I guess being that is the first thanksgiving as parents it was very special for me and Lucy.

Here are a few pictures of that day!

Feel free to visit the full gallery.

 

 

 

 

After months of getting documents together, deciding on Godparent’s, recieving her Baptismal Gown from her Godmother Miriam was the first step in deciding we were going to baptize Daniela.

Baptismal Gown

When Miriam found out we were going to have a baby, she started working on this handcrafted, one of a kind, gown. This took my entire pregnancy to make and one of the first pieces of mail Daniela received was this precious gift. This gown is to be preserved and passed down to perhaps other children in our family (umm only time can tell) and it is unisex.

I wil post pictures of the gown because the fine detail and work that goes into this gown is explained in a letter that was sent to us on how to care and preserve it. We appreciate all of the work Miriam put into it and we were a little sad that she could not make the trip from the states, but her presence was there in the form of the gown she made for Daniela.

Getting Ready

At the Cathedral

Her GodFather, Tio Irving aka Tio Tito, was beaming as he held her in church during the mass we attended. Great-Grandma Lydia was also standing in for Miriam and was over the moon to represent her today. Once I found out the date of the Baptism, I called Maria del Carmen and Doña Nelly to let them know. During my pregnancy they helped me immensley from advice, to taking me to the doctor’s, to just hugs and unconditional support.

Our parents and siblings were in the states so they were unable to attend the ceremony. Nonetheless, we took plenty of pictures for them to see.

I have to say Daniela was one of the three that were baptized and behaved like a little lady. When the priest would speak and ask everyone to repeat after him, she also talked. When he came over to put ointment on her head, she looked at him and touched her hair to see what he had put up there.

When they poured water on her, she was a little uncomfortable with being back but didn’t scream. I had put a little bow in her hair and she took that off. When we went to cover her hair with a handkerchief, she took it off repeatedly and so we kept it off.

I will say it was quite hot in the church, but Daniela was a trooper. Afterwards we took pictures and walked over to a cafe for some coffee.

After the Ceremony

We ate lunch and then went to Tio Tito’s house where they had the table decorated with a cake, roses, and souvenirs. What they had decorating the cake was Raul’s baptism decoration from 30 years ago. I will tell you that Raul’s family preserves things in a way that you could not tell, the decoration was that old (jab jab).

I am so grateful for the love that everyone showed Daniela today because to us, it means so much to have a great support system.

I am sure that soon enough we will be able to introduce Daniela to her Godmother Miriam. We already know that her Godfather and Uncle Tito will shower her with love.

To view more of the PIctures feel free to see visit the Baptism Picture Gallery. 

More Pics

If someone where to have told me that I would have an almost one year old two years ago, I would have laughed in their face. I spent the better part of last year pregnant and in doubt of the impending journey Raul and I were goint to embark on. We already had JuanGa and had accepted that he would be our only kid! Here we are with a little lady who turns ten months today. She has so much energy that I was trying to figure out where she gets it from. I think if Daniela could be up 24/7 she would. Sometimes it seems that she gets enough sleep with her power naps of 45 minutes to an hour.

This month we had Jason move with us and he has been a great asset. He helps with JuanGa and if Daniela needs to be entertained, he steps up to the plate. He is another one of her Uncles that loves her dearly.

What we have noticed about Daniela this month

She loves to share her food with JuanGa! She is self-feeding and does a great job with the pincer grip and shoveling motions. She loves bananas and the banana muffins we make her. So far she doesn’t have any allergies to foods. We are still breastfeeding and she loves drinking water from her sippy cup but mostly from Raul’s or my glass.

She is pursing her lips when you say “Dale un besito a mami o papi” She has been waking up throwing kisses to Raul. Sometimes she will grab my face open up her mouth and say “muah” or more like “ah”.

She is what Raul called low crawling forward. Of course anything that is not a toy motivates her like my shades, cellphone or even Dad’s blue blanket.

Since we are using the crib more often and have moved it into our room, she is kneeling more and pulling herself up to try and grab things. One thing she does in the crib is throw herself back when I place her in there or can’t get something. This part scares us because she does this on the bed and If we are sitting with her on the floor.

If she wants you to repeat a song or motion, she will say “ah”. She is attempting to say JuanGa. She will say ma, dada, ga, and teta. Yes she will say teta because Great-Grandma Lydia and I sing her a song “Tortita Tortita Tortita de Manteca a la nena le dan la Teta” So when I sing this to her I point to my breast. She knows she gets her milk from there and will stop feeding and say “Teta”. The other day Maria del Carmen and Carlos Juan came over and she was sitting on Maria del Carmen’s lap. She turned around and pointed to her Teta and said. We started laughing and Maria del Carmen was suprised that she knew what her breast was.

She will dance to any music whether on the radio, a car passing by, an app on the iPad that has music, or us singing.

When she is tired she starts humming, rubbing her eyes and hair. She is sucking her thumb and if she doesn’t not have a blanket next to her she will not sleep.

Daniela loves the water and we took her to the beach yesterday. She loved kicking and watching JuanGa swim. She loves her rubby duckies and bathroom toys. We also go for a two mile walk with the dog. She loves going outside. When I put her in the stroller or open the door she starts to get excited.

She takes a book and will point to the pictures, do her baby talk and turn pages. She imitates her mommy and that is great for us because she will be a book lover like her dad. She also loves the Toy Story App on the iPad. Mr. Potato Head helps with learning about body parts while her blocks help with color and shapes. I am not doing the TV with her and try not to put her in front of the computer too much. But sometimes it is inevitable because if Raul has to hold her for a second, more than likely he is in the office with her multi-tasking. We have downloaded some flashcard apps and color apps. But I make sure she also touches the manual flash cards and her blocks. We are going over her colors in both languages.

We did do face time while Raul was away and she loved that. When the phone rings she loves to hear the voices on the other side.