da ninj

She is a nut. She is into her walking like Mowgli phase and thinks she is a dog and walks on all fours. All things aside, she really is growing up so fast. On Sunday Emma made this sound that I hadnt heard in a long while. I was reminded of how she really is no longer a baby. When E was a baby, she would lull herself to sleep by doing this humming, grumbling sound. It was so funny and reassuring to hear because that was our cue that she was really falling asleep.
E also is speaking better, enunciating more clearly, describing things with such delight. She is a ham and loves making us laugh, I don't think I have ever seen Emma be moody or angry. She is always all smiles, and sillies. She loves school and loves playing school at home. She will do circle time with her imaginary friends, and call out all her classmates name. I can totally hear her teacher in Emma.

E's Bedroom

E's bedroom is coming together quite nicely. It sort of just happened. I didn't start of with a view or theme, I just had some items that I had bought because of my affinity for owls and then little by little her room blossomed. Both Pottery Barn Kids and Target have a very similar line with a pink, light green palette. Her ivory colored changing table was the first thing I ever bought for her, and since it is a keeper, the rest of her furniture would be in that hue. I would love to have more room to put a nice bookcase in her room, as she loves to read and adores her books. She needs them to fall asleep, but for now, a small magazine rack sits next to her bed.

Well, the latest additions to her room are this great mirror I found in the trash. It is a dumpster find. I just loved it and cleaned it up and voila! We finally removed the changing table topper and now she has a proper dresser. The ballerina lamp I so love, is on it now, but Ant broke it and his "im going to fix it", is now on its 7th month. So for now its more decorative than functional.

Her godmother, tina banina, made her the most beautiful bunting with her name on it and it hangs below her great-grandmother's embroidered handkerchief.

I finally moved her butterfly mobile into her room and it really is one of my favorite pieces, though E has gotten some of the butterflies in a real tangled mess.

I love her Fox art wall.

Her tina banina also brought back from London these lovely wall hooks from this great shop called Sass and Belle. I was finally able to move her birthday E into her room. I still hvae a lot of work to do, but I do enjoy just hanging out in her room, it is so quiet and gets the best light in the whole apartment!


now for my newest find that I love, but am kind bummed someone else took my idea and is selling them for way, way too much money, are these lovely wool animals that I found in Mexico. The owl and rabbit are the first ones I bought in 2010. I went back this Xmas to the same lady at la Cuidadela and found a larger variety of animals. I will take pictures of E's collection, but for now, you can see the rabbit, owl and giraffe. They are done so wonderfully with such attention to detail, great material and so affordable. I mean I've seen what they are selling for in the US and it is such a mark up. I paid 50 pesos for my rabbit and 80 for the owl, which are like $3.50 and $6.00. Anyway, I'm not going to advertise the company that is exploiting my people, but if you want one, I can get you one within the year :)

Mom, are you der?

I had a funny, somewhat embarrassing, moment with E on Friday morning. I just cannot wake up early anymore. It physically hurts to open my eyes and wake from my slumber. The ninj, she has the opposite problem. Aint no amount of chocolate that will keep her in her bed past 7am. The plus side of her early habits is that she becomes my backup alarm. She will only go without her "cerios"for so long and does a good job of getting me out of bed. Well, Friday morning she came into my room sometime around 745 a.m.ish. She said she broke her book and handed me the book with ripped out pages. E has a history with ripping her books for no good reason, so she knew she would get a time out. In my sleepy haze I told her to go to the kitchen for a time out. I then quickly passed back out. Then what seemed like the next day, I hear a little voice calling out from afar, "hello? mom, are you der? anybody here? hello" I look at my phone and notice it is now 8:01am. My poor girl had been in a 15mn time out and she actually stayed put for me.
I was mortified but then amused because I also hear Emma going through the motions of the time out, where you ask them what they did to get a time out and have them apologize. My poor girl was asking herself, "what you do? what Emma do? I broke book, sorry for breaking book". My heart just melted, so I ran to the kitchen to relive her, only to see that she had taken a pink marker and basically painted her entire face. There was another timeout for that.
The marker didn't quite come off so I had to explain to her teacher that those marks were from a marker and not scratches or an allergic reaction. Never a dull moment with da ninj.

