Happy Mardi Gras!

Another Mardi Gras has come and gone...thank goodness, I'm exhausted. Grandma and Grandpa were here to share Diego's first Mardi Gras. Here are some pics:

Dad's new brew!

Last night I brewed my first batch of beer. I used a recipe that is supposed to make a beer similar to one of my favorite beers, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The brew process was a lot easier than I thought it might be. So now I've got a bucket filled with 5 gallons of potential beer goodness and hopefully by 2 weeks the yeast will have done it's job of converting all the malted barley and hops into a nice tasting beer!

Well, I guess that's only 1/2 true. I will still have to wait at least another 2 weeks for the carbonation to develop after I bottle my beer. So around the time of Kelly's birthday I'll be enjoying some of my own homebrew!!

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In other news...Diego has enjoyed his first Mardi Gras weekend of parades! He really likes watching the marching bands go by and was talking a whole lot! He was probably trying to say the catch all Mardi Gras phrase, "Throw me something, Mister!" but in baby talk it just sounded like a bunch of vowels!

Diego's new tricks.

While Diego still cannot manage to crawl in the forward direction, he has managed to pick up a few more tricks. Last weekend he taught himself to sit up on his own (video below). From there he decided that if we gave him something to hold on to he would much rather stand up, so he can now also push himself up to standing (video below). Needless to say, his crib is going to be lowered in order to avoid any early morning falls. He also likes to give "high 5's" (video below)and is always proud of himself when he pushes himself up to sitting or standing. His ear to ear grin is just too precious; however, D has taken to smiling without his "teeth", most likely due to teething pain, and while his grin is cute, I miss the toothless smile!

We also took Diego to the zoo for the first time this past weekend (see camo pics below) on the streetcar. Diego didn't care for the zoo as much as he does the aquarium, probably because the animals are so sedentary, but I'm sure that will change with time.






















P.S. I apologize for the darkness of the last 2 videos and will attempt to capture these things in a more well lit room!
These are better: