Cuba, Christmas and Piña Coladas

I have no idea how to start this post, I have had no drive to post anything mostly because things have been pretty quiet and when they have not been I have not been at liberty to discuss.

Well, firstly I would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays or Season's Greetings, Happy Boxing Day and so on. We had a very nice and quiet Christmas over at our place, which is just what I was hopping for.

We were also able to escape to Cuba for a week of sun, booze, food and relaxation. The three of us had a blast and one of us came back with proof of having been outside in 30 degree weather (me). Both the Husband and I cried quiet heavily as we were leaving paradise but all good things must come to an end. If you are ever interested in going to Cuba and would like a recommendation on where to stay send me an email.

I am looking forward to 2008, there are many ideas and schemes swimming in my head at the moment that I hope to put into action. I have to get everything straight in my head and begin planning.

I leave you with pictures from paradise (Cuba) will share my trip in another post.

cheers, K

At the airport, Isa excited to see so many airplanes

Enjoying a drink by the pool. One drink for mama and one for Isa.

Playing, eating, becoming one with the sand.

Not very impressed with having her picture taken.

The Return of the Prodigal Blogger

I can't believe that it has been one month since I last posted. To be honest I have not had the desire to write and have been putting it off. Partly because I was just so exhausted after the shows and had a great deal of work to do for Baby Thoughts and partly because there was not much going on.

I can't believe how much is happening in the blogging world in the time that I was away. Both Kgirl and NoMotherEarth had their babies, Her Bad Mother sold her house and is probably in the mist of packing and getting ready to move and leave Toronto. I on the other hand have very little to report, we are in the mist of doing some work on the site which is causing quite a mixture of emotions from excitement, to apprehension.

Isa as always is doing very well...though lately she has been giving us some awesome tantrums. I am amazed at how much she has grown up, not only is she changing physically but she has also gone through a developmental spurt. We still have not made any progress in the area of potty training, she still has no interest in it and we have not been pushing it.

I am looking forward to the holidays, especially since Isa is older and can appreciate the season much more. I have dreams of taking her to Nathan Phillips Square and seeing the lights and big tree, as well as signing holiday music and maybe if I get creative working on some crafts for her to give as gifts to the family. If I can get one done, I will be proud of myself. Some researching will have to be involved which could be an issue with me.

What else can I say...not much. I hope to be in a better mood and have some interesting things to share or make up next time.

Where Have I Been?

When Isa was around 3 months old, we attended the Husband's company children's party and she received a Fisher Prize sorting toy (see picture). Needless to say she did not get to enjoy it right away and so I put it away until she was the right age to play with it. The toy says that it is good for children 6 months+ and so I waited to introduce it to her.

Well, I did just that, and what happened you wonder? As expected she had no idea what to do with it. I then tried to show her how you play with the thing but she still had no idea. Furthermore, she would get really frustrated with trying to fit the pieces in the holes and ended up banging on the toy and getting really upset. In the end I would take the lid away and use the toy to teach her the shapes and colours in Spanish. We or I, would build towers out of the circles, squares and triangles, I would also sort them into categories and by colours. Isa on the other hand could care less, she enjoyed destroying my towers and disorganizing my neatly ordered shapes.

After some time, I decided to just put the toy away and to bring it out later. Well, that time came a week or so ago and this morning while I was playing with Isa in her room, she takes the sorting game, takes the lid off and dumps all the shapes. She then takes a moment to sort the squares, triangles, circles, and stars into little piles. Then she lines up each little pile in a straight line. Once she is happy with how they are arranged, she places the lid back on the thing and turns it so that the right hole is in front of her in order to make it easier for her to put the piece in. My mouth dropped to the floor. I wanted to grab her, squeeze her, kiss her and laugh all at the same time. I could not believe that she had done it.

What a wake up call this was for me. I cannot believe that I missed her attempts at mastering this very important toy. I have to be honest and say that I wanted to cry with happiness at her accomplishment. I have no doubt that she has been able to do this for some time and I have not had any idea. It has made me ponder all the other things I don't really know she can do.

This is just another indication that my baby is not a baby anymore. But I am so not ready to see her grow-up. One thing is for certain though...she is lots of fun to play with.

You're Not the Boss of Me!

Mama...come with me.

I feel like lately I should be telling Isa this, the last few weeks she has been bossing me around and for some reason I have been doing what she says.

Frankly I feel like she has always bossed me around, when she was younger it had to do with feeding. I would quickly feed her at the first sounds of a whimper. I was always uncomfortable letting her cry for too long if she was hungry. As she got older it had to do with carrying her too much. Well now in her old age she is still at it and the Husband has told me that I have to take control of the situation.

I should say that it is not like she gets away with things that she should not, that is one thing that I have been able to remain firm on. It is more like she likes me to be in the place of her choosing. For instance, she tells me where to sit down on the couch, when to read her a story and what story. She does not let me lie down anywhere except my bed and if she does not want me to lie down at that particular moment she asks me to 'sit up mama' and takes hold of my hand.

She still does not like it when I am at the computer, she gets really upset and starts crying and pleading for me to stand up. I am not really sure how to handle this, lately I have been getting her to calm down and ask me in a calm voice to please stand up. I don't want her to think that I will stand up when she cries and whines. But I am not sure if I should let her think that she can always get me to stand up? I also don't know if this is something that at this age is fine and when she is older I will be able to provide some sort of distraction or explanation as to why I am at the computer. I have no idea.

The important thing is to be more assertive myself now and not let her push me around too much. I so believe that I have to set some limits, she does need to know that I may not want to sit in a particular place all the time or that I would like to lie down and that she is welcome to lie down with me or go and play with her father.

Okay, wish me luck.

For the Love of Reading

Today is the kind of day that if I did not have a billion and one things to get done, I would spend the entire day in my bed reading a good book. I honestly can't remember when my love for reading started. When I was young living in Nicaragua the only books I had were my school books and to be honest I can't say that I remember reading at all. I would rather spend my time playing in my room or outside with my friends. I also think that what did not help was that we were in a state of civil war and books were a luxury item in a sense.

