02-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
The countdown begins. We went to the doctor today for a check-up and confirmed again that everything is going good in there. The baby weighs six pounds nine ounces now and we were even able to watch it breathe amniotic fluid in and out. I still feel like a little boy sometimes, especially when trying to grasp that there is an actual baby inside Ali’s belly. It’s just hard for me to comprehend even now.

We had been happy to be going in today because yesterday Ali, at thirty-six weeks pregnant, had some cramping in her thighs and could tell that the baby had shifted lower. She’d had this same thing with Ouest and it signaled the beginning of the end. However we still went in today fully expecting that we had a good two to three weeks to go. We were going to spend the next week on the boat and then move in to a condo downtown.

But the doctor instead told us we weren’t going to make it two weeks. That we’ve got as little as seven to ten days left if Ali takes it easy. Ten days before all hell breaks loose and Ouest gets the shock of her young life. No Ouest, we weren’t kidding, there really was a baby in there.

So we’re counting the days. We’re nervous and excited. My mom flew out today and it looks like Ali’s mom will fly in next week to help watch Ouest while we’re at the hospital. Things are moving right along.

03-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
For a while now Ali and I have been trying to get out of this mindset that we’ve always got to be on the go. That there is always something to do. We’ve been trying to tell ourselves that it is okay to just do nothing for a bit and to just enjoy the moment. This is something far easier said than done. We get restless easily. In case anybody was unaware of this. Right now we’re going out of our minds here at Paradise Village. The place is nice enough for a few days, but get stranded here for a couple of weeks and my god. It’s gotten so bad that we hardly ever break the camera out any more. There is just nothing interesting to photograph. And I’d feel bad saying any of this right now, I really would, but Ali is actually the one who brought it up so I feel like it is okay. Right now we’re looking forward to getting back downtown, eating tacos again, mingling in the plaza, and welcoming the new little one into Mexico properly.

04-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest and I were swimming this morning while Ali rested. When she decided to come down she hopped in the elevator, descended one story, and promptly got stuck. Amazingly somebody answered the elevator phone and sent help. A few minutes later Ouest and I were headed back to the room. The elevator wasn’t working so we started up the stairs. On the way a guy came running past, smiled, and said, “Your wife is here.” Huh? Whatever. We got inside the condo and were playing for about five minutes before Ali came through the door to tell us her story. I could just picture her going into labor in that moment. The perfect sitcom moment.

Our stainless guy wasn’t supposed to show up until tomorrow but as I was walking to the boat during Ouest’s nap today we bumped into each other and his helpers were right behind him loaded down with one inch stainless tubes. For the next three hours we measured and cut until we got things just right. Ali and I really, and I mean really hate the look of 90% of the dodgers out there, so we had some pretty specific ideas about ours.

Our biggest gripe with dodgers is how badly they affect the look of the boat. Mainly because people feel this need to build them way too tall. Most dodgers it seems are built to double the overall height of the boat. The other thing we hate are dodgers where the front windows are virtually vertical. Anyway, I think we’ve got ours laid out to make as little an impression on the overall look of the boat as possible. We’ll see. Until the canvas is on it is just too hard to tell.

While I was doing that Ouest and Ali were back at the condo making tacos. Yes, making tacos. Here in Paradise Village you can’t actually buy tacos. Because in paradise people only eat McDonald’s.

05-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
This morning I went to the boat and discovered that we had blown out yet another fender. This is totally my fault. It’s a product of me being cheap. First I tried to use the dirty cracked fenders that had been hanging in the California sun for a decade. When those blew out I tried to replace them with just one new fender at a time when clearly a boat this size needs at least four big strong fenders. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend a couple hundred dollars on what are essentially inflatable rubber balls.

Anyway, today I went straight to the Paradise Village Chandlery to solve the problem once and for all. I walked in to the small store, grabbed a fender off the shelf, and asked the girl how much. One hundred and ten dollars! For one ten-inch by twenty-six inch fender. I think I physically choked a little bit. I said, “I just bought one of these for a little more than half that at Zaragozas (the large marine store in town). Suddenly the gringo in the corner whom I assume to be the owner of the place exploded. “It’s the SAME price as Zaragozas!”

I turned and said, “No, I just bought one the other day.”

“You must have bought a different size!” he yelled.

I stared at him a moment, took in his large red alcoholic nose and flushed cheeks and took pity on him. The guy was clearly tired of cruisers coming into his shop and balking at his prices. I know he needs to earn a buck, and I would have gladly paid a small premium for the convenience of his on site shop, but this mark-up was just too much. I thought about being a prick and telling him all of this, as well as giving a brief explanation of customer service, but in the end I just walked out. A guy like that won’t be around for long.

