As we enter into the third month of the year, some of the things that make us laugh about you are the following:

You continue to say “Like a Butt Butt” to which your dad has made you say “Like an Ear Ear, Nose Nose” or anything else besides butt.

You are loving all things Lego and Frozen and Doc McStuffins. Mickey and Minnie are a favorite too.

You are singing, dancing and even moving like a robot. You did this one day while we were in Walgreens down the toy aisle and you started moving like a Robot. I nearly peed my pants. You also found a Spiderman Mask and said you like being Spiderman.

You also confessed that you did not like dolls. Now you do have a cloth doll that you love and the little miniature dolls of Doc McStuffin and Amber. With your Legos we have added the Back to the Future car with Marty McFly and Doc. They are constantly covered with clay and you have even made Alice your lego girl a Rapunzel braid.

You Papa wen to Austin and left us for about a week. One of the things we did was get more Clay to play with and you loved mixing al the colors to create different colors.

We also drove together for the first time since you were a baby to see Bianca and Fernando aka Che-Che and Agapita at another mall in San Juan. We had lunch at Chilis and got out of the house for a bit.

Riccardo finally came back from Italy and you guys played and played. I also left you one day with Carmelina and Riccardo while I walked Juanga. It was a lot to ask of you to walk two times a day with the dog so far down the beach but you trooped even though you didn’t want to do it. You hade a couple of meltdowns but not to bad. I had one and you came and consoled me but that was because you didn’t want to walk.

When Pop came back from Austin, he was sick so we had to take care of him. And then you got sick and so did I. That was how we ended the month of March. But today is the last day of March and two of three of us are doing better. Pop is still coughing.

We have made crafts for the board downstairs like rainbows and we made Two Bunny Bags.

We are still reading at night and even doing oral storytelling. You are even telling stories that start Once Upon a time.

You do talk alot of English but with Spanish mixed in and we are going to continue to work on Speaking more Spanish to you.

This month we met up with Papa and Mama’s friend Tony and his family from Kansas. His son was named Daniel and you and him were like peas in a pod. You played so well with that he kept saying he wished he could be a big brother.

We spent the day at the beach and went to Old San Juan where you finally fell asleep as we waited for a dinner table.

Burping and Farting are your two favorite things too! You are burping on command and it reminds me of your aunt Veronica.

Your January highlights were starting from the beginning..

Since I stopped breastfeeding altogether starting the second week in December and since you decided to start skipping nap times around July to December, you finally started sleeping through the night. I stopped Breastfeeding because it was time. It took a bit of adjustment for you but, before you went to bed, Papá would give you milk or water and he would rub your back so you could sleep.

A little after November I started getting up way earlier than you and Papa, walking the dog and started doing things for work or just myself. In January we established a bedtime routine for you and that meant that I had to establish a routine for myself. You see all this time I was so jealous of other mom’s who had their kids on a routine since they were born and we decided that early on, we were not going to force you to go to bed at a certain time. We decided to follow your rhythym and it actually has turned out better than we planned.

Our routine in January started with me shutting things down computer phone etc early about five. That is the time would walk the dog, you would go with Papa or myself or we would all go. I would come back and cook, you would bathe or eat first then bathe, I would clean up, bathe, read you a book and you would go to sleep. I also told Papa I didn’t want the phone or computer or you on the iPad while I was bathing.

Even though the iPad was being used during the day, I wanted to stop using it after a certain time at night. That meant me shutting things down. Because if you saw mom and pop in the office in front of the computer, you wanted to be infront of the iPad.

So reading several books such as Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Snow white, A contar con Babar, a variety of books in English and Spanish settled you down. And that usually meant that as soon as you were sleeping, I was ready for bed too. Papa would stay up working and then go to bed. Because I was getting up so early like 5 or 6 it meant I was ready to sleep with you.

Abuela Maggie and Abuelo Hector came to visit in January and we went down to sing Happy Birthday to Abuela Sylevette who was around. Then your Papá decided to go to Boston, New York and Connecticut at the end of January which meant we were going to be by ourselves.

Your speaking Enlgish lots more and tantrums get thrown and I get angry and I try to control myself because sometimes you just didn’t want to listen to me or Papa. Spanish is something we need to work on and reading and speaking more is going to help you with that.

February came along and we did some heart crafts for the board downstairs in the building. It was also a stressful time because we started looking for a place to live again. But thankfully we did not have to move but that meant working harder to stay at the beach.

Your favorite phrase is “Like a Butt Butt” Yeah we don’t know how you came up with that one but it’s your favorite one.

You started learning how to cut with scissors and you love glueing anything. We also bought you more lego sets because for Christmas Papa saw how much you enjoyed having them. We bought you a Back to the Future Delorean andyou and Papa built it together. I helped separate the pieces.

