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.

Fruit Eating.

Two teeth

Aurora is six months and one week old, and last week her first two teeth came in! They've been a long time coming (heavy salivating started at around three months), but arrived just in time for her six month birthday. It's pretty much impossible to see them in photos, so you'll have to take our word for it, or catch her smiling in person to get a glimpse.

Many of you have seen our super baby carriage, which we consider the Porsche of babymobiles. We got it second hand from a nice family in Malasaña, my old neighborhood in Madrid. It's great for long walks around the city, for having next to the table at a restaurant or outdoor café, etc. -- Aurora's up high where she can check out all the action at the table.

It's not great, however, for lugging up the two flights of stairs to the shed outside Aurora's daycare center every morning. So after my usual in-depth market study including best-online-price search, we acquired a Smart for Aurora: a Silver Cross Fizz. At 5.3 kilos, it's a whole lot easier to get up those stairs and into the shed. (The Stokke weighs near 13 kg, if I'm not mistaken....)

The Fizz certainly doesn't have the ride that the Stokke has. The worst part, however, is getting used to not being able to see Aurora's face while you're pushing her. Up until now we'd been using a front carrier to carry her to and from daycare, and it's especially good for conversations. ("I need you to eat your veggies today, okay?") Alas, we're becoming experts in the pros and cons of baby gadgets and gear.

We sure have lots to tell since the last post, but the rest will have to wait. Hopefully I'll get the next one done before two more teeth come in.