Easter 2009

Lucia's first Easter.

Exploring her basket.

We set up a wild egg hunt for Aunt Mary! Lucia really enjoyed digging through her paper grass to find some goodies. . . . she really liked just playing with the grass too.

She was proud to have snatched gammy's Whoppers.

Gamps & Lucia before church.

Gammy, Lucia, Gamps & Aunt Mary

Lucia in her Easter outfit.

Rojelio & Lucia

Our family.

Rojelio making our traditional Easter paella.

This year we added a touch of Annie's heritage with some Polish kielbasa.

The chef reveals his creation.

Lucia enjoyed the paella too.

Eastered out!

Blossoming

National Cherry Blossom Festival 2009

Washington, DC

We took the Metro down to the National Mall.

Lucia enjoyed seeing her reflection in the train window . . .
. . . though she wasn't quite sure what to think of the ride.

Once we got off the Metro, we decided to splurge and take a bicycle taxi to the Tidal Basin.

Lucia amongst the blossoms.The cherry blossoms are always a beautiful sight.

Georgetown Cupcake!

We were so excited to get to Georgetown Cupcake . . .

. . . though there was quite a line . . . . . . enough time for a snack . . . . . . and to ponder what flavor cupcake to get . . . . . . after 30-minutes we finally made it to the door . . . . . . they all looked so good . . . . . . it was hard to narrow it down . . . . . . we managed to narrowed it down to six . . . . . . they all looked so so delicious . . . . . . Lucia can't wait to dig in . . . . . . papa serving up the cakes . . . . . . they met all of our expectations . . . . . . thank goodness for bibs & wipes . . .. . . a great day with some great cupcakes.

Reuse, Reduce . . . Shake!

Annie was going through Lucia's closet.

What to do with all those milk storage bottles we got from the hospital when Lucia was in the NICU . . .

Throw them away? Recycle them? Reuse them?
After a scavenger hunt for shakables throughout the house, homemade shakers were born. Introducing beans, rocks, rice, couscous, green water & oil, buttons, & kosher salt. The green water & oil seems to be Lucia's favorite.They are the perfect size for her little hands.

These have quickly become some of Lucia's most played with toys. The lids were affixed with loctite glue for added safety.
Lesson: You don't have to spend any money to make a baby happy.

Rainy Day Practice

Well it wasn't a rainy day though we thought we would practice for one.
Annie set up a tent, she used for therapy in her previous life, in the living room for Lucia to explore.

Lucia was also introduced to Annie's rattlesnake, another former therapy tool.

So now that we have some practice under our belts, let the rain come down!

Etiology

Why does Lucia have bruises on her shins?
From crawling?
No they are on her shins, she couldn't get bruise there from crawling.
What could they be from?
Mystery solved.
Lucia loves her Muno & Brobee so much.
When she bangs them they shake & sing.
Well she plays with them a lot.
Usually hitting her legs instead of the floor.

She plays with them so much Rojelio has empowered his fatherly role by having to fix Brobee on multiple occasions. Poor Brobee. At least he is well loved.

Chiclet

Four teeth popped up within 10 days. No more gummy smiles.Lucia is our little Chiclet.

While on the phone . . .

Why do things always happen while the mom is on the phone? Annie does not usually talk on the phone too often or for too long. But by chance when she was on the phone, catching up with a friend, a magical moment happened. Lucia started crawling.

Annie was in shock. She had seen Lucia up on her knees rocking many times, but never to where her arms and legs were coordinated together and moving forward over a distance.

She exclaimed to her friend, "Oh my God, Lucia is crawling!" and grabbed the camera to capture the moment.

Lucia seemed to be so proud of herself. She was smiling the whole time, as if she knew she accomplished a great milestone.

It's been a busy couple weeks for this little baby. Four teeth popped up, she started crawling . . . and the great adventure continues . . .

Park It!

Such a warm sunny day. A trip to the park was in order.

We discovered a great park. It's about a 20-minute walk, but well worth it. It has baby swings and these great bouncy cars to ride in.

Lucia on her first bouncy car ride.

The motorcycle was fun too.

Trying out a big girl swing for the first time.

Getting ready to take the plunge.

There she goes!Lucia's trying to figure out how this whole gravity thing works.A new day and a new park to discover.Going down a fat slippery slide was tricky.It was VERY slippery.Pooped out. Time for a ride back home.