All in the Family

This past weekend was all about family. My youngest brother, Devin, and his girlfriend Noelle were in town from DC, so we had dinner with them Thursday. Then Friday was my cousin Nick’s engagement party. We wish Nick and Heather a life of great happiness together! If they have half as much fun together as Emilia had dancing at their party (seriously, she was hilarious!), they will lack for nothing.

Our dancing queen!

Sunday, my parents hosted their annual picnic for my mom’s side of the family (see this year’s family photo at top). My mom has nine siblings and a foster brother, so this is no small ordeal. I think I can safely say that fun was had by all, but once again Emilia was arguably the happiest one there….good company, swimming, ice cream, cake…what more can a girl ask for? What more can anyone ask for, really? She is constantly reminding me to simply enjoy every moment of life.

Devin and Noelle looking hip, as usual

Emilia having fun with my brother Jordan’s girlfriend, Tara

Agustín and I even got some time to dork around together while Emilia napped

Emilia "Home Alone"

It seems everyone wants to know how Emilia did while I was gone for 2 ½ weeks. The answer is… just fine. Actually, she was quite content. She spent her days with grandma—going to the beach, the zoo, or the “big pool” almost every day—and her evenings and weekends with papa.

When I returned, I found my little brunette had turned into a blondie! (Which is particularly funny because her passport, which we got when she was three months old, says she has black hair and blue eyes—neither of which is true now. And the passport is valid for five years!)

Language-wise, the most noticeable developments were that she learned to say her own name and to sing “Happy Birthday.” We often call her “Mili” for short, and she now refers to herself in this same way; sometimes it actually sounds more like “Mini,” which is perhaps even cuter. She says sentences like, “Mili bye bye car car big pool.” It’s amazing how well she can get her point across!

And she has learned that the “Happy Birthday” song is associated with cake, so she’s always singing it hoping to get cake or when she thinks cake is soon to come (like whenever we’re at grandma and grandpa’s house, where dinner is always followed by dessert). Sometimes she just cuts right to the chase and sings, “Happy cake to you….” Smart kid!

A big thanks to my mom and Agustín for giving me the opportunity to have such an amazing experience! The problem is, now I want to go back every year!

SIIC 2008

Earlier this week I returned from Portland, Oregon, where I spent two and a half weeks at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC). I participated in the SIIC internship program with 34 interculturalists from around the world. As interns, we participated in workshops with regular participants, plus had an additional week of intercultural teamwork training and did much of the behind-the-scenes work. Basically, it was a work hard, play hard, learn and grow a lot environment. It is impossible to explain what an amazing experience this was in words, so I will simply post a few of my favorite photos. My most humble thanks to my fellow SIIC participants!

One afternoon off, a group of us interns made a trip to the Oregon coast, which was absolutely gorgeous!

Karaoke night each week contributed to the summer camp feel.

The faculty and interns with whom I worked during the second session--we had so much fun (oh, and learned a lot too)!

Hanging out in the intern lounge in Bragdon Hall at Reed College.

Stay tuned for an update on how Emilia and Agustín (and grandma, who watched Emilia during the days) did while I was gone.

Reflections at 30

Yesterday I turned 30. Despite it feeling like any other birthday, the milestone has caused me to reflect a bit on the past decade of my life, and, I must say, I’ve been pretty lucky. In the past ten years, I’ve lived in two countries and six cities—Evanston (Illinois), Seville (Spain), Madrid (Spain), College Station (Texas), Madison (Wisconsin), and Plymouth (Minnesota). I met Agustín when I was 20, we married when I was 24, and had our first child when I was 28. Amidst all that, we learned each other’s languages and came to appreciate one another’s culture. I earned a Bachelors, two Masters degrees, am two years closer to a PhD, and supported Agustín through an MBA (which he earned less than four years after moving to the U.S. and starting to learn English!). All in all, I think it was a pretty great decade. Sure, there are plenty more things I would have liked to have done—traveled more, lived in another country, etc.—but you can’t do everything. So I have no regrets. And I am extremely excited about my 30s—motherhood, enjoying the friends and family I have come to appreciate so much, hopefully becoming Dr. Harvey (don’t worry—I won’t make anyone call me that), and who knows what else.

Here are a few photos of Emilia in the month that her mom turned 30. It has occurred to me that she will likely never remember me in my 20s, but many of her memories will surely be of our times together while I’m in my 30s. So here’s to another amazing decade!

Marveling at a spinning top I brought home from my last trip.

Anything—like these pants—can be turned into a “hatty.”

Playing in her swimming pool in the backyard with friends Madeline and Anabel.

Emilia modeling her “lellow hamas” (yellow pajamas), which Uncle Jordan bought her in Thailand before we even knew if she had a “man handle” or not (Jordan’s words; ironically, it looks from this picture that Emilia might think she has a "man handle").

I’m leaving town later this week and will be away at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication for two and a half weeks. Stay tuned for a newsy update when I return.

“Up North”

This past weekend we headed “up north,” as we say here in Minnesota, to Grandview Lodge, where we celebrated Father’s Day with my parents and brother Jordan. We golfed, ate way too much, swam in the pool, played on the beach, and just hung out. It was very fun watching Emilia explore the new surroundings. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the weekend.

Emilia loves taking caps off and putting them back on, so the sunblock has become one of her favorite toys (with chapstick coming in a close second).

Whereas she used to baulk at getting her hands dirty, she’s now all for it.

Devouring a “cheesecake lollipop.”

“Helping” grandpa open his Father’s Day gift.

Summer Trip to the Zoo

Above is my electric baby and below are a few photos of our trip to the zoo with grandma earlier this week.

And here’s demonstration of what a daredevil she’s becoming (and how obstinate she is); that's an empty animal cracker container she's standing on.

Sex in the City & Pee Pee in the Potty Chair

Sorry; I just couldn’t help the urge to put those two together in the title. I love a good juxtaposition! Although I’m not a particularly big Sex in the City fan, I went with a group of girlfriends to a Sex in the City premiere party on Friday night. It was lots of fun, although we all were feeling a little old when the movie let out at almost 1am and we realized it was the latest we’d been out in a long time.

Okay, so here’s my attempt to make a transition from Sex in the City to Emilia…. While shopping at Target last week, we passed the shoe department and Emilia started pointing and excitedly declaring, “Sooz, sooz!” (shoes!). I told her we weren’t shopping for shoes and that she had enough shoes. She responded even more excitedly, doing the sign for ‘more,’ “Mo sooz, mo sooz!” (more shoes!). Is this a sign?! Do I have a future Carrie or Samantha on my hands?!

So, now that I’ve made that smooth transition to the Emilia update, I want to report she went pee on the toilet twice yesterday! We just bought her a “potty” because the pediatrician at her 18-month appointment recommended we do so now just so she can start getting used to the idea. Well, our introduction to the potty led to two semi-successful squirts into the toilet. Emilia was ecstatic when music played from the potty in response (and I got one of the most simple potties; you don’t want to know about all the bells and whistles on the higher end ones!). Of course, the potty was not the only place where she peed, but that’s just a minor detail. I fully understand this probably won’t become a regular practice anytime soon, but it still seems like a big milestone. Sorry I don’t have a picture, but I’m sure Emilia will thank me for that one day (or at least not resent me for pulling out a picture of her first pee pee on the potty chair to show her high school boyfriend or girlfriend!).