Baths continue to govern my happy time. 

Christmas: I don't know what it is, but I LIKE it! 

Mas Hiding!!!!

I have been remiss in posting pictures to illustrate my inexorable ascent into adulthood, so I am starting below with a bunch from this past fall and will later add more that document all of my Christmas shenanigans. Meanwhile, I grow more bilingual by the day and like to mix it up a bit - preferibly in almost every sentence. Some of my favorite expressions include, "otros shoes," "antes broken, ahora no," and, most importantly, "mas hiding," which refers to my favorite pastime, which involves me directing people where to hide so that I can go and "find" them. I'm starting to speak more and more Spanish now that I am multi-syllabic, but I still have a few good phrases in English, like: "silly papa," "papa big, mama little," and the all-purpose "off, OFFFFFFFF!" which I employ whenever I want somebody to take me out of the hellhole that is my crib. I also have everybody's sexual identity down except my own - identifying them as either "nena" or "nene," but I continue to firmly believe that I fall into the latter category. I guess that must be because I dominate my corner of the universe. I also like to say, "Hello," "Bye-bye," and "Ciao-ciao" to whomever I happen to encounter in the street. I think that any small object should be sufficient to hold to your ear and communicate with whichever person you are looking to speak with and firmly believe that at any given moment, on any given computer screen, I can see and speak to my Grandma Shiela. In short, I UNDERSTAND technology.

Running amok in my study...Impossible to find anything in there. 

I continue to demonstrate gardening prowess. 

Spending a few minutes in my Papa's shoes. 

Chillin' on the back porch after runnin' ball. 

I recently became tri-podal, thanks to a Winnie-the-Pooh-inspired multimedia vehicle. 

...and did my best to assimilate through observation. 

I went to my first garden party a few months back... 

Have Shoes, Will Travel

I think that was the title of a tune from the Sonics' epic 1965 tome on life and how to live it, but in my case it's more of a generalized philosophy. Just the other day, I was awake and about and ready to ramble and my parents were not so - well aware through casual observation how one comes and goes from the place that I call home - I executed a logical action plan and opened the door myself, shoes in hand for when they became essential, and went out into the wild indoor yonder to wait for the elevator like I've seen my parents do many times. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am what's known in the trade as a Hot Ticket and I was only apprehended due to my inability to not talk aloud to myself and let my echo give me away. Nonetheless, I've added a whole 'nother dimension to my menace, which means I am more closely watched, which means that my needs are more closely catered to than ever before. It's always good to force everybody else's hand before you even think about your real move.

Meanwhile, it's been a long time since I've written, I know. Nearly 20% of my entire life has gone by since then. And looking back, I realize that I didn't even get around to commenting on my short-lived, but harrowing day-care experience. In short, the woman in charge looked like Phyllis Diller on a bad make-up day and it was baby reform school all around. I spent six LONG days in their "care" and I made my point so adequately that the experiment was actually curtailed in the middle of the second week. I achieved this primarily by hollering and wailing each morning when I was being dropped off by Daddy and then feigning a catatonic trance when they finally came to recover me in the early afternoon. I'm afraid that I was just not ready to mingle with other babies on somebody else's terms.

Since then, I've gotten better at interaction with people who aren't my parents, grandparents or other immediate family, and I often treat other children with respect and cariño. I hug other babies, throw them a bone in the form of a toy I'm not using, and don't hesitate to remind strangers of what sex they are by approaching them with my arm and index finger extended yelling "nene" or "nena," although I do make mistakes from time to time. Regardless, it's still a vast improvement over when I used to greet people with the all purpose, "EYES."

I'm also ramping up for Christmas and, while I still don't quite get it, I appreciate very much the big and little lights that seem to be everywhere and get distraught if I am anywhere that is Christmas tree-less. I am as bilingual as they come and speak better Spanglish than a Cuban hooker in Miami. Spanish is gradually taking hold of my vocabulary, but English enjoyed a big head start thanks to its plethora of monosyllabic verbs and nouns. My Mama is still my indispensable person, though I think and speak of everybody else I know often and take Saturday and Sunday naps with my Papa. I love to be outside as much as possible, think that Barcelona winters are laughably mild, and much prefer playing with water, compact discs and DVDs, money, gravity, and kitchen utensils than anything Imaginarium could possibly throw my way. So - that's it for now - tomorrow I'll update the aesthetic side of my existence with some pictures.