One last post

I thought I shouldn't let 2015 come to an end without a single word from me on the blogosphere. ;)

Technically I have been on vacation since the 22nd, but I feel as though I've been working more than ever!  Thankfully, these holidays have so far been the busiest in the history of our business and so Angelines has been working over time which means I am usually on my own with Emily for most of the day and it also means my mother-in-law and I have been spending much more time cleaning at the bar than usual.  Don't get me wrong, I am by no means complaining; but the truth is that I have had precious little time to sit and blog.

Christmas was a blur, honestly.  I anticipate conflict in our future as Emily gets more aware of the holiday and would prefer to spend Christmas morning opening presents and playing with toys as opposed to cleaning at the bar...  We had a nice dinner at our house with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law's family Christmas eve.  Emily was too tired almost even to wait for her mom to arrive from the bar (Angelines always opens in the afternoon, then closes for dinner and opens again in the wee hours).  She ended up going to sleep around 10ish and was getting quite cranky toward the end.  We'll see how she fairs tonight.

We pushed her nap back as far as we could in hopes that she'll be more awake and fun at dinner this evening, which will of course go until 12am when we eat our 12 grapes to usher in the New Year.  We'll eat with all of my in-laws over at my sister-in-law's house; she has borrowed a baby camera so if I need to put Emily down upstairs we can keep an eye on her as we continue our merry-making.

...Anyway, Christmas, as I was saying was a blur of great food (too much, as always) and lots of sweeping and mopping at the bar.  Emily was pretty cute when she saw her presents under the tree from Santa Claus, however.  She actually did notice that they were new. :)  She got three new books and a toy xilophone--which has since had to be returned because it was so out of tune I thought I'd ruin her chances at a musical career from the get-go.  We've ordered a new one. But you can see she enjoyed it while she had it. ;)  Santa brought Angelines a footstool and me a much needed new pair of jammies.  It was a merry Christmas, indeed.

And now the new year is upon us.  2016...doesn't that sound futuristic?  I feel as though I say that now with each new year, but it does just sound a bit daunting to my ears.  To give twenty fifteen a proper send off, my parents flew into Málaga yesterday.  We are so happy to have them--especially Emily.

I was very interested to see how she would react to them since she does "know" them from Skype and of course we spent nearly a month together this past summer on our visit to the U.S., but I wasn't sure how she would take seeing these two dimentional, pixelated images come to life.  It turns out that Skype is a pretty good second to real face-to-face time, because Emily was immediately talking and interacting with my mom and dad--something she does not do with just anyone, certainly not at first.  They were of course tickeled and I was very pleased, too.  Grandma is a new favorite because she will sit for hours and patiently "putter" (in her words) with Emily on her play mat.

So tonight we'll be all together, though I am missing my sisters who were here this time last year, to say good bye to the old year and welcome in the new.

I feel as though I should be posting something a bit more philosophical: a reflection on the year...but as is I am hurriedly typing while my baby and her grandfather nap and grandma studies Spanish verb conjugations, that will have to wait.  Em has been down for nearly two hours now and is probably ripe for wakening at any moment so my time is limited.

Perhaps some quick highlights from the year...

- Our visit to the States, although rushed and a bit stressful in the moment, was really wonderful in hindsight.  It was especially fantastic to be able to see so much of my family and so many of my good friends.  For those of you I missed, I hope that 2016 will bring many visitors to this side of the Atlantic. ;)

- Just about every moment spent with my little Emily is a highlight for me, which means that this year on a whole has been pretty wonderful.  Getting more comfortable with my new role as a mom has been nice, although I look ahead and am overwhelmed by the challenge of being a model for this intrepid little human.

- Finding a job has also been a wonderful change this year.  Saying good bye to my students in La Roda was a tough decision to make, but in the end it has been the right one.  My 20 hours a week fit perfectly into our joint schedule; I have time to spend with my girls and enjoy them, and can still contribute (though minimally) to the household income.

- Graduation!  I can't even remember if I posted about finishing my degree.  I suppose I did, but I was so thrilled when I gave my final presentation and defense of my thesis--9.1/10 was my final grade.  I was so relieved to be done, and also totally over the moon about how enthusiastic the panel was about my topic.  That hour in Madrid this past July, really was one of the best moments of the year.

In short, it's been very good year and I expect 2016 to follow suit.  I hope that as all of you sit and reflect on the moments spent these past 365 days, that you too find the overall balance to be positive; and I wish all of you many more moments of love, fun, pride and wonder in this coming year.