Ali, Ouest, and I moved back downtown to our home for the next few weeks as we welcome the baby and Ali recuperates. It’s in the same small building we were in before which makes the transition that much easier. It should be a nice place to bring the new baby home to and it’s an easy location to keep Ouest busy and entertained in.

After Ouest went to bed tonight I ran out to the boat to put up the three new fenders we bought at Zaragozas. Hopefully that’ll be the end of our little fender drama.

06-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Yesterday Ouest tried out a pair of goggles for the first time and loved them. For an hour in the pool she spent more time underwater looking at me than she did with her head above water. Ali wasn’t able to join us yesterday so today she came up to see for herself. Of course today Ouest wouldn’t even put the goggles on. Go figure.

The best thing about Ouest’s underwater swimming is that it has transferred over to the bathtub. Now we can dump a big pitcher of water over her head, shampoo her up, and pour another pitcher for the rinse off. Without a struggle. Seriously, that’s awesome. Chalk that one up as a parental victory.

This is the view we woke up to this morning. Oh how I love summer season pricing in Mexico.

We made Ouest a popsicle today out of V8 juice. Yes, that is how cruel we are. The poor girl doesn’t know what sugar is, has never had candy, has only tasted chocolate one time, hasn’t been near a soda or a french fry, and now this; a freaking V8 popsicle. She liked it though. At least for a little while. I think what she really liked was that it was cold and it came on a little plastic stick that she got to hold. That’s really all it takes.

07-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
At last, the naming process is complete. Boy or girl we’re ready. The only problem with not knowing the sex of the baby before birth is the fact that we double the work necessary to choose a name. More than double actually depending on the sex, because girl names are sooooo much easier to come up with. We could have a dozen girls and never want for a name. But boys? They’re tough. I’m not sure why, but language in general seems to lean towards the feminine side. Anyway, our page full of names has been whittled down and the top two choices are now highlighted and bold. We can breathe a little easier.

Ali has been confined to the condo since we got here. She’s in full baby cooking mode and has been ordered by pretty much everyone to take it easy. So Ouest and I have had to go out exploring on our own. It’s not easy for Ali, especially when Ouest makes a big production of sweetly saying goodbye over and over again as we walk down the stairs.

Of course there is plenty of time to hang out inside too. Eating mangos, playing fort in the closet, swimming, and making the big girl switch from sippy cups to regular cups.

08-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We went to the doctor this morning and got the good news that nothing much changed in the past six days. Meaning the baby didn’t scoot any further down. Because of Ali’s placenta previa and the fact that she had a cesarean just twenty months ago she will be having a c-section again. And because of that we really don’t want the baby trying to make its way out without us.

So anyway we’re going to try and make it through to another check-up in four days. By then the baby should be over seven pounds and its lungs should hopefully be developed enough to take care of itself. The doctor said if we went in today it would probably have to be put on a ventilator. So overall we feel pretty good about how things are going. Ali’s done a good job of making life relaxing in there for the little one.

We’re thinking about leasing this taco stand and going in to business.

09-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest and I made another attempt this morning to get her Mexican passport. You really can’t do anything but laugh at how difficult this process has been. When we walk in the office there is a girl at a desk that is there for no other reason than to make sure we’ve got the necessary paperwork to bring to the workers inside the office. We’ve never managed to get past this first desk.

Last time we were there they gave us a list of problems much like they did every other time. We fixed everything just like we were told and went back in today half expecting we might have everything correct. But they changed things up again. There is a paper that our doctor has to make up for us with a special stamp across a picture of Ouest. We’ve had her redo this same piece of paper three times already based on what this office said was wrong. Every time they’ve changed their minds about one thing or another. So I guess we’ll try again next week.

10-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ali’s mom and sister arrived today. Ouest was excited to see them. At the airport I would ask her where they were and she would look around and yell out, “Maaaa!” Then right before they walked through the doors somebody said, “Pat Schulte? And Ouest?” Turned out a Bum friend who just arrived down here a couple weeks ago to move on to his own new boat with his kids was waiting for a grandma to arrive as well. How is that for a small world encounter? No sooner had he said that than Ouest made an excited point across the crowd, and sure enough there was grandma and aunt Toni.

Ouest was awesome today. She really makes me a proud papa some days. As in, some days more than others. Today I couldn’t have been more so. She was just sweet and friendly and fun the entire afternoon with them and we were all able to just have a nice afternoon of catching up.