My love of reading really began when I was around 11 years and I was introduced to the Toronto Public Library. I could not believe that I had the ability to take out any book I wished for free. In the summer time I would ride my bike to the library and spend hours going through all the stacks and looking at what books there were. I loved to read and read anything and everything. My favourites were the mystery/detective books, I loved to read Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I also liked to read the scary stuff such as Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein. As well as the 'dramatic' stories if you will of Judy Bloom and the Baby-Sitters Club.

Reading has always been a way for me to escape to a different world, imagine myself a different person and to put aside any worries or concerns that I may be experiencing for a short time. If I am feeling sad, worried or stressed I like to escape to my room and take out one my favourite books and read, such as any of my Agatha Christie books or Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. These are my sure bet books, I know that I can read them over and over again and still enjoy them.

I still love to go to the Library and browse the stacks to see what new author would interest me. I always tend to gravitate towards the Mystery section as I love a good mystery and enjoy spending a quite Sunday morning during Isa's nap in my bed with a good detective book.

Recently I have noticed how much Isa loves it when I read to her. I was struggling with reading to her because before she would grab the book from my hand and flip the pages herself not really letting me read. But now things have changed, she likes to sit on my lap holding the book open while I read to her. She no longer rushes or tries to take the book. In fact she likes to have it read to her over and over again. I have also noticed that she can handle books that have a longer story or require her to act out things.

This new interest and maturity that she has shown in reading has made be realize that we need to spend more time in the Library together. I want her to become acquainted with it and to learn the etiquette of being in a Library so that we can spend quality time there among the books. I am really enjoying this as I hope dearly that Isa will have the same love for books that I have.

Back From the Dead

I guess that the title post is a little melodramatic but it sure has been some time since I last posted. I can honestly say that I have no idea where the previous week went. I was so busy with work that by the time I had a free moment to blog the last thing I wanted to do was write some more.

Well, today will be a short and sweet post. I am spending the day trying to get a hold of my toy suppliers and make all my purchase orders for the rest of the year. My brain right now is busy with BabyThoughts stuff that I have nothing interesting to blog about.

I am going to leave you with a few pictures of our trip to Ottawa for Thanksgiving. We were trying out our new fancy camera and so I will like to show them off. Just be aware that just because it is a fancy camera the photographers themselves may not be doing it justice.

We had an amazing time at my MIL's place but had an absolutely awful ride back home that just remembering makes me want to hurl.

I am sure that I have mentioned how much I loath long weekend traffic and now more so with a two year old who spends the entire time begging to get down. And how can you blame her when you too are wishing to get down as well. Not fun at all.

So, like I was saying, we had a blast. All the goals that I set out for myself to accomplish I did. Eat...check. Drink...check. Relax...check.

The view from my MIL's balcony

Isa, doing quality assurance on the pumpkins


The Wakefield Train...this was Isa's highlight of the trip as she is in LOVE with trains right now.

F.Y.I. Friday

I would like to share with you the one store that completely changed my life. This store not only made me look damn good, but it gave me self-confidence, improved my posture and helped my back.


Secrets From Your Sister

If you have not heard of them, I would highly recommend that you stop by and check them out. Secrets From Your Sister is a lingerie store, but more importantly they will measure you and give you your correct bra size. Believe when I say that if you have not gotten measured by a professional you are wearing the wrong size. Even if your breasts are not large, you can still be wearing the wrong size.

I was introduced to them five years ago when I received a gift certificate for my bridal shower. I went to get myself something pretty and I came out crying with excitement because I had found a place where I could get a bra that made me look AMAZING. I do have to warn you that it does not come cheap but having clothes fit well, having your breasts look amazing and feeling so sexy in whatever size you are is priceless. Absolutely priceless.

There have been times when I wished that I could carry a stack of their business cards because I have walked by many women who are wearing the wrong bra. I just want to educate...I want them to feel as great as I felt. The thing to know is that it's not just women of a certain age and size that are wearing the wrong size, it is women off all ages and sizes from young little tiny women to more curvaceous ladies.

I invite you all to stop by their place and get fitted, you can then take that number and shop for your bras at whatever store you like or give your self a treat and get yourself something pretty and sexy from them. More importantly you should get measured every once in awhile and certainly after any big change in your body (pregnancy, after-pregnancy) because your breast size will change.

Happy Shopping!

Here Is To Baby's BFF

I am a little slow on finding out things...only recently did I come across the League of Maternal Justice and their message and mission. In the spirit of motherhood I have decided to step down memory lane to my early days in Breastfeeding Land and drag you all with me. I promise it will be a sweet and short trip.

I have to say that I was unbelievably-freaking-lucky to have had my wonderful doula at Isa's birth to teach me the ins and outs of breastfeeding. She was there to take Isa's little head in one hand, my boob in the other and put the two together correctly. Because of her hands-on approach I was one of the fortunate few who did not have cracked nipples or bleeding (please don't hate me. please).

Breastfeeding was the one thing that I was absolutely terrified about before Isa was born. I was not worried about the labour (boy was I wrong), not the recovery, the complete lack of sleep (I was in denial on this) or the taking care of a new human-being. No. I was was worried about breastfeeding and whether I could do it, whether Isa could do it, whether it would be the most painful thing on earth and whether I would be able to stick it out. Though I knew, read, heard or guessed that it would be work, one thing I had no idea about was how lonely I would feel.

At the beginning when I was trying to get comfortable managing a small baby, undoing my maternity bra and correctly placing the baby to obtain a good latch, I would feed in private. If I was out, I would excuse myself and find a private place, this was so lonely because I would spend the next 15-30 minutes (I really can't remember how long it took) with just Isa. Amazing as she was she was not such good company at the beginning.

But just like everything, things got so much better, by the end I was feeding anywhere and everywhere. I did not care and I got so good at whipping out the boob that I did not feel self-conscious or awkward or embarrassed. I did what I had to do, I was always discrete and the efficient Isa was always quick. If there is a lesson to be learned, it is that you must persevere because the reward is too good to pass up.

Now it is a distant happy memory and hopefully just like riding a bike, it will be like I never stopped so when baby #2 comes along I will be able to get back on it with ease. Not that this is happening any time soon.

We are back now, that was not too long and too mushy I hope. It was nice remembering the good-old days, if there is one thing I miss about breastfeeding is not having to worry about what to feed Isa. Maybe more importantly is that I was always sure that she would love it. This is not the case anymore.