Happy New Year to you all!

A walk in the park

Yesterday we took full advantage of my day off and had a wonderful picnic lunch at a nearby picnic area we have been wanting to explore for a few years now.  It turned out to be the perfect place for Emily: a huge grassy area, swings (she likes those now), slides and LOTS of dead leaves on the ground to play with and eat. ;)

Angelines thought to bring the little "bike" that Em got for her birthday and it was a good thing.  She loves pushing it around the house, and had a blast cruising all around exploring and enjoying her independence.  I think today her legs must be sore because she has never walked so much in all her life!  She is still not walking on her own, but you can see in this video that she is pretty darn close.

´Tis the Season!

I'm gobbling up oatmeal before taking the dog for a quick walk and then heading off to work, but I just had to take a moment to welcome the holiday season.  This past weekend was a long holiday weekend here in Spain (Dec. 6 is Constitution Day and the Dec. 8 is the religious celebration of the Inmaculada) so most people get out their decorations over the weekend in preparation for the holidays.  We did the same. 

This year our Christmas tree is up on a shelf of sorts...any guesses as to why??  We put it up and decorated it yesterday.  Most of my ornaments are hand-painted salt-dough ones that I made with my holiday cookie cutters.  Angelines commented that we ought to make a few more (!); she is somewhat of a Scrooge (unfortunately common in her line of work) and so I was delighted by the suggestion.  Ornament making is on the top of my to-do list now. ;)

I streamed Christmas carols over my laptop and lit the tree while Emily babbled and played with santa hats.  The only thing missing was a cup of hot chocolate or egg nog.  I was in such a Christmasy mood that I even began to think about and shop for presents--Santa's workshop has a webpage now so shopping is so much more convenient! 

Once the tree was finished, Emily was enchanted.  She spent all evening pointing at it and shrieking with delight.  I have the feeling that Christmas is going to be an experience similar to her birthday, in which the fun and magic return thanks to a fresh look through young eyes. 

I'll leave  you with a quick video I took on my phone:  I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

Thankful

As always, we celebrated our Thanksgiving on Saturday (yesterday).  And as always it was a success.  This year, however, I especially enjoyed myself.  Perhaps because I delegated some of the cooking, or because I'm finally getting the timing down as far as baking with just one oven; but for whatever reason, this year I was much more relaxed than I have been in the past and I was really able to simply relish the beauty of the holiday.

I started with preparations on Thursday--pie crust dough and the sauteed veggies for the stuffing.  Then Friday kicked off the beginning of baking to clear the oven for Saturday morning turkey.  The bird was done at 11:30am, which gave me plenty of time to carve it before everyone arrived, heat the stuffing in the oven and make the gravey.  It also gave me time to bake a last-minute carrot cake because I suddenly realized that only one pumpkin pie wouldn't be enough dessert for 12 people!

We had quite a spread, although fairly traditional: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green salad, and, an Andalusian touch--jamón.  The food was delicious and the company even better.  I was asked to bless the table (in English and Spanish) and one friend was standing by prepared with the National Anthem on his cell phone playing in the background.  Agreed, it's corny, but I do appreciate the enthusiasm to appropriately celebrate the holiday. :)  They even indulged me later by following in my family's tradition of going round the table saying what we're thankful for.

Lunch extended on til around 6:30 with desserts, coffee, and plenty of chatting.  Our family had other engagements and so left earlier, but it had been more than six months since out group of friends had gotten together all at once.  This was the perfect excuse to hang out and catch up.

This Thanksgiving I was especially thankful for the friends I've made here and as always for my wife and beautiful daughter.  It was a wonderful day.

Belated Birthday Post

I was quite proud of the way her cake turned out--
and it was DELICIOUS!

Time has flown since Emmy's birthday celebration, and I haven't had a moment to sit and write it all up for posterity.  Even now I should probably be waking my sleepy one-year-old because my furrier daughter is beginning to cry to be let out for her evening walk and daylight is waning.

I will ignore her for just a bit longer since I know that once Emily wakes up it might be at least another week before I get the time to sit down and finish this post.

As you gathered from the hastily posted video of the cake and singing, Emily Alejandra enjoyed every minute of being the center of attention on her birthday.  She was passed from person to person, stuffed herself on pancakes, was probably snuk some chocolate or whipped cream when I wasn't looking, discovered magnets on our outdoor fridge, and was given many rides on her new "motorcycle".  She didn't fuss once, never even got slightly crabby until the very end when 9:30pm rolled around and her bed began calling.  I was amazed.

