Singing in the tub

This is a video I took last night of Sasha singing in the bathtub. It makes me laugh every time I watch it, so I thought I'd share :)

Busy baby and busy parents

We had a very busy, but such a fun day today. It's been very very windy here the last few days, so we didn't get out too much, but today, we went to a music program at the library in the morning, after which my baby slept for more than 3 hours (thank you, library!) Which means she woke up too late and had to have a very short lunch. We barely made it on time to the swimming class. There Sasha enjoyed jumping off the side of the pool, actual swimming - not so much. Busy happy tired baby falls asleep so much easier! Which makes for a not too tired mama!
We've also been keeping busy planning our trip to London and Paris this June (yes, I'm aware that's just a month away - yay! - and yes, we did just come back from our last vacation, but I get to be in Paris for my birthday!) Paris is my absolute favorite city in the world, it's so beautiful and perfect (and yes, I know it's not actually perfect, but it is). We're planning to spend 4 days in London at my friend Gretchen's *flat*, then take the train to Paris and spend 6 days there. We are also planning to go to Champagne for a day, possibly Giverny. We're still working out all the details, but we're so so excited!

Oh, and here are a few pictures from our walk the other night:

Self portrait

Sasha took this lovely picture of herself this morning, it's by no means a masterpiece, but it makes me giggle when I look at it!

Feeling guilty

We woke up this morning to crazy rain. We woke up this morning at 6am. After getting up with our daughter four times in the three hours prior to that (or maybe four, it feels like a total blur). And we decided not to go on the March for Babies. The weather channel was predicting non-stop rain all day today (in fact, it's supposed to keep raining until Tuesday morning). So we decided not to go and get some rest and let Sasha get some rest.
But I feel guilty for not going. I know that we did raise some money to help March of Dimes do the wonderful things that they do for families with babies who are born prematurely. Although I know it's not a lot, we are so grateful to all all our friends who have donated to this wonderful organization. And yet I feel guilty for not going this year.

Weight loss update

I realized that I haven't updated in a while on my exercise/weight loss progress, so here it goes. I weighed myself before leaving for Mexico and I was down another 3lbs (bringing the total to 6lbs since the middle of March). Then we went on vacation, and guess where all my exercise and calorie-counting went? That's right, out the window. I am very happy to share though, that when I came back and stepped on the scale the number had only gone up by one tiny teeny little pound! So a total of 5lbs lost. And I almost finished the 30DS this time, with only 4 or 5 days left.
Now, weekends have always been pretty bad in terms of eating, because we always end up either eating out/ordering in/going to see family, so calorie-counting tends to not work quite as well. So tomorrow, I will start getting my butt back into work-out/eating healthy mode. I'm setting a goal of doing the shred at least 3 times a week, doing some other sort of workout the other days, and returning to my healthy eating habits. Here's to progress!

Our trip in pictures

I finally finished going through all the pictures, and my god, did we take a lot! There's over 300 total, plus a few absolutely hilarious videos. So as to not bore all of you with too many pictures, I'll summarize our trip with a few (if I can) and you can see the rest in my picasa album (you know, because I like to show off my pictures)

Being a total goofball on the flight

Crazy weather

 

The first three days it rained pretty hard, but whenever the rain stopped, even for just a little bit, we'd go out and walk around, the hotel was just beautiful!

 

Miss Sasha made a lot of baby friends: they either hugges, held hands, or kissed!

 

See? Making new friends, who cares if this one's metal?

 

Like mother, like daughter, eh?

Waiting for dinner at the French restaurant

 

Sasha was really tired of waiting for her crepe, so she came to hang out with mama

 

And then one morning, she refused to put shoes on. We're talking screaming and crying. So I told her she can choose whichever shoes she wanted to wear, and she picked her cold weather boots. Oh well, at least she didn't go barefoot!

 

We visited the crocodile zoo and had the best time! We met all sorts of animals and fed them. Sasha even got to feed the deer. But I will NOT hold a crocodile. Won't do it!

 

I did feed a monkey though, how cute is that little guy!? And the surprised look on my face? I discovered that monkeys have very soft palms and long fingernails!

 

Sasha and mama after swimming in the pool

Our last sunrise in Mexico

And then it was time to leave...

We are back!

.. and guess what got to bid us farewell in Mexico AND greet us in New York? Rain! We had a wonderful trip, even though the first few days there were pretty much non-stop rain and the flight back had a teeny tiny little meltdown. We swam, we played, we ate (Sasha pretty much ignored everything besides fruit and cheese and was obsessed with drinking water out of a real cup with a straw in it), we tanned, we lounged. It was glorious. And I have over 300 picture to prove it. Yes, I guess I go a little crazy... I'll share them as soon as they are uploaded and fixed up a bit, but for now I just wanted to say, we're back. And we wish we were in sunny Mexico, for just a few more days.

Happy birthday, grandpa!

This is a scheduled post, of course, since the three of us are currently tanning... uhm hiding from the sand under a beach umbrella, in Mexico. So without further ado: happy birthday, grandpa L.!! We're so happy to have you as our grandpa, dad, and father-in-law! Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating, even if your favorite little girl cannot be there. Wishing you the most happiness, love, and wonderful people surrounding you today, this year... and always. We love you!

Ready, set, go!

We're ready, the suitcases are packed. Just waiting for us to grab them and head out the door tomorrow morning. The kid is asleep, just waiting for us to wake her up tomorrow morning, give her a bottle of mil, and go. I haven't gotten to the nervous place yet, but I'm kinda waiting for it to hit me at any moment (hmm, wonder if I'll wake up in the middle of the night and start freaking out?) My husband is waiting (patiently) for tomorrow to just get here already.
I posted these on my photo blog, but they do really belong on here too: after eating her lunch, Sasha was making funny faces at me (she's covered with tomato sauce), I couldn't resist sharing.

