her favorite things

One of Emilia's favorite things to do is to check out her friend's blogs. I can't tell you how many times we've watched Aston drive his car, Kate dance to Michael Jackson, or seen pictures of Kyrie and Morgan's birthday parties. Seriously, it could constitute stalking at this point, but she just loves to see them (and herself, though less so) on the magical computer.

i think she's watching kate running, though i'm not sure.

Another favorite is playing "baby mama." Emilia now has four babydolls - one from us, two she received from her prima Cayetana, and one she got for her birthday from Alara. Thankfully she also received another baby bed so they've all got "houses" for the night. we spend hours (and i do mean hours or at least that's what it feels like) playing with the babies, feeding the babies (she also got a tea set for her birthday - huge hit - now the babies get coffee with cream and sugar in the morning), "changing" their diapers, dressing them, you get the idea. On a rainy, dreary morning after a horrible night and feeling pretty awful (tooth perhaps?) they are great entertainment.

baby want a hot dog bun?


warming up the milk in the refrigerator. when she closes the door she pretend pushes buttons like i do on the microwave.

would you like some cream and sugar?

feeding time.

i blinked...

look how little we knew - child is covered in blanket and we couldn't put the straps on her shoulders correctly - so panicky to take a 5 minute stroll up the street... our first day home.

... and she turned two.

"baby.... where are you???"

Our Puchis is officially two today, and officially a toddler. The baby is gone. Though she still snuggles and certainlyhas a lot of baby in her, she's definitely a toddler now. By that I mean she's much more independent, has opinions about what she wants (and often when she wants it - AHORA! NOW!) and has definite likes and dislikes. It's an amazing age, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little sad. I feel like yesterday we brought her home, and tonight my toddler baby was saying "i lobe (love) you a mucho mama", which, don't get me wrong, is super sweet, but where'd my baby go???

so happy papa had FINALLY gotten home to blow our her candle on the cake (yes, i made this one - my dad's famous genoise cake recipe with chocolate buttercream - butter makes everything taste good).
p.s. notice the bite out of the cake - that came courtesy of aston, who, we presume, was so excited for cupcakes at emi's bday party, he just couldn't wait a second longer. hilar.

and the sugar starts to hit.

estas son las mananitas que cantaba el rey David a las muchachas bonitas se las cantamos a ti...

feliz cumpleanios anios emipoo vol. 2

On Sunday during her birthday weekend Emilia wore a new dress from "Gapa" and sported her birthday cake hat all day long.

feliz cumpleanios anios emipoo

photos stolen from anne... cause they're so good.

Saturday was Emilia's birthday party. We had a grand time surrounded by lots and lots of friends and neighbors and a whopping 18 kids with their parental units. The chicken/fried yuca/maduros from Gennaros were a total hit (we had 2 pieces of chicken left), the cupcakes from Edible Art were yummy as always, and the birthday girl couldn't believe how many people were here for her "cumpleanios anios" (seriously, she kept telling me during the party "mama, fiesta ninos Emi" (Mama, party, kids, Emi...) so sweet.

so it might look a little odd, but marcus & i are looking away because we're both crying (well, i'm crying, marcus i'm sure just has something in his eye). they're singing "happy birthday" to her which instantly takes me back to that hospital room and seeing her for the first time. in my head i'm singing to her "las mananitas" - the very first song i sang to her minutes after she was born.

sopa

Typically in the mornings Emilia does her little "chore." For the longest time she has loved feeding Chola her kibble in the mornings. Normally she does this without any problem. Yesterday however, her inner Julia Child struck and she decided to take down some collanders and strainers and start making soup.

(Also, I may need a 12-step program - I took 150 pictures yesterday of Emilia doing absolutely nothing. Frightening.)

bzzzzzz.....

Yesterday Emi rocked her new honey bee dress from "Gapa" (Grandpa, my dad). (Bear with me as I continue to try to navigate "the beast".)

patience is a virtue

I finally got it.

My birthday present/anniversary present.

It's a beast and I'm not exaggerating when I say it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to put the strap on it.

It's taken me all night to figure out how to upload the photos onto the computer... I can't even deal with how to edit them, so their completely unedited... just "as is."

seriously mama, i know you're excited to try your new camera, but do you have to take my picture so early in the morning?

Between the new laptop, the new camera, and Marcus' new crackberry we're in the midst of technology overload around here.

crying due to tech overload? no, more like crying because i wouldn't give her the camera.