The Dark Clouds are Dissipating oh so Slowly

For the last couple of days I have felt very down and unsure and stressed and worried and ...

I have been struggling with some work related things that I have been finding quite challenging. I have always felt overwhelmed when first confronted with an unfamiliar task and once I have taken some time to evaluate what is needed and tackle it in small pieces I get over my worries and fears and get it done. True to form the same thing has happened with my newest work project, it certainly helped that the Husband was able to talk me away from the ledge and get me to break things down into manageable pieces. He also offered his help which I am so grateful for.

And so today I was able to get a small but very important part done and sent off. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I can move forward onto the next step. Positive thinking. Positive thinking. Must have positive thoughts.

Alright, enough of this whining I am going to go and get my lunch ready...I am re-heating left-overs from last night and later on I will make a banana bread to use the very very ripe bananas that we have.

If you want a fast and finger-licking good recipe for Pork here is what I mad last night. It is courtesy of Chatelaine magazine:

Rosemary Pork with Pears

1 pork tenderloin
1 tbsp each of Dijon and chopped fresh rosemary
2 firm ripe pears
1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

Preheat oven to 450F. Place pork in the center of an oven safe dish and coat all sides of it with both the Dijon and rosemary. Slice pears in half, lenghtwise and remove core. Drizzle pears with either maple syrup or honey and place around pork with cut side up. Roast until pork is well cooked about 20 to 25 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Yum Yum Yum!

A Little Bit of Walking, A Little Bit of Partying and a Whole lot of Fun

This was a very busy weekend for me, we had two parties to go to, lots of work to be done on the site and had to head downtown to walk the 5K for a great cause.

It was a wonderful weekend full of family and friends, Saturday we went over to my in-laws to celebrate my father-in-laws' birthday. Isa was in her usual spirits and the grandparents were eating her up. I have been teaching her the words to Feliz Cumpleaños (Happy Birthday) for over a week now in order for her to sing it at her grandfather's birthday. But she got stage fright and was not able to perform. All in all it was a great Saturday, the food was finger-licking good, the conversation was easy-going and we ended the night watching my new favourite show, Entourage. Love it.

I had to turn in early on Saturday as I was going to pick up Her Bad Mother at the indecent hour of 7am, 'cause we had to be downtown to meet up with the others for 7:30. And because I always panic that I will miss the alarm and wake up really late, I kept waking up every hour before I really had to get up. So I was up at 4 am, 5 am, 6 am... you get the picture. Needless to say we got downtown fine and after a great deal of cell phone tag we were able to meet up with the other walking comrades.

For those who may not know, we were taking part in in The Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in support of Her Bad Mother's nephew Tanner who has Muscular Dystrophy. It was such an eye opening experience for me because I had never taken part in any of the walks and had noooo idea how big of a production it would be. I wish that I had brought my camera but like my cell phone I left the house without it.

It was an amazing experience for me and one that I hope to make a tradition off. I found those that were doing the half and full marathon awe-inspiring. It was also so much fun meeting the other fabulous blogger ladies and put a face to the blog. If you stop by let me say that it was very nice to meet everyone, hopefully we can get together again...but maybe not so early.

...On to the second part of Sunday.

I got home and was 'invited' by Isa to play with her, she likes to boss me around and tells me to sit down on the floor and play. She also tells me when she likes to nap and when she likes me to watch Dora with her. I was finally able to convince her to sleep and headed to bed myself. But my sleep never came, I lay in bed in the darkness for two hours willing sleep to come...it did not.

And so, I got up and got things ready for the Big Birthday Bash. Just like the Summer Birthday Bash, we were all getting together to celebrate the birthday of all the fall babies. It was a huge success with everyone coming and having a fun time. The kids played, ate, danced, ran around, fought and made up. We adults ate and drank and got caught up on our lives. By the end I was ready to pass out from exhaustion but was still able to watch the end of the Season Two of Entourage.

Infinite Love

I don't know if I can put into words the love I have for my Isa. Every time I think of her my heart swells and I can't help but smile. I could be in a crowed bus, at the grocery store or just watching tv at home and if I think of her a smile comes to my lips. I have always been a affectionate person, when my little brother was born I was always kissing him, hugging him and calling him all kinds of funny names. In fact my pet name for him for a very long time was 'lover', now at 15 years old, I have been asked to stop calling him that.

After my parents and little brother moved back to Nicaragua I went through some serious withdrawal and so my husband got me a cat. Let me tell you that I poured all my hugging and kissing and cute name calling on the cat. And like any self-respecting cat he was completely disgusted but tolerated me.

Then when Isa was born, I fell in love all over again. But I was scared to hug her too tight or to kiss her too often, she just felt so delicate. My awkwardness did not last long, soon enough I was able to show her all the love that I had for her. We would have so much fun together, cuddling, and kissing. I have a million and one pet names for her, I had to stop calling her by her many names because I was afraid that she would not know her own name. Now that she is an active toddler, she does not allow me to kiss her as much. She says no bepos mama, bepos is how she pronounces besos which means kiss. Now I have to ask for her permission to give her a kiss, but every once in a while I sneak one in and she laughs and says ' no bepos mama, no bepos'.

There are times when I miss the baby that Isa was, but I love the vibrant, active toddler that she is and look forward to seeing the young little girl that she will become. I have a need to go into her room right now and hold her in my arms, give her a good squeeze and shower her with kisses...but I can't because she is sleeping and Isa sleeping makes me really really happy.

Traditions: The Good, The Bad and The Scary

I can't believe that September is almost coming to an end. I really thought that I would not be able to get through the month, what with birthday parties almost every weekend, getting prepared for the two upcoming trade shows that we will be taking part in (more on this to come) and all the work that had to be done on the business.

I am looking forward to October, it is one of my favourite months because we always head over to my in-laws for Thanksgiving and celebrate the Husband's b-day with them. October is also what I consider the beginning of Fall, all the trees change their colours and begin to loose their leaves, the air is crisp, and everywhere you walk there is a blanket of multicoloured leaves that crinkle under your feet.