Have a wonderful week, we'll be back next Wednesday and will certainly share everything about our vacation!

Packing, text messages, and swimming lessons

Packing with a toddler running around sucks. I put one thing into one suitcase. Sasha takes something else out of the other suitcase. I head into the next room to grab a pair of shoes to stuff into the suitcase, and she text messages her grandma. Who later calls back, and Sasha picks up. This kid makes me laugh so hard!
Today, we had our first swimming lesson of the season. Sasha pretty much clung to me when we got into water. Since we were a few minutes early (yes, you read that right, we got there on time!!), we splashed around and Sasha jumped off the pool wall into the water and warmed right up. And then, when we had to get out of the shower, she whined because she wanted to stay and play some more. But then she fell asleep in her stroller on the way home. Smushed.

All in all, a fun experience!

Well, another weekend is over...

Weekends seem to go by ridiculously fast lately. Maybe it's because we pretty much always have plans to be going somewhere or doing something, and don't have much time to just hang out. Or maybe because one of us wakes up with Sasha, letting the other one sleep a couple of extra hours and then we switch, which pretty much kills the entire morning. Anyway, another weekend is over, and we're only two days away from Mexico. And we're excited. And a little nervous. Although I do have to admit, I thought I'd be a lot more nervous at this point, but nope. I'm preoccupied with checklists of things to pack, suitcases, clean clothes ready to be put away, and finding new toys, books, and snacks for Sasha for our flights. I'm pretty sure I will lose it and freak out as we're approaching the airport, with the kiddo strapped into our trusty Ergo, still sleepy, on her mama, not yet knowing that she's about to embark on a four-hour-long flight.
As we're packing and preparing, we are starting our next session of swim lessons, which I am so thrilled about. The kiddo loves being in the water. And I love watching her get excited about flailing her arms and legs around in an attempt to demonstrate her "skills". This should get more and more fun as she's getting older and actually understands more and more.
On that note, my absolute favorite thing about her right now is when you ask her "How does a baby cry?", she tilts her head a little bit to the side and does a whimpery little "Aaah" in a very sad voice. I love it!

More sleep troubles in this house

I don't know what's wrong or what happened, but the kiddo has started waking up way way before her usual wake-up time, sometimes as early as 6am (and before you go making fun of me for being  a wimp and telling me that 6am is nothing - 6am is too early for this mama to be functioning!) Her naps are all wacky too, some days she'll sleep for 3 hours, then some days she's up after just 40 minutes. We're exhausted. We've considered going to bed at 8pm, right when Sasha does, but that idea didn't seem plausible. We've even put parental control on TV so that it would automatically turn off at 10pm, but it seems that somebody forgot to put the same control on our internet! So sleep gods, if you are reading this (and I do believe this is the correct way to communicate with sleep gods), please please send us our good sleeper back!
And please don't tell me, it's the two-year molars, I'm so not ready for that yet!

Onion painting today!

It was very hot and humid here today (and it's only April, I'm so not looking forward to July and August!), so we spent a lot of time at home hiding from the heat. I helped Sasha paint today. With an onion. We had an old (ish) onion sitting in our fridge and I figured we wouldn't use it in the next couple of days, so I went for it:

Yes, it's strange, but hey, she's having fun (and learning about colors a little bit at the same time!)

March for Babies

My husband and I are participating in the March for Babies this year again. March of Dimes is a wonderful organization that is doing amazing things for babies, especially those born prematurely and with birth defects. No parent should ever go through losing a child, ever. We're walking to change this, to give these tiny babies a better start.
Last year, my husband and I were joined by my sister and her boyfriend in our walk and countless friends and family members in donating to the March of Dimes. Please help us reach our goal this year again. Feel free to walk with us, or to donate money (see the badge on the left).
And as an added incentive, Famous Footwear is donating $5 to the March of Dimes for every pair of shoes sold (in store and online), so here's a coupon for you!

And thank you!

Many posts in one

So I realized that I seem to post in spurts, some days I'd have a few posts in just one day, then I don't post for days. Sigh. That's life with a  toddler for you. Anyone who tells you otherwise is crazy ;)
This post is pretty much a compilation of everything that needs to be said. First off, the kiddo is nineteen months old today. And guess what, I completely forgot to take her pictures today. I know I said a month ago that I probably wouldn't be doing them monthly anymore, but I honestly contemplated it this morning. And then I forgot. So I guess I wasn't meant to take the monthly pictures anymore. Anyway, back to the kiddo... she's doing great, she's learning new things every day, she's learning new words and constantly repeating what we say to her, she's easily at 40 words right now. Her favorite thing is to cuddle her "babies" and sing them songs. Her favorite toy right now is her sunglasses. She says hi and waves at everybody when we're out and about. And she's all girl: she actually enjoyed trying on new clothes (packing for vacation next week) and twirled around in frilly little dresses. She loves her shoes. She attempts to dress herself: while she puts both legs in one pant leg, she put her underwear on perfectly (ok, it took her 10 minutes and she put them on and they were inside out, but it still counts!)

Next Wednesday, we're leaving for Mexico. I'm still a tiny little bit nervous about flying with Sasha, but I've been stocking up on new toys, snacks, and books for the flight, hoping that it'll just work itself out. We also booked out European vacation for beginning on June, which we're even more excited about: I haven't been to Paris in five years, and while I'm afraid (nah, I'm pretty sure of it) that my French is less than perfect, I'm so happy to finally be going back!

And I leave you with some (some or is it more like a lot of?) photos over the last week or so:

With grandma L.

 

With grandma A.

Sharing a straw with grandpa L.

 

Sasha and auntie Anna - two stylish ladies

Showing off her moves