You played with play-dough and clay and you covered all sorts of things with the clay; your lego guys named Nabil, Alice, Nabil’s Cat, Melvin and Doc.

You still love dresses and we made you a tutu but you preferred the one Tio Tito gave you as we danced to music to it on several Saturdays.

February Highlights Routine Routine Routine

You are into your routines. If we break a routine it is world war five!

Breakfast: You have to have the blue pot and orange pan along with utensils to make your own raw oatmeal with soy milk.

Lunch If it’s not potatoes, sweet potatoes, or lentils, you won’t eat.

Dinner: If it’s not potatoes sweet potatoes or lentils you won’t eat. Yes I repeated this several times because it was the truth.

You hate anything green or orange like carrots. And unless we are out at Peace N Loaf for cheesy pieces, PF Changs for Tofo or any Sushi Restaurant for Tofu and Rice, you won’t eat anything else.

Because we don’t have cable, Youtube and movie videos are your source of entertainment. You find all sorts of things and lately you are into watching playdough videos, these little Japanese girls who do product reviews, Peppa, Dora, and Doc McStuffins.

You saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and you love the song Chuchi Face. You ask us if we are your Chuchi Faces.

Other movies like the The Croods, and the Smurfs Two were a hit.

Speaking of Dora, Abuela Maggie bought you lots of books for Christmas. One book was about Dora called I love my Mami. You memorized 99.9% of the book. You have a great memory for lots of things.

We also saw Frozen a Disney movie and the Lego Movie two Movies that you loved the music and were awake for. You were also obsessed with snowmen. Everytime we saw Olaf in pictures and especially the seven foot tall Olaf at Sears, you wanted to touch and see it. Recently we went to Sears where Olaf stands and he was on the ground. You got upset and Papa and I tried to stand him up. But he kept falling over and you did not want to move away from him until he was upright.

We did our best but it wasn’t until he was upright that you moved. You eat a muffin at Starbucks if we get coffee and are still playing with your litte Restaurant toys.

Potty Training Stopped

In January I also tried potty training but you were not ready and neither was I. It was more about my reaction to your accidents that stopped you from using the potty. As much as I tried to not get too excited when you had an accident, it came out all wrong. I was trying to get you to the potty before you did anything and it looked more like me getting upset because you went on the floor. So aft much thought and trying to bribe you with a Playdough Shop, or toys that we had hidden from Christmas, I decided to just go back to pampers. Thing is that you would tell me or mention to me the Doc Mcstuffins or Ice Cream shop and say that you will get those things if you go to the potty. So you knew what you had to do, you just decided that you were not going to do be forced or bribed into doing it.

I read any article that a parent’s reaction sets the tone for anything and my reactions to you not eating or going to the potty have a negative tone. So Papa is there to try and calm me down so you can do things. He does find a way to solve things in a fun way with you than I do. It is something I try to practice but it just doesn’t come out right.

Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t

Anyway that is it for now.

 

This month was pretty special and it is not over just yet.

We met your Indian Uncle Afshaad and his wife Sheerma. We had dinner at the Water Club and they thought that for your age you were well behaved.

We visited Abuela Maggie and Abuelo Hector at their house while Papa helped Payasa Agapita and Che-Che at a birthday party in Guayanilla. Your Dad bought a camera for business purposes and it really made a difference on the website for Payasa Agapita aka Bianca. By the time you learn how to read this, you will know the truth. lol.

We spent a nice day with them and the dogs. Juanga stayed at the house and he was barking up a storm because I left the sliding open enough for him to get out but he couldn’t get back in and Liz was worried and felt bad because the idiot neighbors were yelling up at him. Anyway we capped our day with Maria del Carmen and Carlos Juan. We learned that Tania their dog died which was pretty sad but they are doing well and loved your visit.

We also incorporated Pepe, The Elf on the Shelf. We started reading a book about it two weeks before December. We used him as something fun and you looked for him every day. We did take a picture with Santa but you were not too happy because the photographer scared the shit out of you with an Elmo doll. So Papa sat with you in the picture and I watched all the crap we carried around that day. We were supposed to take the picture with your Abuelita and Tio Tito but that did not happen.

We made lots of crafts for decorating starting at the end of November. We made salt dough ornaments, cornstarch clay ornaments, we kept the cornstarch balls around to play with too in the fridge, we actually gave out the clay ornaments as gifts.  We m

ade trees out of recycled cardboard for the building and for the house. We made ornaments for lobby and even a tree for the hallway. We decorated your door with a christmas tree and snowflakes. We even made gingerbread men for our door and Riccardo’s door. He went away to Italy for Christmas and won’t be back until February. But you continue to play with him as well when we get the chance.