I also love Halloween, which is interesting because I did not get to experience Halloween until I was 11 years old when we came to Canada. I remember one year when I was about 8 living in Nicaragua all the parents of the neighborhood that we lived in put together a big Halloween celebration for us. What this entailed what that we could get dressed up and go to certain houses and they would have candy for us. In reality we ended up going to each other's houses to Trick or Treat but it was a great deal of fun and we sure where not going to complain about whom we got candy from. Candy is Candy.

In Nicaragua when I was a child we obviously did not celebrate many of the 'holidays' that are celebrated here. Certainly we don't have Halloween, Thanksgiving, the Easter bunny, and even Valentines' Day. What we do have are Pagan-Christian celebrations and one in particular puts Halloween to shame. Also our celebrations are certainly not PC (politically correct), they can be racist and sexist.

One of the celebrations that I remember with fear and I think is the reason why I sometimes have nightmares of being chased, is a pagan celebration that we have where young people, mostly young guys and kids would paint themselves with black paint or even tar and attempt to paint people black. I can't really remember the purpose behind the festival, I don't really know why they have to paint people black, all I know is that it is quite scary to have a mob of black bodies run after you in order to overtake you and cover you in black paint. What you usually do is stay close to your house and as you see the mob coming you quickly run inside and protect yourself. This is what happened one year when we went with the family to visit friends and took 'part' in the festival. I was terrified. The house that we were are had a balcony on the second floor and we would go out there and watch the people running for cover. Needless to say I never ever took part in this again.

There is one celebration that I absolutely love and miss, it is called 'La Purisima' and it is held in December and it is the day in honour of the Virgin Mary. It is mostly women and children who take part in this celebration, and to children it is like Halloween because we go from door to door and get candy and presents. In reality what happens is that everyone on this day opens up their homes and invites anyone and everyone to come in and sing wonderful, beautiful song to the Virgin Mary. At every house you are given something sweet to eat usually made with rum. After you have sung a few songs you leave and as you leave you get a candy, or a fruit and off you go to the next house. My mother would usually go and sing in a different friend's neighborhood every year, we would go in a big group from house to house with candles, singing and laughing, full of sugar (and rum for the adults). I went to one 'Purisima' here in Canada when we first arrived and it was such a sad affair because it was cold and we could not go out walking and so it was held in a gymnasium where we all just sat around signing in a huge brick box. My mother and I never went again.

This sure has been a long post, it has brought back lost of memories and made me a little homesick. I am a little sadden that Isa will not be able to experience the same wonderful celebrations that I did, the ones that made me feel so full inside. Even today in Nicaragua things are no longer the same. Many traditions and celebrations have gone or changed but new ones have been created as well. I keep telling myself that our family will create new celebrations, take part in new festivals but there are times when I find it hard not to look back.

The Party Continues

This year I was able to put together a little party at Isa's daycare to celebrate her birthday with her classmates. It went as follows:

Date: Monday September 17, 2007

Time: Again after nap time (around 2:30)

Place: "School" a.k.a. daycare

It was quite an exciting surprise to the birthday girl to see not only her Mamá arriving at her school but her Nana as well. Even better was the fact that they were both carrying trays filled with cupcakes smothered with vanilla icing and sprinkles. Many of the invited guests were still sleeping but were soon awoken by the shrieks being emitted by the others, who were dancing and singing to birthday music. Once everyone was up and changed they were all invited to sit at the table with their birthday hats and served a yummy cupcake.

Birthday wishes were sung to the birthday girl who was very much taken with the lit candles on her cake that she ended up hurting her finger. There was a small pause as she realized that her finger hurt but with a quick kiss from Mamá she was able to continue singing.


As soon as the singing ended all 12 guests dived in into their cupcakes. Many took their time to savour their treat, others were not as patient, while others did not seam too interested in the sugary snack preferring to eat their healthy bagels. Overall, the majority of the guests enjoyed the icing quite a great deal, the birthday girl true to form inhaled her first cupcake and asked for another one. With her second cake she only went as far as licking the icing off and taking only a couple of bites, but no worries she had friends who were able to help her.


After everyone had enjoyed their vanilla icing, guests were treated to more dancing music. Everyone enjoyed dancing to 'If your happy and you know it" and "Mambo #5". The birthday girl performed her signature move of running around in circles and falling over. She gave a few performances before she was whisked away by her mother and grandmother.

It was an early departure but a great deal of fun was had by all. The happy day ended with a screening of Dora in parents room while Mamá took a short but necessary rest.

The End

Feliz Cumpleaños to Isa!!!

I meant to put up a post this weekend to commemorate Isa's 2nd birthday but sadly I was not able to. No worries, this means that I can write about all the wonderful festivities in one post and put up some pictures (which I spent about an hour editing yesterday).

Here it goes...

First Event

Date: Sunday September 16, 2007

Time: after nap (say 2pm) until bath time 7pm

Place: Grandpa and Nana's house

The birthday girl was a little late to arrive at her party as she was enjoying her beauty sleep and her Mamá took too long to get ready. She arrived at the party location at 3:30, most of the guests where already waiting, they included the grandparents, Tía Caro, Tío Lance, Tío Miguel and Great-Aunt Jen. The last party guest to arrive was Tío Chente as he had also enjoyed his beauty sleep.

Guests were invited to spend some time in the garden and enjoy the nice weather before Winter arrives. Everyone moved inside quite soon as dinner was about to be served and those dressed inappropriately for the outdoors, or those with colds were getting a little chilly. The birthday girl's place was set with new Dora themed dinnerware, this was greatly admired and commented on quite frequently by said person. Dinner consisted of steak, potatoes, roasted corn and salad.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, conversation revolved around the birthday girl's resent move to a toddler bed, the upcoming election and the yummy food. Once dinner was finished, the birthday cake made by Tía Caro was brought in.

This is Isa's favourite as it has strawberries and whipped cream... in reality it is everyone's favourite. Birthday wishes were sang, the candles were blown and the entire cake was consumed.

Once the eating portion of the festivities were over, everyone retired to the living room for the opening of presents.

The birthday girl really enjoyed herself opening her gifts, she was particularly taken by the tissue paper but once she discovered her Dora pajamas she had no interest in anything else. She demanded to try them on right then and there. As soon as she had them on, she was able to return to her task at hand. All presents were opened and ignored at once. She them proceeded to run around in circles. Her parents were quite concerned as they worried about the upcoming bed time.

