Post Thanksgiving

Yesterday was a bit hysterical. At first it was smooth sailing as I cooked up a storm. I was so inspired by the Puerto Rican dishes I was making, I put on some music and was dancing in the kitchen. As the pernil roasted in the oven, I fried up the plantains for mofongo (which eventually just turned into Puerto Rican stuffing b/c I couldn't make it into balls). I really got into mashing up the platanos with the bacon and garlic in the pilon I got in Brazil. What a great time. Until Mateo rolls up into the kitchen as I was trying to cook the arroz con gandules. The first step to this dish is vital. If you don't get the seasoning right, the rice just taste like rice. So in walks Mateo and begins having a fit, pulling my leg, screaming, hitting me. I don't even know why. I eventually put him in time-out until I could finish. Then I go "talk" to him but he was not interested in what I had to say. Then Chayla was skulking about since she was annoyed too. She was trying to figure out what I had told her to do earlier in the day so she could be allowed outside to play. I was so frustrated with telling her to do the same thing everyday that I simply told her that when she remembers what I asked her to do and does it then MAYBE she can play (eventually she made a list of all these things to which she must refer before she asks me to do anything). It's funny how quickly she "remembers" to brush her hair when playtime depends on it. So as Mateo was hysterical and Chayla frustrated I tried to deal with the cooking, which had been going so well up until then. Luckily I finished and even got to rake the front yard before finally getting to shower. Mateo only took a 30 minute nap (part of the bigger problem too) so I wasn't able to do much else but shower. Then we sat down to our sad little dinner. I say sad, not because of my food (it was actually delicioso) but because it was just us 4, minus Freddie. This is the 1st Thanksgiving I can remember that he wasn't around. Except for the fact that we were dressed nicely, it just felt like a regular ol' dinner. We gave our thanks, ate our food, yet we were still bummed about Freddie's absence.

After Mateo had 2 slices of pumpkin pie we went to my coworker's house to hang out and meet another Puerto Rican family. That was nice given that we weren't with our own extended family. Mateo got along fantastically with her family, giving hugs, talking, and sharing nicely. I could hardly believe my eyes. He was a perfect angel. I figured it was because he thought all these loud, brown people speaking Spanish were family. Leave it to Mateo though to not disappoint. He had a massive break down right as we were leaving to go home. He squirmed all over the floor and screamed as I tried to put on his puffy coat. I thought I had almost made it out of there having given the impression that I had these two well-behaved, cute kids. Just kidding.

He fell asleep in the car and we got home safe and sound (there were some seriously deranged drivers on the Beltway last night). As I laid him down in his crib he said he loved me very much. While I had been angry earlier, his little voice melted my heart. I went to bed last night thankful for having this love in my life and BEGGING for a little patience and guidance to get through the terrible two's. 7 months to go.