Two beers and a patio.
So after the economy reacted so favorably to our new president, my buddy
Lee had less and less work for his guys.
So one afternoon while talking about fatherhood, my back yard and the
down time of his crews over a couple of beers we decided to build a little
chiminea and expand the patio a bit.
When Lee said what it would cost, I said, “Do it!” Nita over heard me committing to this and
asked if I was crazy, stupid or both. She
reminded me that we had a three month old and she was running on fumes due to
sleep deprivation. I explained that Lee never showed up on time and we had
weeks to think about it. Well, early the
next morning, Nita came to me and said, “Hey Mr. ‘three weeks’ Lee’s outside
with a bobcat, he’s staking out the yard, and he needs a check.” Uh Oh!
To Nita’s chagrin this project took a little longer than expected, but
luckily Connor was only three-five months old and still didn’t really know the
difference between a generator, concrete mixer, and singing. And he certainly hadn’t established sleeping
patterns yet. Further, Nita kept asking
for the “design drawings.” I told her we
were Mexicans not architects. She didn’t
think that was funny. We also ran into a
hitch on the arbor. Like when Lee said
he didn’t plan for one and I insisted we had.
So we came up with a new design on the spot. When Nita asked us about it we said we
“thought it would work.” Nita was again
not amused. So two days before my birthday the patio was complete. It looks fantastic and is probably
structurally sound. Just kidding Nita, its
fine. (I could have done five pages on the patio and may still expand on the
blog/website at Connormartinez.multiply.com).
Connor moves upstairs. This was more traumatic for Nita
early on, then later for me. So remember
last year’s letter when Nita went from needing total silence to sleeping
through a train wreck? Now Connor sleeps
through the night and the old Nita is back. Yep, Connor is upstairs and Nita
can’t even have the monitor on. No
light, total silence. And now it appears
someone’s snoring is an issue. I was
dismissed to the other side of the house on more than one occasion. So being a good husband I went to the dentist
to get a custom fit snore guard. Well,
one week after I got the guard Connor got sick (more on that later) and I caught
a little bit of it. In a light headed
but well-intended move, I put my mouth guard in the dishwasher to
sterilize. Apparently in the sani-cycle,
they melt. So even though bottles,
nipples, and pacifiers hold their shape, custom fit mouth guards are no longer
“custom fit” when they come out. The new
one arrived recently.
Marco turns 40. I
turned 40 this year and had a pretty nice party. The new patio was perfect and we had the Manchaca
Fire Hall kitchen cater it. For those of
you who were in my South Austin/Crockett High School past I’m sure you remember
the Friday night fish fries and catfish buffets. It was a wonderful piece of
nostalgia that didn’t disappoint. We
also lit the fireplace (this apparently takes 13 members of the men’s golf
association). It was a great time for
all. By the way, I hear 40 is the new 25
right?
Connor gets baptized.
Thanks to Omar and Anita Uresti for agreeing to become Connor’s
Godparents. We had a lovely ceremony and
if you are interested there is a video on his website. Father Joe Tomei presided and sadly moved to
Chile to be the headmaster of a Catholic school there. We’re saddened because we love Fr. Joe and
were hoping he could guide Connor through all of his sacraments. We do wish him the best and may go visit him
(or fly him up) sometime in the next year or so.
Revolving nannies.
Going back to work for both of us was eased by the fact that Omar’s
niece Amber agreed to be our nanny. She
was wonderful with Connor and was just amazing.
Then that darn Nick Watney won another tournament, fell in love with her
and asked her to marry him. The only
consolation was he did come and also sit for Connor a couple of days and gave
Marco a putting lesson. In any case, he
swept her away from us. Luckily she had
a friend who was also a nanny. So
welcome Erika. However, she wanted to
follow her ambition of event planning that she’d started in New York. So after a few months she too told us she’d accepted
an internship with an events group. As
they say “when one door closes another opens,” enter Samantha. We were trying to find a house near us for
Marco’s mom so she could be closer to Connor.
So we worked with our favorite real estate guy Jeff Kress. One day while looking at houses and
explaining our nanny situation he said, “You know my daughter Sam has been
sitting for our kids since she was 13 and she’s awesome with kids.” She’s been with us ever since and we love
her.