Of the gifts she received none was better than the little backpack aunt Toni gave her. Ouest has a bag fetish already. She loves bags of any kind and nothing gives her more joy than stuffing them full of crap and throwing them over her shoulder to prance around the house with. Today, with her new backpack, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her looking more proud of herself.

As a side note on the day, I was actually able to return that last broken fender from the boat. It took two trips to the store and a little over an hour with no less than six employees, but it was worth it.

11-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We had a fun family day hanging around town showing Grandma and Toni where we hang out and how we generally spend our days here in PV.

Big big big doctor appointment tomorrow. Exciting times. I’m very excited for the new baby to join us now, but I still feel reservation over the fact that Ouest will no longer be our one and only. We just spend so much time together and have so much fun together that I still at this late date can not fathom how we will squeeze another one in without taking away from the experience we have with Ouest. I know it will all work out and it will be great and she’ll get to experience the joy and pain of having a sibling, but she was our first, and no matter what anybody says I still feel a small sense of betrayal. She’s my baby girl and I love her.

Ouest got a cute little toy camera yesterday and today she busted it out for some great shots in front of the cathedral. It is absolutely amazing to me how much she mimics what we do. Kids truly are like sponges. We can’t say or do anything around her that we don’t want repeated through her actions. Look at her frame that shot. She just kills me.

12-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We visited the doctor this morning and found out that this baby, after that initial move down, has decided it is comfortable right where it is. Which of course is a good thing as it continues to grow. It is now the same size Ouest was when she was born.

The similarities with this pregnancy are uncanny. The baby is lying in the same position, it is the same size, and the umbilical cord is wrapped very loosely up and around its neck sort of like a shawl. Looking at the ultrasound we could be playing a recording of Ouest.

So since everything is still good and he/she isn’t moving down any more yet we are going to wait a few more days. We’re going in to the doctor again on Monday morning and will either take it out Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. So the wait continues.

After the appointment we took everybody to my favorite street taco stand for pork tacos. Hot, juicy, fresh, delicious, and all for ten pesos. I shouldn’t say this, but they are what I look forward to the most with each doctors appointment. Ouest loves them too. She’s usually busy scarfing down the meat before I can even get the fresh tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos on them. Actually she hasn’t graduated to jalapenos on hers yet, but I’ll get her there. I should mention that I was proud of grandma and aunt Toni for joining us in our taco stand snack. They aren’t always the most adventurous eaters around, but they dove right in and plopped right down on the dirty sidewalk with their plastic bag covered plate for a little taco from heaven.

And just so the baby knows that we are spending some of our time preparing for it to join us, here is a picture of the sum total of his or her things. The basket, from our friends aboard Lolo, will be bed for the first couple of months until we settle back into life aboard the boat, and more importantly, figure out where in the hell we’re going to squeeze a second kid into this boat. Ouest’s massive stateroom is about to shrink considerably.

13-Aug-2011 welcome.
Welcome Alejandro Manuel Enrique Schulte.

What? Too Ethnic? Alright, welcome Lowe Bleu Schulte.

Yes, that’s Bleu as in French for blue. We feel this irresistible urge to torture our children with names that will forever be misspelled. So it’s Lowe (pronounced low) simply because we think the name is interesting and unique. And it’s Bleu for the big blue ocean.

Lowe was born at 2:00 sharp on the 13th of August. He weighed seven pounds and seven ounces. He measured twenty and a half inches. And he looks like a bull nosed prize fighter fresh off a tough bout.

13-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
And then it all changes again.

Unbeknownst to me Ali was up all night with pretty severe cramping. By ten a.m. we were back at the doctor’s office, and by ten-thirty we had an appointment for the delivery of our baby in two hours. The baby had had enough and wanted out.

We scrambled a bit to get everything ready. Ali’s mom and sister were out walking around with Ouest and our only set of keys to get in to our building. Tracking them down required a quick ten blocks of running around town for me while Ali waited camped outside the building in case anybody came home. Fortunately Puerto Vallarta is an easy town to track people down in as long as they aren’t buried back in some shop. On the street I tracked them down quickly and we were soon at home packing a bag for the hospital, getting Ouest down for her nap, and finalizing plans for meeting up at the hospital later.

Ali and I then hopped in a cab and made our way to San Javier Hospital. Yada yada yada, she got prepped for the delivery and in no time we were back in the delivery room.

Things started out normal enough but soon Ali seemed almost over aware of what was happening on the other side of the sheet that was dividing her. She was feeling pain, or at least the work that was being done on her caused her to think she was feeling pain. The doctor took her time and they waited for the epidural to do its job, but minutes passed and she didn’t seem to be losing any of the sensation where they were making the incision. Too much time was ticking away and the doctor began to worry Ali was going into shock. So at that time she made the decision that Ali was going to have to be put under. Something the doctor didn’t want to have to do for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it poses a risk to the baby.

