Spain Dad, a baby blog

I’ll be doing my first ever book signing this Saturday in Madrid. It’s a children’s book called Clara Has a Baby Brother. It’s bilingual in English and Spanish, and Alleke is the protagonist. Also, Alejandra Quiceno (www.kalakita.com) will be showing 12 of her illustrations for kids and also doing face painting. We’ll see if I [...]

Spain Dad, a baby blog celebrated its fifth birthday in February. This milestone has given me the chance to reflect on my original purpose for this blog. In 2006 when April first got pregnant, I remember she had a stack of parenting books waiting on my nightstand, complete with neat, hand-written bookmarks telling me which [...]

I think Teo thinks prayer is just another game of Peek-a-Boo…

How romantic is it that just before Valentine’s Day I caught a virus called the kissing disease? Or maybe it’s not romantic at all since April didn’t get it too. Hmmm… Anyway, this morning while I was lying on the couch resting, April had the following conversation with one of the grandmas that drops her [...]

Alleke has been trying to convince me all week that the sun is a planet.

What does it say about me and my friends that when we heard the bedrooms in an old brothel had been converted into miniature kids’ theaters with 15 min. shows for 3 euros, we all turned to each other and said in unison, “Why didn’t I think of that!” Despite the fact that we had [...]

I’ve watched so many episodes of Caillou in the last week while our family has been sick that I can’t get Caillou’s whiny little voice out of my head. I think I may have done some permanent damage. I’ve decided they should come up with a TV rating for shows like Caillou called “Not Suitable [...]

Alleke’s teacher, Elena, and I stood at the classroom door and looked down the hallway. Alleke was sitting on a bench with her arms folded and a big lip, pretending not to notice us. “This is the first time in months Alleke hasn’t wanted to go to school,” I said to Elena. “I think I [...]

“Why do you want mommy?” I asked. “What does mommy do that I don’t do?”

“She does lots of better things that you don’t do,” Alleke said.

“Where are you from?” the kid asked. He had been watching Alleke since she hopped off my lap and announced to everyone in English that she was a flamenco dancer, and then proceeded to prance and twirl up and down the aisle of the train car. The other passengers didn’t seem to mind the impromptu [...]