Have you seen my spontaneity? We seem to have misplaced it. All you veteran parents used to tell us to
enjoy our spontaneous trips, movie nights, date nights, dinners at fancy
places, etc. You’d say, “Do it now,
because when the baby comes….” Wow you
weren’t kidding. We seem to need weeks
of notice and a bevy of resources to pull off dinner. Even then all plans go out the window with a
delayed or missed nap. And we learned
the hard way that Connor is great in restaurants that have hard surfaces. Anything with paper or a tablecloth is like
trying to eat on a jackhammer. He also
washes his hands in our water glasses…what could possibly go wrong with this
plan?
Abuelita moves a mile away. Marco’s mom moved one mile away from us. The best part is that her house backs up to
the elementary school Connor will attend.
So Marco’s friend Lee and his crew built a new fence in her back yard
with a gate leading to the play area.
Imagine the convenience of Bertha walking through the field to the
school to pick up Connor after school and just walking back to her house. No sidewalks, traffic, waiting for a
potentially late mom or dad. Plus you
know she’s going to watch him play every day during recess with a smile on her
face and warmth in her heart.
Marco and Nita celebrate 5 years of marriage. Because of the little red wonder we didn’t
take any trips this year. A couple of
concerts and a few nice dinners…but mostly we just hung out with our boy and
our friends. We did learn that sometimes
napping when he naps is WAY more valuable than doing chores when he naps.
The ankle part 1 and 2and ESPN Golf. While playing golf at 7AM on father’s day,
Marco took a step on a wet railroad tie tee ramp and slipped. He acted unusually responsible and instead of
trying to “walk it off” he came home and went to the emergency room. Now the lesson here is that the ER is
designed to keep you alive, not make you better. So they gave him crutches and a soft flexible
cast. They told him, “stay off it for a week and call an orthopedist.” So one day before the Orthopedist appointment
the real Marco shows up. “Honey, I’m
feeling better, so I don’t think I need my crutches anymore.” Then Marco’s mother called him to help her
with her garage door. Marco goes over to
check to see if the cord might be wrapped outside the spindle. So he limps up and low and behold there is a
yellow jacket nest just inches from his nose (y’all do know about Marco’s
irrational fear of flying-stinging insects right?). Marco took two quick steps to run away and
tore his achilles tendon and found out he had two torn ligaments in his ankle. Apparently when you don’t extend your foot or
put weight on it for over a week, your achilles tightens up and is susceptible
to injury. A few thousand bucks, MRIs,
x-rays, and casts later he healed up.
The sad part was that he and his buddy Pete qualified for the Regional
ESPN challenge golf tournament. Marco
had just lost what he called his baby handicap.
When Connor was born he shot up to a 13 and by June was just back inside
single digits. He won his club’s MGA
championship and after he and Pete won the sectional they were all excited
about “going to Vegas.” I think it’s
because they’d just seen The Hangover. Three weeks after the sectional we have the
torn ligaments and achilles. Needless to
say, no Vegas. Is it just me or does
anyone else believe that Marco and Pete saved money on this?
Connor turns one. We
decided to have a birthday party petting zoo.
There is way more detail (and pictures) on his website but it was really
neat event. Connor loves animals, is
pretty gentle in petting them, and turns into a crack head when presented with
a cupcake. Our neighborhood has had an
influx of children in the last few years and several of Marco’s co-workers have
children in the 1-4 year old range. So
50 animals and 30 kids made for a fun day.
The weather was extremely cooperative for mid November and no one got
hurt or threw tantrums.
Rio the bionic dog.
Unfortunately for Connor, Rio remembers all the other children who’ve
chased him around over the years. He has
to be physically held down so Connor can pet him. Connor is very gentle with him and laughs
every time he comes around. He even puts
his head on him like a pillow and pats him like he’s burping him. Connor thinks they are best friends because
during lunch and dinner Rio hangs around the high chair for dropped food. So remember I taught Rio never to beg for
food. We never fed him at the table, he
wouldn’t stare at you or paw at you when we ate….well Connor has undone 13
years of training in 3 months. And Rio
is too old to care that he isn’t supposed to do it anymore. He still trots away from Connor when he
doesn’t have food though. I think Connor
thinks he’s playing “chase.”
The trip. One of
Nita’s “Marfa crew” girlfriends got married this year. But first they have to have a bachelorette
party. So they head off to South Beach,
Miami for a weekend of sun, wine, eating, and dancing. Luckily one of my buddies, oh who are we
kidding it was Pete, said, “South Beach? At least Nita isn’t attracted to
Hispanic men.” Remember this is Nita’s
first overnight away from the boy and it’s for two nights. One of the girls trying to find a bargain
found the air fare and hotels for them.