The spiffed up garage turned out to be the perfect place for the pary.

I am not much of a birthday celebrator.  For me, my birthday is just another day.  I don't really mind much if we do anything special to celebrate it or not.  I couldn't care less about presents, either.  So when in the weeks leading up to November 4th I was contemplating the reality of a real birthday party, I was not too thrilled.  Angelines tends to be like me on the celebration front, so niether of us was particularly keen on putting together a big celebration.  Thinking about doing this yearly for at least 18 years seemed daunting at best.

I am pleased to say, however, that the party was a complete success and much to my surprise I enjoyed myself immensely.  There was a lot of work involved, mainly cleaning since we had to prepare our garage for the guests...but we kept the actual party low-key.  Only our closest friends and neighbors came, and of course the family was all present.  We served pancakes, and chocolate chip cookies as well as cake; and as the afternoon wore on there was cerveza, cheese, chorizo and lomo to snack on.  Emily was showered with gifts, many new clothing articles as well as a few toys.

The mom's were duly impressed by the decorrating. ;)

It turns out, my child's birthday is much more important (and fun) to me than my own.  You could say that giving birth has given me a whole new perspective on birthdays.  It was a day I was proud of and something I wanted to share with everyone. The Friday following her party was the monthly meeting for our breast-feeding support group.  I couldn't help dirtying the kitchen once more to make a cake to share with all the wonderful moms who have accompanied me throughout this first year.  So rather than a birthDAY celebration, we had more of a birthWEEK celebration. :)


Being a key player in Emily's being born probably has everything to do with my new-found love of birthdays, I suppose.  We are just passive actors on our own birthdays, but for a parent, a birthday marks a very important, life-changing anniversary.  And of course, a mother's role is 100% active.  It is an amazing thing to look back over a year and think about how after just 15 hours of labour, my world was completely turned upside down, inside out and backwards in the most beautiful way possible.  And that, certainly is cause for celebration!

Happy First Birthday, Em

I'll give a more complete update later (probably this weekend), but I wanted to share this video of Emily's first birthday party with all of you. She got lots of presents, ate a TON of pancakes and enjoyed herself thoroughly; she was definitely the star of the show--as it should be. :)  We love you Em!

358 Days

Yesterday Emily was three hundred and fifty eight days old.  Yesterday, for the first time, she began nursing without nipple shields!  I have tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to wean her from the silly little silicone half moons almost as soon as we began using them.

Emmy was a little baby with a little mouth and I have inverted nipples (TMI for a public forum??).  Anyway, there was no way to get her to latch in the hospital and we even gave her some formula in desperation because she just would not nurse.  Emily was born just before 3 pm, and by 9 pm, we were using the shields.

They have been both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing on the one hand because they have allowed me to nurse these nearly twelve months of her life, and a curse because they are bothersome, messy, embarrassing and just one more thing to remember when you're packing a diaper bag.  They are also apparently quite addictive.  Although I was dead-set on breast-feeding from the very beginning of my pregnancy, being a mom for the first time is full of unknowns and while there are always plenty of people around to give you advice (good and not so good), in the end, it all comes down to you and your self-confidence.  At nine o'clock at night when your newborn is screaming because she's hungry, and yet will not accept the breast you forget all the "shoulds" "shouldn'ts" and "how-tos" and do anything to feed her and calm her down.

Starting when she was just days old I would offer the breast without the shield, pinching and pushing it into a "sandwich" for her to take, squeezing out a few drops of milk to entice her to suck...all to no avail.  On good days she humored me for some time, and on bad days she would immediately start crying for her meal.  People said that I should try it when she wasn't hungry so as not to upset her--when she wanted to eat, obviously she wasn't in the mood for "games".  But when she wasn't hungry, she wasn't interested in the breast at all.  If I took it off after she'd sated her hunger just a bit, she would simply stop nursing before she was really finished.  There was nothing I could do to convice her that her food wasn't coming from that flimsy plastic nipple.  I finally quit insisting.  We were fine: my production seemed to be in step with her needs; she was gaining weight...why sweat it? 

Starting around seven months I started taking off the shield again just to see what she'd do.  This time she would pretend to take the breast in her mouth, then pull away and laugh at me--Oh mom, you're so silly! Don't you know you shouldn't play with your food?.  But they say hope never dies, and I continued occasionally offering the bare breast before putting on the shield thinking that with age she'd out grow this needless crutch. 

