Summer smiles

    Summers are busy for us. The days are long, the weather is gorgeous and all we want to do is have fun, all day every day. When both us work full time, it gets hard not too be greedy and want more fun than what we can have during weekends. This adult life and its responsibilities...
    On a good note, Catalina is growing at a pace way faster than I could imagine. She wants to dance, count, climb (yes...climb!!!) she is never tired. And more loving than ever. To try to keep up with her spirits we try to have fun activities as often as possible. We kept planning on visiting an arboretum, but between the long drives in our town and some heat waves, we delayed a little too much. When we finally went we were delighted. Nicely groomed grounds, smiling people, a swan pond, a tree house and giant (wood) bugs are a safe recipe for a great afternoon with kids. Our friends and their son joined us and Catalina has a good protective friend with her.

To escape the paparazzi, our fashionista gets helps from her bodyguard :)

Not too long ago, Catalina would not go near any child. She looked cautiously at them, sometimes smiles, but very rarely she interacted with them. She loved her new friend, and the fact that he was very willing to help her climb up and down the trees. She walked, ran and giggled and put smiles on our faces.

The tree house was not such a big hit with the kids, as it was with the adults. Nonetheless, good healthy fun :)

Catalina has her mommy's repulsion towards insects, bugs, moths, butterflies and pretty much everything else that has too many legs or wings (birds and airplanes excepted). She did like the giant wooden bugs however and posed for us every time we asked her. Cute as ever, she even makes the bugs look good :)

Catalina met her frog prince and we believe she had a very long list of requirements before she kisses him. Since the frog had a heart made of stone, none of the requirements were met and the frog did not become a prince (yet).

To continue our summer adventures we finally made the trip to the beach. Perfect timing this season, as the water was marvelously warm and clean. We found some years back a nice beach with shallow water and we kept hoping that Catalina will be courageous enough to waddle in ankle deep water. This year, our dreams finally came true :)

Faithful to her old friend, Catalina shared her toys and some more smiles :)

The trip to the beach was amazing and we hope to repeat it soon. Nothing like baking under the sun with nothing else to do. The sweetest thing however happened when a fly stopped on my leg. I tried to shoo it away, but the fly liked the sunscreen I guess and did not move. Immediately, my scared of flyes little girl take a piece of paper and waves it around my legs yelling "shoo, shoo! Go away fly, go away from my mommy!"  My worries are over, my princess in shinning armor is here to protect me and all my smiles.

Since the weekend comes only once a week, but there are so many other days, we try to sneak in some outdoor fun as often as possible. Since most of the really fun places are long distances away, we either go in the backyard or a small playground that Catalina loves and does not allow pets (hence no dog poop or cow size dogs off the leash). Our very unadventurous princess usually tries the baby slide few times, and then pretends to drive one of the wooden cars.

Can you please see the difference between the two photos?

One month ago                                                                           One week ago


I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, a 3 year old kid on a swing. But for us, OMG!!! Catalina wanted to try it all by herself, and I was pushing her and she was laughing and my heart was getting bigger than the sun. Fly high, sunshine!
To continue her adventures, Catalina wanted to try all the slides and climbing structures in the playground. We were speechless.

Few months back, Catalina took gymnastic classes. She liked part of the lessons, but she HATED the part when she had to hang by the tall bar. She could not hold the bar, she lacked the strength to hold her tiny body. Look at this little monkey now!

One happy summer so far. We're leaving soon for a week in Rhode Island and we hope for more fun adventures. Till the, we keep our smiles on :)

My companion

After a very nice start, summer in Philly turned rainy. It rained every day for more than a week. But when 4th of July came, the sun shone and gave us a great holiday. Daddy had to work, so mommy and Catalina enjoyed some amazing days together.

Some time back, I was telling a friend how I never expected motherhood to be so nice and rewarding. She has a daughter of herself, and she told me: If you think it's nice now, wait until she grows up a little and she looks at you like you are God, she admires everything you do, she thinks you are the smartest and most beautiful thing on earth. I smiled at that time, not knowing how true she was.

Catalina is growing and yes, she thinks her mommy is the greatest. Can you imagine how happy this makes her mommy?

And since daddy had to work, mommy and Catalina planed many great activities together. Morning of July 4, on a humid heat, the two best friends went to walk in a neighborhood parade. All dressed blue, red and white, I had the cutest patriot with me!

Even before the parade started, Catalina's shoes messed up with her feet and she decided she does not need them. Mommy was a little worried, expecting she'll have to carry her cute american girl all the way through the parade. No chance! Once the parade started moving, Catalina waved her flag and walked proud, happy, and barefoot for half a mile!

We ended the parade at daycare, having juice and pretzels with old friends. It was an amazing way to end a very hot morning.

And what is 4th of July without fireworks! We drove to a high school near by and we had a nice time resting and enjoying (finally!) a pleasant, not too hot evening.

The party continued for mommy and little girl. Next day was Friday and mommy did not take Catalina to daycare, but instead, they went together to mommy's work. As usual, Catalina loved it there. Since daddy was still not home, we decided the best idea was to have a lunch date. It was amazing!
Catalina is the best date a mommy can have. She smiled, ate and told me stories. Never a dull moment with this girl!

We ended the day with some play around the house. Again, me and my friend enjoyed some special moments playing in dirt :)

 When daddy finally came home, he inflated the pool and it was fun time all over again!

Sunday was the only day we had for the whole family. I missed having Catalina all to myself, but it was high time I share her with her daddy. We went to a nice pool outside town and Catalina had a blast! Usually scared of water, my little mermaid did not want to leave.

We were all tired at the end of the day. But so so happy. I don't think most people truly realize how amazing kids are, until they have them in their house, smiling, screaming, drawing on the walls. So many times we all hear about all the sacrifices made for kids, how life changes and you don't have time for yourself. But so very few times we actually hear that those sacrifices are not really sacrifices, are just moments of intense fun, of smiles and laughs that blow up your face. As for myself, I always needed a companion. Growing up I always followed my mom and my sister, always in need to share time and space with somebody.

Now, I have the best companion I ever dreamt of. Funny, sweet, beautiful, loving, naughty and extremely stubborn. I don't need time for myself and somehow I never have to make sacrifices. Yes, we scream at each other, we play, we cry, we scream some more. But at the end of the day, there is no frown on my face that was brought by my sweet Catalina. There is no regret and no sacrifice. Just pure happiness.