Sharing The Backseat

Odin used to have the run of the car. Trunk space, back seat, sometimes even the passenger seat - it was all his for the taking.



Then Natalia came along and he was relegated to the back. We made it very nice, put down blankets that he could mess up, dig into, and then settle down on. We gave him treats and told him what a good boy he was.



But it didn't make it any better.



He would still try and come over.



You have no idea how fun it is be riding down one of the steepest streets in San Francisco all the while pushing (or attempting to push) a stubborn 100 lb. black lab back over a seat when his head and front paws are hanging over the front, squishing your cousin Leslie. Generally this happens around the same time that the baby starts to wake up and scream. (She wasn't a fan of the car seat.)



Anyway, I digress. We have been working with Odin on staying in the way back for the past 20 months.



It is clear that our work has been quite successful. Call me if you want help training your dog too.

Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes

What is a girl to do when faced with the decision of which shoe goes best with her outfit?

Change her mind entirely, of course!

Try on every pair she owns.

And then end up with the ones she started with.

I Came Home To A New Little Girl

I spent last weekend in Vegas for my friend Annie's 30th birthday. It was the first time I had been away from Natalia for any length of time. 47 hours to be exact. I made it, but there were times when I wasn't so sure. Thanks to great girlfriends, room service, and lots of dancing, I held myself together. But barely.

Natalia, on the other hand, seemed to have a WONDERFUL weekend with Nana and Opa. I returned to a very happy little girl who had learned something like 25 new words.

Seems she had a blast. There was lots of dancing and singing and trying on Mom and Ama's kimono's. Nana was very cute and recorded everything they did - time, place, reaction, words. I will post little snippets this weekend.

There must have also been a lot of photo shoots, because Natalia has now perfected the "I'm so over it" model pose.

Milk Does A Body Good

I have been remiss in not writing. I'm sorry if you feel I abandoned you. I have thought of all of you often, logging on, excited to see if I finally updated. I have been completely bogged down by the process of weaning.

(If you are not interested in hearing about this weaning process I speak of, I suggest you click over to some other blog and come back on Monday, when I'll be back from a weekend in Vegas and full of stories about my first two nights away from my precious little pumpkin.)

Natalia has been fortunate to have had complete and unfettered access to the boob at all times of her little life. Feeding on demand has been the name of the game for this little girl. It worked well for me to until she started using me more as a pacifier and less as a source of food. So I decided that, come the first of the year, I was going to cut back on the feedings.

Being one who does tends to always do things out of order (have Natalia and THEN try and get Geovanny here - seriously, who in their right mind would do it in that order?) I decided to cut out the night feedings. It had gotten to the point that I wasn't really sleeping any more. I mean really, how easy is it to toss and turn in bed when you have a 25 pounder attached to you. I'm all for not waking a sleeping baby, but when it consistently gets in the way of Mommy sleeping, something has to change.

And change it did.

Neither Natalia nor I would be considered stubborn. No, not at all. Never. So I'm sure it comes as a big surprise that cutting out the feedings quickly became a battle of the wills. Who would cave first?

Would Natalia tire of screaming her lungs out, pulling at my shirt, and begging for "boob boob"? Would she decide to peacefully go back to sleep?

Or would I give in to her pitiful wailing, her ear drum splitting shrieks, and her trying to nurse through my t-shirt?

Turns out neither of us gave up.

After two weeks we have settled, begrudgingly into some kind of routine. She wakes up, begs for "boob boob". I offer her agua, milk, or a massage. She says, "NOOOOOOOO!!!!! BOOB BOOB!!!!" I offer her agua, milk, or a massage. She again kindly responds with, "NOOOOO. BOOB BOOB!!!" We have this exchange for a few minutes until she decides on either agua or milk. Sometimes she throws in "Potty, Poo poo" and off we go to the bathroom.

Needless to say, I am more tired now that I was when she was a newborn. (Possibly less sleep and none of that adrenaline pulsing through me now.)

So I'm sorry for not posting. I promise to do better.

At least as soon as I get home from Vegas.

And So A Love Of Horses Begins

After our enjoyable time with Santa, Opa decided that Natalia should experience her first carousel ride.

It was really very cute.