It turns out I was right.  My patience and persistence paid off yesterday.  When I offered her the breast she suckled once or twice and let go with her typical grin, but before I could reach the shields to put one on, she'd taken it in her mouth again.  She nursed a few seconds longer this time and I could almost see the little neurons firing in her brain: she was connecting the dots.  The third time she latched on, she stayed on...and it has been a full twenty four hours now with no shields!  I am almost afraid to jinx myself, but I suspect they're gone for good. :)  I am fairly sure that we may have to fall back on them before we kick the habbit completely, but I know now that there is a definite end in sight. 

The shields, as I have said are good and bad.  They certainly have a place: for women with cracked nipples or other sores, they can aid healing before going back to nursing bare; in my case, they gave Emily something to "hold onto"; but they are not an easy habbit to break and they are most annoying at night.  The silicone nipple fills up with milk and when the baby is agitated she'll knock it off and soak clothes or sheets.  I could never simply drift off to sleep when Emily nursed at night because I was constantly worried that she would knock off the shield and either loose it or begin to cry because she hadn't finished eating and wanted more.  Putting them on in the dark is another challenge.  We have slept with a nightlight for the past year--something which is arguably quite bad for a good night's sleep.

Needless to say I am overjoyed to be rid of them.  This is the best birthday gift Emily could have given me!

Inside Out

Have any of you seend the new Disney Pixar film, "Inside Out"?  I finally did last night.  Several of my adult students have reccommended it to me since it's come up in class that I love animated movies. ;)  I've had it downloaded for a while now, but strangely it's been hard finding time to sit down and watch it!

I really enjoyed it.  For those of you who haven't seen or heard of it, the protagonists are the emotions of an eleven-year-old girl, Riley.  That's right, 90% of the movie takes place inside her brain at "Head-quarters".  Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust take turns pressing buttons on the control panel to keep Riley, safe and happy; but when her parents move from her childhood home in Minnesota to San Francisco, things start to get out of hand.  Joy and Sadness accidentally end up lost in long-term memory and with Head-quarters left in the hands of Anger, Disgust and Fear, you can imagine all the trouble Riley gets into.

It's very cleveryly done and I'd like to watch it again because there are so many witty snippetts that get by you the first time around.  It is an animated movie, but as my adult students who have seen it warned me, it isn't really for young kids--not that it's inappropriate, but the storyline is just too far over their heads. For us adult-folk though, it gives some good food for thought.

It's certainly a film for psychology fans.  The general premis is that our personality is forged from the key moments in our lives (childhood).  These "core memories," as they call them, create connextions to what come to be the pilars of our personality--things like honesty, family, fun, etc. And of course, watching the different emotions react to Riley's life give one pause: how often do we allow Anger or Fear to take the wheel and control our reactions, instead of allowing Joy to show us the positive side of things and see the best in others?

I highly reccommend it.  For those of you who are not fans of animation, put aside your prejudices; it is worth seeing.

An Afternoon with Auntie Antonia

My big girl

Yesterday evening I got a message from my boss that she needed me to work Friday afternoon instead of in the morning.  My heart sank and until I went to bed I had a knot in my stomach.  The "afternoon" shift is from 4-9pm.  Fridays are days that Angelines goes to work, and so we asked my sister-in-law to babysit.  This was the first time that little Emily was away from her mommies for longer than an hour, but of course her auntie is no stranger.  According to Toñi's report, she was great and didn't fuss or cry at all.  She ate her dinner, had a great bath and played nicely all afternoon.

It may seem silly, but today marked a milestone.  I am delighted that the evening at her auntie's house wasn't a traumatic experience, but it is still a little bittersweet: just one more reminder that my little girl is growing up.  I really cannot believe that in less than three weeks she'll be a year old. 

Work continues to go well.  I am extremely grateful that my boss is so flexible with my schedule.  I think I have mentioned that I am contracted for 20 hours per week, although lately I've been working 25 (those extra five being under the table).  But the schedule has been hard for all of us to adapt to and working five days a week (even if it is just for five hours a day) is hard because it means that Angelines and I never have a full day together in family.  Working in the morning is better, but afternoons are awful.  We decided that if I had Wednesdays off things would be much better, even if it does mean a cut in pay.  She works Thurs. through Sun. so having a Friday off, for example makes no sense for us.  Anyway, my boss re-worked my schedule and beginning next week we will have a full day in the middle of the week to do whatever we want (or need) to do. :)

And so, of course, when I got the last minute message to work this afternoon instead of morning, there was little I could do other than call in the babysitting reserves and get myself to Estepa at 4. 

