Our 2011 has been very interesting, we barely have had the chance to stop and rest:  many changes, many adventures, many journeys!

We have gone from living in Guachalá to finishing our own house and moving into it.

We sold the Rodeo to help pay for the house and bought a more ecofriendly car, the Spark.

At school, we started our second year, opened a toddler classroom thinking of little ones like Alegria, and got our functioning permit.

Ana Martina started her second year of the 3-6 Montessori Children’s House program and Alegria is now in the 1-3 Children’s Community program.

Rafa jump-started his Cayambe Libre and is now giving computer and internet classes.

I have made an effort to sew more, do some more art, I started the sketch book, and have been reading as much as possible.

Now we are getting closer to a new year.  In the end of things, this “New Year” thing is all symbolic, but I still like to think that it gives us a chance to improve things, grow  and explore more, challenge ourselves more, love all things, and more than anything continue enjoying this journey we call life.

gracias, pupa (upa, or lift me up), caamba (caramba), Rafa, ñaña (sister or Ana Martina), pipi, Mitaka (tia Gaby’s and Cristobal’s dog), ufff (when she poops), Agueda (her grandma and her cousin), Aby (Gaby), paca (alpaca), Alegia (Alegria), ayayay, wowwoww (any animal with four legs), mira (look), toma (take it), nene (breastmilk), no

Alegria’s old words:

mama, mami, papi, grrrr (Simba or our cat), hola, agua (her MOST favorite word of ALL times)

The building of our house is coming along and it is so exciting to see it start to take shape and form.  Our dream of having our own home is becoming a reality!

Alegria has become best friends with Mr. Simba, the kitty cat.  It is hilarious to see them playing together.  Somehow Simba knows to be extremely gentle with her even though she loves to grab his ears and tail.  I love listening to Alegria talk to Simba in her very own “cat” language.  She “grrrrssss, grrrrrssss, grrrrrsss’s” at him and he responds!  Ana Martina has also started to become more and more friendly with Mr. Simba and loves to hug him whenever she can.  Whenever we call him, he hears the following:

Me: Simba, kitty, kitty, kitty

Ana Martina: Simba, kee, kee, kee e

Alegria: Grrrr, grrr, grrrr

And he just runs towards us excited to see us.  Lately he has decided that he prefers spending time inside our house and he keeps Rafa company while he works.  Simba has surely earned a place in our little family’s heart.

Alegria and Ana Martina have started playing more and more together.  They enjoy each other’s company and are always looking out for each other.  If Alegria wakes up first, she tries to wake up her sister so that they can play together.  She also misses Ana Martina greatly when Ana Martina is in school.  One of her first words is “ñaña” (sister) and uses it all the time.

Rafa and I decided it was time to dust and get our bicycles out, buy a new baby bicycle seat in order to have two, and go for rides like we used to.  It has been four years since I stopped riding.  Mostly because of pregnancies and little babies, but now Alegria is over a year old and she can ride in a seat.  We are excited to start using our bicycles again to go on little adventures.

Now that we are building the house, we have also been planting trees all over what will be our backyard.  We have decided to concentrate on planting species that are from the area.  It has been fun and Ana Martina loves to help out in the planting and watering of the trees.  While we are doing that, Alegria loves to play with pebbles, dirt, and leaves.

Wild Cherry Tree

Sitting in our future front door step

Happy!

Riding around Guachala

Playing with flowers in Grandma Connie's garden

Beautiful Ana Martina

Love!

Best friends!

Playing with their babies

Still loves her Sultan!

My favorite!

The Guests

Julieta, Agueda, Alegria, Martín, Luca y Fufi, Gabriel, Oscar, Angelina, Julien, Elias, Noah, y Tadeo

The Games

The Sand Box and the Ball

Big Legos

The Book

The Trees

The Jungle Gym

The Doll House

The Food

La comida de la fiesta: chulpi, tostado, mandarinas, chochos, salchichitas, y queso

Ya en la tarde, unos ricos tacos para los adultos!

and Finally, the Cake!!!

“Chocolate with Pink!”

Blowing out her candles!

Thank you to all who came, for donating books for Ana Martina’s school in honor of her birthday, and for having so much fun!

I love…

• when Alegria pops from hiding behind something and exclaims loud and clear: “hola!”
• Alegria saying “hola” to any stranger and non stranger that she sees
• Ana Martina’s good night kisses every night: one on my chin, one on my neck, one on each cheek, one on my nose, one on my forehead, and our nosey-nose (nose kisses)
• Alegria’s open mouth kisses to Ana Martina
• Alegria’ s huge smile when she sees Ana Martina when she just wakes up each morning and Ana Martina’s shy and quiet smile in return
• Ana Martina running up and down the hallway and jumping off anything she can,  just ’cause
• Alegria going from one room to another, climbing and going down stairs, exploring on her own
• Ana Martina’s constant chatter and inventive singing
• Alegria’ s barking when she sees any and all types of animals
• Sewing when ever I have a chance
• Planting trees and plants on our little piece of land on the weekends, and going back throughout the week to water them
• Having geese and wild ducks in our little lake, a run-away chicken with chicks, two cats, and two dogs
• Ana Martina’s sense of order: organizing toys according to color, stacking, aligning
• Alegria’s wide and excited smile when she sees me, and her needy “mama!”
• Ana Martina saying “preciosa mamá”
• Ana Martina sharing her pillow with her daddy, and wanting to be read every single night, at least two books if not more
• Alegria eating all on her own, using a spoon and fingers!
• Making my own yogurt, corn and blueberry pancakes, lemon and orange muffins, and mixed berry jam
• Hanging laundry outside using wooden cloth pins
• Rafa supporting me and helping me all he can when ever he can
• Alegria spending hours taking things out of boxes and tins, and putting them back in only to start the process again and again
• Alegria and Ana Martina playing together in the bathtub during bath time

