It's been a while since my last update and a lot has transpired in the last four weeks. We attended our Godson Matthew's Baptism, Grandma Myriam retired after 28 years of service, Emma got sick... again, and we went to North Carolina for 10 days. Let's get to it!

On March 19th, we attended our Godson Matthew's Baptism. It was a beautiful ceremony held at the same Church that Emma was Baptized at. Matthew's older brother had been Baptized there as well three years prior. Rob and Lissette have been close friends of ours for the last decade and are like family to us. Elena and I were extremely honored to be selected as Matthew's Godparents and proudly fulfilled our spiritual commitment on this very special day.

Elena, Emma and I went on a picnic to a local park in our area. We had a fun time together and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Elena and Emma looked beautiful so I snapped a bunch of pictures of them together.

On March 30th, Grandma Myriam retired after 28 years of service. I stayed home to take care of Emma while Elena attended her retirement party. Elena and I are so very happy for her achieving this great milestone and look forward to more visits.

Emma took ill for the second time since her birth and was once again back on medicine. This time her congestion was accompanied by a cough and preceded a trip to North Carolina. We took Emma to the pediatrician twice before departing to make sure she was healthy enough to travel. On Monday April 3rd, we took Emma to the hospital per Doctor's orders to perform some X-rays and a Nose Swab to check for RSV which is a respiratory illness common to children. The results came back negative and the next day we were on a plane to North Carolina.

This was Emma's first flight and our first time traveling with an infant. It was quite a nerve-racking experience with the added overhead of a car seat, stroller, portable crib, and hungry baby. Getting through security was no picnic either but we made it through with minimal disruption. Children under two years of age can fly free on their mother's lap, but after reading some stuff on the internet I got a little spooked and splurged for a ticket so that Emma would be assured her own seat and I could strap her in her car seat. It gave me and Elena an added peace of mind knowing that she would be properly secured throughout the flight. My other big concerns were keeping Emma's ears open during ascension/descention. If you have ever napped during take-offs or landings you know the excruciating pain that can be caused by not clearing your ears through swallowing or yawning. If you haven't had the privilege of experiencing this imagine the worst earache imaginable. Needless to say I was very concerned that Emma would suffer greatly if we did not get her to swallow at the appropriate times. To accomplish this we had to time her feeding with our ascension to 30,000 feet. If we fed her too soon she might not want to eat the entire way up, or may finish her milk before we reach our cruising altitude. To complicate matters, Elena did not have much bottled milk available for both the take-off and landing so we had to limit her consumption by cutting her off periodically on the way up and the way down so the milk would last. Talk about stressful. In any event, Elena did a magnificent job of pacing Emma's drinking so we had enough for the flight. My other concern was that Emma might not want to stay in her car seat throughout the flight and would instead prefer to cry loudly thus disturbing those around us making for a long and uncomfortable flight. Thankfully the engine noise put Emma right to sleep and she slumbered for the duration of the flight.

During our trip to North Carolina Emma got to meet her Grandma Lourdes and Great Uncle Mayi for the first time. We had a nice Dinner with Lourdes at a cute pizza shop called "Mellow Mushroom" in Durham. The food was delicious and the ambiance was extremely pleasant.

It was earlier in the day when we caught up with Tio Mayi. As a result we had lunch together at Cafe Carolina in Cary. We all had yummy roast beef sandwiches. All but Emma and Elena that is. Elena ordered a Chef's salad and Emma had milk.

We had a wonderful time in North Carolina. The people are so much more considerate then they are here. On the road and in person. It's nice to see people being courteous and respectful to one another. When driving, nobody tail-gates, and the "Me first" mentality does not exist as it does here in South Florida. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere. One we already miss.

Elena has continued introducing Emma to various vegetables in a careful and methodical manner in an effort to determine what foods are safe for her to eat. In the last few weeks Emma has eaten sweet potato, squash, & peas without any adverse effects. Elena is good about keeping me involved by video taping the introduction of each new food and playing it for me when I get home so I don't miss any of Emma's firsts. How nice is that! I love that woman!!!

We want to congratulate Ebby and Albert as well as Tina and Rob on their pregnancies. We look forward to meeting both your sons. We wish you all the best!

Developmentally

I really thought Emma would be sitting up on her own by now but she is still struggling to make that happen. With help she will pull herself up holding your fingers but she still does not have the abs to do it alone. She has quite a sense of humor and can discern comedic pantomimes and expressions that me and her mother make and responds to them with boisterous laughter. If I have not said so already, her eye color has come in. By my estimation her eyes are a light brown, but her Mother and Grandma Myriam swear they are hazel. Emma is a very happy, smiley baby. I am glad because I enjoy happiness and laughter. Within the last week Emma began pulling the stuffed animals that dangle above her Exersaucer Emma now weighs 19 lbs.

Bonus Movie!!!

I placed this down here at the bottom because it is a hefty download. About 14 Meg. I converted it to shockwave file format in the hope that by the time you get here it has already been downloaded in the background. If you are on a dial-up connection you might want to give it a little time like 15 minutes or so for the download to complete. The following video was taken April 14th when Emma was five months and three weeks old. I am being embarrassingly silly and Emma is cracking up. Enjoy!