We figured out the other day that Daniela is trying to repeat alot of what we say. For about a day and half she had been doing what I thought was a cat noise. She kept saying -“Au” repeatedely and sometimes she would say “Rau” . Funny thing is that when she stood at the bottom of the stairs yelling up and saying “au” I caught on that she was mimicking me saying “Raul”

She stood by herself for about five seconds before she sat down. She has been doing this almost handstand. She is loving to walk with assistance and pulling herself up and side stepping everywhere she can. Daniela has taken some tumbles as all babies do at her age.

She bled from hitting her mouth on the tile floor a couple of times. And it freaked us out several times. But thank goodness with a call to the doctor and some pressure to her mouth, the bleeding stopped.

She is awake most of the day but sleeps really bad at night. She gets up at least once or twice and tosses and turns and cries while sleeping. She is growing in another tooth so I think this is the cause.

Other highlights this month are her clearing saying and pointing to my breast and saying Teta in public. She is standing up by herself with a bit more confidence and then throws herself against me.

Another big highlight was meeting Titi Milta. We had such a great time with her at the Caribe Hilton. She immediately went to Milta and was very comfortable with her. She even gave Milta a kiss and those don’t get planted on just anybody. She was in the water and loved every minute of it. We went up and down the escalator at the mall about ten times between Raul and I.

Her favorite book this month was by Sandra Boynton called “The Going to Bed Book” but in Spanish.

We celebrated Tio Tito’s birthday with him and he loved every minute of her company.

Words that she is saying clearly That, Butt, Book, Ball. JuanGa broke the one she was given for Three Kings day by the municpality and Raul looked for another one to give her. While shopping her and Raul passed by some balls and she was screaming ball in KMart.

She loves dancing and singing. She is trying to take the baby fork and pick things up but JuanGa is enjoying all of her mess.

When you get older and read this, you will appreciate how lucky you are to have a birthday around the holidays in Puerto Rico.

So you thought we were finished celebrating with New Years? No way Daniela and family who reads this. We celebrated Three Kings Day this year with Daniela who is still not walking but  standing up against things, falling, and climbing!

When we didn’t have Daniela, Tio Tito would always invite us to do something related to the Three Kings. He is a believer in the Three Kings so much that the house is decorated year round with figurines and portraits. One thing that I will say is that you were mesmerized by the Three Kings that were on top of Tio’s entertainment center. Everytime we went there during Christmas and even today, you were looking at the figures and pointing to them.

We went to the Castillo Serralles where we ate popcor, toured the winter wonderland inside the castle, and you were of course entranced by the music the band was playing. We hadn’t even gottend down the stairs and you were already dancing to the beat of the music. When we got close to getting popcorn, you wanted to go to the stage to see the band playing.

Tio came over to show you the light show being put on by the staff. We took our picture with the Three Kings and you were not sitting on anybody’s lap.

On Three Kings Day, we had Grandma Migdalia and Grandpa Hector come visit. They brought you a little remote operated dog and doll. We took a nap and headed down to Tio’s house. We decorated a box the night before and filled it with grass. We made sure to bring it down to Tio.

He filled it with a little gold bag and card. Inside the bag was a silver bracelet. But it was a little to big for you to keep on so I decided to put it away. He also decided to give you a phone that you can pull around. We got a call from Great-Grandma Alicia to come over the house to get a little gift from the Three Kings.

You were extra changy and did not want to sit on Alicia’s lap when we went over. She had a doll, a dress, and a picture of you and her from her birthday party. We stayed there until Maribel and Alicita came back. You went with Maribel and were mesmerized by this little moving house and train. Since it was playing music, you started dancing.

We thanked them for the gift and came back home. Overall we had a good and celebration.

For Christmas we stayed home with you as you opened up your presents. We had already recieved them and had you play with two of the four gifts. I wrapped them up the night before Christmas and we actually went to a paryt on Christmas Eve to celebrate Alicia’s 80th birthday. She is like a Grandmother to Raul and so she is like a Great-Grandmother to you!

You were welcomed by Alicia, Joey, and Maribel to the party and spent alot of time in their arms. After the party we came home and you stayed up pretty late with dad and I.

In the morning, late morning for you I made breakfast and you opened up your first gifts. It was exciting to see you unwrap your gift as you did your signature scooba move. Rotating and opening. We had you give JuanGa his Christmas bone and used the bow to decorate his chain.

We went down to Great-Grandma’s later that evening where you proceeded to open up some gifts and we handed  our gifts to Tio Tito, Great-Grandma Lydia, and Grandma Sylvette.

Tio Tito gave you a gift that scared you at first and then you could not stop playing with it. It was a dancing bear that actually moved like MC Hammer while it sang “Can’t Touch This” You can google him when you get bigger to see who he is. As long as the bear was far away from you, you danced to the music. But if we put it closer to you, you moved away at lightening speed.

Happy New Year!

