Paloma: Volume Forty-Three

Hi, friends and family! How are we all doing? We are all bundled up here in our coats, scarves, gloves, rain boots, and carrying our umbrellas because it is a cold, wet day! I am so over winter. Three out of four of us are recovering from a virus, and so we are slowly nursing ourselves back to health. Luckily, I had a few heart-warming meals stocked in the freezer for us to enjoy while Mommy was down and out. Phew!

Paloma is doing well at school even though she has recently missed out on a few days. Her development of her languages is evident now as she begins to make some intelligent language errors among the three. For instance, she'll say "tapper it" in English (tapar in Spanish), when she means to say "cover it". Sometimes I catch her fake-talking Catalan while she plays by herself - I suppose she's pretending that she's with her friends at school. Very interesting language experiment we are witnessing here!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Paloma's kind of ditched the idea of a bike for a moment and is now into doing tricks with her scooter.

In fact, she rides around our tiny apartment on wheels like Tootie on Facts of Life.

Ah, this was a great day for her. Paloma poses on "Pajama Day" in front of a student-decorated wall at school.

I'm not really sure when it happened, but she's gotten very good at coloring in the lines. As long as we've got crayons, paper, and scissors, she's happy.

And the "Best Sister Award" goes to...Paloma! She's never shown signs of jealousy and loves to hold his hand and smother him with hugs and kisses. I get the warm fuzzies when I see them so lovingly together.

Sometimes I put her on "entertainment duty" while I go do things around the house. Even though it's a challenge taking care of the two at home, she can really be a lot of help.

Just itching for him to walk and talk. We'll see... ;-)

 Thanks for dropping by!

CaixaForum in the PM

I've heard about the the CaixaForum being a great place for little ones because of its mini-labos, kid-friendly spaces where they can create art related to exhibits. Other than that, it's a relatively new cultural and art center that opened in 2002 and is sponsored by the popular Spanish bank, La Caixa.

We ventured out here a few Saturday evenings ago to meet some friends and check out this free (!) museum.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The building is an old textile factory.

We found a space where drawings are projected on a wall, and kids can trace pictures of maps and cultural symbols.

Paloma and Viola put on their best art-observing posture and talk highbrow.

They can't agree if the Panthera pardus originated in Asia or Africa.

Pausing to show off her highly accessorized museum ensemble.

Viola and Paloma scramble outside to catch the next exhibit.

Here we are. Construction of Uru-ul-la, a city that the Sumerians imagined as being the first city ever made.

Kids could get a blank box representing the houses (I think?) and decorate it with stamps that had symbols of nature.

The threesome busy being artistes.

Finished! Tap-tap my building!

We'll come back to explore this awesome building another time.

Thanks for dropping by!

Carnestoltes

In many parts of the world, Carnival, or Carnestoltes in Catalan, is celebrated about a week before the 40 days of Lent. Historically, peoples of different cultures imbibed in the debauchery that would not be allowed during the Lenten time of reflection, fasting and penitence. For this year's Carnival, the Ruiz Ancheta family stayed in the 'hood to participate in the activities that were a-happenin' at Paloma's school. Because we're crazy like that!

Every day of Carnival week, the kids were to dress a little loco, just to change things up a bit. On the Friday they could wear a costume. Yay!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

On one of the days, the kids come with their faces painted. Paloma just wanted something simple, a rainbow and a heart. Done. Also, did you notice these uniform smocks that the kids wear? I don't remember kids doing this in the States, right?

I sooo wanted this to happen when I was little. PJ day! I had never seen Paloma so excited to go to school. She jumped all the way there! It also shaved off five minutes of our morning "getting dressed" routine. Nice.

On the last day, the kids got to parade their costumes for family and friends. Did the paparazzi show up? No, just the crazed family and friends ready to photograph their kids make their debut. 

Here they come. The excitement mounts...

They're here! And Miss P gets to come first. Like her homemade fairy outfit? I just took some regular clothes and jazzed them up with leaves and flowers, then made a flower crown, some wings, and a magic wand.

They kids could barely walk by in the beginning because picture-happy parents couldn't let them through. Parents are crazy!

She was virtually the only kid in her class to get a homemade outfit. I can't help it!

It was pretty unanimous. Three-year-old girls are either Disney princesses or fairies.

Some Snow Whites.

I do like this Hello Kitty.

Woody and a medieval knight.

Having a grand ol' time.

A goodbye shot at school with Rei Carnestoltes, the Carnival King, the protagonist of the event. 

Thanks for visiting!

Mateo - The Fifth Month

Hello! How are things out there? It's been a sunny winter here in Barcelona, which makes it that much easier to get up and face the day. (I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Don't most Californians?) 

In other news, Mateo is five and a half months old now and almost weighs 16 pounds. What a stud! He's been chewing on his hand constantly, so we're anticipating some teeth to jut out any day now, but so far, this little boy is all gums. No crying about the pain though, phew! In fact, he's still pretty laid-back and often wakes up with a smile, or just smiles anytime. It feels good. :-)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Drippin' like a leaky faucet. But did you also notice the strong neck muscles? Again, stud.

Enjoying the sunshine in Seville with his dad.

Happy New Year! Jeez, that seems like so long ago....

Toma, beso! Not too thrilled about this, I know.

He's going to get along great with his cousin, Pau. To make some roughhousing, boy memories of course.

See? Sandwiched by girls.

 How can a baby look both 75 years old and five months old? Receded hairline, big chair, slumped posture - that's how. The hair is now growing back, by the way.

 Oh, he knows who his mama is. I make sure of it. ;-)

My men.

Love this kid. Love this kid. Love this kid. Have I mentioned I love this kid?

Thanks for stopping by!