Snow...

After a snowy Halloween, we longed for snow for quite a while. No white Christmas, no white New Years. I was starting to lose hope, when all of the sudden Friday night we started seeing nice flying flakes. By morning we had a white carpet, frozen and not quite play friendly, but snow none the less.
Last year Catalina was terrified by snow. The second (and I mean second!) we tried to put her down in snow she started screaming. We were hopeful when in the morning we asked her if she wants to go outside to play in snow. She kept saying it's winter and cold and she needs gloves, but yes, she wants to go. So we bundled her up, we took gloves, our camera and off we went to get our noses and cheeks red by cold. Catalina decided to touch the snow, she kept saying it's cold (dah!!).

She got bored easily and she wanted inside, but I decided to carry her while Marius was taking pictures.  We ventured a little to far, her cheeks froze and she started crying and crying and crying. So we hurried back inside. We decided afterwords that we should wait for nice soft snow, the kind you can make snowmen out of, so maybe she can enjoy it better. So we stayed the rest of the weekend mostly in.
Sounds boring? Not to us or to Catalina! She is getting really good at using mommy's ipad. Here she is actually teaching daddy how to play

At the end of the lesson, daddy paid with strawberry ice cream, banana and chocolate syrup. Oh yeah, not a bad weekend at all!

Why life is perfect

     These days life flows so beautifully, I wonder if it can be real. Catalina gets cuter and smarter by day. She wants to be mommy's little princess, then she she goes to her boyish side and surprises us with the funniest games.
   She decided she is old enough to drive, so every night when she comes back from daycare, after daddy parks the car, she wants to take the driver's seat (a.k.a tata scaun) to see how it feels. She asks for the keys, for the music to be turned on, then she is good for 10-15 minutes touching every single button, trying to steer the wheel and just talking to herself. Many times mommy needed to come outside from the house to convince her it's time for dinner.

   Evenings are awesome. She wants to play, she talks and talks and then talks some more. She likes to play with play dough and to draw. She loves the colors. And the flowers :)

 
Once in a while, she gets in touch with the princess inside and acts all girly. Like last night  she realized that the nail polish she had on her toe nails from Silvia chipped off. She wanted fresh one immediately. Not only that, mommy needed to be girlish too. Are't these feet just amazing?

Also, on the girlish side, look what I convinced Catalina to wear in her hair this morning! I do have my own little doll to dress :)

But my favorite part of the day is the morning. The two of us wake up late, hug and kiss and talk about daddy. Then we start getting dressed. Catalina decided that the only clothes that are worth wearing are the ones with pockets. So every morning we search for clothes with pockets. She goes then all around the house, walking with her hands in the pockets.

When we go out, I put her jacket on. First thing she does is to check if she has pockets, then she puts her hands in there. Only then is she ready to go.

Breakfast is a very sweet time for both of us. Mommy has coffee and Catalina keeps on asking for everything she can name: waffles, goldfish, nuca (walnuts), ceai (tea), cereals. She barely touches anything, but she lets me know she knows what a good breakfast should be. None the less, we have beautiful, deep conversations over coffee. Can you imagine that I will have this for years and years to come? How can I think anything else, but that life is pure bliss?

Have a good day everyone!

My independent little fighter

       As with each new year, a lot of hopes and dreams pile up in my head. 2012 did not have the most glamorous start for us. After a nice trip to Nebraska we came home with a tired little girl who got majorly sick few days after. I don't know what kind of bugs are around these days, but boy, did they get Catalina. Fever and aches, crying and crying, at night vomiting and washing of the sheets.
      But, this blog is about sunshine and happiness, so let's concentrate on the good part of it. I got to stay home 2 days with my little angel. Between Tylenol and Advil we did get some amazing time together, hugs and smiles and kisses (full of germs, yes). Cati is a fighter and she won't be slowed down! She talks and talks and talks. She's proud she knows all the colors and she names everything she sees around: look momma, yellow, wipe (a.k.a white) flower. She is cute and smart and oh my goodness, loving beyond imagination.
      Here we come to the part where she is independent. One of the world biggest lies is told to parents who decide to co-sleep: "if you get the kid in your bed, you'll never be able to take her out". Marius and I both shared our bed when we were little, he with his parents, I with my sister. None of us could imagine how you can leave a small helpless baby in a room by him/herself. We knew our baby will be close to us. When I was breastfeeding Catalina this was a heavenly idea, I did not have to wake up, just turn on my side and she got what she needed. So I was never tired when she was a baby. Tip for the tired moms of infants: get the baby in the same room/bed with you, and you can sleep as well as before the baby. Stop the non sense rules, have a bed big enough, don't crowd it with pillows, blankets or too many kids...and get your infant in the same bed. Everyone will be happy.
     Anyhow, Catalina was in a co-sleeper attached to our bed until she was 7 months and she started being able to climb the sides of the co-sleeper. Then we took her right in the middle of our bed, to keep us warm and happy. She slept beautifully with us, cuddled, kissed us, hugged us. And no, she did not disturb our married life a bit. If anything, she brought Marius and I closer, as we were so happy she belongs to both of us.
     Lately, she decided that all the bed should be hers, she slept with her head on my shoulders and her feet on Marius. For a while we tried to ignore it, but it was hard to ignore her kicking at 2 am. So we decided to get a toddler bed for her. No big deal, as we were sure she'll hate it and never want to sleep there. After all, this is what everybody told us, we'll never be able to get her out of our bed. Our next solution was to get a king bed for all three of us.Well, Serta and Tempur-pedic, you'll not have us as customers soon. Our little girl loves her new little bed. Even the nights she had fever, she was throwing up and she was hurting, she wanted to go in her little Elmo bed. Here is my little independent cutie, laying on the pillows bunica made for her.

She talks to Elmo before she goes to sleep every night, she has a cute ritual that involves moving the pillows 20+ times, climbing in our bed just to go back one minute later, talking to her bed, playing with her new favorite bedtime toy, a ladybug nightlight.

Sleep tight my little one, mommy and daddy are right next to you, just in case you decide to come back in our bed. We miss the hugs and kisses and well, also the kicking :)

A new year of love and happiness

We started 2012, people make all sorts of resolutions. Do I want to get in better physical shape? Obviously, but I won't make a promise I cannot keep. Instead, I will be a coward and choose something very easy. I will try with all my heart to be happy, to spread love and happiness. I know I will receive ten times more from my loved one.
Have a happy new year, filled with joy and love. Mine already is:)