The celebration was a great success, everyone really enjoyed themselves. There was good food, great wine, an absolutely delicious cake and best of all family. The birthday girl refused to depart from her party until she had gone to feed the ducks in the ravine. Her parents were really anxious to get her home to start wining her down and get her ready for bed.

The birthday girl fell asleep in 15 minutes (to the relief of her parents) with visions of Dora and Boots in her head.

Feliz Cumpleaños Isa. Con todo nuestro amor Mamá y Papá.

Event #2 to come tomorrow

Toilet Training...Not Happening

I like my diapers mama

Isa will be turning two this weekend and I have been wondering if I should be encouraging the potty training thing. I have to admit that I am not looking forward to the training, quite frankly I would like to whole thing done with and by some sort of miracle have a fully trained child without me having to put too much effort. I know that this is so not going to be the case, and though I am not grossed out at all by the process I am just not looking forward to having to be consistent about it and always be aware of her bodily functions. When did she last pee? When did she last have water or juice or food? Did she poo already? Will she poo again? These are the kinds of things that I will have to be very much aware off.

In any case I have started looking out for signs that she might be ready to begin but have not noticed much change. For instance she does not really go for long periods of time with a dry diaper, she certainly does not tell me when she is going to go pee pee or poo poo. In fact if I ask her she denies it and runs away. I also asked the day care if they think that she is ready to begin the training and this is what they said..."not Isa, she is not ready at all". They don't think that she is there yet, though she does know what the potty is and she has sat down on it, she is still not ready. They told me that it will probably be a couple of more months before she can start and that we should not worry about it. Who's worrying? Not me. I am going to leave it up to them to tell me when she is ready to go. Her teachers have SOOOO much more experience with this than I do and as soon as they tell me she is good to go it will be full steam ahead.

I have decided that I will go out and get her a potty and have her get comfortable with it. My hope is that she will get used to it, start using it and begin to put two and two together. My biggest fear is that she will have a negative reaction to it at some point, though I guess if that happens I just have to remove it from sight and bring it back out later. Not a big deal when you think about it.

If you have some tips on potty training and would like to share, please leave a comment. I know that I can use as much help as possible. You are welcome to share your story of how your child(ren) were potty trained and what worked and did not work.

My next challenge...transition to the big bed. We are in the process of transitioning Isa to the toddler bed as we speak. It is certainly not fun at all, more on this to come.

How Isa shows you she likes you...she lifts up her shirt

I am not sure if I have blogged about how Isa loves good looking men. This daughter of mine enjoys flirting with men on the subway on our way home from day care. But she does not flirt with just anyone, no no she only has eyes for the hot guys.

I am always amazed at how good she is at it. She would spot some guy as soon as we get into the train. Then she makes sure that she makes eye contact and gives him a big smile. She quickly turns away and every once in a while she will look his way and try to get him to smile at her.

unfold trying By the time we are leaving the train she waives goodbye and gets a wave back from him. Can you believe it. I am always watching things unfold desperately trying not to laugh and not to look at the guy because who knows what he may think.

Well, today at her day care they had a visit from the local firefighgters who brought along the fire truck. I am sure you can well imagine where this is going. Her teacher tells me as I go and pick her up that Isa really liked one of the firefighters, as soon as she saw him, she walked up to him, lifted her shirt to show him her belly button, gave him the look and a big smile and sat down next to him. Her teacher told me that she did not leave his side for the entire time he was around. I could not stop laughing as she was telling me the story. I kept picturing her lifting her shirt up and being all proud of it.

Boy I really do hope that this stops by the time she is a teenager, I don't want her showing off her belly button to every guy she likes. She is just too funny:)

And She's Off....

Just wanted to share another video of Isa, this one is of the first time she crawled. For a very long time she would just get on all fours and move her body back and forth, back and forth. Then she started to move backwards, until one day in May she actually put everything together and moved forward.

The only reason why I was actually able to capture the event was because I was filming her do her back and forth movements. Then all of a sudden she started moving forward. It took all the restraint in the world not to put down the camera and run to her to give her a big hug and kiss.

So, as I used to say when I worked at Famous Players Theater...sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

The Good Old Days

There is so much to say but I have no energy to get into it at this time...so I will upload a video of when Isa actually enjoyed eating many things beside just cheese and bread. Rest assured that I was always ready to jump in should she take a bigger bite than she could handle...just in case you are worried:)

Where Did She Learn That?

I am writing you this post from my new Sony Vaio laptop, the Husband went to the mall today with Isa of all people while I took at wee nap (about 3 hours long, please try not to hate me) and surprised me with it. It is meant to assist me in my work which means that I can write posts while I watch tv after Isa is in bed and not worry about waking her up with the noisy keyboard that we have. hurray.

Well, now that I have shared my new news, I am going to share a very interesting incident that occurred at day care the other day. One of Isa's day care teachers told a very interesting thing on Friday. It seams that little Miss Isa has learned the art of deception if you will. Listen to this, you all know how she is in LOVE with her 'Bear' and that she takes him everywhere. Well, at school (day care) she is not allowed to take him to the playground because he will get dirty and the other children are also not allowed to take their security objects with them as well. Well, Isa was playing with Bear and her teacher asked her to please put Bear away because they were now going outside.

What does Isa do, you ask? She takes her hat and hides Bear in it and tries to sneak him outside. Can you believe it? Well, her teacher is in awe of her because Isa tells her in a calm voice that Bear is away and that she is now going outside. Meanwhile she is cluthing her hat agaings her chest and trying to sneak him into the playground. The child is something.

Her teacher told me that she was really impressed that she would go to such lengths to take Bear with her. Me, I am trying hard not to laugh, while on the inside I am really worried because it shows just how much she loves the thing. What am I going to do if something happens to him? I am in so much trouble.

My Brain Is Going To Explode

I have been doing quite a great deal of research lately that I feel like my brain is going to burst. Even though I need to take a breather for half an hour I thought that I would take five minutes to write. I meant to post yesterday but I had Isa with me as we had a play date that afternoon, as you all know, I can't spend more than two minutes sitting at the computer before she starts having a breakdown. I really have to work on this problem, but knowing me I will just let it be and just not work in front of her.

