Spain Dad, a baby blog

April and I had decided not to tell Alleke we would be moving to a new apartment until after we had signed the contract. We had spent a considerable amount of effort deciding how and when we would tell Alleke about the move because we wanted her to feel as safe and secure as possible through the transition

Since we got back from vacation our friend Solomon has been asking me to bring Teo and Alleke by the grocery store where he works opening doors for customers and collecting tips. His two kids are still in Nigeria, and while I’m sure they look nothing like Teo and Alleke, Solomon never misses an opportunity [...]

Our apartment is a landfill. The table where we eat our meals has been taken over by slouching piles of neglected mail and paperwork. Sweaters, shoes, jeans and socks are strung across the furniture as if by some practical joke our house had been teepeed with our dirty laundry. The floor is a mine field [...]

“What’s this?” I asked, taking a letter out of Alleke’s backpack. I opened it and read the first few lines. “Alleke,” I said, looking up from the letter, “your class is taking a field trip to the farm.” Alleke clapped her hands and started her victory lap around the living room until Grandma caught her [...]

“Look, Amy,” Alleke said, lifting up the long cardboard box. “This is where Christmas trees come from.” So much for trudging through the snow and cutting down an evergreen tree with a hacksaw, which is what I remember from my childhood. For our little city girl, Christmas trees were made of plastic and wire and [...]

I will be telling Teo’s birth story over the next few days. Let’s begin with the taxi ride to the hospital… Taxi by Daquella manera. I didn’t say anything to the taxi driver about my wife being in labor when we climbed in the back seat of his car, but when I told him to [...]

Tapas Bar by ixtlan “Daddy?” Alleke said, peering up at me from under the restaurant table. “Yes Alleke?” I asked, nodding a thanks to the waitress as she set down a plate in front of me. “I need to go to the bathroom,” Alleke said triumphantly. I took a closer look at the plate of [...]

The stroller was parked at the front door, and I sat on the couch stuffing a backpack with Alleke’s things when she walked over and handed me her blankie. “Put this in the backpack,” she said, “because I want to sleep with it on the bench tonight.” I’m sure I would have had no idea [...]

Empty Bucket at Punta Del Este by longhorndave. Alleke stood at the entrance to the playground swinging her bucket of sand toys. “Where would you like to play?” I asked, pointing out the various groups of kids busy raking and scooping sand into buckets. Alleke hesitated, then ran across the playground and sat down in [...]

Alleke got her first flamenco lesson in Plaza Mayor while we were walking home from the ice cream shop. Watch Flamenco on Vimeo.