Paloma: Volume Forty-Four

Hello, and happy spring! I'm back from a short blogging break (I know, I'm the only one who notices). The last few chilly weekends of winter were uneventful, but peaceful for us. It was necessary to just stop for a wintery moment and hit the refresh button. We stayed indoors most of the time and just simply enjoyed each other's company. Our home is small, which has its advantages. It's cozy!

Last night, I was watching a video conversation of Paloma from a year ago and realized how much she's changed. More than anything, her language has gotten more complex. She's making funny Spanglish words up like "I don't want to pis it" (pisar = step on), and yesterday she was able to express her negative emotions, "Mommy, I'm frustrated because it doesn't work." MUCH better than a tantrum!

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Still lovin' on her brother. That maternal instinct of hers helps make my job easier.

Walking home from school goes slooowly when it rains. Luckily by the afternoon, the rain paused so we could get home at a decent pace.

Despite the fact that she loves her skates and scooter, she still loves her stroller wheels too.

We did get out once or twice. Here we enjoyed having lunch with friends at the beach.

Paloma stole my bag so she could carry her toys to the playground.

A Saturday morning snuggle of my 3/4ths.

She fits so comfortably on this first step in our lobby area. Being tiny has its advantages.

Her class made Indian headdresses and necklaces and had their faces painted. Is this completely banned from the curriculum in the States?

At the forefront.

See you real soon!

Mateo - The Sixth Month

Happy six months to our Baby Boy! My, was it half a year ago in the dead heat of summer that Mateo came out into this the world? The other day, I was putting away clothes in a box marked "Mateo: 0-6 months" and couldn't help feel a little nostalgic and sad that Mateo could no longer fit into these doll-sized socks and miniature onesies. How fleeting babyhood is! Thankfully, we are still in the thick of it, experiencing these moments that we'll look back on with a certain romance. Sure, there are hard days, but having him with us has been nothing short of awesome. 

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Feeling refreshed from a warm bath. Ready to face the world!

I squeezed this kid into my favorite striped pajamas as long as I could. It went into the baby clothing box. Sigh...

Enjoying some Saturday morning sunlight.

Paloma thinks of her little brother as if they were a team. 

 Now this - THIS is my favorite moment of the day. It's so sweet to see how our children love each other.

Why do I love this picture? Maybe it's that tiny huggable body and that cushy little diaper butt.

 In dreamland. Sweet bliss for baby...and mommy. 

No, we did not feed him a lemon as his first food. I guess his first bite of banana tasted a little different compared to mommy's sweet milk.

 Okay, so maybe the banana should have been overripe. Sorry, kid!

We celebrated his half-birthday with a half-cake. Kids accomplish so much when they're little!

A solo shot. Love him so. *Squeal*.

Until next time, friends!

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!

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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.

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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!

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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!