Well, what can I say that is remotely interesting and worth reading. Not much I'm afraid. I find that now that Isa is older there are 'less' things that are funny or embarrassing(for me). This is not to say that she does not have her moments, like the crayola incident but now I forget faster and if I don't take the trouble to jot things down they are lost.

One little funny thing, which maybe only be funny and cute to me is that now she is calling herself 'Ita', she can't say Isa and for sure she can't say her full name. So now it is always, 'Ita shoes' or 'Ita up', 'Ita bear' and so on. I think that it is hilarious and sometimes I actually catch myself calling her Ita, but really I should be calling her by her full name so that she eventually uses it. I am just so lazy when it comes to names, I have always given people short names, if I could have found a nice short version of my name I would have used it but you can't do much with Karla...Kar does not work for me.

What other useless tidbit can I share....let me think...I guess that I can share some of the new developments in the eating and bathing routine. It seams that Isa has lost any interest in all kinds of foods, now she will only eat dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt), peanut butter, bread, avocados and strawberries, oh and she will each sweet bad things like cakes and chocolate(she is my daughter after all). This is all! You can imagine my frustration as every attempt at getting her to have a nice cooked meal fails. So I have taken a step back and decided not to fight her on it, now I give her what she likes. Though I always offer the food that is available for dinner for her to try, maybe one day she is accept it.

One thing that has helped me keep my sanity is that she does eat cooked food at the day care. Why you may ask? As I have mentioned before, it is due to a thing called 'peer pressure', this maybe bad for teenagers but a wonderful thing for toddlers. So she gets vegetables and meat during the week at day care. Sad but true.

Now for the bathing routine, for some reason, I have no idea why or when or how it happened, Isa HATES to have her hair washed. She screams and squirms and tries to get away from the water. She is okay with having shampoo in her hair she just hates it when it is time to have it rinsed. I wish I knew when we freaked her out for the first time or whether this is just her thing. This means that I have to be quick about the whole rinse and deal with the screams that come out of her. In toddler fashion, as soon as it is over she is all smiles and happiness. What's up with this?

Well, it looks like I have spent more than five minutes on this post, but I needed to write the new developments down before the next batch arrives.

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-K

Off With Their Heads!

Over the last few months now, Isa has really begun to enjoy painting and drawing and though she does quite a great deal of both at day care she does not have many supplies at home. It took me too long to realize just how much fun she has and how much fun I have playing with her and getting all messy with her. So the last time I was at the store I picked up a big pad of paper, paints and crayolas for her.

Well, we were coloring just yesterday and after some time I had to leave her by herself at her little desk and do some house work. I figured that since she was happily scribbling that I could probably get quite a lot done. Well, I did but there was a small cost. After I finished doing as much as possible I went in to check on her. I noticed that her cheeks were bulging, I look down at her hand and the she held crayon had been decapitated. So I ask her as I open her mouth to investigate if she has been eating the crayon? Needless to say she is adamantly shaking her head no as I open her mouth and find a kaleidoscope of colours. I look around at the other crayons scattered on her pad and notice that many have had a little taken off the top.

My first thought is nooooo not the new crayons, then I try to hold in the laughter that is threatening to escape because Isa looks hilarious trying to close her mouth in other to keep her crayon tops in. In the end I stick my finder in her mouth and scoop out the stuff and try to get as much as possible. I was not able to get everything as she was not a willing participant of the removal of the crayons and her teeth are sharp. I am just thankful that they are non toxic.

It looks like I have to make sure that when I get her markers that they too are non toxic because if she is like this with the crayons, imagine what she will do to the markers. Can't wait to try out the paints.

And Then There Were Three

I have mentioned many times that Isa LOVES her small little bear like it was her own baby. Her 'Bear' is very much just like her in her mind and whatever she does he has to do as well. This means that if she eats, he eats, if she has to put on sunscreen then he has to have some as well, if it is time to put on sock, then Bear has to have socks on as well... you get the picture.

I have also mentioned how we almost lost Bear a while back and since then I have been on the hunt for a back-up bear. I have gone into countless stores trying to find the same one, because she will certainly not accept anything else. Unfortunately it looks like her Bear has either been discontinued or he is just not that popular because I can't find him anywhere.

Well, on our way back from Ottawa with my mother in law, we stopped by to get gas at this nice place called The Flying J. As we walk in we see that they have a huge display of Ty Baby toys and head over to see if another bear is there. No such luck. Isa on the other hand is grabbing anything and everything she can carry in her two little hands and calling out 'mine, mine'. My MIL and I are rumeging through the selection to see if we can find a comparable, as we are doing this Isa spots this nice little cat and starts getting excited. This little cat has the same feel of Bear but obviously is not a bear, and she knows that. She keeps saying 'gaco' which means cat and is walking away with it. So my MIL says, well why don't we get her that and slowly take Bear away. So we look for a second little cat which will be the backup. Unfortunately Isa sees us and dives for the second one.

She is all excited because now she has two 'gacos'. Big Mistake. Big Mistake. Instead of solving the problem of one bear we now have the problem of one bear and two cats. She has to go to sleep with all three of them, and all three of them must be present everywhere. I was able to draw the line at taking them to daycare so only Bear gets to go, but now I have to figure out how to remove one of the cats without her getting too upset. I think that I will give it time and see if she gets bored with them.

In the end I still have to find another Bear because she is not giving him up, any other toys is just an extra and not a replacement.

Party Time

As promised, here are some pictures of Isa at the birthday party for all the children in my amazing mom group who turned 2 during the summer. Enjoy:)

We are off to Wakefield, Quebec for the weekend and I am so looking forward to my mother-in-law's delicious cooking, lots of nice conversations and a good amount of drinking. Oh and all the nice outdoorsy stuff that we do in the country like having bonfires, swimming in lakes, sipping a nice cold beer while lying on a hammock as you watch your child run around naked as the day she was born and loving it.

So without further ado here is the great Isa. Needless to say she had a blast. She ate a ton of guacamole dip with nachos, as many strawberries as she could get her hands on, two cupcakes (hers and mine), lots of soap and who knows what else.

As soon as we arrived, Isa spotted the balloons and had to have one. She held onto the thing like it was her life line. She never let go.

