Our First Haircut

Today was Buggy’s first haircut. I have been totally putting this off for so long. I love the little curls that she has in the back and just wasn’t ready to touch one single hair on her head.  But alas, the time has arrived.  Actually, it was just that I got sick and tired of watching Buggy constantly push the hair out of her eyes.  My little girl is not a girlie girl and hates anything in her hair or on her head and would always rip out the barrettes. After explaining to her that the barrettes help keep the hair out of her eyes she finally left them alone but it was too late.  The day had arrived. 

Buggy was not a happy camper.  She just would not let my hairdresser touch her so the only way we were able to trim her hair was to nurse her.  The pictures below are before, during and after. 

    

Buggy's BFF

I thought this was just so cute.  Before daddy left on his trip he brought home a big yellow smiley balloon for Buggy.  Like all or most toddlers Buggy loves balloons and gets excited every time she sees one.  Well for three days Buggy's bff was that balloon.  She would not let go of that balloon while she was in the house.  She even took a tubby with it. When she fell asleep I had to pry her little fingers open so I can put her down. It was the cutest thing.  The first thing she looked for when she woke up was that balloon.  It certainly made daddy feel better knowing that his little girl would not let go of the balloon he gave her before he left.  

My Butterfly Girl

Yesterday my girlfriend and I took our girls to The Butterfly Place.  The girls had a  good time. They loved seeing all the different butterflies and exotic birds. The birds were absolutely beautiful and the colors on them were amazing - so bright and beautiful. I am very bug phobic and did not like to see the cocoons and all the other critters that were hatching so I skipped that part - umm eeeuuuwww!

The weather was perfect and we were able to have a picnic outside. The girls loved it.  We had such a great day. 

My Hot Dog Has A First Name...

It's O S C A R - you know the song.  Buggy is quite the picky eater as I'm sure many toddlers are.  But she is really, really a picky one. Every day is a struggle to figure out what I'm going to feed this kid.  When she was a baby she refused to eat Stage 3 foods. She would not eat anything with chunks in it so we stuck with stages 1 & 2 and that worked for her. We are still dealing with  that today.  She loves chicken nuggets but won't eat chicken.

Every time I give her something new to try she picks it up and puts it to the side.  I know it takes about 10 or so tries before they will eat something new so we are still trying. These days she is into hot dogs - all it took was one time. I generally wouldn't feed them to her but  they are now made with no fillers and especially no by-products so they are healthier than they used to be. Even I started picking at hers when she's not looking - LOL! I am also trying to get Buggy to eat more veggies.  I must admit that I still feed her baby food but its generally when I don't cook and really stuck on what to give her. But at least she is getting her veggies.  I'm still nursing her so I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it.

Do any of you have picky toddlers?  Feel free to post some of their favorite foods in the comment section. Hopefully I can get some more ideas from you guys.

Another Sleepless Night In New Hampshire

Finally fast asleep

Last night was another tough night for us. Tasha was up coughing every few hours and of course Buggy woke up - she generally sleeps through all the hacking though. Although all the dogs sleep in the room with us she is the only one allowed on the bed - she's my first born fur-baby so she's allowed - LOL!

Earlier this week we had to up her medication at night because of the coughing and just added cough syrup 2-3 times a day. Her worse moments are when it is hot out. Since she has a Collapsed Trachea this prevents her from breathing normally so that means we have to keep the house cool for her.

Tasha also has Cushions Disease and Bladder Cancer but she is doing well. This past February I was told that she had 3-6 months left. That was 6 months ago and she is still fighting - we both are. With great food and holistic care she is doing great.  So all you doggy lovers out there, please say a special prayer for my Tasha - we would both appreciate it.

My New Fur Baby

Well OK, this one I can't actually keep. We have been in our house now 10 years come October. My dogs have always known that we have a special friend living under our shed as they are constantly sniffing and checking out the hole near the door. Over the past years we have seen him poke his head out but that is about it.