We painted canvasses as gifts and even recycled doggie bags as gift bags. We did lots of crafting so much that towards the end of the month, we took it easy lol

We met up with Alex and Wandick and you met Diego and Gustavo for the first time at the Conquistador where Liz has her shop. You spent the time in the pool with Alex and loved it. When you actually first met Alex, you ran to him as if you had seen him so many times it was actually quite magical.

We have our little routines that we have been doing for the last several months We go shopping for food, then the mall, then to Starbucks for your muffin and our coffee. One day we went buy another Best Buy ( we would go into the entrance of Plaza Carolina through Best Buy) and you said you wanted to do their to get muffins. As you will know later on, it was an electronics store where we would get your movies from.

You still hate when we laugh loud and are telling us to lower our voices. You come up with the funniest things and still scream if you don’t get your way but that is part of growing up. Mom still needs to learn how to control herself and you quickly remind me of this when you put me in check. With dad’s help of course.

Your Abuela Sylvette is around and we saw her at a Christmas Concert. You were mesmerized by the kids singing and playing instruments. You behaved really well and we ended coming back really late. The concert was in Ponce and we were invited by Tio Tito and Abuelita Lydia.

I celebrated my 40th birthday with you pushing me around on a scooter we bought you after we saw you trying to scoot around on a wooden truck set we bought you. It was a pretty quiet day.

Christmas Eve we were here and by surprise, Cirene called your dad because Lilly a store owner of a children’s place had a table and four chairs for you. Unfortunately she closed her store Everything But Match down and we were the new owners of her table. Your dad had also suggested to Tio Tito to buy you a wooden desk we had seen on Amazon and so our living room at this moment is filled with your furniture lol. Christmas Day you played for eight hours straight with your legos set. No joke. Pteradactyl and Cinderella with the white dress accompanied Nabil the lego man. That is the name we gave him. We got you several movies but you were hooked on the legos.

We celebrated your birthday together by coloring your own Birthday Banner with Peppa Pig and lots of balloons. We bought you a Peppa Pig book, I painted you a Peppa Pig portrait, Nick our client and his wife Elena sent you from NYC a Peppa Pig blanket. I made you cupcakes and we stayed home working for a bit before going out to eat at PF Chang’s with Bianca and Fernando. They also made a special birthday video for you. I cried when I saw it and your dad wrote a beautiful post on his blog. We took a walk on the beach and your dad took some great pictures of you. I colored in Peppa printable for your door and I printed a mask of Peppa. I rode on your scooter chasing after you and you were screaming

This month was also rainy and with the new camera dad got some great shots of you. We saw you go from taking toys and not talking just bouncing them around, to having full fledged consversations. You were into playing with cinderella, dinosaurs, and cars. You loved all the new movies like Brave and Rapunzel. We also took you to see Frozen. So much music and you sat quiet the whole time eating popcorn.

We may not have lots of material things to give people place so much importance on for holidays and birthdays, that they forget about all the special moments. You blew out your first birthday candle at PF Chang’s with a big chocolate cake that we ate between you Bianca, Fernando, and I.

The month is not over because we still have New Year’s Eve. I think we will be here as well.

 

 

 

It was a good month even though you were still exerting your independence with many things. So here are some highlights for the month.

Campechada We went to a local art festival and you had an awesome time! You colored on the sidewalk and we met up with Eude and Mauricio at the Children’s Museum in Old San Juan. You loved the place so much that we considered buying a membership for you. You played and laughed with Mauricio that Eude and Papá and I enjoyed the time with you both.

Thanksgiving Day we spent the day with you and had an early lunch! We also met Abid and his wife Amy and Farhad who were visiting from NYC. We went to Old San Juan and then had lunch at the Water Club.

You love going to Old San Juan because you get to run on the grass and are out in the open.

You are speaking lots of English and Spanish but more English because of me. You are still in love with Atencion Atencion, you love looking for different things on Youtube such as people putting on make up, creating with playdough, Peppa Pig, Tinkerbell, Dinosaurs, and as much as we don’t like him Pocoyo lol

You did try our patience a bit more than ever and there were several times you made me blow a gasket but that is part of my issue of letting you get way under my skin.

You love bubble baths and still continue to paint. Juanga is the best toy every especially when you run and around the apartment with him.

This past month we had been doing tons of Halloween inspired crafts that when the 31st rolled around, I was crafted out. I think Halloween and Easter are just two of the four Holidays where we have done tons of crafts.

