Bino's smiles

In the past few days, Bino has spent a lot more time smiling and staring into the eyes of his parents. Those smiles are so hard to capture-- but here's a slight one of Bino in his bouncy chair.

Los dos grandes amores de mi vida

Mama's two great loves.

Here is Bino giving Papa a solumn but congratulatory hug for completing his Ph.D. Félicitationes!

Stylish Bino?

When we took Bino for a ride in his stroller yesterday, it was very bright outside. Papa generously offered to let Bino borrow his eyewear. As you might tell by the expression on Bino's face, those glasses didn't stay on very long.

The other baby

Tito had been somewhat nervous around Bino until last night, when he decided there might be room in Mama's lap for two.

Tito is not a big cat, but he is still bigger than Bino, who weighed ten pounds at his doctor's appointment yesterday.

Bino and the magic vacuum cleaner

I'm not sure where I read this bit of information, but some people suggest turning on a blow-dryer, vacuum cleaner, washing machine or dishwasher when a baby gets fussy. I was skeptical until last night in desperation, I turned on the vacuum when Bino wouldn't stop crying, just in case... and it worked. He calmed down instantly.

Just to make sure this wasn't a fluke, I turned it on again this afternoon, when Bino began fussing after we came in from a ride in his stroller. Still works. And I got a bit more cleaning done, too.

8 weeks

Bino is eight weeks old today. This morning I set him briefly in his crib, expecting him to complain as he usually does. Instead he was quiet, fascinated with the colors and shapes on the cloth bumper. Outside of the crib, his favorite things to look at are his mirror (still) and Daddy's bright colored math books.

Missing Papa

As I've written before, Pedro is very adept at calming Bino down when he gets fussy, especially at night. Since he left us for Champaign this morning, though, Bino and I are both missing his soothing arms tonight.

Bino works out

Here he is exercising his legs a bit, when he's not distracted by the mirror.

A poor replacement

Bino, poor man (this is the babblefish translation of "pobre Bino," apparently). This past week he's been rather uncomfy, crying a lot more than he had been. Pedro has a real talent for calming him down when he gets fussy, by bouncing him up and down in his arms and dancing around the room. His arms get a real work-out this way.

Saturday Pedro is leaving us for a whole week to go off and defend his dissertation, which means that Bino and I will have to make do with my lesser arms and Bino's swing. Here he is in it one afternoon during Pedro's absence. He quieted down when I put him in, but if you look closely at his little face you can tell he hasn't quite decided whether or not to start crying again. We'll both miss Papa next week.

Bino okosama ii

The little god being godlike from the first days of his life.

Bino okosama

La novela Métaphysique des tubes de Amélie Nothomb se inspira en el hecho de que a los niños en el Japón se les considera dioses hasta los tres años, edad en la que renuncian a su estado de gracia y acceden al mundo de los mortales. La palabra japonesa okosama denota a estas deidades menores.

Una siesta con papá/ A nap with dad

Papa's chest is one of Bino's favorite places for napping. Pedro doesn't seem to mind much.

Bino malhumorado/ Grouchy Bino

Bino was pretty anxious to get home and eat at this point. He's cute even in a bad mood.

Los ojos de Bino/ Bino's eyes

We can't quite figure out what color they are. Sometimes they seem to be a very dark grey or blue, other times they're black or greenish brown, like mud. Here they are looking back at me on our way out of the park.

Sunset at Willows Park

Bino woke up from his nap a bit chilly, so his father carried him around for a while like this. We're headed back to the car here.

Bino by the sea

One of the nice things about living here in Salem is the number of beautiful places we can go to take Bino for walks. Here he is by the sea at Willows Park, nearing sunset.

Comparación

A Kim le parece que Bino ha heredado mi boca y mi nariz, y a mí me parece que ha heredado los ojos de Kim.

Bino y el otro Bino*

Bino's favorite toy is this small orange mirror. He enjoys looking at his own reflection in it. His attention span is still pretty short, but for Bino to be entertained by it for a even minute is pretty exciting. Bino probably doesn't know it's his own image he's seeing, but Pedro thinks he has inherited this apparent vanity from his father.

*The title, contributed by Pedro, is a reference to Jorge Luis Borges' famous Borges y Yo (Borges and I).

Bino con dedos/ Bino with fingers

We have a number of precious pictures from Bino's first visit with his grandparents on his mother's side, but since they might be shy about having their faces posted on the web, I'll include just this one. It was taken the day before we got to bring the then 8-day-old and very tiny Bino home from the hospital. The fingers belong to my father.