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...

Adjusting

So as you gathered from my last blog, going back to work is an adjustment for all of us.  This week has been better.  I am getting into more of a groove with my schedule (although it does change) and Angelines and Emily are thick as theives!  Thank God I still breastfeed because otherwise I think I'd be completely dispensable in Em's mind.  There is nothing quite like coming home to her four-toothed grin, watching her wriggle in anticipation as I change into my house clothes and then greedily throw herself at my chest when I finally offer her the breast.

She is growing so fast I cannot believe it.  Everyone warns you about babies' vertiginous growth when they're just new born: "Enjoy them while they're small; it doesn't last!"  And it is oh so true.  Our Emily will be eleven months old on Sunday and I cannot believe the changes she's made in less than a year.  She's a pretty expert crawler now albeit with her own "style" (one knee and one foot...).  She's learned to climb the stairs quite well and is even pretty good at coming back down all by herself.  She pulls herself up on everything and has now even graduated to using the wall for support alone, that is to say no actual "pulling," to stand herself up.  She pushes chairs about; and she even has begun letting go and standing (although only for a few seconds before she gleefully throws herself onto her bottom).  I am nearly sure she'll be walking by or shortly after her birthday.

...I was interrupted after beginning this post.  The first Friday of every month I go to a breastfeeding support group meeting.  At first, it was really nice to listen to other new moms' stories and difficulties and get advice myself or have my own questions answered; but anymore I go mostly because I have come to really enjoy many of the mothers in the group.  It's fun to see their babies growing up and today was especially fun because now that Emily is crawling she was really able to interact more with the other kids. 

Today was a small group.  We were all "regulars" and Emily was the only baby under a year, so there wasn't much discussion of nursing today--at this point we're experts!  So we were mostly just chatting and discussing other child-rearing related topics.  Emily scored a cookie off one little boy, played with a big gym ball for a while and pushed another kid's tricycle around the room for a bit.  I'd say she had a good time, and of course, so did I.

Now she is sleeping and so I wanted to finish my post.  I was originally going to write about work...but I'm not up for it now.  I am happy to be working, but it is difficult at times to not be in control of what I'm teaching.  The children's classes especially tend to be challenging because I still find myself making things up as I go, which never turns out very well.  Kids' classes are the ones that need to be the most carefully planned and at this point I feel as though it's a bit haphazard.  But I try to remain positive about it and remember that planning isn't part of my job, which makes my life five thousand times less stressful.  I am so grateful that I can just come home and BE with Emily and Angelines and leave work at work!  If that means I need to suffer a bit in the classroom...right now that's a sacrifice I am willing to make.

Here's to you!

Family Bike Ride

So this is what we've been up to aside from trying to figure out new
routines with my work, etc.  Emily seems to really like our bike rides,
and it's great exercise for me since the bike weighs a TON with the seat
and baby!  This was her first trip out into the olive groves.  I
appologize for the bumps and it is a bit long...but I hope you enjoy it
all the same. ;)

A month...really?

I have been beckoned back to the blogosphere by an email from my extra mother and avid blog-reader, Laura.  Thanks.

It's not that I don't have things to write about, but time has suddenly sped up and I'm left frantically trying to keep up.  Those of you who work full time will scoff at my struggles, but for me, going back to working 20-25 hours a week has been quite a big adjustment.  It would be enough of an adjustment for me alone after so much time of being self (and un) employed; but with Emily and Angelines the transition has been complicated two-fold.

Angelines is a super-mom, as those of you whom we visited this summer will atest, but that doesn't mean she was used to having five hours of solo time with baby Emily without Mommy's teta on hand.  Yes, Emily is still mostly breast-fed.  She is now 10.5 months and so eats most anything you put in front of her, but rather small quantities so her main food source is still Mommy's milk.

This has meant, among other changes, that I have had to make friends with my breast pump that had been previously 100% neglected.  Pumping is a pain and I do a bare minimum: about 2 oz. only for the five hours I'm gone and I try to have a few small jars frozen for emergency situations or if my morning pumping time is taken up by a certain someone being unexpectedly awakened. ;)  I am getting used to it by now though, and am even beginning to enjoy my mornings alone with my obnoxiously loud pump burping along as I sip my tea and peruse my email or what have you.

