End Of The Month Picture Dump

Here are some random pictures and short stories that didn't make the cut for their very own blog post in November. I've posted some on Facebook, but others haven't been seen by most. Enjoy...

Ezra and I took a walk along the Washougal River one chilly and dry day while Armando and Esperanza were off together doing something. Last time we were here, he was in my bellyEsperanza didn't have school the week of Thanksgiving. For the first time ever, I really struggled to find things to entertain her with. For some reason she's become even more needy than usual (I didn't think it was possible, but she proved me wrong) . So I dumped out some beads and buttons, gave her a set of chopstix and told her to pick everything up. She had a lot of fun with it! And she didn't loose interest after only a few minutes. AND, it builds fine motor skills. Another Esperanza entertainment activity: glueing anything and everything onto a piece of paper to spell her name. I told her to go read a book
Playsilks provide a whole new world of entertainment for both kidsHe's pretty wobly still, and needs just a little bit of support to stay put, but Ezra is sitting upright! Geneva and her kids came up for Thanksgiving. I didn't get any pictures of us on our gathering day, but I did get a few of the kids the day after Thanksgiving. Here's Anycia and Esperanza Anotonio, Anycia, Angelica, Esperanza & Ezra - day after ThanksgivingEarlier this month we had a bit of a scare with George. He had a series of siezures. Scary ones from what my mom and Mary say. Ever since his stroke several years ago, he hadn't had a seizure, and his epilepsy seemed to have disappeared. The damage from the stoke apparently had done something to the part of his brain that was causing the siezures he had had consistently since Vietnam. Then all of a sudden, they reappeared a week or so ago. My moms theory is now that his brain has begun to show signs of healing from the stroke (him being cognitively more 'with it' than he has been since before the stroke), his epilepsy has also been returned. He only had them on one day so far. Lets hope it was just that day and no more. Here's Grandpa George with 5 of his 6 grandkids (missing Roman). We gathered with Armando's family the day after Thanksgiving. Again, not many pictures. Here's Marti's little boy Emmanuel - he's is so sweet!Cathy's baby Camerino Jr is catching up to Ezra in size. He's kinda curled up here but he's almost as long and feels the same in weight...and he's 2 months old. Grandma Angelina with EzraEzra wants food. Bad. I started off with giving him carrots. Whole. They make a great teether toy. We've moved on a little bit from there, but here he is with his carrot teether My sister Mary and my mom watched my kids awhile back while I went to the dentist. Mary put make-up on Espernza, snapped a photo, then took it all off before I got homeWe had some family photos done earlier this month. Everything and everyone was great until the moment the shutter went to work. Esperanza lost it. It was bad. To top it off, it was really, really cold outside. Esperanza cannot stand cold weather for some reason. She clams up no matter how many layers I put on her. Fortunately, our amazing photographer somehow managed to still get a few decent shots but I don't have them yet. Here's a picture I snapped of Esperanza, mid-tantrum. I'll share more pictures when I get them back, but here's a little preview. Cold or not, Ezra is one happy boy!Good-bye November, hello December! Bring on the holidays and cold weather. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!