketchup), and very well articulated "mummy" and "daddy". "Up", of course, comes up in conversation frequently. He understands almost everything it seems. With language, unfortunately, comes whining which he is doing right now.
He loves The Simpsons. He'll walk around with the TV remote demanding "simp-sees, simp-sees". and he gets quite annoyed on commercial break. He understands that when the credits are rolling, the show is over as he always respnds with "bye-bye". Our little TV addict.

He is generally quite well mannered - spent and hour and a half in the passport office today and he was great. I don't know why all the hype about passport delays - it seems for only $10, we could put a rush on it. The office was busy, but there were no hoardes of panicked travellers heading to the US under the new "regulations". We'll have his passport on Jan 12. Just in time.

Speaking of which, we are slowly getting prepared for the adventure. Passport for Gus today. Travel Clinic on Jan 3. Darren bought some swim shorts today, I might need a second swimsuit - apparently "swimwear" is appropriate attire all day, all the time in Puerto Escondido! I hope to find some sandals before we go too - tough going since it's winter here.

Oaxaca city seems to be settling down, although I am sure the struggle is not over. Corrupt politicians are still in power, and not much has changed. I am really looking forward to revisitng that city. It'll be different with all the grafitti on the buildings.

Dinner time. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday.

xmas 2006 - a photoset on Flickr

new slideshow!!! click here to see the xmas 2006 photoset on Flickr

40 sleeps until Mexico!

Days Between Dates (Date Difference Calculator)
if you ever need to calculate days to go...

Shade

The aforementioned new landscaping. THIS RED TEXT MEANS CLICK HERE!
Further reports tell me the weather is spectacular...man, snow is for chumps.

our home in Puerto Escondido

I'm starting to get serioulsy excited. 45 more sleeps. I can officially say "next month I will be in Mexico". I hardly feel prepared although I have successfully made an appointment for Gus to get his jabs before we go. We still need travel insurance, and a passport for Gus - or some sort of travel docs. Here are a few photos of the casita:

palapa on the roof:

I certainly can't complain, reports from my sister (who is already there) say that the pool has been fixed up with some new palm trees and umbrellas, just in time for us to arrive and relax.

Mask+Cape, Lucha Libre kids'

Mask+Cape, Lucha Libre kids'
While in Mexico, one of our objectives will be to find a Lucha Libre (NOT Nacho Libre) costume for Gus. The other objectives will involve sitting on the beach, cerveza poolside and beans, rice and tortillas.