They gave her the meds and within seconds she was under. But that’s when she started to freak me out. Her arms were tied down but she still was struggling mightily and two nurses had to hold her down as the doctor made the final cuts to get the baby out. Ali was also slurringly calling out for Ouest. My heart was now broken.

Once the cut of the placenta is made it is supposed to be just seconds more to pull the baby out, but they began to struggle. The doctor was reaching in and grabbing the baby by the head but couldn’t get it out through the opening. Again and again she tried while at least three sets of hands yanked in every direction on Ali’s rib cage and abdominal. Nurses were diving in with scissors to cut more tissue away while the doctors struggled to get the baby out. Minutes passed. Two, three, four, and though the doctors and nurses all kept their cool I could sense the atmosphere was charged with tension.

Ali’s body was arching reflexively and she was still making all kinds of horrible noises. And then an arm came out that the doctor quickly pushed back in while she continued to spin the baby around inside of Ali until she got a grip on a leg, and then another, and then out he came. Coming out feet first I got a very clear view confirming that I was now the father of a baby boy.

But nothing was like it was supposed to be based on my experience with Ouest. The room was silent. The baby wasn’t crying. They cut the cord and rushed him to another table. He was blue. And for the next ninety seconds two sets of hands were all over him pumping the oxygen mask or giving his little chest compressions. The doctors weren’t talking, only working. They didn’t seem overly stressed, but like an airline pilot about to crash they just worked the job that they knew to do. All I could think for that last minute was that we had lost our baby.

And then he cried. And I cried.

To be honest I’m surprised they even let us fathers in the delivery rooms. I spoke with both our doctor and the pediatrician afterwards and both of them assured me that everything had been under control. They said they have twenty minutes from the time the cut is made to get the baby out, so at four or five minutes they still weren’t concerned. And they also assured me that the baby had been breathing all along, albeit weakly, but because of the drugs he had just been having a hard time coming out of it. So while they were calm, cool, and collected, I was totally freaking out. I even feel stupid telling the story as I saw it through my eyes, as I’m sure for the doctors it was just another day at the office. Kind of like when people would come watch me work in the trading pits. Even on a slow day I’d come out and they’d say, “Holy cow, that was crazy!”

It turns out the baby had gotten the cord wrapped around his shoulder like a backpack which had caused much of the problem with getting him out.

Once he cried we moved quickly out of the room and up to the nursery, leaving Ali behind to be stitched up and shake off the effects of the drugs. Me and Lowe hung out for a while and soon enough the new Schulte clan was all back together in our room. Grandma and Aunt Toni had brought Ouest to the hospital where she was quickly introduced to her new brother.

Lowe just slept while Ouest gingerly explored her new brother. Or not so gingerly at times. I can see our biggest challenge as parents the next few months is going to be getting her to understand the meaning of gentle. I can also see that it is going to be a lot of fun. Our little girl is going to change dramatically as life with an infant begins to unfold.

14-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Busy day. I was up early for a trip out to the hospital to hang out with Ali and Lowe for a while. Ali is doing fantastic, feeling pretty good, and looking great. I could say the exact same thing about Lowe. He looks great. All the beat up redness is gone today.

The doctor came in to visit and talk about the day before. She said everything had been fine. It was a tough delivery, but the baby wasn’t in danger. She said she felt bad for not being more communicative with me. The doctors were sort of in the zone working away and she says now that she wishes she had taken just a few seconds to explain to me what was happening and that everything was okay. She was very sweet about it. Not that I really care now. The baby is healthy and like parents around the world we say that is all that matters.

After the hospital I picked up Ouest from her grandma’s condo and took her home for a nap while Grandma and Aunt Toni went to visit Ali and Lowe for a little while before their flight later in the afternoon. They had booked their flights about ten days ago with us fairly sure Lowe would be coming on the 11th. When it looked like he wasn’t going to come until the 15th we were scrambling a bit because Toni had to get back home to work. Grandma was going to stay a few more days to watch Ouest while we had Lowe, but then he had a different plan and popped out on the 13th, making Toni a very happy Aunt and making life and travel plans a whole lot easier on everybody.

When Ouest got up we climbed on the bus and hauled ourselves back out to the hospital. Once we were in the room though she wasn’t really having any of it. Trying to keep a little girl busy in a hospital room is not easy. She was fascinated with watching Lowe feed and when we explained that he was just having lunch she kindly set some Goldfish on Mama’s chest for him to eat as well. Always the helpful one. It didn’t take long to lose interest though and with her running rampant in the halls we had to leave early. Back home for a swim in the pool, a little dinner, some new books, and bed.