I'm sure it'll take me forever to figure out how to actually use this thing. For now, it's on auto, and I just hang on, point and start shooting. I think I can already see a difference.

happier now that she's got her own camera in her hand.

Or maybe I love my subject matter.

there's my smile - finally!

I'm telling you - this thing could become my newest vice. Move over knitting! (Just kidding, of course).

peek-a-boo!

get ready to gasp

We are losing a friend from playgroup this week. Zoe and Cole (along with their parents, of course) are moving to NoVa. for a year. Though we're very sad, we're thrilled they won't be too far away (and will be making visits to Charlotte) and we'll be able to visit them when we are in the DC area, which happens pretty regularly.

In honor of Zoe's departure, we took a shot at getting a group shot (at least with those present today - a couple were out due to vacations and such). We haven't tried this in a long time, mainly because trying to wrangle all those kiddos into one picture is like trying to herd cats into a room full of rocking chairs. Fortunately Aston's mom, Kate, brought along everyone's favorite treat - lollipops! Worked like a charm.

Really - the then and now shots are kind of heartbreaking. Seriously. My heart hurts right now and if I look at these too long I'll start to cry. Who are these babies?!

*Sorry about my pictures being blurry - several factors - a dirty lens, and someone hasn't gotten her new camera yet! *

Then

playgroup at our house - january 2008 - kyrie sound asleep.

feb. 2008 at morgan/alicia's - from left - jordan, ava (in red), emilia (crying), maisie, kate (on verge of tears), connor.

april 2008 - jordan, ava (in hat), zoe (in foreground), mia (in orange), kate (in pink), emilia (in unfortunate white hat), maisie, caeden (in blue, crawling out of picture)

slightly more recently - jan. 2009 - kate & aston .

Now

present day - emilia, ava, aston, kate, mia, zoe, & kyrie

kate and mia sharing a book, lollipops, and a chair

update: see kate's blog for much better pics from today!

update 2: see aston & stellyn's blog for a picture that will REALLY make you gasp (under the "bye bye amy & zoe" post)

last of quito, el regreso, potty, & george

So I've finally had the chance to plug in the camera and download some new pics into the new computer. The files are still not in the right place, but I'm trying to stem the tide of angry (bordering on irate I might add) phone calls I've been getting regarding the lack of new pictures on the blog. I'm working on it people!!! :)

So we'll start with the tail end of the Quito pics. One of Emi's favorite ways to start the day was to sit on A's bathroom counter and watch her apply makeup. Of course, Emi had to try out some makeup on herself as well...

apparently A and Elsa are still finding little "reminders" from our visit - oops!

Not documented - our departure from Quito (because it was so sad I still can't talk about it without getting a little weepy) and our arrival in Charlotte (because it was such a tender-heart-care-bear sweet kind of moment between Marcus & Emilia that my teeth still hurt). Plus I forgot to get my camera out.

El Regreso

Things very quickly got back to normal when we returned to Charlotte. Emi was delighted to see all her toys again (it was almost like they were brand new) and fell in love with her seleccion shirt (when only 100% polyester will do) and her kitchen.

reunited with old friends

Potty Update

While in Quito we did no potty-ing whatsoever. It was just too unwieldy/unmanageable and it had turned into such a fight while we were here that last week that I had just given up. We're not really "potty training" per se right now, but we talk about going potty and when she feels like it, she goes. Most of the time she wants her "panal" (her word for diaper), and does not want to wear "calzon pricesas" (princess underpants), but sometimes we have a successful potty venture which is rewarded with much hugging, high 5s and treats.

sure lady, take my picture, but i'm not sittin' down again!

George

Saturday morning our friends Anne & Kate sent us a message saying Emi's favorite character, Curious George, was going to be at the Barnes & Noble at 10. We raced to get there, got a prime spot in line (by total luck) and were rewarded with a near 2 year old in total tears when George came out. She wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. Total disappointment.

didn't even manage to get our book "autographed"

Finally, just some nutty shots of her from today. She found this old ratty stroller we used last year when we went to the BVI and has been pushing it around for the past two days. Sometimes she likes to put stuff in the basket (today it was A1 steak sauce and some Texas Pete hot sauce), othertimes she just wants to go for little rides (dressed up, of course).

look out mardi gras!

brace yourselves!

Sorry for the "fake" post (fake as in, no pics - nothing really exciting to report) - we just got a new laptop this evening - i promise new pics tomorrow! :)