A New Bedroom

Some people prepare a nursery before their kid arrives. We were too busy preparing a bedroom for Maman and Papa. Then a bathroom, and a kitchen, and new foundation, roof, plumbing....


Fortunately Angelina is patient (besides, the longer it took us the longer she got to sleep in OUR room). At almost 3 years old, Angelina finally has a bedroom.

The Helper

No pictures again, because I was too busy working, but oh how I wish I had a camera handy!

Last weekend we laid sod or rather, I laid sod with some help...

In any case, Angelina couldn't stop herself from helping. She has her own wheelbarrow, rake, and shovel. But of course she wants to use the adult version. We did manage to convince her to use her own tools (she'd get frustrated with the big ones). I can't even begin to explain how cute it was to see her filling her wheelbarrow with dirt, dumping it, and raking it out. She was very happy to be part of the process!

Trying out her new airplane seat

Strange child.

She's always hated car seats. As an infant would scream getting into one, all the way while riding, and until she got out. As a toddler, she's accepted her fate but generally isn't much better. Then she learned to unlatch it, usually at 65MPH on I-37.

Unless it's a new car seat not actually installed in the car.
She's been sitting in this seat since it arrived on Thursday.


After fussing with her other car seat on our last airplane trip (it's narrow, but is not possible to wheel onto the plane, so carrying the seat + backpack + wild 2.5 yr old...well....), we decided to buy this folding car seat. It IS great, it folds up and can be easily carried with a strap, backpack style. I still have to carry it, but at least it's maneuverable. Well, except it's also damned heavy. We'll see next month how great it really is, but everyone who has one raves about it. I hope so, as it wasn't cheap. That said, we have yet to actually pay for a car seat since all ours have been hand me downs from Switzerland (in excellent condition)...

Oh, and she MUST have the belt latched, even though she's sitting on the floor in the house. Go figure. She'll probably refuse to latch it in the car.

"Mommy, I want to see Lucian!"

She is such a girl....

Late today, she ripped off her top and insisted on putting on a dress. Not just any dress, but her frilly frouncy Christmas dress.

Once she put it on, the first thing she said was "I want to see
Lucian". Lucian is our friend Gloria's 2 yr old son with whom Angelina occasionally plays. I'm hoping she just associates this dress with one time she played with him, rather than that she got all dressed up because she wants to see a boy.....it's too soon for that.

(of course, about 30 minutes later she also said she wanted to go see Melody, whom she saw the same day she saw Lucian, so maybe it is just the dress associations)

Why I love Lavaca, Part LXIV

Ok, not technically in my neighborhood, but given that it's a hop skip, and jump from home, that people park in my neighborhood to attend, and half my block were participants[1], it's close enough. Last night San Antonio got Lit Luminaria, a festival of art and light.

This is our second go at it, and it was great! I confess I almost didn't go. We all fell asleep for late naps, and when we woke up, I just wasn't in the mood. But Fredo was and so was Angelina, so I decided to join along. I'm glad I did. Since we didn't venture out til past 8:30, we missed a lot of the early performances, but we still had a great show. Angelina LOVED it all.

I loved seeing the symphony perform. We used to go to see them at the Majestic, but it's been awhile. It was a neat environment to see them, sort of "music for the masses" - kids running around, people wandering in and out, but many many people sitting listening, and the musicians looked to be having fun too. And of course, all the other art: visual, performance, literary....very impressive to know we're surrounded by such talent.

That said, I liked last year better. Yes, they tripled the number of artists, but much of the paint/sculpture/installations were in the Convention Center. Probably a good idea given the threat of rain, but the relative quiet of Houston and Broadway was a little disappointing compared to last year, when every type of art imaginable was packed into little alley ways and main streets. You'd turn a corner and feel like you encountered another surprise world. The Convention Center became a gallery, which detracted a bit from the street show which makes it unique. Still, it was amazing. I liked the use of HemisFair Park for film, and the better dispersement of musicians. I loved the light shows everywhere.

Kudos to my adopted city for the enlightened thinking which created this event. And thanks to Mother Nature the cold and rain went away just in time.

[1] I don't have an ounce of artistic blood in me, so I hang around the cool kids and hope I can be artistic by association :)

My Silly Girl

"She misses you. You should go home to her."

Ouch. Plunge a knife into my heart.

I had to go away on Sunday to Del Rio for work. Again. I've been having to go to this border town A. Lot. Far too much.

I try to keep my trips to no more than 2 nights, 1 if I can manage, though this one is 3 nights (and really I should stay 5 but won't).

She doesn't like me leaving, which is funny because when I'm home she only wants Papa. "Mommy, I need Papa" is what I hear every day.

So, tonight, my second night away from her, I'm sitting outside a presentation (I've heard it before, but I have to be here to answer questions), and call Angelina since it's her time. I tell her all sorts of sweet things, talk about missing her, when I'll be home, etc (she asks for me, she also asks for my colleague JJ...so I'm not sure it's just me she misses).

Anyway, all along there's a little girl, maybe 8 yrs old, playing nearby (we were giving the presentation at a school, parents inside, lots of kids playing outside).

After I hung up, the little girl says to me: "She misses you. You should go home."

I say "I have to stay here to work a few more days."

She says "But she misses you."

Ouch, ouch, double ouch!

Ready to Fly!

She must be taking after her GrandMaman Gisele and Papa. She loves being in the cockpit!


Last month of MLK day, we joined Lucian and his Mommy Gloria for a morning at the Kids' Museum. It was a gorgeous day so we rode the bike over, one of the great things about living downtown. Though I was feeling like crud due to allergies from hell which still won't go away, Angelina had a blast playing with the cool stuff and with Lucian. She loves playing with Lucian! We need to do it more. More photos here.