Grandma's Here!

I think Arabella recognized her after seeing her on Skype so often! I try to show Bella pictures of all of my close friends and family as often as possible, as well. I guess it helps, because she was all smiles. Their first reunion was joy-filled - tears, hugs, kisses - the whole nine yards. Arabella was still groggy from her vaccines earlier that week, so her mommy was extremely proud of her for waiting so patiently at the airport and being the ideal little baby that everyone wants to meet. She was cute and sweet and giving Grandma big huge smiles. “See how great she is, Mom??!!” I bragged. Ten minutes later, when we put her in her car seat, she started screaming and didn't stop the entire ride home. "Nice to meet ya, Gramma!"

My mom and I have been working on numerous organizational projects around the house since she's been here. We have gone out to buy some shelving and storage boxes, and other random miracle makers that make life a breeze. We've hit some roadblocks, though. Every time we start a project, we end up running into some unforeseen detour. The shelves don't fit right, the tiles are too scary for us to drill holes in, and we bought a refrigerator that is too big. Oops! I guess it's time to think creatively! Bella helps us keep our cool. Every time we get frustrated, we just have to stop and take a little break and make her smile. Baby smiles could work well in therapy sessions. They are the purest high.


Making Bella smile is pretty easy to do now. Her favorite thing to do is play "Roly-Poly Naked Time". I was explaining this to Alex over the phone (I make up dopey names for all these games and when I tell Alex, he gets really confused). I said, "I put her on the floor when she's naked and then I roll her around on a blanket." He said "who?"





I didn’t feel the question warranted a response.

Geminis Like to Party!

Alex threw me a "surprise" birthday party last Saturday. I use quotations when I say "surprise" because Alex has a difficult time hiding anything from me. This is a great quality most of the time, especially when we play poker, so I don't complain that I can see through his excuses to make secret squirrel phone calls and side conversations when he thinks I'm not paying attention. It's adorable, more than anything. And I love it that he's so thoughtful. I love it that he even goes to the trouble to do something special for me on my big day.


This year we went to El Palmar, home of Paella, and enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch with some of our friends and our cute little garbanzo bean. She is definitely Spanish. She understands l0ng lunches, and doesn't fuss. She'll sit in her stroller and stare for a while and interact with everyone, then she's quite content to be passed around a bit. I can't believe how lucky we are to have such a laid-back baby! (I knock on wood every time I say this)

After lunch we went on a little walk and ended the day with drinks at the Bohemian. I nursed a beer for about three hours so I could nurse her later, and actually ended up feeling a bit buzzed so "had to" make myself a mocha milkshake. It was sublime!


I loved my birthday. I love my husband and daughter and my friends and family who made it special by calling and sending emails to wish me a happy birthday! Thanks everyone!

"Vaccines?? Maybe Some Other Day, Mom."

Last weekend we celebrated Paquita's 57th birthday along with Arabella's two month birthday. I can't believe she's already TWO months old! I know it doesn't seem very old, but I just keep thinking about how quickly the past ten years have gone by, and I want to hold on to every single minute of life with our daughter. Naturally, I find myself excited for all of the new experiences she'll have and all the brand new achievements I'll want to brag about (she now smiles up a storm when you take off her diaper and pushes herself backward as if she's trench-crawling, but on her back. Obviously she's a gifted exhibitionist!). At the same time, though, I feel like I'm on a vacation that I want to last forever, but the days just keep zipping by.

Anyway, along with a white chocolate and strawberry cheesecake I made to celebrate the birthdays, two months comes with a very unpleasant present: 2 month vaccines. Poor kid. And this isn't just one quick shot. There are like SEVEN of them! So, we made sure we were prepared (more for ourselves than for her).

Tuesday morning we got Arabella all ready to go. I gave her a pep talk and told her that we could do anything she wanted afterward (as if this is different than any other day). When we got to the health clinic, though, I felt her head and it seemed hot to me (this is also an on-going occurrence. I ALWAYS think she feels warm). Now, being a new mother, I constantly feel like I'm between over-reacting about every little cough, sneeze or strange noise that she makes, and not acting fast enough when she's seriously ill. Am I paranoid or negligent? Such a dilemma. I decided to act on the side of precaution because I know that it can be dangerous to give vaccines with a fever, and told one of the pediatricians about my concern. Of course she acted as if I was just another over-protective mother. "No creo que tenga fiebre, eh" (I don't think she has a fever), she said with a look of exasperation, but they gave me a thermometer to check, "just in case". I babbled on about how they probably know better than me, but that I'm a new mom and that I'm a bit over-cautious about fevers... blah blah blah... more self-depreciating nonsense... And what do you know? She had a low-grade fever. Both of the pediatricians thought it was nothing. Glad I went with my instinct.

We took Arabella to her pediatrician and all checked out just fine. She thinks she has a virus. She should be better within the next few days. Honestly, Bella seems fine to me - a bit more crying than usual, but oddly enough, she hasn't had a fever since that morning in the clinic. Alex thinks Arabella may very well have a super power that would be the envy of all school kids - the ability to raise her body temperature on demand.

You see? Parents brag. "Oh, you'll never guess what Arabella can do..."