the first of many

It seems like I held da ninj as a squirmy baby just yesterday and I am floored to think that she will be 4 this year. 4!! It really does go so fast and I already miss so much about her as a baby. Yes it is always exciting when she moves onto to new things. I remember eagerly counting down to her first birthday because it meant she could now drink whole milk and no longer needed formula. Then eventually meals became easier as she would not only eat what we ate, but could also feed herself. Finally came the last of the diapers. We were elated when she finally became potty trained and we no longer needed to buy diapers. See these things we so fret about as out kids grow up, eventually have a way of panning out. Now I think how soon she will start kindergarten and have to be in school 5 days a week. I know that will just be the beginning of my little girl really belonging to the world. I now sit and wonder if I could ever do it again. The breastfeeding, the sleepless nights, the changing of diapers every 20mns, the bathing so carefully. I always pictured my kids being close in age, like me and my brother, but i see that this is clearly not going to happen. Once I had E I realized I could not have kids back to back, perhaps had E been easier, calmer, but she is so high spirited, so strong willed and fiercely independent that she is truly a force to be reckon with. I do love her personality and am glad she is so sure of herself. I know not now, but in the future it will come in handy. These nights I come home so tired, I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV but I hear her little voice calling me and go in her room and read to her, and I try and soak it all in because soon she will start reading her own books and start wanting more privacy and I will possibly be a burden to her, the uncool mom. So I treasure each night, each kiss and each hug.

my mexican birthday-part one

my dish, I forgot its name.

Ant's dish, enchiladas de pollo con mole

the Noriega girls.

all my babies...my how my little cousins have grown.

the restaurant

da ninj loves her soup

We went to a restaurant in Coyoacan to celebrate my birthday. It was nice and relaxing. The food was good and Emma actually behaved. She ate her black bean soup with such delight.

school "holiday" party

E had her first school Christmas party and I was so happy to be able to volunteer. I ordered nut free cupcakes from this bakery which actually got the order wrong and wanted to give me 1 dozen Hanukkah cupcakes with dreidels on top. Clearly this lady was a tad senile but they managed to scrounge up some nondenominational cupcakes. I read to the kids some stories and then they all ate a sugary lunch. I love making gift bags so I made them crayons in the shape of Christmas trees and snowmen. I realized a bit late how Christmas trees might not have been secular enough, but no one seemed to mind. I still have so many of those small muslin bags that they were used once more and then I topped them off with some labels I downloaded-I forgot where, sorry. The best part of that day was that I got to spend it with E!

new year...

Wow, the last two months of 2011 just flew by and I promise I will try my hardest to post at least three times a week! I also promise to bring back my book of the week! So to recap a bit starting at Thanksgiving...E and I flew down to Tampa since we knew we would not be there for Christmas. It was a little strange because in the days leading up to our departure, it kinda hit me that my dad is really gone. I found myself longing to see him, to hug him. You know that clear vision we all carry with us of how it feels to greet a loved one after not seeing them for a while; that memory, his voice and expected "hey girl" was what was starting to gnaw at me. I knew I would not be hearing his voice and that soon a new memory of what it feels like to come home would start to become the norm for me. See Thanksgiving was his holiday. My father was always working, but on Thanksgiving and Christmas he would stay home. He would be in the kitchen working hard like some sort of culinary mad scientist. He loved to cook and I loved knowing that I was about to eat something pretty amazing. So, I took things in stride, I tried to do some of his staple recipes like his bourbon sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and I really wish some had told me that pumpkin pie spice is all of spices needed for pie in one container. Needless to say my pie came out a little extra spicy.

Anyway, Emma was very happy to be back at "emma's house" and right away wanted to see Logan. She really loves him. Thanksgiving was uneventful, my brother and his wife do not, how do I say, have a way of making one feel at home. Their idea of having family over is everyone just grab a plate and sit wherever...and to be honest I was kinda wishing we could all sit at the table, talking and laughing. My brother sat in the living room watching TV while my sister in law ate in the kitchen alone. It was a bit bizarre, but Emma was happy to be with Logan and really that is all that matters. After wards we went to my friend Luana's house that is always loud and crazy and warm and just what I needed.
While at my mom's house, E took no time to feel right at home. She loves having a big house and bigger car and a backyard to run around in. She is so happy outside. I also love my backyard. It was one of my favorite places to play in as a kid. We had a swing set and my brother and I would just spend hours outside, playing, climbing trees. There is also my grapefruit tree and I say MY because if ever that house is gone, I don't know how, but that tree is coming with me!!! E helped me collect some grapefruits one day and below are some pics ...

Emma loves just taking leaves and snow and throwing them up in the air.