Welcome to Malta

Just a two hour flight from Barcelona, Malta is quite the inexpensive getaway if you have a brother-in-law like to me to have him set up you and your whole family. The airline tickets for the four of us was a mere 300 euros, so how could we not take a trip to these Mediterranean islands? Paloma skipped a week of school but came back refreshed and not missing anything besides finger-painting some flowery scenery or maybe learning about the number 5. So....here we go!

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First stop: having a warm cup of coffee in the town of Mdina. Juan Pablo took us to this medieval city café in the center of the island, which has a nice view of St. Paul's Cathedral.

And this, a cuppa joe while admiring the lovely countryside and disappearing horizon.

It was a warm day with dispersed clouds.

The little siblings squeeze the big siblings in a family photo.

Known as "the silent city", Mdina has quiet streets and alleyways. Peace.

The late afternoon sun shines on St. Paul's Cathedral.

It's refreshing to not see swarms of tourists a la Barcelona city center.

I started to notice the bold-colored doors sprinkled throughout the town.

Dig this shade of blue.

Around the 1800s, Malta became part of the British Empire, where the old red telephone booths are still evidence of their past presence.

So, who's the most famous Maltese? This guy. Nope, I don't know who he is either.

Malta is considered to be a very Catholic country, where religious icons are found virtually everywhere, including on street corners and the facades of people's homes.

Juan Pablo took us to a very tiny church from which view we were to see the small, uninhabited island of Filfla. See to the right? Filfla is which is only five square kilometers and is home to various wildlife. Access is prohibited.

Breezy, warm and refreshing air.

Looking even more to the right was a nice sunset and the view of what I think is a nuclear generating station. Not sure. 

We headed home early to start the following day even earlier. This baby was pooped on his first overseas vacation.

Many more posts on Malta to go. Because it's my blog ;-)

Mateo - The Eighth Month

Hello! Where, oh where, did spring go? I'm looking outside right now at the gray clouds threatening to rain on this parade (Plum Parade, haha, I know I'm a crack-up, right?). We had outdoor plans this weekend which have been thwarted by this sprinkling down business. Gah! But that's not gonna stop me from blogging about our baby, Mr. Mateo. Here are some photos from his past month. Take that, rain. Show it, little man!

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In the past few weeks, Mateo's been eating really well. But before that, he wasn't much interested in food but tasting his plate...and still attempting to taste other things, especially toxic plastic.

Mateo's godfather, Rafa, spends a little shopping time with us at the local mall, Centro Comercial Diagonal Mar.

The rite of passage into the playground - the baby swing! He's hangin' with the big boys now.

It helps that Mateo can sit up well and play with some toys while I do other things. Check out this superb posture!

But of course, when he's tired he has sister to lean on. ;-)

Poor kid has inherited Paloma's good bibs, which happen to be pink. Other than that, he's enjoying the warm sun in Malta and eating some bread while overlooking the Mediterranean, that's all. 

Look at us with exposed arms...outside! You see, this hasn't happened in about six months. Warm weather, how we've missed you so!

An expert in baby swings now, Mateo shows off his skills in sustaining himself independently on a freely suspended seat.

Okay, so he's not moving. Just looking cute for his mommy. EEEEEKS! Love this kid!

Paloma: Volume Forty-Five

Hello, friends! I am finally getting all of our clothes washed on our trip and getting back to post-trip "normalcy". I hate unpacking! As a distraction, I've posted a few photos of Little Miss from the past month. Then I'll finally get to the Malta pictures. Yay!

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Paloma is an alphabet-writing machine. While she doesn't really recognize many letters of the alphabet, she loves to copy everyone's names. 

For Easter Monday (the day after Easter Sunday of course, a bank holiday here) the kids got a mona de Pasqua from Mateo's godparents, Rafa and Katya. Traditionally, the mona is a chocolate figurine given to godchildren. Yum!

The art of savoring. Paloma's gotten really good at closing her eyes and pretending to enjoy the earthy notes and hints of citrus in this strawberry macaron. Or maybe it was that good.

Like I mentioned, we were in Malta last week, and we flew out of the beautiful Barcelona airport. Our expert traveler jumps on the shiniest floors.

Something we rarely do. Ride in a car! Our travel booster seat came in handy. Our tour guide (aka my brother-in-law) Juan Pablo showed us around the island. It was nice to sit back and spectate.

They're pretty inseparable on trips. Baby and a very girly Paloma on a ferry to Gozo, a neighboring island.

She can turn it off and on, and she can't stop. Savoring a white chocolate yummy on this warm day...and still doing it at home. "Mommy, look at me!"

Who was happy about being at a new playground? Overlooking the water, not too shabby.

See you soon!

Mateo's First Haircut

Hello, lovelies. We're back from our spring trip in Malta. It was fantastic! Like a crazy tourist, I took around 800 pictures but have finally whittled it down to 350 and am still trimming. Will share soon, of course! It's nice to be back in the city, which welcomed us with weather that had warmed up while we were gone. Spring is here!

But before that, I'd like to share some photos from Mateo's first professional haircut. And oh yeah, I brought my big camera!

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The "before" photo. Dad and son got back-to-back cuts. Kill two birds, right?

 We took Mateo to the neighborhood hair stylist. He's got a very simple painted sign outside his shop called "Jose Caballeros". Snip away!

 Dad had to hold him and provide some comfort. Guess it wasn't working.

 Waahhhhhhh!

Paloma tried to use the distraction method to calm Mateo down.

 

He checked himself out in the mirror and realized it wasn't looking too bad after all.

 Okaaaaaaaay....

Let's not forget the bangs. Noooo! He wasn't upset that I was holding his head firmly in place to avoid getting jabbed in the eyes. He just didn't want to get stuck with the Caesar cut a la George Clooney, which went out of fashion after the late 1990s.

 The "after" photo. With a little bit of styling, it was perfect. There's that smile I love.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mateo - The Seventh Month

I may just be enjoying this baby too much...so much so that every day that passes, I feel like time is slipping away as he moves from babyhood and into toddlerhood. It's early, but I see it, I feel it, and it's happening so quickly. As he develops his own personality, I can't help but feel a little weepy that our little boy will be crawling, walking and telling me with words what he wants soon. Perhaps my lament comes from watching Paloma grow as she is letting us now who she is, and we can't stop it. It's all so fleeting!

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Mateo doesn't mind being with his sister as long as she isn't stealing toys from him. (She loves this.)

Another night, another pajama party. In a year, bunk beds?

I've started to call him my "Sunshine Baby" because he can flash a smile even when he's tired or when skies are gray ;-) It feels right.

 Enjoying some "peek-a-boo" time with you know who.

It's on. Mateo's been more alert with his surroundings and reaching for things, anything! And protesting when he can't get it. This is it!

But, we can still smother him with hugs and kisses without any problems. Hehe...

Welp, to my surprise Mateo's not a big eater of solid foods yet. Doctor said that's okay...he's getting taller and gaining weight at a good pace. He loves sitting with us at the table though!

People are saying that he is looking more and more like Paloma, but maybe he still shares some resemblance to his daddy still. No?

This picture with my two babies makes me happy. Hence, my Facebook profile!

See you soon...in the outdoors!