Thanksgiving - so much to be grateful for

I was feeling pretty tired after working on a last-minute 8 page translation that I received from one of our clients. It was harder because Angelina now knows that if mommy is not wearing her phone headset, it means she's not working, so it's perfect timing to be asking mommy to come play. So yes, it was a lot more challenging than it used to be to work.

She's been talking up a storm, too. She knows words that I have no idea she knows and surprised me. Today she wanted to color, I had put my hair up and held it with a pen. She told me she wanted to color and I had forgotten that I had a pen on my hair. So I told her "honey, I don't know where there's a pen" she answered "up there mommy, in your hair, haves that pleaz? So I said "sure" she took the pen out of my hair and said "tinti" (that means thank you) and sat down to color. I couldn't deny her the pen, how could I when she had been smart enough to notice it in my hair?" So she sat and drew circles and triangles and bananas, her 3 favorite things to doodle on the special paper she uses (paper with butterflies and flowers."

I have SO much to be grateful for, I have a little girl who is intelligent and sweet, a husband that loves me and a job that I enjoy and that I get to do from home. I'm blessed for sure, really, really blessed.

The power of persuasion of a 2 year old

We were out running errands when Angelina said she had to go to the bathroom. We stopped at a local store and asked the lady if we could use her bathroom. She looked at me and said "well, you can change her here if you'd like..." I explained that AJ is already potty-trained... to which Angelina looked at her with a very serious look on her face and said: "I GOTTA GO POOPY!" The lady let us use her bathroom. :)

Ah... the power of persuasion of a 2 year old :)

Developing her creativity

Joseph and I are very creative people, I love oil painting, photography, music, and I play a little guitar. Joseph doesn't play an instrument but he's also very creative specially when it comes to photography and writing. We love going on little photography field trips and Angelina goes with us. So we bought her a very inexpensive little camera. She still does not know quite how it works but she loves it. She took a ton of pictures of her book, accidentally but it's still very cool. I think as she gets older she'll get the hang of it. In the time being, she loves holding the camera up to her face and saying "smile!"

I'm amazed at the amount of words she knows. She points at things and identifies them. The other day we were at a restaurant and they had a drawing of a castle on the wall. She pointed at it and said "look, mommy! Castle!"

On the way back home the day before yesterday I was singing "BINGO" which seems to be her favorite song. Since Joseph was quiet she suddenly said "come on Daddy! Song woof-woof!" So Joseph joined in. Music is one of her favorite things for sure. I know she's too young for dance lessons but I'm sure I'll be enrolling her into some type of music or dance class when she's old enough.

working from home with a little one

I work from home and my toddler stays with me, in fact many of my friends work from home and have their children with them. It's harder than people assume it is. I love it when people say to me "oh, lucky you! You get to stay home with your child," although this statement is true, people underestimate how difficult it is at times to manage a toddler, and in my case the phones since I'm a telephone interpreter. There are times when AJ needs me and I'm unable to give her my undivided attention. I know it will depend on your child but here are a few links of websites and activities that may help if you're in my shoes:

Angelina likes to come up to me, climb on my chair and wrap her arms around my neck from behind. I let her, I mute my phone (I have a headset that allows me to do that) and I whisper, "honey shhh... be real quiet, ok? Mommy is on the phone" For the most part it works. I recommend never teaching your child that if he or she needs you that it's not ok for them to come to you.

Now in regards to activities for your little ones while you work, here are a few:

www.crayola.com has some great activities and discounts if you sign up online and purchase items online (I'm always looking to save money)

There are also several websites now that work like "Netflix for toys" and they are not expensive. http://www.babyplays.com/
What I love about this business is that it was started by a mom.

Since I am always searching for activities for Angelina, I will be posting them here so I can share them with other moms.

Oh Crap!

This seems to be AJ's latest word to say. The first time I heard her, I giggled and she sent me on a time-out.

Yesterday it was such an amazing day for her. Our dear neighbor gave her a wooden rocking horse that he repaired for her, sanded down and left in perfect condition for her. She loves her horse and says "weeee! Woohoo!" when she rides it.

Then daddy carved a pumpkin which I'm not sure she enjoyed much, we turned off the lights of the apartment and light the pumpkin. Angelina let out an "ah!" we turned the lights on, showed her it was just a pumpkin and turned the lights off again, she let another little "ah!" and said "lights please!" so we turned on the lights.At this point, I'm not so sure celebrating Halloween this year will be such a good idea, with all the scary costumes out there, having her fearful and traumatized once a year is just not my cup of tea.

When we got home last night, I took her to the bathroom and noticed she had put some coins in her blouse (probably trying to do what daddy and I do of saving coins in our pants or clothes). The coins fell to the ground and she said "oh no! Oh Crap!" I couldn't help myself! I was laughing so hard my belly ached (thanks to our tough pilates class). Oh I just love her! Her use of words is just brilliant!

Doctor appointment

Now that we're new in town, we were looking for a good doctor for her. One was recommended to us and I took her there yesterday. The doctor was very impressed with AJ, she kept telling me how smart she was and how much she talked. She also said how "mature she is for her age." The doctor was very impressed with how much self-confidence she has. It must have something to do with the fact that we don't spank her.

Angelina at two

Yesterday I took Angelina to the park and we met a lady and her 8 month old baby. It was her first, so she asked "how are the terrible twos?" I said, well, I haven't really had to deal with bad terrible twos, because I have been very blessed." I do think that I have been blessed, but I also think that I am an unconventional parent... both Joseph and I are... I mean, what parent would dare drop to the floor and imitate their child in the middle of a temper tantrum in a public place? Well... I did and it worked, to the point that she looked at me, laughed and never did it again.

I have never spanked her but I do give her short time outs, I send her to her room and tell her "you're on a time-out" she'll cry but will say "I'm sorry", I will hug her at the end of her time-out and things go back to normal. Her time-outs last only 2 minutes, one minute for each year of age. Well, she sent me on a time-out because I giggled, when she said "Oh Crap!" an expression I never use, and that her daddy uses all the time.

Today I was on the line interpreting for someone who kept calling her 2 year old "stupid." If it weren't because I risk my job, I would have said something about it, but as Joseph pointed out "It would have not made a difference," and he's right, it wouldn't have... but it doesn't stop me from realizing that Angelina is such a great child because she will never be called stupid or made felt inferior because of a comment made by one of her parents, and for that I am thankful.

It's been a while!

A busy life has kept me away from blogging. Since December of last year, we've moved three times and are now living in a beautiful little community north of Santa Barbara. I always dreamt about living here and kept thinking 'someday, somehow.' In March due to a series of events, we had a blessing in disguise which led us to say "heck, why not?" We picked up our few belongings, and moved here where rent is cheaper, the environment is cleaner, there is wildlife, wineries and NO traffic.

Another change also, is that now that I live here, Joseph has been really busy with work and AJ is at home with me. Finding activities to keep her little mind and hands busy, has been easier than I thought. At this age, anything engages her, from a large pad of paper with crayons to these wonderful crayons we found at Target called Color Wonder from Crayola, these crayons have been my absolute favorite, the ink is white and only works on special paper. I now found out as well that Crayola has a great website where you can print color sheets and get some ideas for activities for the little ones. http://www.crayola.com.

Angelina's vocabulary is expanding. She now is able to put sentences together and amazes Joseph and I with words and sentences we have NO idea she knew. She broke something the other day by accident and brought it to Joseph and said: "Daddy I'm sorry, can you fix it?"

Parenting has been amazing. I don't think we ever imagined how fun it would be to have a daughter. Everything is a new adventure and one that we are enjoying every minute of.