We decided to stay home since we knew that the fireworks would drive JuanGa crazy. And Tio Tito and Great-Grandma Lydia decided they wanted to come up and celebrate the new year with us. We decided to put white on you so you could have lots of luck and blessings in the upcoming year.

Tio Tito brought you your own set of Princess Maracas, harmonica, tamborine, and recorder. We put some music on for you to dance with Tio and you started playing your maracas. Great-Grandma Lydia looked stunning as always and I was still in shorts and slippers until your dad came down to relieve me so I could look somewhat presentable.

We talked, ate some asparagus finger sandwiches made by Tio and you danced some more in the yard. We took photos and about 10 is you fell asleep in Great-Grandma’s arms. With all of the loud noise coming from the firecrackers I was surprised you slept as long as you did. JuanGa was going nuts so he calmed down a bit in his cage. I prepared our cups with grapes, a traditional Spanish custom taught to me by your Tio Tito. When all of the noise started to happen at 12:00 a.m. you crawled from the living room and were a little startled by the noise outside. I picke you up and you had a big smile. Great-Grandma gave you her grape and you ate that while watching the artificial fireworks.

They left about an hour later and we went to bed about two in the morning. We woke up about 10 am and off you proceeded to eat, laugh, crawl, cry, poop, and play with your toys. Hopefully we can go and visit your other grandma in Guayanilla to finish this post sometime today.

Guayanilla

We went to Grandma Migdalia’s house and we meet up with Titi Tata and Angel Luis. Titi Miguelina was there and Grandpa Hector. We ate and talked to Titi for a bit. Grandma gave you something to eat while I cleaned up the dishes I used to cook the broccoli Grandma bought for your dad.

A little into our visit extended cousins came over and started playing instruments like the bongo, tambor, guitar, and box. You loved the music so much you were dancing. We were going to live but once we saw you dancing, you lit up the faces of your dad and grandparents.

After the dancing we left and you fell asleep in the car. Overall the first day of the new year was a good one.

We hope you continue to talk walk and dance some more for the rest of the year. Love you little lady!

We didn’t want to do a big chingdig because we wanted something small. Besides babies don’t remember their first years and until about three. My first memories are like snippets. And lots of pictures help tell the story of your first years. Unfortunately not all of our brothers and sisters are close enough to come to celebrate Daniela’s first birthday. But that doesn’t mean that we were able to video chat with Tio Javi, Got a call from Titi Veronica, and messages from Tia Brenda and Tia Milta.

The day started very early for me as I decided to make vegan lemon cupcakes. Thank goodness I had the ingredients at home and started baking them. I made frosting and icing for the cake and cupcakes. I decided to make two separate cakes; one with frosting and one with out for the diabetics in our family.

Daniela was very clingy to me yesterday more than any other day. I was busy in the kitchen for most of the day trying to cook breakfast and lunch while frosting and icing cakes. Thank goodness Raul came down and helped out with her while she was crawling and crying over to me and using my legs to help her stand. I think that fact that she went to bed late made her extra cranky.

We also wanted to clean up and it was like a tag team effort between Raul and I. Later in the evening, Tio Tito, Great-Grandma Lydia, and Grandma Sylvette joined us. They gifted Daniela a huge stuffed doggy and a little table with an umbrella and chairs. We brought down her rocking chair and took pictures of her in it. She loved rocking by herself. Since she is still not walking at times it seemed like she wanted to get down by herself.

Grandma Migdalia and Grandpa Hector joined us a bit later and brought her a little dress for New Years. Mom told me that there is a little gift coming in the mail for her as well. It had been awhile since we actually spent time with them so it was good to see them. Daniela was a little mesmerized and afraid of dad’s mustache.

Then soon after came Daniela’s adopted grandparents, Carlos Juan and Maria del Carmen who also brought her a little dress. We were waiting for Damaris, Raul’s friend from High School and were surprised to see Raul’s friends Girlfriend who is also Damaris’ cousin Maria de los Angeles or Angie come to the house with a little gift. Angie had not seen the baby yet so Damaris and Angie were doting over her.

After waiting for everyone and redecorating outside with several ballons and a minnie mouse table cloth with minnie mouse plates and mickey mouse doll, we sang happy birthday to Daniela who was more interested in eating the cupcakes in front of her.

I changed her clothes into a shirt that she refused to keep on, tossed it and she dove into her cupcake! She was like trying to pick it up and I tore off a small piece and the girls took over in helping her eat it. She went from hand to hand and then Tio Tito put her on the floor in the yard and off she went crawling around. All the while JuanGa was in his house and he was quite calm. I think because we were all outside in the backyard, he was okay in his sanctuary. But towards the end of the night, he let out a whine and we let hime out.

I gave him a piece of cake without frosting and he tore right into it. We were grateful to have the family that came by and friends. When Daniela is old enough to pick and choose, she will have other types of celebrations.

We just want to thank everyone who has supported us this year and have been up-to-date with what Daniela has been doing. My wish is for continued health for her and us so we can celebrate more birthdays with her.