Un pato simpático

A Bino le gusta su pato.

Me gusta el Bino porque el Bino es bueno

Al gran amigo cronopio del papá de Bino le gustaba mucho cantar esta canción de Tito Fernández. Y ahora que nos ha dado por llamarle Bino a Bino (que conste que utilizamos su nombre tan a menudo como su apodo), el primer verso de la canción se ha convertido en el leit motif de nuestros días musicales. Por cierto que no es culpa del vino, nos asegura Kim, que esta foto esté tan psicodélica.

Los amiguitos de Bino

Estos son los nuevos amiguitos de Bino, recién venidos de Iowa. Son un regalo del despistado de su tío I2S, a quien se le olvidó darnos su dirección para enviarle fotos de Bino.

Bino puzzle

¿Qué tienen en común George Orwell, Willard van Orman Quine, Antoni Gaudí y Bino?

Modest Bino

Bino's father insisted we strategically cover him up with his wash cloth for this shot. In the x-rated photo I'm not allowed to post (which is even cuter), Bino is kicking his feet and smiling.

Otro baño/ Another bath

Here again is a bathtime photo of Bino. While last time he nearly fell asleep in the bath, this time he is wide-eyed, fully taking in the sensation of warm water.

¡Buena suerte, abuelito!

Estamos todos a la espera de noticias, y cruzamos los dedos porque todo esté bien. He aquí a Bino a tuto, en la feria marítima de Salem, escuchando divertidas canciones de marineros. El muy bandido se quería escapar.

Collage del pensativo

¿Habrá heredado Bino una cierta disposición para la filosofía y la contemplación?

Gordito

Bino ahora está gordito.

Primer día en casa

La sonrisa de la madre lo dice todo.

Mejoría

Bino estaba mejorando. Helo aquí con su papá en el hospital.

Comida a la fuerza

Fue muy difícil darle de comer a Bino a la fuerza. Había que abrirle la boquita como lo ilustra aquí su enternecido padre, y luego había que sostenerle la quijada para ayudarle a tragar.

Papá sonríe

A pesar de las preocupaciones, a Bino no lo costaba robarle una sonrisa a su padre.

¡Comida por la nariz!

Pobre Bino. Estos eran los días en los que Bino se estaba adaptando a sus nuevas circunstancias y necesitaba ayuda para mantener un nivel aceptable de azúcar en la sangre.

Despertares

Esta foto es de cuando Bino tenía cinco días de edad. Aún estábamos en el hospital, pero todavía no le habían puesto un tubo en la nariz para alimentarlo. ¡Qué maravilla que ahora esté en casa con nosotros!

Los gustos musicales de Bino

A Bino le gustan Bach, Vivaldi, Paganini, Schubert y Albéniz. Los potpourris estilo Disney no le dicen nada.

En brazos de su padre

¡Qué padre tener un padre a toda madre!

Tamalito de Bino

Helo aquí envuelto en mantas, durmiendo apacible al lado de su querida madre.

Una sonrisa

Y he aquí la sonrisa tras el guiño.

Ojo pache

Por si alguno dudó que Bino disfrutó su primer baño, aquí lo vemos guiñando su entusiasmo.

Su primer baño en casa

Bino está contento, en brazos de su madre, tras su primer baño en casa.

Adelantado

Al adelantado le ha dado por sostener su pepe con la manita.

Duerme, duerme, negrito

Helo aquí en brazos de un pobre imitador de Atahualpa Yupanqui.

¡Manos arriba!

Bino, ladronzuelo descarado porque roba corazones, duerme sin aprehensión. Las manitas arriba, eso sí, porque a ello se acostumbró en el vientre de su madre.

¿Gesto heredado?

A la madre le parece que este gesto Bino lo ha heredado de su padre.

Bino que del cielo vino

Helo aquí el día de su cumpleaños, pocos minutos después de la primera fotografía. Aún no sabíamos cuál sería su primer nombre. Bino, abreviación de bambino, fue su primer apodo. Se lo dio su madre poco después de nacer, antes de que decidiésemos su nombre.

Dos minutos de vida

He aquí, dos tiernos minutos después del primer aliento, al protagonista de nuestras crónicas. Dos minutos de llanto, alivio, euforia, precedidos por horas de consternación. He aquí la paz.