So last weekend I was standing in my driveway talking to my cousin and all of a sudden our little critter friend strolls out from under the car.  I totally freaked quietly - in a good way. I wanted to grab it and cuddle it - ain't he cute?  I don't know why after all these years he's now venturing out - or perhaps this is the first time I'm actually seeing him but since then I've been seeing him frequently.  Of course just never when I have my camera on hand - until today. It was all I could do not to squeal and set my dogs off.

Isn't he just the cutest thing?  This is the only pic I was able to get but my cousin got a really great shot of him - just waiting for him to get off his ass and send it to me.   We have conservation in our back yard and have so many critters running around.  I love it - except for the snakes! One of my boxers always takes them on - oy!

So what do you think we should call this fella?

Fun In The Sun

Buggy and I were just hanging out this weekend having some fun.  The weather was beautiful so we took some pics around the yard.  

Hanging with Allie

Aaaah so refreshing

Big Sis Tasha

Where are the keys Mami?

Diggin my ride

Kid Tested, Dog Approved

Cookie Taste Test

I found this picture that I took of Buggy when she was 14 months old.  What a cutie little peanut - really can't believe how fast kids grow.

It was one of those days where you are trying to get this done and you have this little person as your third leg making it impossible to do anything at all.  With so many toys and dogs around Buggy's favorite entertainment with me. Now most babies would be happy to open cabinet doors and draws and starting pulling crap out but not Buggy. I was the one that would open the cabinets and empty all the shit out so that maybe, just maybe she would find something that would entertain her for a few minutes anyway.  Even now I'm pulling shit out of the cabinets and she could really care less.

Make some noise I say, pretend your in a band and test out all the instruments. No dice mice - not happening with this little one.  So when she saw me give the dogs a cookie that peaked her interest. Really, that's all it took. So here she is entertaining herself with dog biscuits - hey whatever works right.  I did let her try it to see if she liked it. It was hilarious. She decided that she will play with them but she'll let the dogs eat them.

To this day she loves giving the dogs treats and that cabinet is still her favorite.

No Sleep For Mami

Yup, this is how I spent last night. For those of you who's little ones are sleeping through the night - I bow down to you.  At 19 months I am still waiting for Buggy to do this.  I don't know what was going with her. I even put her down a little bit earlier last night.  All was going well and Mami was going to relax a bit - or so I thought.  The first rounds of Mama Mama Mama started at 1:00 AM. Buggy finally goes back down, Mami goes back to sleep.

And then...

You got it, Tasha starts hacking. Along with bladder cancer and Cushions Disease my little fur baby also has a collapsed trachea.  Check out her profile - My Fur Babies. For some reason it seems to act up more at night. We have to keep her cool but even with the ceiling fan on and the AC it seemed like it was just going to be one of those nights.  So this was my night. My kid and dog tagged teamed me.  When Buggy would finally fall back asleep and Mami would start hugging her pillow again Tasha would start. All fricken night they would alternate, seriously!  I kept thinking of that book by Adam Mansback - Go The F*ck To Sleep. Not a book you want to read to your kids but it is pretty funny. I think many parents can certainly relate. 

So this morning as hubby heads out for golf he says, rough night last night huh, she was up for what - an hour?  He was lucky I was too tired to grab one of his clubs and hit him over the head with it.  He'll sleep through anything even when I put the monitor right near his head and crank up the volume while Buggy is screaming.

Time for more coffee.

Raising My Daughter In A Multilingual Home

Buggy

Wikepedia defines a Multilingual person as someone who can communicate in more than one language, be it (through speaking, writing or signing) or passively (through listening, reading or perceiving). Yup, that's my little Buggy.   

At just 19 months Buggy can already understand and speak Spanish, some Portuguese and some Chinese words - thanks to Nickelodeon's Ni-Hao Kai-Lan, which is the only cartoon she watches.  She also signs which is how she generally communicates.  At her age she does not have a lot of words in her vocabulary but she does understand everything you say to her either in English or Spanish and she will respond by shaking her head yes or no or by showing you what she wants.  Buggy is very vocal but most of it is toddler talk.  She speaks her own language. 

