Que Bella

Late Spring Bliss

Since Isabella was about 4 months old she has LOVED to have a sheet, towel, or any type of fabric tickling her face. As you can see, she hasn't changed much.

These photos were taken this weekend. We had a great Memorial Day and spent the time mostly outside - filled up the kiddie pool and Pedro and Isabella got to swim in the warm weather. Our fun was punctuated by Isabella's bouts with diarrhea. Over the last few days it has gotten worse and the poor thing was a mess a few nights ago. I took her to the doctor yesterday and got a prescription for some electrolyte syrup and she seems to be recovering. But other than that one grizzly night, she has been been acting totally normal and happy throughout.

I'm in the process of getting a new camera as my current one is slowly going kaput. I'm hoping to trade up from my KodakEasyShare point-and-shoot to some sort of fancy Nikon SLR - so when that happens, stay tuned for better shots!

Washington D.C.

at the Museum of Natural History - a place where hordes of children run free and happy

Jefferson Memorial - she loves wide open marbled spaces

taken as the wind carried her buggy down the steps,
to the horror of onlookers who thought a baby was inside

being a good girl at the mall

running around the Smithsonian

We're home from DC, and I have to say that the trip was worth the hassle. Armed with canisters of WetOnes and sanitizing gel to disinfect every surface possible, we boarded the flight to DC and landed back in the US over 8 hours later. The flight was uneventful if you don't count the chaos of the first hour. Isabella's disposable diaper leaked horribly on my lap (her cloth diapers have never been so unpredictable as that) and she and I got to spend the rest of the flight covered in pee because I didn't have extra clothes in my carry-on (she had extra tops, of course, but I forgot the pants - classic!) . Almost immediately afterward, Pedro spilled his coke on himself. Isabella wasn't a happy camper that first hour, but once it was over, she was fine for the rest of the flight. The return flight home was okay too, but next time I will seriously consider getting her a seat of her own because she's a very big girl to hold in a prone sleeping position for 6 hours.

While in DC we stayed at a nice hotel with a pool. The hotel was directly connected to a mall. After living in the UK for three years, I start to forget the magnitude of American malls. How ever do you cope with so much choice? Other than shopping, we swam, we toured the Smithsonian, visited some excellent monuments, and ate the gamut of culinary cuisine from Lebanese to Japanese. This week I'm putting us back on a reasonable diet of normal calorie intake. An interesting an unexpected result of having a jet lagged baby is that Isabella is sleeping more than ever - she slept for a record 14 hours yesterday and 13 last night, plus she's still having two naps. I'm hoping it sticks through the long weekend! More photos to follow in the sidebar.

Happy Mother's Day

The day started at about 6:30a.m. when Isabella rose to holler at the morning. The sun was already bright in the sky and Pedro brought her to our bed where she stayed until she could no longer resist the call to play. I got to spend two more glorious hours sleeping in (it's hard to remember the day when sleeping in till 9a.m. wasn't a thing to be happy about). From there, Pedro cooked me breakfast (a Spanish bocadillo with great coffee), he mowed the lawn, and he cleaned the kitchen. We had lunch at the King's Arms pub in Polebrook, then we visited some of our friends who live near that village. It was a really nice, relaxing day. I love being a mom.



I hope all of the wonderful mom's in our life had as good a mother's day as me. Happy Mother's Day to you all. XOXO

(new photos have been added to the album on the left - just click on the image to get a slideshow)


.

May Madness

Isabella is almost 15 months now (next week). The list of things she is learning to do is getting ever longer. We are about to make a short trip to Washington D.C. to accompany Pedro on a 5-day business trip (we all have tickets, but the swine flu is making us reconsider...). Anyway, Pedro was remarking on how this is going to be her first trip as a really conscious little person who can communicate beyond a cry and can physically do more that sit unaided. It’s going to be interesting.

Today, Isabella spent the morning whining and driving Pedro crazy as he attempted to entertain her before work, while letting me get a few more minutes of sleep. When I ended up putting her down for a nap earlier than usual, she immediately fell asleep on my shoulder while I sang (it has been a while since she has done this). Then, as I was leaving the room, she woke up one more time to pucker her lips and demand a kiss, “Mmmmm!” Speaking of kisses, her latest passion is the butterfly kiss and she has been known to unexpectedly mash her lips into my eye. She is such a cuddly, affectionate, arm rubbing, leg hugging little bitty!

The weather in England has gotten absolutely beautiful. I got my organic veggie box today and it looked so pretty I thought I would include it in this post, since I don’t have any new photos of Isabella. I'm thinking rhubarb crisp tonight. I'm looking forward to summer more than ever!