 

Your speaking sentences so much and sometimes what comes out of your mouth surprises us. When you are engrossed in an activity, you tell us “I’m Busy don’t talk to me” If you see me getting upset you tell “Mama Relax” If you see me tell dad something in a loud voice, “Don’t yell to papa. Be Nice” If you see me push the dog out the way or call him in from barking, “Be nice to JuanGa Okay. He is a puppy”

 

Yes and you are speaking lots of English mixed with Spanish. You understand both languages and I am so proud of how quickly you are learning things. The good and the bad too. I say “Oh Man or Oh Crap when I can’t get things to work, you are repeating that too. If I say I can’t do something, you are saying, “I can’t do it” I think I have start saying other words instead of I can’t because I want you to be able to problem solve better than I have ever done in my life.

 

Your dad is a problem solver he sees a problem he finds several solutions that best fit it and executes and moves on. I hope you learn that from him if anything.

 

You are hitting when you don’t use your words and bored and if Pop Pop (what you call him sometimes) kisses you too much or when you see me sitting in a chair not paying attention to you. You are also yelling if pop or I are on the phone. I have to take you to the room and close the door because sometimes you yell too much that we can’t hear who is on the phone. Of course i stand outside or in the door with you once your screaming is over.

 

You and JuanGa love running after each other and your routine of walking him in the afternoons on the beach is sacred. You go with dad or we all go together, you throw him a coconut or ball, you roll around in the sand from head to toe, you play with Liz, and then you take a bubble bath.

You take all of your clothes off and pamper, get in the tub with the bubbles, swim with your toys, and dad and i will help with getting the sandcastle off of you.

 

You won’t eat until your dad is seated and sometimes you are eating throughout the day that you don’t have an interest in eating. This is the stage where you are only eating certains things and interested in what is all around you. Sometimes my patience meter is low with the screaming hitting and defiance but the other times Pop has to tell me to slow down. You are only two and not an adult.

He is right! But let’s keep that between us lol (laugh out loud)

You also are in the habit of seeing dad sit in his seat while working so you come in with the iPad and sit in your chair and you can be there for quite a bit of time watching videos of anything that has music, now makeup with tinker bell and singing videos with Angela the Cat. You watch things over and over and thing start to dance or sing the words you can remember.

We went to the Yunque this month and loved all the things we saw. You went into the Mina Falls with your dad and covered your head with a giant leaf as it was pouring when we left. We have been busier than usual so we have tried to balance crafts with coloring and iPad time, movie time, and walking outside just to keep you learning.

For Halloween Liz and Cirene wanted to have you and Riccardo our neighbor trick or treat. We went to Carmen’s apartment and you and Riccardo played in your costumes You were a mermaid and Riccardo was a Jake the Pirate. later in the evening we went down and you guys played running in and out of Cirene’s apartment because Mona Lisa was dressed as a little Devil. Paloma had a witches hat on and a little spider. Carmen gave you a little necklace of starfish to go with your outfit. We made popcorn pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and painted little oranges with jack olantern faces for everyone.

You have two months left of being two. I have to say that as you get older, you get prettier, tougher, smarter, kinder, louder, but most of all loving. Sometimes you will just say I love you mommy and papa and it melts our hearts. When you go to sleep each night your dad looks at you and says he loves you so much. He says what I always think. Sometimes you fall asleep being rocked or still taking tete at night. Sometimes you don’t want to sleep while we are ready to knock out. You are sleeping more throughout the night unless you have some growing pains or teeth pain (molars coming in)

You are playing independently if I leave things on the table for you to do or you take out.

I have learned that you will react to our emotions and if I can’t keep myself together, you will call me out on it. If I get upset or too loud you or even laught too loud, you let me know. Your dad always gives me a look of, keep it together. I know that I have to do it more often than not.

One thing I am learning from your dad is too appreciate everyday. And sometimes I don’t feel good and take it out on everyone. I shouldn’t do that because it’s not your fault or pop’s or the dogs that I don’t feel well. I am just getting older. Going to be 40 in two months and it is hitting me that I am not young any more (sometimes my behavior says otherwise.)

Your dad says we need to appreciate all these moments because they just get tougher as our parenting journey continues. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I love you very much and your dad immensley along with JuanGa. If something where to happen to me at any moment during the time you are growing up, always look for people like your dad, that stand up for themselves and others, that let others know where you come from, don’t mince words, and always look for mentors that can help you grow.

As you get older and learn to read, remember that however long I was with you as a parent, that I tried my best, that I loved you as much as I could, and that perhaps my approach to the situations your were encountering during your learning process, was what I thought was right even if your dad did a better job at handling things than I did.

We started this blog for you so you could look back at all of the things you did in your first years of life that we could remember. We are not going to remember every detail but we have documented as much as we can through here, in pictures, videos, and on other blogs.

If you don’t learn anything else from me, make sure that when you become a young lady, you date a person as dedicated to you as your dad is dedicated to me and you and JuanGa.

I am getting too nostalgic while writing this, but I love you very much Daniela Lucia. Kisses. Mom.