Oliver never ceases to amaze me...

First of all, I want to apologize in advance for what will most likely be a week of strange-looking posts since I haven´t yet totally figured out my mother-in-law´s computer. Once Jaime, my technological guru, arrives, things should be looking normal again. Not long before I left for Guadalajara, Jaime and I had a conversation about being amazed and how it can become a rare experience for some of us once we become important know-it-all adults. Jaime remembered one of his professors when he was studying visual arts, tell them on their first day of class that they should never let themselves lose their ability to be amazed. Wow. That´s what I say. I wish more of my professors would have amazed me like that on the first day of class. I most definitely agree with his professor, and I can happily say here that since becoming a mom, my son Oliver never ceases to amaze me. It´s a sort of amazement that I´ve never experienced in my life until Oliver. I was certainly amazed by things before, especially as a child, but being a parent, and becoming one, has been the ultimate experience in my life so far. And now for a quote... This was love at first sight, love everlasting: a feeling unknown, unhoped for, unexpected - in so far as it could be a matter of conscious awareness; it took entire possession of him, and he understood, with joyous amazement, that this was for life. --Thomas Mann For some reason I can´t get back on the left-hand margin!!! So I´ll continue floating out here in the middle. Damn, I miss our computer! And now for a few recent things that Oliver has amazed me with. The first is how happy and relaxed he is to be once again surrounded by family, back in Guadalajara, the city where he was born. Since arriving, he amazed not just me, but my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law by falling asleep in their arms. What a little sweetie! And then he amazed me yesterday afternoon by falling asleep in my arms while bouncing on my lap listening to cumbias as I surfed the net! Yes, multi-tasking again! I was happily reminded of when he was a tiny newborn and would fall fast asleep in the noisiest of restaurants. So today instead of doing my traditional nap routine of either taking him for a walk or nursing him to sleep, I did the same except this time I used the French accordian music that Lupita, Oliver and I had danced around the house to this morning. And it worked like a charm! I think this child has music in his bones. That´s only the tip of the iceburg, but since Oliver is asleep and I´m dying of hunger....I better get to cooking my lunch. I´ll just leave you with another quote to ponder: Amazement awaits us at every corner. --James Broughton