Emilia Feeds the Animals

Agustín put the bibs on Emilia’s monkey and lion. I gave her a bowl and spoon. She did the rest. Fun was had by all. Sorry you weren't invited.

In Good Spirits

Emilia got her first ear infection this week. Other than being a little extra tired (oh, and some other stuff that's improper to talk about here), however, she seemed to be in pretty good spirits. She was definitely a much better trooper than her mama and papa, who both got some sort of 24-hour (thank goodness!) virus this weekend!

Despite her ear infection, she still found time to take care of monkey (who apparently likes to sleep in the secret compartment of her wagon)…


…dress up like mama…


…practice putting on her own socks (she’s so close!)…


…and do whatever she’s doing here.

When She Grows Up

Okay, I’m not writing this to pressure Emilia in any way, but after witnessing her in action over the past few weeks, I feel inclined to make a few speculations about what she might choose to be when she grows up.

A circus roadie perhaps? She likes hanging out in a wagon full of animals.

This wagon was a Christmas present. Of course, it’s supposed to be an outdoor toy, and my idea was to let her play with it indoors for a week or so since it’s snowy and cold here, then put it away until spring. No such luck. Emilia spends about 90% of her play time climbing in, on and around this thing or pulling it. I don’t have the heart to put it away, so it’s replaced our coffee table as the center of attention in the family room.

Or maybe a heart surgeon?

As many of you know, Agustín works for a company that makes pacemakers and heart defibrillators, and he brought home this sticky, gooey heart replica. Emilia was quite entertained by its sticky, squishy exterior and the fact that it stuck to her hand when she tried to throw it. (No worries—there was full-time supervision and immediate washing of the hands.)

Or, as seems most evident thus far, will she become an acrobat or gymnast?

This little red fold-up chair was my “movie chair” when I was little, and my mom kept it all these years so now it’s Emilia’s. She much prefers turning it upside down and climbing between the legs to sitting on it normally.

Catching Up With Bonjwing

Okay, most of you probably won’t be interested in this post, but I thought many of my old Northwestern friends would like to see this picture. My college friend Bonjwing was in town last week and we were able to get together for coffee and catch up, which was really nice, particularly because we hadn’t seen each other in about eight years. He’s a lawyer in his Midwestern home town (to remain nameless because I like to try to maintain people’s anonymity somewhat on this site—why you never see family names—and I know there probably aren’t a plethora of Bonjwings where he comes from) and his stories made me glad I didn’t go that route myself (I considered going into international law; took the entrance exams and everything). If anyone from college is reading this and wants to catch up with him, post a comment and I’ll send you his contact info. Oh, and he’s single and looking, so if anyone’s interested in a serious but funny, well-cultured Republican (but one even a liberal can discuss politics with civilly) boy…..

Greeting 2008 in Spain

Our trip to Spain was relaxing and enjoyable, although getting there was a little rough. Two cancelled flights, re-routing that resulted in us taking four flights instead of three, and two missed connections made for a bad mix. It took us 30 hours of traveling time and we got there two and a half days later than originally expected. Argh! Emilia was a trooper though. Although she only slept about 4-5 of the 30 hours, she never cried!

Emilia was extra tired during the entire visit (and had a temperature of more than 102 degrees Fahrenheit for several days at the beginning), napping more than at home (too bad the same was not true on the airplane!), but other than that she did wonderfully.

Here’s a short recap of what we did….



Emilia received her first flamenco dress (which can be seen a bit in the top half of the above photo) and all the accessories from Aunt Encarni and Uncle Javier. It’ll be a bit before she grows into it, especially those shoes, but we’re thinking it will fit perfectly on top of a snowsuit for Halloween 2008!


A walk through the park with Agustín’s brother Javier, his wife Encarni, and son Javi (Emilia’s only cousin!).


Unfortunately I did not capture it in a photo, but at one point Emilia was holding on to this climbing wall with no help!


Emilia was a huge fan of the Spanish bar/tapas culture (don't get the wrong idea; the 'bar' scene in Spain is nothing like in the U.S.) and tried a whole host of new foods. Yummy bread dipped in olive oil, fish, tuna, you name it! We had some troubles following the ‘one new food every three days’ rule, but luckily there were no negative repercussions.


