channeling her inner Julia

...Child, that is.

Hope springs eternal for Grandpa that he'll get a professional baker, so, taking advantage of a gray day and a cranky child, Emilia gave baking her first try by making some oatmeal raisin cookies for her Papa.

First, cream the sugars and butter together.

Mama, quit taking my picture and pass me the vanilla.

Checking the cookie dough.

Sprinkling the oats into the dough.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of her actually eating a cookie. Ugh.

17 months (but who's counting)

Practicing one of her yoga moves which sometimes results in an unexpected flip.

It's hard to believe my Puchis is 17 months old now. Ugh. Where does the time go? I thought I'd use this post to update some of the words, likes and dislikes of the girlie.

Words - she doesn't have as many words as her buddies from playgroup or from playschool. The doctor isn't worried however, because she's hearing 2 languages at once. It's typical for bilingual babies to be a little slower in language. Here are her words: hi, byebye, uh oh, 'ate (Kate), 'yrie (Kyrie - those "k" names are hard!), mama, papa, Lala, Nana, Mara (Tia Marga), Lo (Tia Lo), bubbles, no! (A LOT!), 'ame (dame - give me - usually said at a scream), 'ey (like "hey" for Mama Mama), agua, wow, da da (down dog), 'avi (javi), Nena (for Nena/Marga), bebe (baby), all da (all done).

Helps with dressing and undressing and "brushes" her own teeth (obviously with some help), also tries to comb her own hair.

Brushing her teeth (sort of).

Follows 1 and 2 step statements ("pick up pink panda and put him in your bed").

Loves: bubbles, music, dancing, gymnastics class at the Y, preschool, climbing things, singing (the best is when she does the "e-i-e-i -O" from Old McDonald, without the "O" part), sneaking into the pantry and finding a snack for herself, her kitchen toy, her red wagon, dogs (at least from afar - big dogs up close frighten her terribly), doing some yoga, puzzles (the wood kind), books (especially about animals), and veggies (but only purreed kinds right now), making a mess (unfortunately for her mama).
Yes, she enjoys reading in the nude.

She also likes to drink water in the tub - gross, I know.

Dislikes: fingerpainting (and painting in general... thought Art classes would change that but no luck), the cold, hates wearing her coat, and hates having her diaper changed which makes that a true adventure.

Fave Foods: (most of the time - right now she's kind of a picky eater but generally speaking these are true) mini meatballs, salmon, rice, black beans, any soups (especially quinoa and chicken tortilla), legumes of any kind, hummus, grapes, raisins, dried peach slices, soy milk, puffins cereal from Trader Joe's, coconut macaroons from Whole Foods in DC, saltines, Trader Joe's cereal bars, pupusas from Dona Azucena, hot & sour soup.

Height: 29 1/2 inches (according to my best measuring)

Weight: about 21 pounds (though often feels like more)

General: Overally, still an ever-smiling, ever-happy girlie. However, we have seen glimpses of a stubborn streak a mile wide (don't know where she got that from). Gets frustrated when you try to help her do something (like hold her hand when walking down the street) and starts stomping her feet saying "no no no!" - Miss Independent. She's had a couple of meltdown/temper tantrums and over this past weekend we've had to enact a time out/cool down corner in the kitchen because she threw her toys when she was frustrated with something. She sat in time out (crying the whole time of course) for 30 seconds. She was miserable but we kissed and made up afterwards and then she picked up the toys she'd thrown.

snowfall and obama

We got some snow overnight for the first time this winter. Luckily (insert sarcasm here) Emilia woke up at 2:30 a.m. so I got to see the snow first start to come down as I sat up with her from 2:30 until 4 this morning. Before Marcus left for work he took her outside to see it up close.

As you can see by the look on her face, she wasn't too thrilled about being outside with all this white, cold stuff. Fortunately the living room windows are low enough that she could get a good view of the snowfall from the relative warmth indoors.

Whew! I'm glad I'm indoors!

And here's some video of her commenting on the snow, trying to say "Obama", making her dog sound (as Chola walked by) and saying bye.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P7jiIwSglU

I finally managed to get Emilia dressed to go outside. She lasted about two seconds outside... her feet hit the snow and she started screaming and heading for the door - no time for a picture.

Kind of a raggamuffin look I know - Redskins track suit, Christmas socks, striped cap, winter coat and yes, she was wearing her mittens.

She finished her lunch watching a little bit of history in the making.

Don't even tell me about how she shouldn't be standing up on the seat of her horse. I know it's dangerous, but someone is kind of independent minded!

music together

Since yesterday (Monday) was a holiday, Marcus got to go with Emilia and I to her music class. This is her third session with Music Together and while it is a bit tiring with all the "biddy biddy bumm"-ing that gets sung, she absolutely loves it.Picking 14,000 instruments for the "jam" session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuYDwAGlOPI video from music class - Emilia dancing during the free dance time (I can't figure out how to make the little youtube window pop up - help!)

weekend fun

It's been a busy weekend around here... between running around and watching all the Obama stuff on TV. This weekend is technically a 3 day weekend but apparently some of us need to go in to work tomorrow (Monday) to catch up on stuff.... something about there being a lot going on in the banking industry? Who knows. In any case, Saturday we went to Amelie's Bakery and loaded up on some goodies (hurrah! they're open again!) before heading over to The Penguin for some decidedly unhealthy (and un-French) lunch. Emilia has loved it there the couple of times she's been - lots of freakish tattoos to look at - and on Saturdays a TON of babies. There were so many babies at The Penguin they ran out of high chairs which meant Emilia got to eat lunch standing up which she LOVED of course (she's always trying to stand up in her high chair).

