Cuban Baby Bling

Every now and then, I'll share something that we Cubans are used to doing because it's been so ingrained into our culture and lives - see 8 Rules to Getting Your House Cuban Clean®. 

Or I'll casually mention a thing we do that appears superstitious to the untrained observer - see 10 Cuban Superstitions That Helped You Survive. It takes me a beat to realize that I sound like a crazy person. Except when I'm talking to other Cubans. Not only do they nod in recognition, they will share their own stories of the things their abuelas subjected them to. 

You know our youngest grandson, Sebastian was born 2 months ago. I'd like to share him with you today. He's Amy's firstborn and is already embracing his Inner Cubanazo.

He's absolutely delicious. 

A super mild-tempered baby that sleeps well and smiles and coos a lot. 

Our nickname for him is "Bash," but I still call him Sebastian because isn't that a beautiful, regal name? 

I had this fitted crib sheet custom made from the lovely Woolf With Me site. Isn't it fabulous? My vision is to photograph him in his crib every month for the first year of his life. Our talented photographer friend, Dan Shalaby has been kind enough to go along with my crazy and I'm super grateful. 

But I'd like to point your attention to the little gold identification bracelet the boy is wearing. Jewelry on babies? Yes. It's a Cuban Thing. 

I still have the Virgen de la Caridad medal that I was baptized with and never took off for the first 15 years of my life. Don't even get me started on wearing the azabache!

That's the first thing we pinned on this boy before bringing him home, because he's so beautiful. No evil eye for us, thankyouverymuch.

This is Sebastian on the day we brought him home from the hospital with his azabache and Violetas. Because...Cuban!

I was delighted that our friends at Santayana Jewelers sent our grandson his first "manilla." Loosely translates to ID bracelet. Because Cuban babies, not only need an azabache - read why here - they obviously also need a gold ID bracelet. (And a little wolf to watch over them, but that's not important right now.)

When Amy was a mere one month old, I had her ears pierced and she wore her first pair of diamond earrings as a sweet baby. I had no idea this was difficult for people to understand. But Cubans? We've got no problem with that. "Why did you wait a whole month?"

I feel like we're just helping our Cuban kids embrace their culture and ROCK that Cuban Baby Bling while they're doing it. Oh, the Cubanity!

If you're interested in a 'manilla' for a Cuban baby in your life, please contact Santayana Jewelers. Tell them Marta sent you. 

Also, this is not a sponsored post. This is me, telling you that Santayana knows Cubans. And that I'm super proud of my little Cubanazo and his bling.

Before you know it, he'll be wearing white pants and shouting, "Dale!"