Off to Switzerland!

No, no ... not the Luceros. We're staying put (well, except for Jonathan, who is in North Carolina this week for training).

My sister Liz is off to Geneva tomorrow for ten days (where she'll see the sight to the right)! And so now she can add Switzerland to her list of international travels, which already includes India and China.

Liz is pursuing an MBA in Global Management at the Thunderbird School of Global Managment. And its A LOT of work. I had no idea MBA programs were so intense until I started hearing the details of her program.

Like most MBA programs, the students also work full time in their real-life careers. So Liz is working full time and spending most of her free time in class, or studying, or writing papers, etc. She's busy, busy, busy. So this trip to Geneva is for her MBA program. Later in the program, she'll also be going to Dubai and somewhere in South America.

We are very impressed with Liz's ambition and drive! She works for an engineering firm and is a project manager with a Professional Engineer License. She was the first woman at her firm to be a project manager and have P.E. license. As I recall, she was also the youngest project manager at the time.

And somehow, Liz still finds time to visit with us (good thing we moved close to her!). Christian and I had dinner with her just last night. So, Christian gets to see his Auntie Liz a lot!

Liz has joined us in the world of blogging! You can check out her blog by looking at the list of blogs we have on the right side of our blog - Un Cafecito Por Favor or by going to http://www.cafedeelisabeth.blogspot.com/. She plans to update the blog while traveling in Geneva.

Liz, we wish you happy travels and a wonderful time in Geneva! We look forward to reading updates on your blog and seeing the photos you'll be taking with your cool new SLR camera!

Christian's First Birthday Party!

Christian's Turns One!

On November 2, Christian turned one! Aw, we just can't believe our lil' guy is growing up so quickly!

On his birthday, we had a party for the family. Jonathan's Uncle Philip, and his wife ... along with Jonathan's cousing Amy and her family live in the the Phoenix east valley, and we'd been wanting to have them over, so Christian's birthday provided the perfect opportunity for a gathering.

We'd like to thank our party guests for coming over, and also thank everybody who sent cards, gifts, sent e-mails and called us for Christian's special day. Wow! We weren't expecting such an outpouring ... thanks!! And a special thanks to Auntie Liz for making Christian's Elmo cake!

Granny sings Happy Birthday to Christian!

Everybody sings Happy Birthday to Christian

Here's how Christian is doing nowadays:

• He's really interested in things he can move, such as doors, drawers and cabinet drawers. If we don't remember to close a door somewhere, he's sure to find it and close himself up inside. The other day, I knew he was playing down the hall (the upstairs is as childproof as I can make it, so I let him go exploring). All was well, but then I heard a cry in the distance. I bolted up to go find my baby ... but I couldn't determine where he was. He had shut himself in a dark closet ... the poor kid!
• He's fascinated with windows. We have a couple that he can stand up and look out from, so I crack the window open a bit so he gets a nice breeze.
• He still loves his books! Most toys get cast aside in favor of the books. He loves turning the pages and gazing at the various pages. And he even has the ability to correct a book that has been given to him upside down. He immediately turns it right side up. He'll even do it to books he's unfamiliar with. Its pretty amazing!
• He's become a rather picky eater much of the time, and so that's been a challenge for us. We try to be very selective about what he eats ... his birthday cake was the first dose of sugar he's had ... and taking a bite made him gag a bit. We don't give him juice ... just water, and now milk. Jonathan enjoys making new creations for Christian using our new VitaMix. The latest creation is a mixture of grass fed beef, peas, carrots, spinach and rice (all organic). We freeze it in ice cube trays and just have to heat it up at meal time. Its pretty darn tootin' tasty, and Christian can't get enough.
• He's not talking or walking just yet. He used to babble a lot in his earlier months, but he stopped for a long time and is starting to pick it up again. But he does have comprehension. If I say, "Christian, where's daddy?" He looks for Jonathan. If I say, "Christian, where's Bella?" He looks right towards Bella. We think the move in August may have impacted his progress with walking and talking - it was a stressful time for all of us. But that's okay ... he'll do both when he's ready. He "cruises" right now and can quickly get himself from point A to point B.
• He gets a giggle out of most things these days. I hear this all day "heh heh." He's so silly!
• He has six teeth now ... two on top, four on the bottom. And he's got lots and lots of hair ... it straight in the front (and impossible to keep combed), and little curls for on the back of his head throughout the day.
• His eye color is still a bit of a mystery. They are definitely not brown like Jonathan's; definitely not blue like mine. But sometimes the look gray, sometimes they look light brown, other times they look deep blue. Depends on the light and what he's wearing. I think Christian got his Uncle Eldon's eyes, which also change color.

Christian has developed some interesting play skills.

• In his tub, we have foam letters that stick to the wall when wet. Some of these letters are in his play area, and he tries to stick them on everything: the wall, furniture, mommy (ha ha!). Since they are dry, they don't stick, but its interesting to see the connection he makes. He knows they're supposed to stick.
• And he also gets a kick out of placing those letters, or blocks, up high on a shelf ... waiting a moment, and then taking them down.
• And with his blocks, he likes to ever-so-gently stack them together. Its so cute to watch, as he tries to be very precise with the placement.
• And lastly, he has a little "farm" that has all sorts of things to spin, twirl, push, etc. He's had this toy for several months and has figured out how to work all the features, except for one. Its a large button that gets pushed down and something rotates and plays a song. He's been manually rotating that thingy, but yesterday was trying to show him that the button will rotate it, too. He watched me push on it, and then he'd touch the button ... but not understand that he needed to push it. After we went back and forth for a few minutes, he finally grabbed my hand and put it on the button. So he made the connection that mommy's hand can make it move. So its little stuff like that that its neat to see.