7 month update

I'm so in love with my little girl that sometimes I watch her in awe...she amazes me each and every day and does things that just seem well beyond her years.

She's already crawling and STANDING. I've had a talk with her about growing up too fast but she's rebelling nonetheless. Here are a few other things that she's doing that melt my heart and leave me breathless:

• When I pick her up from her crib, she rests her head in the crook of my neck, curls up in a little ball and sighs.


• She does downward facing dog randomly while crawling around the floor. Just for fun sake.


• When I say "beep beep?", she crawls over to her toy car and pushes the horn.


• After waking up and hugging it out, we walk over to the front door and look outside to check the weather. She always waves hello to the world, like "Hi world, I'm awake!".


• She gives me the stink eye when she doesn't want to eat anymore.


• She sings to me when all is quiet in the house.


• Whenever she hears someone else sing "ABCD", she stops whatever she's doing and looks concerned...like "why is that person singing mommy's song?".

And this is neither here nor there but remember Soleil Moon-Frye? aka Punky Brewster? Well, I've updated her look to this:

d day

Today is father's day and because Victor is not my father, I didn't get him anything. Well, I may have bought him a bag of pistachios and made him a coupon for a homemade pedicure (clause: no stinky feet!). I know, I'm a cheapskate.

Felicia went all out. She got him a wonderful card and gruellingly spent time addressing the card to her favourite dad in the world.


Then, she got him a really nice aftershave and a tub of candy tarantulas (yuck). Oh and while shopping, she decided to get herself something, a radio that plays mozart/chopin/bach. I questioned her on the purchase but she protested (loudly) in the store.

And so we wait to spend time with our own papas. We're going all out fat pants city and having a buffet brunch (with seafood no less!) for my father-in-law. Then chilling with my dad in Vancouver...perhaps at the father's day celebration at Granville Island. Should be buckets o' fun.

Nothing too interesting to post so I'll leave it at that. OH but I can't forget an update on the World Cup.


(With all these 4:30am games, I'm a little delirious so excuse my obsession with shirtless men...or shirtless Ronaldo's).

So it seems that there are a lot of boring games happening in this world cup. I have no idea how many games have resulted in a tie. Complete snore show. I wish soccer could be a blend between hockey and soccer. A few fights here and there might make it a little more interesting. Kind of like the Holland/Portugal game back in 2006. That was a headbutting/tumbling/cussing mess but kept me on the edge of my seat.

And so, the most interesting thing about this world cup? I found out that Cristiano Ronaldo may be...perhaps...I-just-don't-get-it...dating Kim Kardashian. Well, score one for curvy women but Kim Kardashian?

miss no manners

Lately, I've been concerned about my manners. I mean, now that I'm in charge of teaching manners to chiquita, then I have to know my shit.

In particular, I think my table manners suck. It all begins with fork and knife usage. I have forever been perplexed by the right hand/left hand knife/fork switch. I mean, I was taught to eat this way growing up but it never felt comfortable to me. I eat with the fork in the right hand and knife in the left hand for the entire meal. I remember my dad saying to me "what if you're invited to eat with the Queen one day?". And I thought "phhhhhhhhhht" (hand fart) to that. And according to Wikipedia, the British don't do the switch (yet they eat with the fork in the left and knife in the right for their entire meal!).

Is it me or does the switch seem like a waste of time? I like to eat my meal with no interruptions and a utensil switch just seems completely unneccessary. Yet, I've never encountered anyone that agrees with me. And I try. I really do. When we go to fancy restaurants, I awkwardly do the switch...always feeling like a fake.

Next to the annoying utensil switch is the elbow rule. No elbows on the table...yet forearms are ok. How the heck can you have a relaxed conversation with someone at the dinner table with your forearms on the table? Maybe it's my long and heavy monkey arms that make this uncomfortable but seriously, forearms?

I guess these are minor etiquette infractions and probably go unnoticed but I'm just wondering if there is anyone out there who pay attention to these types of things?

boot obsessed

Some would say that I'm a boot fanatic. I have all types of boots: long ones, short ones, high ones, flat ones, slipper boots, black boots, brown boots, blue boots, grey boots. The list goes on. Now, do you think it's wrong to impart my obsession on the little chachita? I hope not because I just bought these ridiculously cute boots for her:


Gretel Boots by JoyFolie

And these:


Mona Boots by JoyFolie

And I plan on ordering this crazy chic ruffled jacket:


Blthe Ruffled Jacket by JoyFolie

She'll be the best dressed kitten on the block!

baby reunion

After over 7 months, we reunited with our pre-natal class friends to show off our babies. And it was a serious cute-a-palooza.



Felicia was the oldest out of the group. After spending a half hour with the other kids, she decided that she didn't particularly like it when one of the babes would loudly yell "wasssssup!" (or what sounded like it). The "wassup" baby was a super cute banana, at 21 lbs. and just 5 days younger than Feli, he was a solid kid who was pretty vocal. Chubby babies sure are cute.

Aria, Feli's good friend was also there and they were equally annoyed by the constant "wassup". Instead, they preferred to hang out on the floor together after taking the party "back to my place":


It's pretty evident that Feli is already pretty choosy in the company she keeps. Too loud? Forget you. Share toys (meaning: dirty old cup) with me? Love you.

And so, the reunion day (June 6th) was the first day that monkey started waving "hi" to people. I had been practicing with her for a few days and she finally decided to try it out on people at the reunion. I was beaming.

