E's room updated

one of the first pics of E

her fox wall

So I always get in this cleaning kick when I am about to leave on a trip. Tomorrow we embark on our first international trip as a family. Emma has her own passport and we are off to Mexico so my Aunt can finally meet her. I am a ball of nerves, for so many reasons, but before I leave I wanted to post some more pics of E's art. I finally framed a picture that might have been the first one of us together. My friend, and E's tita, Claudia, printed it and brought it to me at the hospital. I cherish that moment so much. With Emma being in the NICU for the first days of her life and me unable to be with her 24/7 , it was wonderful to get a photo of her to keep by my side. Yeah technology!! So, I placed it along her little hat they give all newborns and her bracelet. I love Ikea frames! I placed a small collection of her fox prints together and I am working on making the three alphabet print four...but this will wait for our return. Ok, more will come later.

E's room

So I finally added some more touches to E's room. You can kind of see how I filled the space above her bed. More to come

it's nice to meet you!

where is emma?

Boo

Emma's vocabulary is really vast. She is also quite good at picking up proper names. She learned Pooh, Tigger and Piglet's name in just one reading. This morning she started holding out her hand out and saying "garble garble garble you" . Apparently Anthony taught her how to say "It is nice to meet you". She still is not forming sentences and gets frustrated when you don't understand what she is trying to tell you. We swear we heard her say the other day "I fell down" when she did fall off the stool. She really is turning into a little person, who is not afraid to tell you how she feels or what she wants. She says no with such determination , head shake and all. When she hurts herself she says "ouch" and runs for you to console her. She is finally saying help when she needs it and I am trying to wean her off her shrieking when frustrated. Since she is in her toddler bed now, sleeping at night and at nap time has been a challenge. There is a small crack under her door that is wide enough for her to stick her little fingers out. It is the saddest image when she wont go to sleep and wants you to come inside. She just whimpers and you see these little fingers poking out and the cat just staring at them and the looking back at you as if saying "hey aren't you going to do something about this?". Yesterday she shoved her book under the door as if trying to get Anthony to come back in and read it to her. It is still strange in the morning when I go to get her and I open the door and she just runs out her room like a bull in Pamplona. I miss walking in and seeing her in the crib, lifting her arms up for you to get her out. Or when she was a real tiny baby she would just look up at you and smile. Now she just makes a mad dash and laughs. It really is short your time with your kids and it goes so fast. So fast, my heart aches every second I can't be with her.

She seems to be blossoming with her dada, now that he is watching her during the summer. She knows he can show her things and she knows he aint playing around. It seems I am the sucker parent who gives in way too quickly. But Anthony is really good with her when it comes to teaching her things. I guess it is the teacher inside of him that shines so brightly but he has a way of calming her down and keeping her focused on one thing. He however is not that great at making sure she is dressed, got her hair did or lunches ready when she wakes up. I guess that is why we make a good team. I come home for lunch and see emma running around in only a diaper and just have to sigh.

So anyway, the older, more interactive and more independent Emma gets, the more fun she is but also the more work she is. My favorite thing she still does is when she wants you to read a book to her she will grab it and back into your lap and sit there so patiently. I love that time bc it is practically the only time I get to hold her without her squirming or kicking. It is bliss, I kiss her head and smell her hair. She is a big girl and she believes she is a big girl always gravitating towards the older kids in the park. She ignores kids her height or shorter. She has even made friends with a 5 year old boy named Justin. He is so sweet and the other day he was telling his grandmother that even though Emma is younger than him, it is ok for him to play with her and that she is his best friend. It was so sweet that it brought tears to my eyes. Emma has her first best friend. Something so innocent and lovely.

two, three

Emma loves to say the number two. This morning she was watching her YGG dvd and they always have a counting section and I hear from the bedroom, "two, three, gibberish, four, purple!" It was amazing! I had to ask Anthony if it was really her that said those numbers of if it was the dvd. We were proud. when I replayed that segment she just said "two and purple, purple", b/c everything is purple in her world.

emma is big pimpin'

Emma loves to drive and not toy cars but the real deal. Every time I loosen her straps from her car seat, she squeals and makes a mad dash to the front seat. She starts playing with the radio and steering wheel. She loves it and to be quite frank it is only cute when you don't have to be somewhere. she is fast and when she sees you coming for her she jumps to the passenger side and waits until you come around to get her and then when she sees you are inches away she jumps back to the drivers side. here are some pics of her in Tampa, sporting her new baseball hat.

emma's first playdate

just us girls here, trying on some shoes

I see trouble in my future. mom and daughter shopping sprees

Funny how facebook reconnects you with people, some who you knew at one point but were never besties. Well I was asked to be friends with an Isabella I. I had never heard that name before but when I read the little note I realized who it was. Isabella's mom was a girl I went to high school with. Her daughter was one month younger than Emma and we just clicked by talking about our little girls. We finally met up in Tampa last week and let the kids play. Emma of course was running amok and they didn't really "play" together , but when the moms went shopping at our favorite store, Janie and Jack, the girls shared some puffs and grapes and tried on some accessories. It was really cute.

an oldie but a goodie

emma loves to color

this picture was taken sometime in march. It was when we started emma with her bath time crayons. I finally found this pic as it was on a memory card I left in Tampa. I love this picture bc she really looks like an artist. It seems she drew Plex by herself and she is all disheveled, like a true artist.