There was a station set up for the kids to blow bubbles, at this time Isa did not know how to blow . In the end all she did was get completely full of soap and scream any time one of the other kids wanted to play. She is very possessive.


And she is off...see that even when she is off sailing she will not let go of her balloon.


Isa decided that her hands were not picking up enough cake so she took matters into her own mouth. By the end all the other kids where bobbing for cupcakes. It was hilarious.


And that is all...afterwards I took her home and tried to help her get down from her sugar high. Though she is used to sweet things so she does not get that hyper.

Soon it will be time for the second round of birthdays...the Fall babies are turning 2.

F.Y.I. Friday

It has been a while since I had an F.Y.I. Friday, but I came across a neat(do people say neat anymore?) website that I thought I would share with you.

It's an online store called Zig Zag Boutique, and they sell second-hand or 'gently used' clothing and accessories for women and children. I have to say that I will certainly give them a try for when I start looking for fall and winter clothing for Isa. Ever since she has started day care I have stopped buying her expensive clothing because she just destroys them. Isa is a little girl who likes to become one with the paint, markers, crayons, glue, sand, mud, water and any other sensory activity. Because of this I can't bring myself to buy her the beautiful and pricey clothing from Baby Gap, Baby Roots or Gymboree.

To be honest I have had a great experience with clothing from Zellers. I find that they can have some really nice things at really good prices. The clothing has also done well after going through the washer and drier a billion times. Sears also has good sales and some good brands, but you have to spend time going through their racks and there are days when I just don't have the time or energy to do it.

So I will take a look at what Zig Zag Boutique will have to offer me for fall. I am off now to return to reading Harry Potter, I cannot put it down, I have been reading it almost non-stop since yesterday.

12 Days Later

I can't believe that I have not posted anything for 12 days now. I have been meaning to but if it's not one thing, it's another. I have also been busy with work stuff and we have an aunt from Spain visiting.

I am finding that July, like June is just flying by. Isa is booked every Saturday this month and Sundays we always go over to my in-laws. Looks like August will be the same, before you know it Fall will be here and then the dreaded winter. But I get ahead of myself. To be honest I am looking forward to the fall because so many things will be known, mostly to do with the business. I know that this is vague but I don't really know myself, which is what is causing some sleepless nights and worries. I am just looking forward to getting some answers.

Isa, as always is doing amazing. She gets smarter by the second. She has now discovered that if she says 'please' she will get something, this means that if she wants something that she is not supposed to have she would say 'please mama please' or in Isa language 'peease mama peease'.

Tomorrow we are off to hang out with the moms at the park in the morning for a little splash fun. I doubt whether Isa will actually go into the water, she has not done so this summer. I think that she finds the water too cold, she seams to take after her Nicaraguan mama who will not swim in any water that is not luke-warm. So she will probably make me hang out with her in the park while all the other kids have fun in the pool and the moms chat and stand over them.

Hopefully it will not be almost two weeks for my next post, I have been meaning to write about all the topics that I have found important to me as a first time mom with some experience but when I sit down to it, all the words escape me. We shall see when they return. Here is to a good week:)

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Just a reminder that the voting for the Savvymom 'Mompreneur of the Year Award' is still open. I would certainly appreciate your support and your vote. To find out more about me Karla Zamora and BabyThoughts.ca you can stop by Savvymom and place a vote.

Thank you.

Still Here...barely

I see that it has been quite some time since I posted, to be honest I have not had the inclination to do it. My head has been filled with many things and some of those things have been funny, interesting blogs that I meant to get up but did not. I have also been battling some demons in the old noggin.

Today thankfully is a good day, I have gotten quite a few things accomplished which makes me feel very productive.

I don't really have one particular topic of conversation, so I will give you a run down of what BWM and the great Isa had been up to as of late. I am assuming here that you are actually interested but if you are not that's okay I understand completely.

So here it goes:

- After spending a whole week with me, Isa returned to day care. Her teacher commented on how much weight she had lost. Personally I don't see it but hey no problems. It was probably cause by me withholding almost all dairy from her life for that week as a way to stop the diarrhea.

- Being that it was so beautiful outside and that the kiddies were out for the summer holiday things were pretty quiet in the work front. Needless to say not a good thing but expected.

- We had a pretty quiet long weekend, we headed out to the Beaches on the holiday Monday with Isa to get out of our house. We usually just hang out in the village but we needed a change of scenery. All in all a good experience, Isa had a blast looking for rocks in the sand, thankfully she did not ingest that much of it as I believe she is now over sand having had enough of it at day care. The Husband and I are thinking of going back with more gear and maybe another family next time. I really enjoy the Beaches and have spent quite a great deal of time there. It used to be our hangout when we were young (pre-clubbing/drinking ages).

-This past Sunday, we had a big birthday party for all the kiddies turning 2 during the summer months in my mom group. What fun it was, I will certainly post pictures soon, I just have to find the damn cable that hooks up to the computer. Isa had a blast and I have to thank the moms who put together the party because they had so many fun things for the kids to do.
I think that a post dedicated to this day will have to be written sometime soon. Isa was hilarious and there are pictures to prove it.

That is what has been going on over here. Tomorrow we are off to a play date (weather permitting) and this Saturday we have another birthday party to attend. In fact we are actually booked for all off July, well to be more precise, Isa is booked for all of July. I am not. I guess this is what it will be like from now on:)

Tragedy Strikes...Almost. Phew.

On Friday afternoon on the way to the park Isa dropped her favourite stuffed animal 'Bear'. I did not become aware of the incident until we were on our way home from the park one hour later. You can imagine my panic. Up to this point, Isa had not become aware that Bear was missing, but I knew that she could ask for him on the way home.

I don't have to tell you how worried I was, how was I going to explain to her that Bear was gone? How would she react? Cry? Scream (the most likely thing)? Will she sleep? Can I make it to the store and get another one? These were all thoughts that were going through my head as I walked home with her.

My friends whom we had gone out to meet told me that given the neighborhood that we lived in, someone probably found him and just left him somewhere where I would see him. This was my hope. So we left the park and re-traced our steps home. Nothing. No sign of Bear.