I was amazed by how well Ali was doing getting around and handling the baby. She is days ahead of where she was when she had Ouest. I thought for sure she’d have a much tougher time after seeing how much rougher the delivery was, but twenty-four hours later she’s up and down taking care of Lowe like it is second nature.

15-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We’re home! The doctor had actually said Ali could go home last night, but it would have been late, we were all exhausted, and it just seemed easier to do it in the morning. The hospital was more or less ready for us, they cleaned Ali’s incision one last time and wrapped her up while I paid the bill, about $3200 including all the doctors, and we were out the door and in the taxi headed for home.

Our cost to have a baby in Mexico = $3,781
doctor visits with ultrasounds (April visit, June-Delivery) $100; c-section delivery/hospital 2 days $3014; Ali bloodwork $134; pharmacy (pre and postnatal) $533

But before all of that Ouest and I woke at just a few minutes after seven this morning. And from that moment on I was in hyperdrive just to get us out the door by nine. It’s crazy. I now know for certain that I do not ever want to be a single parent. Breakfast, dishes, laundry, shower, getting dressed, packing up the baby bag; that is an insane amount of crap to accomplish with a 20-month-old tugging on your shorts the whole way. I was sweating already as we ran out the door. Kudos to anybody who has to do that crap every day.

Side note: I made Ouest a scrambled egg for breakfast this morning. This may not sound like a big deal, but, and you can believe this or not, this was the first egg I have ever made in my life. Ever since my mom forced me to sit at the table and finish my egg when I was about four years old, and I promptly sat there with a spoonful of egg in my mouth until it turned to whatever it is eggs turn back into when they go to liquid, I have hated eggs. My mom will just love that I’m telling that story for the millionth time. Anyway, it is the one food I will not eat and can’t really even stand the smell of. And therefore I’ve never cooked one. And of course when you cook as little as I do, roughly twice a year, the odds that one of those meals might be eggs is pretty slim to begin with.

Anyway, I’ve seen Ali make Ouest scrambled eggs enough times that I thought I could handle it. I turned the burner on high, melted a little butter in the pan, cracked an egg, and got a good portion of it in the pan. In the few seconds that I cleaned up the spilled egg the cooking egg was done. Not scrambled. Okay temp is too high. Scrape the pan, melt a little butter, reach for another egg, and stick my thumb right through it in the package. More mess. Grab for a third egg, crack, pour, flip it around a bit, and good enough, it resembled a scrambled egg. Ouest ate half of it so it must have been somewhat edible. I guess I can cross cook a scrambled egg off my life’s list.

So we got Lowe home and nothing much else happened all day. Oh, Ouest and I did go out to pick up Chinese food and found that our restaurant had gone out of business. Just days after we first happily discovered it. Damn. Found a hole in the wall Italian place instead and got some decent sandwiches to go. When I say hole in the wall I mean the restaurant was only six feet wide and the kitchen consisted of a refrigerator and three hot plates. Then we went to another hole in the wall and picked up rice, beans, and tortillas. I do like our neighborhood.

Having a baby at home this time feels much less stressful. Ouest is still just curious about the whole thing and not really getting too involved. Though when we are fawning over him on the bed she immediately crawls right up next to him in order to get equal loving. She also kisses him a lot which is pretty sweet.

Seriously, some days it is just too damn hot here.

16-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We’re settling in to a routine of sorts. Ouest and I continue the normal daily routine of wandering around a bit in the mornings, napping, going out to pick up lunner, going for a swim, taking a bath, and going to bed. Ali meanwhile is stuck in the house for a little while trying to get Lowe on a bit of a routine of his own. Right now it’s pretty much just a matter of feeding him when he’s hungry, getting him to sleep when he’s tired, and giving him a bath in the evening. While he obviously disrupts the sleep schedule, especially for Ali, he really isn’t too much too handle just yet. We remember fondly those first two weeks with Ouest also. The calm before the storm as it came to be known.

17-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
One thing that nobody can dispute is that it is far easier to change girl’s diapers than it is boys. Contending with those boy bits and squirt gun is making the whole diaper changing experience a lot more challenging than it used to be around here.

It’s still hard for us to get our heads around the fact that we’re now a family of four when just over two years ago Ali and I were bumming around and living in the back of a VW bus. Now we think about how big a car is going to be necessary if we’re ever going to go for a drive with anybody else.

