Super 88. Yum.

One of the highlights of our trip: dinner at Super 88 with Auntie Sarah, Uncle Dave and Cousin Lilah. Why oh why can't you get decent Chinese food in Spain? Still wondering, given the significant Chinese ex-pat community in Madrid. Super 88 not only has Chinese food, but Korean and Vietnamese...and maybe more, too. I like the supermarket, but we didn't get a chance to go in this time. Aurora and Lilah shared their love of noodles, and all of us in our love of good eats. Can't forget dessert: tapioca bubble shakes (mine was blueberry smoothie with "mega" bubbles).

Home again.

Catnaps on the Isenberg couch are hard to beat.

Our trip to the States was tinged with some of the tough stuff: death, fear, sadness -- and while it wasn't the trip I had hoped for, it's hard to dwell too long on anything when the stuff of life is happening so intensely to you with your, ahem, toddler.

How will we ever be able to thank wise Emily enough for dragging us to the Cape?

You forget about death, for example, when your toddler throws up during dinner on the plane ride back. The tough stuff you fear gives way to worries about the death-wish looks that your nearby passengers are giving you, and the discomfort of dampness and smelliness that you know you are fortunate enough to be able to remedy in a matter of about six or seven more hours.

Aurora lost her Abuelita, her father's mother, while we were away. Lucy Bulliet, a fantastic friend of the family, died in early March and our trip made me wrinkle with sadness about not having been able to say goodbye or introduce her to another smart, witty woman who changed my life (Aurora). The rest, well...there is more, and maybe we'll mention some of it in a later post.

This video is lovingly dedicated to my sister, Aurora's "Auntie Sarah."

And I can't help but include a YouTube gem yet another wise woman sent me a while back: Priscilla put a smile on my face and some groove in somewhere when she sent me this.
 
Let contagious toddler giggles and dance parties get us through all of this and the stuff to come.
 
 

Day before first haircut of her life. Not sure if *I* want to go through with it! It's taken so long to grow this much, and this long in the back. It's still very, very fine (baby hair-like). Her dad's was this color (lighter than his now) but super curly when he was her age (17 months), and mine was just like hers but blond. Apparently mine also had a cute little curl tendency at the ends like hers does -- my mom used to twirl my pigtails with her finger and they'd stay in ringlets all day! Anyway, seems Aurora is a combo, at least in the hair department.

Any thoughts on baby hair, first haircuts and/or sentimentalisms?

Carnaval and FIRST STEPS!

Kids in Spain go to daycare and elementary school with costumes to celebrate Carnaval. (On a side note, it seems like kids here are always going dressed up for some occasion or other -- this from my still-somewhat-an-outsider point of view!) Aurora's daycare center announced a party for Carnaval, costumes optional. We didn't have a lot of time or energy to invest in the whole thing this week, but I rummaged up a sort of costume for her...I couldn't bear to pass up the occasion to dress her up as something and see if she thought it was fun. She did.

And this afternoon, after a long day of partying and downing a reported two hot dogs (plus veggie puré and yogurt for dessert) at daycare, Aurora took her first step forward. Twice. It's official. (Run for your life!)

Good Times

Hope you're all having a good time, too!

Avocados

Aurora is 14 months old, as of two days ago. I've had in mind for quite a while that I should post a list of her favorite foods. Here's one: avocado. She'll eat half an avocado for dinner, and would probably eat more if I let her. Last night she also dined on (after the half an avocado, I mean): cured cheese, ham and fresh clementines.

 I would like some more of that splendid specimen of avocado, please.

Other favorite dinner items include green peas, clementines, ham, whole-wheat pasta and, in general, anything we might be eating. On Sunday at a restaurant with Leo, Cristal, Leo Jr. and Natalia, Aurora downed her first shrimp (battered and fried) and her first anchovy (smoked and on a tiny piece of mayo-laden bread).

 

Avocado brand peek-a-boo. 

Aurora now says three words: "Papa," "Momma," and "hola". They first appeared in that order. Everything else is still in a language we do not yet understand. Ah! She also occasionally nods. This happened for the first time last week. Until then and since sometime in July she would only shake her head.

It's so good I can't stand it.  

After avocado-ing, we had bathtime. Bathtime seemed like terrible torture until around Aurora was about 3 or 4 months old. Now it's a veritable and nightly fest.

Enough for now. We anxiously await your comments.

Unhappy holidays.

This will not be our holiday photo for this year.