Today is little man's official birthday! (note: I apologize for the lack of spacing in the text, cannot figure out how to space on this site...)
On Saturday we threw a huge party at our new home in Burbank California. It was a pretty big production and I think it's safe to say that a good time was had by all :-) In honor of the special celebration, I gave a speech at the party, which I have copied below.
If you want to see all pics from the party: https://www.flickr.com/photos/31774020@N04/
Firstly I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate these 2 very special milestones with our family. The reason why you are all here is that in one way or another, you have been there or been apart of our lives and I would truly like to thank you all for that.
So last year was a big year for us. Like unbelievably big. Like two of our major life goals and dreams were fulfilled big. BIG big. We brought our amazing little guy Levi into the world, and we became homeowners of this gorgeous house! Actually - lemme make a correction - I brought Levi into the world, I need to take full credit for that one, lol, b/c omg birth is just like wow, yeah, that was all me, I mean Marcelo was there and as helpful as possible, but the birthing process, omg. But, yes, baby and house.
Lemme start with the little guy, Levi, whom we hardly ever actually call Levi. He is more commonly known around here as "Mommy's Angel, Angel Baby, Papa, Papi, Papi Chulo, Alejandrito, Rizzy Roscoe, Howie Dojo, Chu Chu, buddy, little man, special boy, etc etc the list goes on and on, so I guess one of the first things well need to teach him is his actual name, lol.
I remember the first time I looked into his eyes, one year ago, as we both lay on our living room floor. Yes, you may remember that , Levi bursted into the world in a matter of mere hours, letting us know he is a little fire ball from the very beginning. So Levi, You are definitely gonna have a cool birth story to tell your friends about how you were delivered by 6 burly firemen on a warm February night in a little apartment in the heart of Los Angeles.
And now a year has passed since that amazing day. Bearing witness to a child growing and coming alive in the world, truly is a miracle on earth unlike anything else. In this incredible year, we saw your very first smile, heard your first laughter, witnessed you turn over, sit up on your own, take your very first steps, and a hundred other little daily miracles. The one that I am perhaps the most proud of, is that your first word wasn't Mama, or Dada, but "tito", short for "gatito," the spanish word for cat. I'm proud of a lot of things in my life, but that fact that your first word was cat, oh god, well thats definitely at the very top of my list. Lol.
You will turn one on Tuesday this next week and how excited we all are to celebrate this wonderful milestone with Levi and all of you! The path continues to unfold from one day to the next and how excited we are on this journey of family, love, and parenthood. And as cliche as it is, the experience of parenthood has been true, I think for Marcelo and I in that we've traded in travelling and adventures with friends for having a fridge full of bottles, spending our evenings and weekends at home, and having entire text message conversations about poop. But then again, poop has never been so exciting to talk about before. lol.
So in addition to celebrating our little guy turning one, I also want to celebrate and honor that Marcelo and I have survived our first year as parents! It is joy, miracles, grit, poop, laughter, and all kinds of things mixed up into one. There is one thing that I am certain of though, is that our experience as parents would not have been as smooth as it has been without the DAILY support, and I mean daily, of My MIL Came. I know Marcelo and I are the biological parents of Levi, but we honestly have been working as a team, the 3 of us, since day 1, and for that, there are not enough words to express the amount of gratitude I have for her.
She was there at the hospital when we finally arrived, after he'd been born.
When we arrived home after the hospital, we arrived home to a freshly laundered bed (I mean, the sheets, quilt, she fluffed the pillows and everything, and a gorgeous home cooked meal just waiting on the stove for us. , I'm talking, like she had a pot on 3 out of the 4 burners going. When I was on maternity leave, she would come over M-F for at least 4 hours a day to help with the baby, cleaning, whatever I needed, and she would bring me her home cooked meals every day. She would stay with him so I could go out and go to the gym or run errands with ease. She would walk or take the bus, and she even came when it was raining out. Then when I returned to work, she allowed me to drop him off there whenever I needed to, and again, I would fill up my tupperware with her hot home cooked meals and comfortably be on my way. Now, living on the same property has been wonderful. She watches him and cares for him like her own, even bathing him herself every other day, when we work and also so we can go see a movie once in a while or go out to eat.
It's not just the service she provides us, but it's also the attitude of kindness, generosity, and love with which she does it that makes me feel like the luckiest most blessed humbled person alive. So I just wanted to take a moment to thank Came "abuelita" for all of her love and support and time and energy and service.I love giving him a bath but she gives him a bath every other day, religiously. Levi is so lucky to have such a great grandma who loves him so so much and takes such good care of him. Thank you Came.
While I'm on the subject of thanking, I need to give a shout out to my amazing, loving, gentle, kind, partner Marcelo. Before I get onto the Dad stuff, I just want to acknowledge that Marcelo recently received an award of honor and recognition from Clinica Monsenior Romero, for whom he is the Vice President of the Board of Directors. (and that's in addition to being the administrative director at his day job), in addition to being an amazing Dad and partner. Part of the reason I love Marcelo so much is b/c of his humanatarian ideals and the principal of service that he embodies (kind of like Came, but in a younger, male version, lol). Clinica Romero provides medical and Dental services to low income and uninsured folks in LA, about 4000 visits per month worth. And they were financially nearing bankruptcy and Marcelo, with his amazing fiduciary ninja skills was able to keep them afloat. So there's that.
Not to mention what a caring, loving, selfless Father he is to Levi. I have seen him, on countless nights, like hundreds of nights, fall asleep so exhausted after having dedicated so much energy to his work, then family and son. There's been countless nights that I have seen him give his literal last ounce of energy to the baby and just fall asleep wherever he is, in whatever position he is, as soon as the baby's removed from his arms. And he's been so supportive of me the past year in so many ways that I can't thank him enough.
I also, should add, that Levi has a very very special bond with his Dad and often will only be comforted by his touch. Like seriously, he loves his daddy. So thank you Marcelo for being the best Daddy in the whole world.
And the house, well how blessed are we. We are so grateful. I literally feel like one of the luckiest people in the world. We have been here for 2 months now and every day we cannot believe we wake up in this house in this neighborhood in this state and just live the lives that we live. We really enjoy the community of Burbank, it has a small town feel in a big city. Magnolia avenue is less than a mile from here and is full of artsy vintage and antique and rockabilly shops. They've hosted several events we have enjoyed. It's a great city for families, lots of programming and activities, park next door, Levi has met many cute little friends here so far.
I need to thank my angels here at this point, especially my Mom, who was a very special person and a kindred spirit. She was not a rich person, she raised 3 kids on her own, all while working full time and maintaining a home. And it was a clean home to boot....I feel like I need some tips from her, I've got one kid, and a great husband plus my in laws helping out and I still can't manage to be as organized as she was lol. But she saved her $ and when she passed, I saved what we received and we used it to make a nice down payment on this place. And honestly otherwise, we wouldn't be here. So even in her death, she continues to provide for me which is just unbelievable. We give constant thanks to her too and just know she is with us.
Now that’s enough with the thank you’s and sappy stuff, I hope everyone enjoys themselves, lets have a drink and have a good time! Cue 'Kool and the Gang!'
Playing naked outside the day after :-)