Emma at the Beach

If it hasn't been made clear, Emma loves agua. I mean she is fearless and her visit to the beack back in April did not prepare me for how she acted last week. She went bananas! The waves were little rough. They would pull you back in the ocean and I realized Emma would not be content just sitting on the sand splashing in the shallow end. Emma wanted to go out in the ocean. I think she must have been looking for a dolphin to ride. She instinctively positions her body in a swimming pose, yet she has no experience on how to swim. I think I might have to fork over the Y membership fee and put her in some swimming classes. She had a great time as did my little cousin Juan. Ximena was unable to swim so she just sat under the umbrella and listened to her music. It was an exhausting day but well worth it. I'm happy I got to see the beach before any oil slicks make an unwanted appearance.

more words please

Before I talk more about our time in Tampa, I want to mention some advancements E has made. She really is expanding her vocabulary and tho she still cant speak in sentences and only puts a set of two words together, she is super chatty and yearning to learn more words. After about a month of pointing out aviones (planes) in the sky she finally stopped calling them "cars", as she calls all big vehicles, and started calling them aviones. It sounds like "I know", but she always looks up and waves bye bye to them. She fell in love with my rents cat Guero and would call out for him in the cutest manner, "Waywoo". That was the first name she picked up a name in a matter of minutes, it usually takes her a week to get a name down. She can call a butterfly, "bufly" and finally after three months can say "flor". She can say "book" and understands that word in both English and Spanish. She has learned the main character names of Toy Story. The other day at the park she stopped while going up some steps and was staring at the ground saying what sounded like "upa". I didn't know what she was saying until i realized that somehow with her spidey vision she had honed in on an ant and was saying "a bug." All insects are a bug to her and she thinks a is part of their name. She knows how to say purple, azul and orange and can even match them up to the correct color, yet all other colors are still purple. Red is purple, yellow is purple. It is cute. She also grabs her play cell phone and will start talking up a storm and always begins with "hewo". She sounds like Barbara Walter. I think Emma is ready for more words because she started grabbing at my dress and looking at me as if begging to learn more words. I told her it was dress and then she pointed at her shirt And so on. Im working on clothing now with her. She also knows "cold" is for cold things and loves ice cubes and if she sees one in your drink she has to have it. Last night she put herself in bed. I don't know if it was the lack of second nap, or the TWO visits to the park or the benadryl but she was ready. (The benadryl was due to a rash she got while at the park and not out of desperation on my part) She pulled the covers over her and just waved at us. Today she is getting her second Hepatitis shot since next week we will be going to Mexico and it is recommended fwhen visiting 3rd world countries. Her doc is in the city so her papa took her and they are going to make a day of it. He will take her afterwards to the Museum of Natural History. I am soo jealous. i love that place and I love how that is the one museum Emma behaves. She loves to run around and see the animals. Her favorite area is the marine life, they have a giant running area and screen where they show movies. I wish I were with them but alas I'm here, at my desk, sweltering in my non air conditioned work space. I cant wait to see the pics of her daddy and me outing.

emma and nenes

Juan, my second baby and godson

Ximena, my first baby, I was a mere babe when she was born

she loves the grass

I think E is a leader


Ximena, age 13


she can never be still

It is strange to think of my little cousins. They are still so young, much younger than I am, yet they are no longer my "little"cousins. They were my first babies and they have a big space in my heart. In hindsight I remember Ximena being a tad active as well, always running and never wanting to stay seated. Well, they came to Tampa last week to spend the summer with my mom as they used to do back in the day. It has been three years since i last saw them, and it is amazing how kids they change so much from one day to the next, let alone three years. They are much taller, Ximena is moody now, no longer the happy, chatty girl that we could not get to be quiet. Juan is still the same loving boy. He was amazing with Emma. So attentive, so playful and loving. She really loves him. She looked for him and acted better around him. She really does have a thing for older boys. Anyway, it was sweet to have them all together, I wish our time had been longer. Here are some pics of emma and the nenes, as she called them.

Emma is a big girl now

second night

the night she put herself in bed


first night back home

It has been a while since I posted anything on E's blog. E and I went home for 4th of July. It was fun and exhausting and always way too short. The flight down was a nightmare. Emma was just insane. running all around the gate area, refusing to be held, throwing tantrums and causing me to get the "stare" from onlooking passengers. Not even Benadryl knocks her out, I'm thinking maybe tequila next time-I kid. She was running up and down the aisle, grabbing people's shoes and feet, pointing at their screens and placing her hand on their laps. It seemed these people were in no mood to entertain her. She finally fell asleep as we were literally landing and she was stone cold out. Always sleeps when i don't need her to sleep. She stayed asleep through the luggage claim and car ride home and of course perked up the minute I stepped foot in the house.

While in Tampa E decided she no longer needed the pack and play and I realized that the time had come to transition to a big girl bed. I knew this would mean long sleepless nights and early morning wake up calls on what was to by my mini vacation. I guess once you are a parent there are no such things as a vacation. So after three LOOOOOOOOOONNNNG nights, Emma magically put herself to bed. She hopped in bed, pulled the covers over her, waved bye bye to me and just lay there like a princess. I was filled with joy...Emma had moved onto her new phase in life, sleeping in a bed on her own....well that was the case until we got back to NY. And now it is as if we have a newborn in the house. She screams for minutes, will not stay in bed, falls sleep on the floor, wakes up every 3 hours crying. I just am at my wits ends. I think she really misses my mom and my cousins, bc she is just so cranky. She wont eat and is not sleeping. I don't think she likes her converted crib, so when we have some money we will go to ikea and get her the same bed that she has in Tampa..ho hum, why did we get a convertible crib that was twice as much as a regular crib? Because new parents are idiots! Emma, I think, wants an adult sized bed with big fluffy pillows like in Tampa....not a baby mattress with baby pillows. Oh Emma, I feel I have lost it with her these past days. I just do not know how to handle her, but I hope she understands that I love her and am trying my best. Anyway, here are pics of her first nights sleeping in a bed both in Tampa and NY.