Julian's Dentist Appointment

Julian had his 1st dentist appointment. I know, I know...why did we wait so long!!?? My personal dentist told me that now is the perfect time. I had friends who were taking their kids to the dentist super young and I thought whats good for them is good for them, but it isnt necessary.

We will just say that Gabi has a dentist appointment and will be seeing the dentist in a preventative measure from this day forward!!

We went to Clairemont Pediatric Dentist and as soon as you walk in it is a kids wonderland. They had a mini waiting room for kids with video games on Flat screen LCDs hung on the walls. They had Alvin and the Chipmunks playing in all of the waiting areas. They had flat screens hung on all of the walls playing the movie to keep the kids happy. Even when he got x-rays done.


Julian was a STAR during the entire appointment. He did everything asked of him without grumping. Of course, he had his eye on Alvin the whole time...

Gabi was a treat for about the first 30 minutes...then she got a little irritated and annoyed about not being the one in the chair getting all of the fun stuff done to her. One of the assistants took her to get a balloon and that made her happy for a while. She got a little goody bag to play with that had a toothbrush and a few toys. She was content to brush her teeth for several minutes...what a bright smile!!

Of course Julian disliked the taste of all the "yummy" flavors they used to polish his teeth with and the flouride that was supposed to be grape flavored made him winge a little...probably reminiscent of the medicine he takes when he is sick hahahaha. But he did it without complaining like a big boy and that made me proud. Actually, I told the hygenist that she should come to my house and be the one to give Julian medicine because it is a production indeed when we have to give it t0 him.

We went home with a whole new outlook on dental hygene. We have always brushed Gabis teeth once a day and Julian has to brush twice a day...before bed and in the morning. FLossing has been intermittent for Julian and nn-exhistant for Gabi. I floss both sets of teeth in the evenings now and then Julian flosses himself. Just one more thing to do in our evening routine, right?

LOOK at those pearly whites!

Gabi enjoys eating lizards for a white smile!!!

The Kid's First Reggae Concert

I was asked a couple of weeks back if we would be interested in meeting at Standley Park for a free reggae concert. I have never really been a fan of reggae music, but figured she had a point when she mentioned that the kids would love to hear it and dance a little. It took little to talk Eli into free evening entertainment.

I prepared a picnic for us to take: fried chicken (yes I said "fried") that I had soaked in buttermilk and then seasoned before frying, a couple of rounds of french bread that Eli picked up, and a handful of plums. Of course I had to pack jalapenos for Eli to crunch on with his chicken! Jugs of water and a couple of little cookies for the kids and we were set.

We got there and Jill, Jeff, and the kids were already there. They had GREAT seats on the grass right in front! There was a stage and then plenty of grass in from of the stage for dancing...then we were right there so we could watch the stage and the kids and other people dancing :) We laid out our picnic and got comfortable. I made plates of food for Gabi and Eli. It seemed so rustic! I loved it! Gabriel and Julian were off pre-partying in the grass, jumping around and catching up.

Joyce, Steve and the family showed up right before the music started, if I remember correctly, and laid out their picnic. SHe had a fabulous arabic lentil salad she was nice enough to share that was quite delicious. It was neat seeing Zoe get happy when she saw Julian and Gabriel...and Julian and Gabriel get all happy when they saw her. They all ran to each other and said hi and gave hugs (how dignified, eh?) and then ran off to play in front of the stage.

Once the music started all of the kids went nuts! It was neat because a lot of the songs were covers of songs we already knew so Julian would get excited if he recognized a version of a song he had heard before. The concert was from 5:00-7:00 and I am sure you will believe me when I say that the kids danced the entire time. I think there were a few nibbles here and there, but for the most part, it was dancing and tag-playing. There were loads of families there and some brought coolers with food and drinks and put up umbrellas and everything! There were groups of people who tastefully drank wine in plastic wine glasses. There were older couples who were cutting a rug (er, eh "cutting the grass" rather). There were LOADS of kids on the playground. Lots of friendly people smiling everywhere. It was just a really nice family sort of environment with something for everyone.

The kids LOVED intermission time when they gave out free ice cream cups! YOu know, the kind with the little wood spoon? DANG!! Take me WAYYYY back to elementary school!! ANyhow, Julian and Gabi got about half through theirs when we interceded and confiscated them so they would eat their dinner! THAT little touch by the community made ELi wonder why we hadnt go to more of the concerts in the parks this summer. But we had no idea they did them all over San Diego on the weekends during summer! Lesson learned!

Start to finish...a fabulous Sunday. I love this city. I love Eli and Julian and Gabriella even more! :)

Julian doing his signature pose when he is dancing:

The kids having fun during the concert:

Julian and Zoe dancing the evening away:

Breakin' it down:

My kid has some serious moves:

Catching Up with the Barajas'

Where to begin...

Julian has as much preschool as we could possibly squeeze in for him this year. He really enjoyed the class he was in, and Gabi enjoyed going with him. The preschool class doubles as early childhood development and parenting classes for the mommies...half of the moms help run the activities in class and watch the playground while the other half of the women have discussion on childhood development issues (i.e. age apropriate toys, discipline, pre-k prep, etc). Then after mid-class circle time and snack, the moms switch roles so we all have gone through discussion for the day. I did this with the kids for 2 years. Julian was very shy before he started this class (he was 3 when we started together) and now he is Mr. Extrovert! And Gabi, well, she was practically born in this class and has been going since she could breathe so she has been quite the social butterfly since she could scoot. I saw neither of them during class times, as they had forged such great relationships with the other kids and adults that if they needed anything they would just go to the nearest person! What am I, chopped livah??

Julian graduated. I figured "whats the big deal, its only preschool"...then they started playing that gosh darn graduation march song and I was all tears. GREAT. WAAAAAAA!!!!!! Julian wanted to do a dance in the talent show, so we chose a song ("Cantaloop [Flip Fantasia]" ~US3) and he practiced a little. He is quite the street dancer...a little breaker...little pop locker...little funk. It was great. ANd the icing on the cake was that I put little hambone Gabi up on stage to see if she would dance too and the two of them were show stoppers! I figured they both would tire out of dancing but they would have stayed up there all night. Julian was doing acrobatic flips and poses that blew me away! People came up to me after and were asking me where he took classes lol. "The Dance House of Barajas"...heh heh...

Here is Julian and Gabi getting ready to tear up the stage:

Julian had me make a quilt tote bag for Teacher Marina. He chose the colors! SHe LOVED it!

We went ahead and did the summer course which lasted 6 weeks. I juiced that class for all I could get out of it. There were a lot of field trips at the end.

Julian starts kindergarten September 2nd. That is my deadline to have a job going for myself, as well. September will be a doozy of a change for all of us. Julian will be in school all day, Gabi will be in preschool at least part of the day, I will be working part-fulltime, and we will all probably be dog tired at the end of the day.

ELI should be elated right about then. There is usually a lot of energy going through this house! The first early night is likely to be pure bliss for him. He will quickly wake out of that when I remind him that he is now responsible for half (YEP HALF!) of the chores, and they have to be done in a timely manner...no piling up until Friday!

ANyhow, there is a start. I will write more tomorrow, perhaps...