Ouest and I went for a wander around town today that inevitably ended at our favorite taco stand. Inevitably despite the fact that it is really nowhere near our condo. I love these pork tacos more than any other in the world at the moment, and I’m proud to say that my little girl does too. She actually knew where we were going as soon as we turned the corner, was digging in to the succulent pork before we even got to the toppings, and then proceeded to eat an entire taco loaded down with pico de gallo in one curb sitting. That’s my girl.

I met a guy on that curb today who had spent fifty illegal years in the States before being deported a couple of years back after picking up his second felony. He seemed utterly hurt and confused when he told me, “They don’t want anyone there with felonies any more.” I know man, it makes no sense at all.

Lowe continues his easy going way with us. He isn’t sleeping quite as much as we expect, but he eats great, and when he cries, which is rarely, it is about one tenth the decibel level his big sister had at birth. Ali is really enjoying the blissful baby time. Even more so than the first time around.

18-Aug-2011 ouest lill. twenty months.
Ouest,

I know, I know, look what has happened already. Five days late on your twenty month birthday note. Hopefully you can cut me a little slack, we had kind of a busy 13th this month. I’ll be better next month I swear.

A couple of little people milestones this month. You can now drink out of a cup like a big girl with only occasional total body dousings. And you are an under water swimming fool. You appear to hold no fear of anything in life at the moment. Wait, that’s not true, there is that tiny fluffy yapping dog in the condo above us that for some reason sends you running into my arms at the mere sound of toenails clicking on the floor. None of us can comprehend that one. Meanwhile I could dress up in a bloody mask and jump out at you from behind a closet door in a dark room and you would laugh until you fell over.

Since your brother wasn’t born until one hour after your official birthday I won’t go into that whole thing this month. Yes, that whole thing.

Alright baby girl, short and sweet. Thanks for a great month. We enjoy each day a little bit more with you and are truly enjoying watching you grow up. You’re an adorable girl with a sweet disposition and we’re proud to walk down the street with you holding our hands.

18-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
I don’t think I called Lowe she or her once today. I’ve turned a corner.

I was at the store yesterday buying Ouest yet another pair of sandals when I remembered that Lowe needed a pair of socks. There was only one set of three for sale in newborn size, blue, red, and black, so I figured they were for boys and bought them. When I got home and proudly displayed them to Ali she immediately pointed out to me that they are ballerina slipper socks. Sorry Lowe.

There’s a vendor in the plaza every day selling a drink out of a big wooden jug that he carries around on a pole across his back. Today I decided to buy a cup and then I asked him what it was called. He told me, “Tuba,” and then went on to explain in Spanish what was in it. I caught something about coconut, and then the obvious stuff about what was floating in it, like walnuts, apple, and strawberry. Whatever it was it was really good and Ouest loved it.

When I got home I googled it and found out that it is coconut palm sap that is fermented to make a clear sweet wine. Wine! Oh Christ I am on a roll. I googled on and actually found an entire article about the drink including an interview with the vendor in Puerto Vallarta and the article states that this tuba drink is enjoyed as a non-alcoholic refreshment. Phew. I was most worried because Ouest seemed to handle her liquor so well, she didn’t sway or stumble once on the hot walk home.

19-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We took Lowe in for a quick one week check-up and a blood test today. We already knew that he was a healthy baby boy, but now it’s been made official. He’s even managed to put on nearly half a pound in just six days. He didn’t appreciate the blood being drawn and neither did Ali. She didn’t even stay in the room. She’s really sensitive to her kids crying these days. She can’t stand it at all which bodes well for both of them as they get older and realize that a few tears will send Mama running for her own tissue box. Of course this leaves all the heavy work with the belts and paddles to me.

Lowe also got some footprints taken, alongside Ali’s finger print. Something tells me this should have been done before we left the hospital with our baby, but whatever.

Ouest has suddenly taken to bringing her doll stroller along on our afternoon walks. Funny thing about her is that she doesn’t bring a doll, just the stroller. And she’s pretty good at pushing that thing along too. The locals can’t get enough of her and she gets accosted at least a couple of times per hour. It often involves hugging between bosoms. She is such a sport, she never puts up a fuss about it.

One of my favorite things about Ouest is that she can be confronted by an entire store full of toys and a pushy store owner shoving them right in her face and yet she is content just to touch the toys a bit, inspect them closely, and then walk right along on her way with a shopkeeper yelling at our backs, “Only one dollar!”

20-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Every night before going to bed Ouest gives everybody a kiss. She starts with Lowe. She leans down and gently kisses him on top of the head just as sweetly as can be imagined, but then quickly wipes her mouth. Every time. Then she kisses Mama, and lastly me. Ali and I don’t have our kisses wiped off however after my kiss she makes a big show of having gotten tickled by my whiskers and points back at Mama to indicate that she doesn’t have whiskers. This is the last ritual of the day and is how she goes off to bed.