As usual, we stayed with Agustín’s parents, and watching a baby for 2+ weeks in an only semi-baby-proofed house can be tiring. Emilia took a particular liking to the bide (beats playing in the toilet, right?) and these buckets in the bathroom.


A family gathering with Agustín’s parents, one aunt and uncle and their four kids and families.


As usual, we spent a night at Agustín’s brother's vacation home in the beach town of Ayamonte (on the border with Portugal). Here are Agustín’s parents with Emilia at the little outdoor bar near the house, where we often partake in a few tapas (like appetizers) whenever we go. Emilia appears to be discovering a new land (or a new star).


More fun in eating. Don't worry; we did not actually feed Emilia this fish in one piece and with the bones like this. (If you look carefully, you might notice that in the background there is a cross on the wall right next to a naked lady calendar; nice juxtaposition, huh?)

Papa bird feeding baby bird.

At the market in Ayamonte, where the seafood is so fresh much of it is still moving. Agustín always gets a kick out of taking Emilia’s picture with as many of these creatures as possible.


"This is what I want, Papa!" She knows what she likes!

Here we are taking a stroll along the beach.


Emilia and her cousin Javi rode together in one of these cars where you put in a Euro and it bobbles around for a few minutes. She loved it so much that when it stopped she started screaming. Thankfully it was time to go anyway.

Holiday Update

Okay, I’m finally getting around to posting some photos from the holidays and our trip to Spain. I’ll start off with a few from Christmas.

Uncle Devin visiting from Washington DC.

Emilia had at least as much fun with the boxes and wrapping paper as the presents themselves.

An early holiday gathering with the Minnesota faction of my dad’s family.

Emilia enjoying a few of her new toys with Grandma and Uncle Jordan.

At the Christmas gathering with my mom's family, Emilia was enamored with her second cousin (?) Abby (pictured above and below).

Santa’s little helper?

Stay tuned for an update from our trip to Spain.

Long Overdue...Emilia at the Zoo

This post is incredibly overdue. But, in my defense, the end of the semester is crazy for any college student, but especially a full-time graduate student with an assistantship and a job as a full-time mom. And it doesn’t help matters that I felt compelled to get out holiday cards this year. I’ll try to keep this short and sweet, but I’m not promising anything.

I just wanted to include the picture above because it captures very nicely Emilia's self-soothing pose--left thumb in mouth, right hand twirling hair.


Emilia has been a lot of fun lately. She’s really into baskets these days (literally). In the photos below she demonstrates how a one-year-old gets out of her toy basket all by herself. Now I understand why she was always practicing that downward dog pose!



Here’s Emilia’s first encounter with snow. She didn’t quite know what to think, although it’s clear she didn’t like having a cold butt.

One belated piece of news to report is that Emilia said her first Spanish word! Most “words” in her repertoire so far either resemble English (i.e. “bah” for ball) or could go either way (i.e. “bah-bah” for bottle or biberón, “mama,” “papa,” “beh-beh” for baby or bebé, etc.). Emilia had learned to clap when we said “yay,” so Agustín decided to teach her to clap when we’d say “ole, ole, ole!” So now she does just that, but she also says “googly, googly, googly!” at the same time, sticking her tongue out just like she sees her dad doing when he says “ole, ole, ole!” It’s hilarious. And it’s also good exercise for her newly-liberated tongue (see October 1st post if you don’t know what I’m talking about).

This past weekend, my parents and Agustín and I took Emilia to the zoo for the first time. Somehow grandma decided it would be a good idea to show Emilia a soft, plush polar bear in the gift shop entrance as soon as we walked in. Emilia latched onto it for dear life and didn’t let go all day long. So her grandma had to buy the stuffed animal for her (“had to” is a bit deceiving if you saw how quickly grandma jumped at the opportunity). See Emilia with her new best friend (who grandpa quickly named Huggy Bear, which seems appropriate given Emilia’s obvious affection toward the toy) in the photos.


The above picture, which I like to call "Emilia with new friend watching fish" is one of my favorites. Here's hoping your 2008 is equally filled with good friends and a sense of wonder!