Your third birthday is coming up and we are so excited to celebrate it with you.  This is going to be a different birthday for you, because this time you know what is going on.  Tomorrow we are celebrating your  3rd birthday with a cake party.  Your birthday is not for another week, but daddy Rafas is going to be away and we want to be all together for your special day. All you have wanted for months now was for it to be your birthday so that could have your very own cake and candles.  For the last two months, every time I baked a cake or we celebrated someone else’s birthday, you wanted to know when yours was going to be and why it was not happening yet.  About a month ago you started telling me that you wanted your birthday cake to be chocolate with pink (“de chocolate con rosado”).  Tomorrow, your most awaited wish will become true!  Today you helped me and watched me bake your chocolate birthday cupcakes.  You then watched me make the pink frosting and when I asked you if you like the pink, you said yes.  Then as I decorated each cupcake, you snuck and ate quite a bit of that frosting.  After dinner you wanted to go to bed fast, I bet it was because you knew that once you wake up it is going to be your party day!

Your cupcakes are decorated, your are asleep, and here I am typing this because I want to remember how you are now, and because I am so excited too!

Happy 3rd birthday my big little one!

The birthday girl!

A week ago, on October 27, she finally figured out that she could do it!

We were walking down the long hallway in Guachala, I was barely holding her elbows, when I decided to not hold her anymore and see what would happen.   Alegria continued to walk and when she realized she was doing it on her own, instead of sitting and crawling, she started laughing!  Ana Martina and I cheered her on, while Rafa video taped her.  Alegria’s excitement was so ovbious and contagious.

For the next three days, she would walk whenever we were around, but if there was a stranger in the room or if she was in a strange place, she would crawl again.

However, as her confidence in herself has grown, as she practices more and more, as she figures out how to balance herself on uneven ground and misteps, and as she falls less, we have noticed that walking is becoming more of her preference and she crawls less and less.

A week later, she has figured out how to just stand up and walk from where ever she is sitting (whether she has something to hold on to or not in order to stand up), how to walk and carry and object, and she is walking faster and faster.

I love watching her walk just for the joy of walking. To her, walking right now is a game she has figured out how to play!

]]> http://familia.bonifaz.ec/2010/11/06/alegria-finally-let-go-and-walked/feed/ 0 http://familia.bonifaz.ec/2010/10/09/alegria-is-1/ http://familia.bonifaz.ec/2010/10/09/alegria-is-1/#comments Sat, 09 Oct 2010 14:53:37 +0000 admin http://familia.bonifaz.ec/?p=475 One year ago, Alegria was born. And so much has happened since then.  Alegria has grown by leaps and bounds, and changed too.

From being held, to laying down, then seating on her own, and then standing.  Now she has started to walk and climb.  One week ago, Alegria surprised us by taking two steps unassisted.  She was standing holding on the side of the coffee table, and she turned to reach me, and without realizing she took two steps to where my chair was without holding on to anything!  Since that day until today, she has continued to take a step here, two steps there, even three steps on occasion.   Most times we think she does not even know she is not holding on to anything.  However, with every passing day she gets more confident with herself and you can see how much she enjoys doing it because of the big smile on her face.  She specially loves to walk holding on to Ana Martina’s hand, and whenever we are walking holding hands, she looks for Ana Martina and reaches for her so that they can hold hands.

She is also perfecting climbing.  She climbs stairs at top-notch speed, and even climbs onto the coffee table with only the strength of her arms.   She is turning out to be a climber like her sister.  She learned how to climb stairs by crawling up.  Now that she is getting better, she has discovered that new things can be reached if she also climbs plastic tubs, small chairs and step stools, and of course, the coffee table.  A couple of days ago she discovered that a whole new world existed when she climbed high enough and found my sewing table.

While she plays, she loves to imitate Ana Martina and her games, she loves to play with Ana Martina’s favorite stuffed toy (a dog), and a small baby doll, with cups and plates, with wooden blocks, and pieces of cloth.  She tries to put on clothes, though she can’t just yet.

She loves the cats and is amazed by the horses and baby chicks.  Our crazy dogs still overwhelm her, though she loves barking with them.

She still nurses all day, and eats almost everything (including rocks, dirt, and leaves).  She has learned to drink from a cup and a glass, and more importantly, to eat with a spoon.

She is sleeping longer every night and takes two naps most days.

Her favorite word is “agua,” though she has not forgotten about “hola,” and says “mama” very clearly when she wants me.  She loves to sing herself to sleep, and often tries to sing when she likes a song and dances in her seat.  She has not forgotten how to gurgle (a sound I absolutely love).

We love her kisses, they are different, but special.  They are also wet!  She has yet to figure out how to pucker her lips and prefers to just open her mouth wide and give a big wet smooch.

She loves to be tickled and we love her uncontrollable laughter.

And the funniest thing is that she learns with her tongue.  She sticks it out when she is concentrating, when she feels the wind, and the rain, when she is contemplating the outside, and when she is playing.

More pictures of our little Alegria, enjoying life!

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