Washington DC

Mom, Dad & Santiago flew into Washington DC yesterday evening. Santiago was excited to be on a plane again and said cloud for the first time then was thrilled to practicing repeating it.

After arriving at his cousin's house, he sat an played with their Thomas the Train tracks and cars. He probably would be quite content to spend his entire visit sitting playing with that.

Santiago gets pretty jealous of his cousin Anna who frequently asks to sit in Mom's lap. Though startled when Francis and Leo approach and get very close, Santiago seems very pleased with the affection they show him.

Santiago rode the Metro and was a little freaked out by the trains but indicated that he liked the Metro when asked. He did not however like the Metro elevators which is strange because he generally is thrilled to ride in elevators.


Anna, Leo, Santiago, Francis

da time

Santiago now uses "Da" to call for Ed. Up to now Dad like all loved ones was called "Ma."

There are some times of the day when Da is urgently needed. Da must join Santiago for a bath. After Santiago and Mom draw the bath, Santiago stands at the foot of the stairs and yells, "Da, Da, Da."

Da and Santiago have another special time: Toothbrushing. This involves Da asking Santiago, "What time is it? It is time for a playdate? Is it time for ice cream? Is it time for...toothbrushing?" At the word toothbrushing, Santiago squeals, balls up his hands, shakes them and bobs up and down in delight.

up and down, high and low

Yesterday while rolling a roll of tape underneath the living room chair, Santiago added a new twist to the game. He would stand behind the chair and reach up and put the tape up and over the back of the chair. Then Mom would roll the tape back to him under the chair. While engaged in this Santiago started saying up and down as the roll of tape was moved around. This is the first time he has used position descriptions on his own. It was great fun for everyone.

Santiago at Play

Santiago is a very busy guy. He attends classes and playdates throughout the week. Often he has a social commitment in both the morning and afternoon. Being sick has meant spending more time at home which reveals some of his favorite activities. Right now he is pouring macaroni from one plastic cup to another. Putting and moving things into other things is a favorite pastime.

Santiago also likes to play Candyland. The rules are pretty free form and involve putting the gingerbread man pieces onto the board and knocking them over and sorting through the cards. All colors remain blue when asked "What color is that?" But Santiago can say red, yellow and purple when asked to repeat the words. Yateze is another favorite. It is pronounce "Yat-yat" by Santiago and he enjoys putting the dice into the cup and rolling them out.

Santiago enjoys feeding his fish in the morning and when the fish bites a piece of food Mom & Santiago shout "chomp." Playdough and puzzles are liked. He likes to roll rolls of tape around.

Santiago really likes to have books read to him.

Emergency Room Visit

Yesterday evening Mom & Dad took Santiago to the emergency room -- he is ok. Santiago & Mom went to Alex's birthday party at Radijazz. Santiago threw up. An aside to the story only important once you know Santiago was okay...Luckily he threw up on Mom while she was walking away from tables where the other kids where sitting and cake was being served. Everyone has had that experience of being the kid that throws up at a party? We are all relieved that Santiago's party reputation wasn't marred at such a young age.

Because Santiago's breathing was labored, Mom & Dad decided to take Santiago to the emergency room. At the hospital he was given something for bronchial inflammation, had a chest x-ray (horrible experience! but show nothing in his lungs), had some fluids via IV, and discharged after about four hours. Dad did some research and thinks that Santiago is experiencing asthma-like symptoms brought on by chest congestion resulting from a viral infection. We'll look forward to a visit to Dr. Pugh this week.

Apart from a horrible cough and sometimes raspy breathing Santiago is doing well, even jovial at times. To pass the time in the treatment room Mom, Dad and Santiago took some photos. One picture shows Santiago's amusement at the red light coming from the monitor taped to his toe. The picture of Dad is the first photograph Santiago ever took. Pretty good, Santiago!

Off to New Orleans

Note from Mom: I haven't had to chance to update Santiago's blog in a while. We moved into our new pad a week and a half ago and things have been rather hectic because of the moving. My Mom arrived in town for good. Tod helped her move from New Orleans we got to see him one afternoon. We are headed to New Orleans tomorrow. This will be Santiago and my first trip back since the Storm. I am excited to see familiar places and faces...and am worried about the soaring crime rate and that I will find that I have missed New Orleans so much that I will not want to leave. Wish us Bon Voyage.