Ethan the Banana

Thanks to our good freinds the Schmitts and their awesome hand-me-downs, we had Ethan's Halloween costume before he was even born. What we didn't count on was that he wouldn't fit into a 0-9 month costume well before 9 months. He just barely fits now, so by teh end of next month we have very little hope that he will be able to use the outfit, but we thought you might all like to see how cute he is as a banana. Stay tuned to what his actual Halloween costume will be.

“What!? In your Last Post I am Only in My Diaper! How Embarrassing!”

We just thought this picture was funny. Ethan was in a bit of a mood for his weekly photo shoot, so there are not a ton of smiles, but there are some pretty funny faces. Enjoy the 19 week update!

YUM - Feet!

We thought it was difficult before, to change Ethan's clothes when he was interested in sticking his hands in his mouth instead of into his shirts. Now though we need to try and convince him to not only take his hands out of his mouth but also his feet! These pictures are from this past week at one of his changes when we had a particulary hard time convinving him to stop chomping on those toes!

Dulce de Leche – the other official Argentine Food

Most people know that as far as food and drink is concerend, Argentina is known for great beef and great Malbec wine. But, as far as I can tell, the most favorite food staple here is dulce de leche.

Basically, dulce de leche is a sweet milk caramel and is made by simmering down milk and sugar while you stir it constantly. Some people also make it by boiling a can of condensed milk for two to three hours. You have to be careful and make sure that the water the can is in does not boil off or you could have a can of exploding milk in your kitchen.

Most people here just by it in jars off the shelf at the grocery store. It is thicker than a caramel sauce you would buy for ice cream in the States, but thinner than peanut butter. You can have it for breakfast with your croissants, you can have it as a layer in your brownie or as a sauce over your apple tart. It seems to be used in almost every dessert.

At our favorite ice cream place there is a whole column of flavors on the menu listed under "dulce de leche" and even under the other columns of flavors (chocolate, cream, fruit), it is hard to escape dulce de leche. "Swiss Chocolate" is chocolate ice cream with chocolate pieces and....dulce de leche. "American Cookie" is cookies and cream and ....dulce de leche. You get the idea.

Another use for the yummy spread is as the middle of sandwich cookies, called Alfajores (pictured) and are sometimes covered with coconut or chocolate. It is also used in cakes and candies, or just on its own....YUM.

My Newest Toy!

Ethan had a very exciting week this week, he turned 4 months on Tuesday, he went to his first Erev of Rosh Hashanah service on Wednesday night (which he napped through quietly) and on Thursday all of his things arrvied from Washington DC. The rest of his toys, books, clothes, high chair, and his very own crib and bedding arrived. So, Steve, Ethan and I got to put togther his crib on Thursday and continue to decorate his nursery.

While he is happy with all of his things, this week also brought him the realization that George and Gracie are also fantastic toys and a great source of entertainment! They are fun to watch when they run around, they are funny when they lick his face, and their fur is super fun to "pet" (or grab). George and Gracie are great with Ethan and very patient with these petting sessions. Check out the pictures of Ethan in his new crib and hanging out with George.

By the way, the T-shirt he is wearing says "Wow, all the ladies keep checking me out" It seems to be true. Ethan enjoys flirting with the Argentine ladies, and when we walk him around the neighborhood we hear "Que lindo!" (how cute!) quite a bit.

I'm Ready for Some Football!!!

Ethan is all set for the football season! For your pictures today he is sporting his favorite college team colors - Blue and White for Penn State! The knit wear is from Aunt Courtney and Lisa, and if you look through the Picasa pics, the other PSU knit hat is from Aunt Carol. He has other PSU stuff, but it is a little big for him just yet!

Ethan shows no current allegiance to any professional teams. I likes the Eagles, Steve likes Green Bay and the Redskins, and both are fans of whoever is playing the Cowboys! I am sure soon enough Ethan will be sporting a cheesehead hat, Eagles T-shirt and Redskin pants.

The new and exciting things this week - Ethan's Drool Factory is now open for business. Lots and lots of drool . Ethan also loves putting his hands in his mouth. He is an equal opportunity finger/thumb sucker right now too. Sometimes it will be just his thumb, sometimes a finger or two, sometimes all of his fingers and sometimes he can't decide so he just sticks his whole hand in his mouth to suck on.

He has a bit of a cold right now, so there is a lack of smiles in these pictures - he was a little cranky. Hope you enjoy none the less!

Out and About in BA

So, we finally left our barrio (neighborhood) and saw a bit of the city. On Saturday we took a bus tour with other people from the embassy. It was a greatest hits tour of BA, and a great way to get a sense of the city and what else we wanted to go back to and spend more time at. The first stop was Recoleta neighborhood. In the middle of the neighborhood is the famous Recoleta Cemetery, where Evita is buried. It is a huge cemetery of all of these mausoleums for all these famous and rich Argentines over the generations. It is the family's responsibility to maintain the mausoleums, so there are some that are literally falling down because no one from that family is left to take care of them, and there are others that are just beautiful.

If you go to the Picasa pictures, there are some pictures of a big tree which is right outside the cemetery and was planted when the area was first developed. The tree is huge and the branches are held up with posts!

We then drove down the famous a 9 de Julio Avenue, which is a big wide avenue with parks down the center and a obelisk is the middle. After that it was off to the center of the city where the government buildings are. we saw their congress building (the one with the green dome), the presidential offices (the pink building) - which is the building where Evita gave her famous speeches from. The balcony on the left in the picture is the famous "Evita Balcony". The white building is the original "Town Hall" from when Argentina was a Spanish colony and the large building with the columns is the National Cathedral.

Our next stop was La Boca, which is on the water and where those colorful houses that you always see pictures of are. We didn't bring the camera on that stop - next time, we promise.

Finally we drove past Puerto Madero, a rehabilitated area of BA that is now very ritzy with restaurants and shops, and finally back past the parks and the zoo and back to the embassy.

So, now we have an idea of where we need to go back to and where to take all of our visitors when they come!