Feliz Tercer Cumplemes!

Sunday we celebrated Paloma's third month. Now she moves in from the "newborn-ish baby" stage to the "settled baby" stage. Yay! When she's not entertaining us with her goo-goo's and ga-ga's, we're anticipating for her to now act more "settled". Is that too ambitious?

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Fernando and I shared the duties in making the 15-minute Oreo cake.

We took advantage of the last days of summer and took a walk through the city. Baby sling = our savior.

Crossing the Gran Via.

Then it started raining out of nowhere. Boo! We had to take shelter under a balcony. The pitter patter put this girl to sleep.

Did I suffer from mommy guilt for not bringing the umbrella? YES!! Lady GaGa wore my sweater beautifully though, didn't she? And no, she didn't get sick. Phew!

Date Night! Viva La Vida!

We bought Sunday's concert tickets for Coldplay's Viva La Vida tour last December when I was pregnant thinking I'd easily want to party and take a break from our future 3-month old baby. Wrong! Fernando had to peel me away from Paloma from what I thought would be about a 6-hour excursion. Lucky for us, abuelos Rafa, Sr. and Juana were in town to watch our little one. To keep our out-of-house time short, we ditched the opening acts, Hot Lips and Sunday Drivers, (plus, Fernando was pooped) and, seriously, we got in our seats JUST when they started. Lucky us!

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On the way up to the venue. Nighttime in Plaza Espana.

We came across the mesmerizing fountain show of Montjuic. Color, lights, music, water acrobatics, the works.

Climbing all those stairs gives us a lit view of the city.

Finally! The Estadi Olympic!

The Montjuic Communications Tower to the left.

Chris Martin speaking some Espanol. Gwyenth must have taught him a thing or two.

Singing one of their many lovely ballads. It was all yellow.
Ruiz-Ancheta family minus one. I felt naked not having Miss P with us!
This Barcelona concert was filmed for Coldplay's next concert DVD. Score! Look for these two specks in the crowd!

Paloma's First Sacrament

On Sunday, Paloma was baptized into the Catholic Church. We're happy for this to be the door entering into her spiritual life. Here in Spain, one man is chosen to be the godfather, and one woman to be the godmother. Luckily, Moses, my brother, was able to attend this blessed event all the way from Minnesota. Fernando's cousin Isabel is the godmother, but couldn't come because she's super busy with her wedding this month. Fernando's parents, Juana and Rafa Sr. came from Sevilla, and Rafa Jr., Katya, and Pau came to cheer on our daughter.

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Miss P poses with her cuz, Pau, before the big event.

She listens to Padre's wise words.

Katya and Pau witness Paloma's first sacrament.

Time for the blessed bath! The cold Holy Water streams down her bushy head. Yes, she cried. With joy!

Us with the godparents. Fernando's mom, Juana, filled in for Isabel.

Paloma got changed into her street clothes to celebrate her new beginning!

We all went for some grub and goodies afterward. A cheesecake made in Germany. My fave!

The kiddies chat to compare their own baptism experiences.

Rafa watches the godfather pull the cork on some cava.
Salud! Cheers to our babe!

La Pedrera

My brother Moses has been in town since Friday for the baptism of Paloma. He's the godfather! But before I post anything on that, here's a little bit of tourista activity of La Pedrera, a famous apartment building by the eccentric architect, Antoni Gaudi.

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Gaudi liked to imitate nature in his works. The facade is like ocean waves.

A dreamy feeling on the ceiling.

We headed directly to the rooftop terrace....so surreal.

I love these guys. These ventilator shafts look like armored men to me.

A single soldier.

Bro and sis enjoying the view.

Looking down the interior.

A lovely view of Gaudi's other work, Sagrada Familia.

The wrought iron balconies make curious shapes.