Lowe has really been a breeze so far. Though I have to admit that at this point I haven’t had much to do with it. We’ve really slipped in to two distinct groups this week. Ali has been handling Lowe, feeding, burping, changing, and putting to sleep. I’ve been with Ouest playing, entertaining, going on walks, shopping, picking up meals, and swimming. And pretty much whenever there is down time with her, Lowe is sound asleep. It does warm my heart to walk in to the room and see his tiny little self all curled up on Ali’s chest sound asleep. And today we watched some of Ouest’s old birthday videos with her which got both of us excited to see him grow. Watching those videos of our happy eight-month-old girl all gummy toothed and bald headed brought it all back. We’re really looking forward to this.

Also worth mentioning, since Ali and I can’t stop commenting on it with each other, is that Ouest has not woken up once at night this entire week. She is making life easy on us.

21-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest and I went out to the boat today to check and make sure everything was okay. Of course the first thing I noticed was that one of the brand new fenders was busted. Looks like I didn’t use thick enough line on it and the line I did use cut right through the rubber. Fenders are one of those things I never gave any thought to with the catamaran, but with this boat, I’m figuring out, it is something that more attention is going to need to be paid to. It’s a combination of the massive weight of this boat and the ridiculous amount of surge in the marinas we’ve been in. Unfortunately Paradise Village Marina doesn’t have single slips where we could simply tie the boat off to both sides and keep it off the dock completely. Instead they are double slips and we end up constantly pulling away from and then slamming back into the dock. The fenders are getting a work out with the surge here.

The rest of the boat looked good though. We’ve got a couple of known leaks on the boat, including one I just fixed the day before we left it. And despite the incredible amount of rain we get here just about every night, there wasn’t a drop inside the boat. Even better, the bilge pumps that I cleaned and repaired before we left are still working properly. Batteries were charging properly, and the engine fired up immediately. All the little things you worry about when leaving a boat for a few weeks.

Ouest had fun playing in the water on deck as she always does and I have to say that I really missed being aboard. Especially since it was a little cloudy out and we weren’t sweating profusely like normal. I’m looking forward to getting back aboard in a few weeks. Of course we’ve still got that pesky problem of figuring out where everyone is going to sleep, but those are just details. Ouest seems to be taking a shining to the little guy anyway.

At the boat we found a gift basket from some friends with a little something for everyone. Ouest had a good time opening them all up and handing them out. The Cohiba was mine, the sheep was for Lowe.

Ouest really has been good with Lowe. She enjoys when we all lavish attention on him together. She likes to touch him and compare the size of his toes to her own. The only thing she apparently doesn’t like are the boy germs she gets when she kisses him. She makes a face and wipes her mouth every time. Cracks us up.

22-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Life around here is pretty darn good these days. It’s really amazing to us how smoothly things are running at the moment. Ali has got Lowe completely content and well under control. And I’ve got days packed full of quality time with my girl. Time which I am really enjoying. It’s not every papa that gets to walk the streets of PV every day letting his girl slowly explore every nook and cranny.

These are the street signs throughout Puerto Vallarta Centro. I just love that they have these lovely, seemingly hand painted, tiles attached to whatever building happens to be on the corner. Sometimes it is a nice clean building which incorporates the sign seamlessly, other times it is a crumbling decaying mess in which a big blob of wet cement was thrown over whatever was underneath. Either way I can’t think of another Mexican city we drove through in all our travels that was so easy to navigate, thanks to these signs.

23-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
At least two people didn’t get much sleep last night.

24-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
We did it! Maybe. Ouest’s Mexican passport paperwork has finally been accepted, stamped, and sent along to some fancy office high in the sky far, far away. We’ll know next Wednesday when I go to pick it up if we’ve actually succeeded or not. In the next few weeks we’ll get to repeat the process for Lowe. Can’t wait for that. And then of course, for some reason I can’t comprehend, we have to renew this thing in only one year. A one year passport. I asked today if renewing was a simple matter of bringing in the old one, paying a fee, and receiving the new one. No, no, no. We’ll need another of these fancy letters from her doctor with the special stamp placed just so over her passport sized photo that is to be stapled on the right side of the paper. And be sure the stamp in no way covers her face. And have the doctor sign it so that half the signature is over the picture and the rest is on the paper. And… This is how it goes. But hey, when she is three years old she can get a passport good for six years. So that’s something.

