this guy.

samil started first grade this year.

it's been an adjustment - education leaves a lot to be desired in this country - for him and for me. i've butted heads with the teacher a few times already, and while i hate to be "that mom," i kind of have to be her in order to assure that the kids get what they need. i wish i could homeschool - and before you freak out and leave me messages about how damaging that might be, keep reading - i can't because i work. and because my biggest issue with homeschooled kids are their social skills... and there aren't a ton of opportunities to get my kids socialized if they're not in school. (i also am too laid back and procrastinator-friendly to do homeschool effectively).

samil came back from philadelphia with all of the desire in the world to ride his bike. he wanted to go fast, and therefore, needed to take those training wheels off. which is great. except, samil is kind of whiny and i can't deal with the whiny after work - so we kept putting it off. i don't know who finally took the trainers off, but i came home from work the other day to see samil zipping up and down the street - all by himself with only two wheels. he hasn't quite learned to use the handbrakes, but he's getting there. i asked him who taught him. "anybody. i do it because you don't help me."

and that there, friends, is how you get your kids to be independent.
ignore them until they want something bad enough they just do it themselves. 

for two months, samil has been wiggling a loose tooth. it finally got loose enough two nights ago that amalio helped him to pull it out. no tears, no whining. pretty awesome, huh?

we had a quick little cultural issue - samil wanted a tooth fairy and a tooth-mouse. amalio wasn't too sure about the fairy and i had no idea what a mouse does with a tooth. in the end the imaginary "ratoncito" came. of course, the tooth didn't go under the pillow as it should have because samil didn't want a mouse on his bed. he got 50 pesos, thanked us both (we're not too keen on the fairy tales). now he wants to knock all of his teeth out.