So while looking at the itinerary (on the day of her departure) she
notices that she’s coming home from Miami……by way of Minneapolis. I’m guessing the person paying 46 dollars for
a flight didn’t have a map or notice that the total flying time was 14 hours. But they all had a great time and are all
sticking to the story that none of them exposed themselves, I’m not convinced. In any case, a distraught new mom was finally
persuaded to buy a one way from Miami and get home about six hours before her
friends. So Nita was able to make it
home in time to put Connor in his jammies, read to him, and put him to
bed. Mom and child reconciled.
Outdoor wedding in Texas in July at 5pm. Just don’t! You know who you are. Whoever
told you it was “fine” or a “good idea….” LIED!
It’s not like you just moved here.
Come on! You both have PhDs. Use
your heads. Thanks for letting me sweat
through a pair of underwear. (I realize I didn’t have to, but would you really
expect me to not go there?) This way you get to live it with me.
Baby proofing a house is really more of a moving target. My
first attempt was installing a magnetic lock on a cabinet door that Connor was
inanely attracted to. It contained
cleaning solutions and sharp instruments, so of course he needed to be in
there. So after thirty minutes, a
mistake in lining up the catch, drilling a hole all the way through the cabinet
door, SUCCESS! One cabinet done. Those of you who’ve been in the house know
I’d still be installing locks at this pace.
Connor crawled to the door, pulled on it once then moved to the next
cabinet which opened. The next day he
crawled up to the door looked at it, and then went to the one which would open. I was thinking I could have accomplished the
same goal with tape. I have found later
this was would not have been a good strategy.
He’s quite tenacious. And every
built in cabinet we own except his Tupperware drawer has a lock of some
sort. Don’t you love this part? He has also figured out that by using a lid
under his hand he can crawl twice as quickly across the floor.
Connor gets sick.
Some of you know that I intended to attend medical school at one point
in my life. However, I always said I
would never be a pediatrician or a vet for a similar reason. The reason is when they are hurt and you are
trying to fix them….they don’t understand you are trying to help. At least dogs appreciate when the procedure
is over and you give them a treat. Kids
look at you like you like all the victims in a SAW movie react while learning
what they have to cut off in order to save themselves from a shotgun shell
necklace. More on his website blog.
Thanksgiving. We
planned to go to Houston this year to show Connor off to the Italian side of
the family. Plus if you’ve never been to
an Italian thanksgiving, find a way to get to one. The fun and food are never ending. And for the record, turkey, ham, prime rib,
and grilled artichokes go wonderfully with lasagna. However, there was an accident with one of
our cousins and thanks to God she is recovering. So Mary Helen offered to host the Austin clan
this year. It was a wonderful spread and
we all had a lovely time. The conflict
of course was what Connor would wear.
You’ll remember that Nita is a Longhorn and Marco is an Aggie. So after some light haggling and a few coin
flips we decided he’d wear orange to Mary Helen’s house for dinner and then a
maroon 12th Man jersey for the game.
Look out next year t-sips. 18
true freshmen on the A&M squad? Wait
until the game slows down for them.
Connor was also a pretty adorable vampire for Halloween. He even had a pacifier with vampire teeth on
the outside. (see website).
What if we all learned as much in 1 year as Connor? In no particular order: talking, clapping,
rolling over, crawling, standing, pulling yourself up, stairs, bathing, solid
food, solid poop, milk, juice, water, sippy cups, the dog, jumping, falling,
sleeping by yourself, singing, music, Spanish, television, baby Einstein,
peek-a-boo, swimming, tickling, shoes, toys, squeaking, mirrors, blocks,
trucks, phones, piano, books, drawers, cabinets, golf carts, slamming fingers,
sitting, swinging, walking, cupcakes, laughing,
Christmas lights, trees, and remotes.
At forty, I’m lucky to learn a new word, and with that something else
has to go.
Connor, Rio, Nita and I would like to wish each of you and
your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope you have as many opportunities to
laugh at yourselves as we did this year.
We hope your blessings greatly outnumber your troubles. We pray your families get/stay healthy and
your loved ones are safe. We hope you
have as much fun reading this letter as we did living it. May God
bless you and your families.
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