So in the next few weeks we need to get Lowe his Mexican birth certificate, file his CRBA which will get him his U.S. citizenship, apply for both his U.S. and Mexican passports, and renew both mine and Ali’s passports which expire in February. We’re going to miss our big fat passports.

This afternoon we gave Lowe a bath and then set him on the bed in order to get all those baby pics you need to take in the first couple of weeks while every little bit of them is still the size of a peanut. Ouest was more than happy to join in. She takes great pride in touching her little brother gently. Gently. GENTLY Ouest! She is also getting really in to taking pictures right alongside me. She got down on the floor next to me with her little pink camera and snapped away. Man do I love that little girl. She just kills me with the sweet things she does sometimes.

25-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Grammy and Aunt Beth arrived today. Ouest totally understands what it means now when we are at the Vallarta airport standing behind the glass partition. She gets giddy with the excitement of watching the frosted sliding doors and waiting for that special person to come walking out.

Note for the baby record: Lowe lost his umbilical cord last night. Nice.

26-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ouest loves having her Grammy and Aunt Beth here and she seems to take pride in showing them around too. I swear she knows this town as well as I do.

27-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Ali to Ouest: “Guacamole is not a meal.”

Another nice day hanging out as a family. This afternoon we went to the mall to get out of the heat and pay a few bucks to let Ouest play in the big indoor playground.

28-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.

29-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
First thing this morning we loaded the whole gang onto the bus and went to try and get Lowe a birth certificate. Of course we failed in our attempt. There’s always just one more thing. In this case it all came down to Ali’s name again. Life here in Mexico would be so much easier for us if she had simply kept her maiden name when we married. Today we were sent out of the office with instructions to go back to the hospital and have them change the name on the birth document to Alison Renee Williams. Tomorrow we’ll try again.

It’s a little scary just how easy it was for Ali to go and have that crucial bit of information changed on the only record we have of Lowe’s birth. She walked in, spotted the girl who handles that stuff sitting at a desk in front of a typewriter, asked her to make the change, and she promptly made it. No questioning of why, or even any sort of proof that this was actually Ali’s name, now, or in the past. Good for us I guess.

After striking out at the office we walked down to the grocery store. Along the way we passed a Senor Frogs t-shirt store with a fountain out front. Ouest headed straight for it. Not that the fountain was in any way meant for kids to play in. Yep, we’re those parents. All I could think was, “You know, I should probably be telling her she shouldn’t be playing in here.” But instead we all did what fun parents do, and let her cut loose. Before long she was soaked right through. We just stripped her down. God did she laugh.

Ouest started saying Grammy today. “Nan-ny.” Grammy is now putty in her hands.

Lowe slept. That’s what he does. He sleeps.

30-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Lowe has officially been born. We showed up this morning with all the correct paperwork and were promptly led through the process right down to the signatures on the paper. Signatures that included Lowe’s two witnesses, Grammy and Aunt Beth. Feels good to have that first bit of the paperwork shuffle done. Now we can move on to the next thing on the list, U.S. citizenship.

It’s ten o’clock and so far tonight Ouest has thrown up twice in bed and Lowe spent four straight unhappy hours awake before finally slipping off to wherever infants go when they fall asleep. These are the types of nights that make us consider all over again just what the hell we’ve gotten ourselves into here. And also, I wonder, shouldn’t doctors be the only people allowed to have kids? What the hell do I know about why Ouest is throwing up tonight? I bet a doctor would know. And know what to do about it. Me? I don’t know crap. So I just clean the puke out of her hair, lie her on my chest, and watch her drift back to sleep. And then I worry about her the rest of the night.

31-Aug-2011 our life. daily. puerto vallarta, mexico.
Today I picked up both Ouest’s passport and Lowe’s official copy of his birth certificate. When I was picking up his birth certificate they explained the process for getting copies in the future. The process includes me telling them the number of the book that it is stored in. Yes, book. He is in book number eleven for the year 2011. See the first picture in yesterday’s post? Those are the books. I purchased four official stamped copies today. I really don’t want to test out the book ordering system ten years from now.

Grammy and Aunt Beth flew out this afternoon. We had a really nice time. It’s getting harder and harder for my mom to leave at the end of her visits. Ouest has really taken to her and lays all sorts of sweetness on her at all times. And now, with Lowe here too, forget about it. Then to top it off Ali shows them the video I shot of Lowe being born, blue baby and all. That’s right, get Grammy crying really good before sending her off to the airport.

Unfortunately Ouest was still suffering a bit today with whatever beat her up last night. No appetite, but no fever either. We spent the day bumming around the house trying to get her to recover. Yet it was only 4:40 when she abruptly told us she wanted to go to bed. Poor thing.