labor day festival - matthews style

Today we took Emilia to the annual Labor Day festival in historic, downtown Matthews, NC (mind you - the downtown, I believe, is approximately 4 blocks). In any case she had a good time and had the opportunity to ride on her first carousel. Papa put her on top of one of the carousel horses but she apparently didn't care for that too much, so instead they rode sitting on one of those sleigh-like things while I snapped pictures furiously. We were not there for terribly long because it became beastily hot outside and we all know how Pearl doesn't tolerate the heat too well.



When we came home we changed Emilia's outfit and put her in her Clemson onesie in the hopes it would bring good luck to our Tigers but alas - it's not looking good so far. It may be a long football season.

Hot and sweaty after just 5 minutes at the festival.

Emilia getting some words of comfort from her Papa on the carousel.

Look at those curls! Don't you just love it!?

water table

Mama Mama bought Emilia a nifty new water table for her birthday. It's super handy and can be used indoors and out. Check it out here.

I put a bath mat under the water table to catch any spills.

Figuring out how these boats float in the water.

are you ready for this?

I don't know that I am. We went to the open house for Emilia's preschool. (It feels ridiculous to call it a preschool - really it's a Mother's Morning Out program, but I think that term has now fallen out of favor - preschool sounds more grown up or something - not that I am AT ALL ready for her to grow up). In any case, she will be attending Quail Hollow Presbyterian Preschool Friday mornings from 9 until 12:30. On Wednesday we met her teacher, Miss Courtney, and some of her fellow classmates. I almost burst into tears when, after ploping her in the middle of the room she looked around, looked back at me and headed straight for where the kids were playing around a kitchen set like this one. Off my big girl went, though she was significantly smaller than the other babies, some of whom turned 1 back in January. We completed a wad of forms and picked up her school bag. Next Friday will be her first day.
Looking inside her "bookbag" - it's getting monogrammed!


Someone's very excited by her "lunchbox" - really it's just a divided plate to send her lunch in.

Ready to walk off with schoolbag in hand as well has her "notes home" pouches. Plus, a nice shot of her sundress from Grandpa - finally!

Bib

Emilia and I have been battling back and forth over her bibs. The bibs she has been using are the little cloth ones... we received a plethora of them at the baby showers. They worked great even if they were a little bit of a hassle because you have to wash them all the time. Then recently Emilia has learned how to snatch them off of her neck. No matter how I tried we couldn't get through a meal without food everywhere - often necesitating a wardrobe change. A friend from playgroup suggested this bib, and success! A bib she can't rip off! Best of all -it's reusable.Modeling her new bib while enjoying some veggie sticks (which she dipped in her yogurt - yuck!)

El dia que naciste

Estas son las mañanitas

que cantaba el rey David

A las muchachas bonitas

Te las cantamos a ti.

Despierta mi bien despierta

Mira que ya amaneció

Y ya los pajaritos cantan

La luna ya se metió.

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Emilia

Happy Birthday to you.

the girl's got the moves

Well, we're officially walking now. Yesterday I finally took the poor girl to get her feet measured at Nordies and at Stride Rite. The shoes we bought her at the beginning of the summer were size 3. She now measures size 4 and really needs a 4 1/2 for growing room. So I bought her these...

and now she's doing this.....

busy busy weekend

As if the party yesterday wasn't enough today we had another party to go to. This one was a volleyball picnic for Juan miguel's birthday. Marcus got in to the spirit of things and fortunately (or unfortunately, judging by his soreness) his team made it to the finals which means he ended up playing about 5 games of vball. Ouch. Emilia on the other hand was getting a workout of her own pushing her new red wagon all over Freedom Park.

One of the many laps around the park.

And to think, we were reluctant to bring the wagon with us. Ugh!

Wondering if this kid isn't going to start pushing me soon, I'm going to get out and push myself! :)

birthday blast!

We are recovering from Emilia's birthday party. We had a great time with all 11 babies and 30+ adults. The pools were filled, the Price's Chicken was extra crispy and the salads and beer were a hit as well. Best part - the weather held off and we could be outside - no rain!!!! (Thank goodness we didn't have the party today - it's pouring!)

The birthday girl poses before her party, wearing her bracelet from Nana.

Wearing the birthday hat knitted by yours truly.

Emilia and her "oldest" friend Maisie - friends since the womb and 18 hours apart in age.



More pictures at http://catalinaphotography.blogspot.com/2008/08/emilias-1yr-birthday-party.html

visita!!!!!

We love it when we have visitors and this weekend was no exception. Our most esteemed and beloved Nanasha came to visit us with Sir Richard & Gaby all the way from Samboze (San Jose, CR) and Miami, FL! We had a great time with them, showing them the sights, having lunch at The Penguin, dinner at Las Ramblas and getting some birthday shopping for a certain little girl out of the way. We can't wait to see them again in a couple of weeks when we are DC bound!

Nana & Emilia outside The Penguin (above) and Richard & Emilia (below).

How many last names can you fit around a table - L to R - Castro Mattas, Glaser Serrano, Serrano Velasco, Maggs & Bruna Serrano.

A picture is worth a thousand words - someone's serious and someone's not!

the countdown begins

I'm completely and utterly overwhelmed that my baby puchis is about to turn 1. As I frantically try to get the party favors made (note to self: next year when I think it'll be great to make party favors instead of buying them like a normal person, shoot self first!) look at this transformation. It's breathtaking (at least to me)...

Still in the hospital with the very new and very proud Papa.

About 1 month old. Clearly it was nighttime and she's in Mama Mama's arms. I'm guessing it was probably late at night!

November 2007 - check out the lack of hair!

February 2008 - Back when we still used the playmat to roll around on.

My baby gardener at 9 months old. There are no words.

dancing queen

Hopefully you can tell what an amazing singer and dancer our girl is!

britax baby!

That's the brand of Emilia's new carseat. After much complaining, harassment, whining and in general being a pain-in-the behind, Marcus finally broke down and got our girl the Mercedes Benz of carseats - a Britax Marathon. (I originally wanted the Boulevard, but it's just so darn big I could barely pick it up). We went with the Marathon because it's a little smaller but is the only carseat brand that provides true side impact protection. The carseat cover is removable which means it can be washed easily. The seat itself reclines a bit, we can use the LATCH system to install it which is so much easier than using the seatbelt. En fin... there are a host of reasons why I love this carseat already even after all the hassle of getting it into the car and actually installed. She's even up high enough now that she can look out the window plus she's so much more comfy. Finally, even though it was expensive it's the last car seat she'll get - it's good until she's 65 pounds then she swaps out for a $20 booster seat!

It does make me sad though that she's so big now that she can't fit in the much beloved and much used Chicco carseat. I remember when she used to look like this in it...

Summer in the Park

We went to one of our favorite parks today - Latta Park. They have a fantastic spray park that's free for the kiddies but Emilia is still too little, too unstable on her feet and it was too crowded for her to go in. She didn't seem to mind though as we took her little car with us and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch with our friends.

Just Peachy

It's peach season here in the Carolinas... white or yellow, Emilia's not picky. Unfortunately for her however they're awfully darn slippery! So I remembered I had these solid food feeders - little mesh baggies that have a handle attached to them. You put the food in and then the babes can just suck on the baggie to get at the "good stuff." It's a little messy but a much less frustrating experience for our girl.