Here she is practicing the wave:



Oh and just one more mom thing -- she is now saying "Mama". She first said it two weeks ago, while my mom tried to feed her and she protested, lifted her arms up and looked directly at me and said "mama!". And now she can't get enough of it. I think my heart skips a beat every time she says it. Which is all day...I wonder how I get anything done around here?

crazytown

For those of you who don't know me in real life, my older brother is institutionalized. Yes, like in the crazy house. Yeah, it's sad and whatever, but my family has been living with it for over 15 years now so it's kind of just eh. Life happens, we deal with it.

Today was visiting day. And I have to say, it's always good times. I went up to the fourth floor and thank gawd, did not have to share the elevator with anyone. I was able to walk right into his ward without having to be buzzed in which was a pleasant surprise. Once in, I was able to spot him from a mile away. Backpack on, talking on the phone. More than likely calling me to make sure I was coming. When he saw me, he walked over and said "it looks like you're wearing a wig"...I had flat ironed my hair which he doesn't ever approve of. Then, as usual, he had a list of things for me to buy for him. A burger, chips, socks. He didn't want me to stay and told me to leave, in fact. I left with my list in hand and a promise to return next week not empty handed. Funny...he never beats around the bush and always says what he thinks.

As I left the ward, a lady walked up to me and said "nice jacket". And then as I walked out to my car, a guy sitting out on the lawn surrounded by fellow patients on a smoke pass, yelled out "Hey....you're good lookin'!". I couldn't help but smile. I laughed out loud actually. Imagine having no filter, no barrier to what you're thinking. Nothing stopping you from blurting out your thoughts. Imagine that this is exactly the difference between the mentally ill and the rest of us. I'm fully aware that there's much more to it than that but on the surface, it seems as though honesty is an indication of insanity. Wow...can I get any deeper than that?

I can. I avoid taking my brother out places because of his candor. He will tell you you're fat, too skinny, ugly, have bad hair. He'll tell you to leave if he thinks the conversation is boring. He's even been known to shout out racial slurs. It's hard to handle, this extreme honesty. Even I can't take it because in the world that I live in, honesty has its place. In his world, it's the only thing he knows. And I wonder where it came from? We were born of the same mother, raised by the same two parents with the same values and morals. We both went to peace marches as children, holding signs up written by our parents saying "US get out of Central America" or "social justice for the masses". We were both taught to say "please" and "thank you" and to use the right fork and knife. And now all of this is lost on him. He's in a world of his own where the barrier from brain to tongue is non-existent.

Yet, it's funny. Not the racial slurs ofcourse...but the outrageous things he says. He may frustrate me to no end, but when he pulls on my hair and says "take that wig off", I laugh. And when he blurts out "are you gay?" to Victor, I laugh. I just wonder how Felicia will handle him. Will she be better at dealing with him in the outside world? Will she find his ridiculous comments as funny as I do? I hope so. Because even though unintentional, he's a closet comedian. And he's my brother. And in typical brother/sister fashion, I love him and I hate him all at once.

we are the children

Once upon a time, I did a school project on BP oil. In front of my class, teaming with fellow left-leaning compadres, I represented the oil giant in a debate. I spent hours researching their environmental policy and their lobby for drilling and pumping oil through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I even wore a hard hat for that "log it, mine it, pave it" effect.

As I read through company propaganda, I began to convert a little. A smidge. I thought "these guys may not be so bad". I guess in true essence of debate, I really started to believe my argument. Millions poured into protecting the environment, research backing their claims of drilling and pumping safely, bla bla bla di bla. I sang the corporate song of "we are the world, we are the children". I thought, we are an oil based world...better a company aware of their effect, and a devotion to cleaning up their act than the alternative. I was fully aware of biased research, of "all talk and no action". Yet, I still marvelled at the fact that they had such an air tight policy and company values that valued preservation and conservation.

And now this, a blunder, a catastrophy. And now it's all gone to pot. A cast iron pot. A skillet in fact. Yet, I sit here and hope. I hope that all those years invested in developing their enviro policy and all those environmental geniuses hired by the company can fix this. Tragic...the marine death. The ripple effect. And I hope it doesn't get any worse. For our sake, for their sake:


I know, I'm fully aware of the gratuitous image insert...but don't they look concerned for this good green earth in this pic? I thought so too.

more festivities, vaccinations and baby weight

Here I sit eating M&M's, reflecting...it's Victor's 31st birthday today and he's asleep on the couch at 9:41pm. And I'm this close to crashing but have to finish watching RHOC (a re-run, how pathetic). We didn't even have wine with dinner.

We woke up to breakfast in bed, made by my sister-in-law Michelle, and delivered by V's brother Manuel. We then spent some time chillaxin' with Felicia then went for sushi. Then decided to get even fatter and went to Samba's for dinner. And now I'm eating M&M's...overdoing it? Maybe but I'm celebrating. Celebrating my husband's 31st year of being around.

I'm also reflecting on the little bean machine. Today was Felicia's third round of vaccinations and rather than cry, she smiled a ton, flirted with everyone in the waiting room, laughed really hysterically at this goth family with long hair and trenchcoats (to which they in turn laughed), and just generally was an awesome kid. She has such a funky personality, it makes me beam with pride.

Oh and we're still waiting for teeth, see grandma gums:


We found out that she's on the small side compared to babies her age...she's not growing as fast as she should be apparently. She's only 15 lbs...which means nothing to someone not in baby land...but it's like 7 - 10th percentile kind of small. Weird though because she eats like a maniac...tonight at Samba's, she had a guacamole and bean fiesta. I know it's got to be attributed to all the rolling around and general antics she gets into throughout the day. So no need to worry -- she's got it all in the bag and will be growing at a good pace. I mean 15 lbs, that's a good weight for bicep curls hey?