As a Latina growing up in a bilingual home, it is important for me to teach my daughter my native language, after all, she is half Latina. My parents came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico when they were in their 20's. They wanted more for us and raising their children bilingual was important to them but learning the English language was at the top of their list. My sisters and I did not attend any bilingual classes in school because we were to focus on learning English and getting a great education. I remember my parents speaking Spanish to us and we always responded in English unless they didn't understand what we were trying to say then we would speak Spanglish - half English half Spanish. They worked just as hard to learn English as well.  Aside from family and the Puerto Rican community they also had many many American friends who would help them if needed.  One of the ways daddy learned English was from watching TV.

But as much as my Mami wanted us to learn English and the American way, she always made sure that we kept up with our Spanish. I remember as a young girl writing a letter in Spanish to my Abuelita (Grandmother) in Puerto Rico and having Mami look it over before I mailed it.  Mami made sure that aside from speaking Spanish we were able to read it and write it as well.  Unfortunately my parents are no longer around but I continue to practice my Spanish with my relatives here and in Puerto Rico.  I am thankful that my Mami made sure that we kept up with our Spanish.  I hope that as Buggy gets older she will continue to speak Spanish and if and when she has children, it will be something she teaches them as well.  It is unfortunate that my older sister does not teach her two boys Spanish. Mainly because she is married to an idiot and he doesn't want them learning Spanish - what a shame.  My younger sister speaks both English and Spanish to her boys and surrounds themselves with friends and family that speaks both languages.

My husband is Portuguese and although he doesn't speak it to Buggy his parents do and that's because they refuse to learn English even though they have been in this country for over 40 years.  They know enough to get by but not truly enough -anyway, that's a topic for another blog.

The benefits of teaching your child multiple languages - incredible!   So tell me, are you teaching your child/children your native language?

My Little Tubby Pooper

Who would have thunk that pooping in your bath water would be so much fun. For two days Buggy kept pooping in the tub.  The first time was totally unexpected. I can usually tell when she is going to poo and will take her out and try and put her on the potty or quickly bathe her and take her out.  The second day well I admit that was totally my fault but I swear I checked her but before I put her in the tub.

Buggy loves to take a tubby. As a newborn the nurse gave her a bath on her second day of entering our lives and she just laid there and totally chilled.  I was totally amazed especially since I always thought that babies hated to take baths and pretty much screamed bloody murder the whole time. Not my Buggs. She totally loved it.  She was the easiest baby to bathe and never even then poo'd in the tub.  Fast forward 19 months - we now have poo baths.  I must say that it doesn't happen a lot but often enough.

I guess if I had not been busy checking Twitter on my phone I would have noticed Buggy playing with a new toy in her tubby.  It wasn't until I looked up and she kept saying Mama Mama Mama and hands me something brown and in my proud Mami voice say what a good girl she is sharing her toys with Mami.  At first I didn't realize what It was then my reaction was "oh shit", no pun intended,  threw my phone down and pulled her out. Had to wash the tub and disinfect the toys again.  

The whole time I'm telling her no potty in the tubby and she is waving her finger back and forth saying no as if agreeing with me. Yea she totally gets it and silly Mami gets it too - watch Buggy instead of checking Twitter.

My Happy Mami Moment

   

My Flowers from Buggy

I just have to say again how much I love being a Mami.  My daughter is now 19 months and just amazes me every single day.  I don't know if it's because I have waited so long and went through so much become a mother but I have never ever thought hmm not liking it today.

Yesterday Buggy was playing on her swing with daddy and picked some flowers from our yard for me.  I was inside doing some cleaning and I see this little one coming up the stairs with my beautiful flowers and a big smile on her face when she saw me.  She was so excited when daddy said "let's go bring Mami some flowers" and grabbed his hand and started running to come inside.  Buggy have me the biggest hug and kiss.  These are the things that make me so happy and I cherish most.

Being a mom is amazing!