Then as we were half way home, Isa asks for him. I tell her that bear is at home (hoping that maybe she had dropped him as I was putting her into her stroller). She does not believe me, I think that she knew that she had brought him and I was keeping him away from her.

Screaming begins...I try to explain that bear was at home and that she would see him there. Screaming. I give up and begin walking pretty fast, still re-tracing our steps. People stare, she keeps crying, saying 'Bear, please' 'mama, Bear please'. You can imagine how absolutely awful I felt, by this point I wanted to cry as well.

Then, one block from home, I saw him ...Bear. He was found, I am just so happy that I almost start crying. He was hanging out with some flowers in the little bag that Isa carries him in. I am so grateful to whomever picked him up and placed him there. I think that it was probably some mother who understood the significance of the little guy.

I picked him up, brushed him off and handed it over to Isa. I know that I probably should not have done it because I don't know whom he had been hanging out with and because she had just been crying for him and having a nice tantrum, but I did not care. I was just so happy to have found him and to give him to Isa who missed him so much.

She grabbed him, smelled him and squished him real hard. The entire way home, she kept looking at him and saying 'Bear', she would show him to me and say 'mama, Bear' all the while hugging him for dear life.

Bear means the world to Isa, he is her most favourite stuffed animal. He was there for her when she transitioned to day care and helped her during the first days with no pacifier. I have got to find myself a second Bear because if we loose him again we may not be so fortunate.

Isa and Bear

Mama needs a vacation

This week Isa had to stay home from day care because she had a mild case of diarrhea. Thankfully it is not a severe case but she is still not up to the right standards to return to day care which means we get to hang out together until Tuesday. Yay.

But I have to be honest and say that I am exhausted, I don't have to tell anyone who has a 21 month old that they are busy people who require constant and varying entertainment, who always criticize your cooking (at least mine does) and who must be exercised at least twice a day. Thankfully we were able to go and visit friends for a pool party and today we are off to the park to hang out in the splash pool. You can imagine my excitement.

Right now I am able to bring you this update thanks to Sesame Street and it's power to captivate. Every time I have to do something that I don't want her to join me in I pop in the trusted DVD and like magic she sits down and quietly watches it. Hey I take the help were I can get it, cause if not the girl would be hanging from my leg all day long.

Well it looks like it is over now and she is probably going to require feeding and hopefully a nap. I wanted to share our interesting time at the pool party but it will have to wait until she is down or maybe even for a later date.

Have a Happy Canada Day weekend!

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Are You On Facebook?

Well, like probably everyone in Toronto, I have signed up on Facebook. Not only do I have my profile but I have also created a Baby Thoughts Group The group is a place were parents can share their favourite or not so favourite resources, websites, products, companies and anything else that they may want to. Please stop by and check it out and if you are interested sign up and start a conversation.

I also wanted to send out a reminder that our June Sale at Baby Thoughts will soon come to an end. If you are searching for a great gift or for something for your little one stop by and take a look at the great selection of 0-6 month toys on sale. Remember that if you register you get an additional 10% off which you can put towards your purchase at any time.

Cheers everyone and enjoy the heat:)

This and That, That and This

This post is about some of the special things that Isa has been doing lately. I want to write them down so as not to forget, cause we all know that it happens.

- She has finally started calling me mama. When I was teaching her to call me mama, I would touch my chest and say 'mama' then touch her and say 'Isa'. But instead of calling me mama she would touch her chest and say 'mama'. Then she started to think that the shirt was called mama so she would touch my shirt and say mama and then touch her own shirt. But now she knows that I'm mama. She never had a problem with papa because I would always call out 'here is papa' and so on. Needless to say I was so happy when she finally made the connection.

- She gives people hugs and puts out her cheek to be kissed when someone asks her. Its funny because she will give you a kiss if you ask for a 'beso' which means kiss in Spanish but if you ask for a 'kiss' she will give you her cheek for you to kiss her.

- Every morning when she leaves for day care she says 'bye mama, I yo you' and reaches up to me for a kiss. This just makes me not want to let her go.

- When she goes off to day care she must have her purse, this cute little bunny thing that her aunt got her for Easter with her sippy cup in it. She must also carry her favourite stuffed toy 'bear' on her other arm.

- At school, we have been told that she loves her sensory activities, like painting and playing with goop. She loves it so much that they have to change her out of her clothes and put her into day care clothes because she bathes herself with the paint. I never know in what state I am going to find her in when I pick her up. Its just too funny.

- She has been responsible for teaching her class mates Spanish. Her favourite teacher Carrie speaks Spanish and ever since Isa joined the toddler room she likes to speak Spanish to Isa as much as possible. So the other children have learned as well and actually ask Carrie for certain things in Spanish such as 'leche' which means milk, and 'agua' which means water. The day care people just laugh at how the other children can pronounce the words so well, probably better than Isa.

- Isa's speaking and vocabulary is improving, though she still does not pronounce things correctly she is consistent with her words and many times knows both the English and Spanish word for something.

I just love this stage, we have quite a lot of fun together, though there are times when all I want is for her to take a nap so that I can have some quiet time.

The Other Mama

I think I have shared with you all how as of lately Isa and I have been joined at the hip. The girl will not leave my side and wants me to do everything for her. Well, last week at the big bar-b-q party that her day care put together I discovered the other person whom Isa clings to, Carrie, her amazing day care teacher.

The party was a lot of fun, I guess as much fun as it can be with 20 toddlers running around, all fighting for the same toys or pushing each other to go on the slide or the bouncing castle in what felt like 40 degree weather. One big plus was that I got to meet many of the other parents of the children that share the Toddler Room with Isa. We were able to chat while our kids ran around. Well at least their kids, Isa was as expected right beside me holding onto 'her' ball.

At one point, one of the children had to go inside and Carrie had to take them in. So what does Isa do? She lets go of my hand, and walks towards Carrie and the little girl and goes with them. I was in shock. She never leaves my side, not even for her father. Carrie tells me as they are walking away that she always follows her in, in fact she follows her everywhere. Ha, so I'm not the only one.

Off she went, with Carrie and I had about 15 minutes all to my self, I was smart and used the time to get some food and something to drink. But what I really wanted to do was go on the bouncy castle. Oh well.

Here are a few of the pictures that I took of Isa at her day care.