Nicholas and lead up to Carnival!!!

Port of Spain has been a buzz with anticipation, and now it's finally Carnival. There have been fetes, or parties, all over the city for the last few weeks. Last night, Carnival opened with Jouevre, which starts at 4 a.m. We could hear the music from our house. Everyone goes out on the streets and slings paint at each other. We decided to head to the beach this morning to avoid the Carnival madness, and we saw many post- partiers covered in paint just hanging out on the side of the road. Today is practice Carnival, although the beaches were pretty crowded so I guess we weren't the only ones with the idea to get out of town. Tomorrow is the real deal (we will be staying quietly at home with our little one... maybe next year we'll "play" with one of the bands, which entails getting a very skimpy but elaborate costume and walking the parade route with one of the calypso bands.)

Below are some pictures and videos of our last week or so:



we went to a new beach this time, called Las Cuervas, a few miles down the road past Maracas Bay.

Nicholas getting his toes wet in the ocean

this guy had really long dreads

we liked this beach because there was a lot of shade

that looks like a nice place to stay

out swimming with Maren and her houseguest Ann

Nicholas had his first pool experience yesterday. We went over to an apartment complex where a number of our colleagues live and used their pool.

yes that's the ocean in the background

we were worried about the sun so we didn't go until about 4:30 and the wind had picked up and it was actually pretty chilly, so next time we'll have to go a little earlier in the afternoon.

these are in reverse order but this is Nicholas after we fed him breast milk from a spoon and cup. A warm up for starting baby cereal when he turns 5 monthes old on Wednesday.

he ate from the spoon with no problems. I guess he'd watched us for long enough he knew exactly what to do. Also check out the video at the bottom of the blog.

we saw an Aveo in Port of Spain!

here's the cup picture

Saturday night we went out to a sushi and wine restaurant called More Vino, and sat on the balcony. Driving by on the main road was a Carib truck, getting ready for Carnival. (Carib is a local beer).

Capers are everywhere.

Carnival huts on the Savannah across from the embassy

the sites of Port of Spain

Nicholas in "fussy face" mode. Nichlas is usually really good, but he has his moments, as David documented for Christy when she was at work one day, after repeated efforts to sooth him.

Nicholas enjoying his mobile in his crib. He also has an Ohio State Buckeyes mobile (thanks John B.!) over his changing table which he also loves.

Nicholas eating from a spoon and drinking from a cup. Just breastmilk for now to practice, but we'll be starting baby cereal soon!

Nicholas loves to be sung to.... here is David's rendition of "You are my Sunshine"