Um... got some shake with those fries?

Sunday we took Emilia to the 7th rung of hell, also known as Monkey Joes (on a cloudy weekend day no less - NEVER again). It was her first trip there and we were inspired by friends Kyrie, Kate, Aston, & Caeden to give it a go. You can judge for yourself by the pictures if she enjoyed herself or not. (Note: the pictures are kinda blurry because someone doesn't like standing still too long!)

Trying awfully darn hard to take her wristband pass off.

We stuck to the little kid stuff except for a turn at the huge slide, with Papa of course.

late posting...

I started a post about Emilia and Mama Mama several days ago, but just finished it. You'll have to scroll down a couple to get to it.

we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

So, Kate's mom, Anne, "tagged" me in her blog to answer these questions. Apparently, this is something "bloggers" (which, wierdly, I am now one after years of swearing I'd never do this) do...

Q: Five names you go by:
1. Nini (by pretty much everyone in my family and most of my friends... also include variations such as "niser"...)
2. Dennis (by my own mother - horrible).
3. MD (for Maria Denise - by the NYC crew).
4. Amor (by Marcus)
5. Hija mia (by both Marcus and my mom... kinda wierd)

Q. Three things you are wearing right now:
1. The uniform a.k.a. what I wear pretty much every day: jeans (pref. Luckys)
2. JCrew sweater
3. Danskos (new ones - cordovan colored! :)

Q. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. my house to be painted on the inside and have the living room decorated/kitchen remodeled (okay so that's 3 things in 1 but whatever).
2. a new laptop (this one is slowly dying).

Q. Two things you did last night:
1. watched American Idol.
2. Took 2 advil p.m.'s because of a horrible headache (possibly brought on by brutal exercise class) and then fell asleep watching Top Chef (thank goodness for the DVR!)

Q. Two things you ate today:
1. muffin with turkey bacon (my same breakfast every morning but Anne, tell me more about the waffle please - sounds yummy!
2. pupusas (salvadorean tortillas filled with black beans and cheese - we brought back 20 of them from DC. I am embarassed to say I have eaten almost all of them. Shame.)

Q. Two people you last talked to on the phone:
1. Mama
2. Banfield (checking on Chola after her doctor's visit).

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
1. Drop the girl off at preschool.
2. Get my hair colored (like this color is natural!)and potentially cut off.

Q. Two longest car rides:
1. any of my DC to Rockford, Ill. drives - there were at least 4 a year for 3 years. 12 hours with no cell phone back in those days.
2. the drive from DC to Memphis to visit Dan with Jen. Holy hell Virginia is a long state!

Q. Two of your favorite beverages:
I know I should say "water" (which I do drink an inordinant amount of) but if I'm being honest...
1. red wine (but only certain kinds because others give me a migraine).
2. a good gin and tonic (had some over Christmas break - yum).

Q. The people you’d like to respond:
I don't really know many bloggers.... but I'll say the following even though they don't all blog:
1. Caitlin
2. Gandy
3. Bug

playgroup last week

Last week Emilia hosted our first playgroup meeting of 2009. We had about 8 babies and mamas over so it was a great turnout, especially considering all the late nappers we have in our group. I'm woefully behind in my postings, but here are some pics from playgroup...

the hostess with the most-ess...

Emilia's sweet friend Kate, offering a cookie.

Emilia's buddy Kyrie from both playgroup and the 'hood.

Kate and Aston - true love. Kate must have given him about a million hugs when he came in. So sweet!

Maisie - Emilia's "oldest" friend born 18 hours before Emi. She LOVED the cookies!

lessons learned from mama mama

Since she has now left - Emilia would now like to share the top ten things she has learned during her visit with Mama Mama.

10. In order to get vomit out of your hair, lather, rinse, and repeat at least twice.

9. Having a stomach virus is no fun... make sure to share it with your grandma.

8. Patience is a much needed virtue in order to get a good pic with Santa at the mall (we had to go 3 times in total).

7. You can never have too many Christmas outfits...

6. Or hand made items (2 sweaters, 1 vest, a dress on the way, and a new quilt for her crib, and a kitty cat).

5. It's "Baa baa black sheep.. and the little girl lives down the lane" NOT "black black black sheep... and the little girl who lives down the drain!" :)

4. Fabulous curtains can be made for virtually any room in the house in an afternoon (after a quick trip to Mary Jo's).

3. Sopa de quinoa is delicioso (too bad my mama won't make it for me. Thank goodness Mama Mama left a gallon of it in the freezer!)

2. It's never too early for a Manhattan (it's after 5 somewhere!)

1. Nothing says "spoiled" like 3 months with Mama Mama.

We miss you terribly - Summer can't get here soon enough...

I've been having a problem recently trying to download video into the blog. Let me know if this works...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaU5lLPd2IA

back on the grid

Due to a variety of factors... Emilia being sick, Emilia having a reaction to prednisone, Emilia then having a reaction to Omnicef, and general laziness/lack of time, I haven't been doing a very good job of updating the blog recently. In the effort to start 2009 on a right note, we're back! Now on to some pictures from Christmas 2008!

Rocking her Italian fashions courtesy of Nana on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day - opening the present from her Tias... She could already tell what it was - guess she's kind of excited!

Papa - get moving on putting this together!

Helping her Papa - good thing we took two cars to D.C.!

The obsession with the spice rack at Grandpa's house continues.

Last year's Christmas picture at Grandpa's house.

This year's picture at Grandpa's house - note to self - wear hair differently next Christmas Day. Note to Marcus - wear different pants on Christmas Day! :)