He hopped right on the horse, pulled her up with him and away they went. (He never even asked me if I wanted to ride too. Just payed for the two of them and when through the gate. Boo hoo. Guess that's what happens when you shift from daughter to mother of the granddaughter.)

They had a marvelous time. At then end of the first ride, Natalia started pleading for another ride.

"Mas, Mas . . . Po ta bo" (Po ta bo is her por favor)

So around they went again.

Oh Santa, How I Love You

Natalia may have missed sitting on Santa's lap in Ecuador, but there was NO WAY I was going to miss our second shot at Santa. That being said, I'm not one to rush things, so we didn't actually make our way to Santa's lap until the 22nd.

We clearly weren't the only ones who had put off seeing Santa. The line wrapped all around the middle of Independence Center. By the time we had finished, I think it had doubled. Those poor people must have had to wait for 2 hours. Too bad they didn't have Aunt Sarah, Opa and Ama with them.


If they had they could have ridden the escalators 85 times.

They could have picked out earrings at Claire's.

They could have eaten ice cream.

They could have made faces with Aunt Sarah.

Instead they just had to wait in line, letting the excitement build until they finally got to sit on Santa's lap.


When Natalia's turn came, she was such a happy girl. The whole experience was such a peaceful, excited, wonderful one. She couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap. Didn't want to leave.

She is SCREAMING, "Mama mama mama."

Even her ice cream cone couldn't detract from her adoration of Santa.

She really had such a lovely time. At least that's what I'm going to tell her.

Rocking, Rocking

Natalia LOVES rocking chairs. Whenever she sees one she immediately runs over and climbs in. The sighting of the rocking chair is usually accompanied by her singing, "Rocking, Rocking," and the running is usually accompanied by her calling out "Running, Running."

Papa and Bada had one in their basement that she was OBSESSED with. It was the perfect for her. Perfect weight, perfect size, perfect rocking. She could get in it herself, rock herself, turn around. I think that she was probably in that rocking chair 95% of the time we were at their house.

Thank you rocking chair. We love you

Sand and Snow

How did we go from this

To this

And finally this

In only two weeks?

The Marching Band

On Sunday, we were wandering around downtown Guayaquil when we came upon a parade. Three of the main roads had been blocked off and kids were marching all the way down the length of the Malecon 2000. There were dancers, there were drums, there were parents, and there were Glockenspiels.

I have never seen a marching band made entirely out of drums and glockenspiels. At first I thought it was unique to the particular school passing in front of us. But as the next band came into earshot, I didn't hear any brass instruments. I didn't see a flute, or trumpet, or trombone. All I saw were the baton twirlers. All I could hear was the tinkling of the glockenspiel and the pounding of the drums.

Some of the bands had 20 glockenspiels and 60 drums. Some only had 2 glockenspiels and 6 drums. One band, and only one band, had some bugles. But generally, it was all glockenspiel, all the time.

You haven't lived until you have heard Feliz Navidad on glockenspiel. Trust me. It will change your life.

Santa, Where Are You?

I was so excited.

We were going to visit Santa. Or more correctly, we were going to visit Papa Noel. I've never talked to Papa Noel in Spanish before. Do you get more presents? Mangos instead of oranges? Tank tops and sandals instead of socks and underwear? I didn't know, but I was very excited to find out.

Geovanny, Natalia and I had been wandering through the mall close to our house a couple of weeks ago when Papa Noel was there taking photos with children. He didn't look like the Santa of my childhood. His beard was much longer and white, and he wore long thick furry white robes. There was no red suit, no black leather belt. This Papa Noel reminded me of some of the Santa figurines that Nana displays around her house. He would definitely be nice and toasty in the North Pole. Not quite sure how he was surviving at the equator. (I know I was hot in my tank top and skirt.)

We decided not to take the family portrait with Papa Noel then because we were all a bit cranky but vowed to come back that weekend. But then we went to the banana plantation. And then we went to the pool. And then to the beach. Suddenly it was the day before we were supposed to leave. So we all shower, put on our fancy cloths, and walk down to the mall.

But there is no Papa Noel. His chair was there, his tree was there, but he was not there. Nor would he be returning until Natalia and I were somewhere over Central America.

I was crushed. Geovanny was excited that he didn't have to take his sunglasses off. Natalia just wanted to go the wrong way up the escalator. So we did the next best thing. We took pictures in front of his tree and then went out for ice cream.