Until this week, I had been working mornings only which was really great.  It was wonderful to get up, have a nice shower, breakfast with my pump, and then head out the door and be home by two for lunch.  Then I had the whole, long afternoon to spend with Angelines and Emily hanging out, napping, walking the dog or going out.  The three of us had pretty much fallen into a routine when along came this week and effectively scrambled us up again.

Working in the afternoon is much more frantic.  Mornings are when we usually get things done, so if I'm at home, we are doing necessary errands out and about or in the house and I am tired by the time I have to leave for work!  Then there's the question of lunch.  When I work mornings, I have something prepared or taken out of the freezer to be thawed to make Angelines's life easier.  If I'm home in the mornings, however, there's the temptation for me to cook which is just one more thing added to the ever-growing to-do list and also means that we cannot afford to be out of the house for too much of the morning depending on the cooking time of whatever's on the menu.

This week has been rough, too because I am constantly surprised and disappointed by Spanish children's behavior (as a general rule--thankfully there are some exceptions).  Working afternoons is a result of the beginning of kids' classes.  The kids' classes are more challenging in general because you have to be so much more together.  There is no time to be wasted thinking in the classroom about how best to go about doing something because in a split second they're up and running, pushing, shouting, taking the ball you brought in for a game and starting a rough-tough soccer game, or getting into your computer... It is amazing.

This is the cake: a minion! :)  So cute!

Monday was quite stressful because I was expecting to be given a lesson plan as I have been given with my adult classes and instead was met with "Do some games and get-to-know-each other exercises"...!  I was completely unprepared because I hadn't brought any of my own materials for playing some of my favorite fall-back games or my computer with the English songs I use in class.  It was pretty miserable and only compounded by two evil, second grade brothers (tripletts--their sister is also in class but slightly better behaved).  The day's saving grace was one of those exceptions to the rule I mentioned: a delightful sixth grader who brought in a cake she had made to share with class on the first day! :)

On top of these changes I'm just now getting over a cold that I've had for about six days and for whatever reason Emily wasn't sleeping well at the beginning of the week meaning that I was sick and sleep-deprived for these extra stressful days.  I am hoping that things will fall into a routine again although it might be a few weeks as my boss is juggling schedules and is therefore changing my schedule last minute. 

This week I also went from working 20 to 25 hours a week so I'm through with having three-day weekends... Alas, such is a working woman's life.  The good news is that this particular change means a bigger pay check. ;)  Gotta look for that silver lining!

Hope you're all well.  I promise not to be so long in blogging next time.

Vacation

So it would seem I started working just in time to get vacation time!  That's right, this week the academy is closed.  August is vacation month in Spain.  Never come here with the intention of getting anything done in August.  It will just have to wait until September.  The academy, however, only closes this week.  I assume this is because she'll be closing around Christmas and also Easter.  In anycase, I'm not comlpaining about the time off.  This way I'm easing into work slowly. ;)

About my job, I'm just working part time: 20 hours, four days a week.  It is perfect for now.  This month I'm working 9-2 and so I have every afternoon/evening home with my girls to relax and walk the dog and play around the house.  Once school starts up, though I think my schedule will change to afternoons (4-9) because I think my boss will want me teaching kids' classes.  I'm hoping for a few mornings though still, because it is great to get up and get work out of the way.  Having all evening to relax makes the day seem longer.

The classes I am currently teaching are almost exclusively young adult classes.  In order to graduate from university here in Spain you need a level B1 (Common European Framework) in a foreign language.  Most people see English as the most useful and so there is very high demand for English classes among the university population.  The classes are fun.  They are preparing for official exams so we follow a book specifically designed for exam prep, but there is always room for a little personal touch and creativity.  So far, I am enjoying them.

Another HUGE upside to this job is that my boss plans all the classes (!).  For her, it's a quality control issue.  She knows exactly what is being taught in each lesson and which materials were handed out, etc.  This doesn't mean there is absolutely NO creativity on my part (though it is perhaps a bit limiting).  She is open to suggestions and welcomes ideas for activities in class.  Class prep is the most difficult part of teaching, by far, so truth be told I have happily relinquished that responsability.  Now, with no planning to do, I can just go to work, teach and come home to enjoy my family, no locking myself in the office to plan for the next day or run-off worksheets.  It really is a great relief and perfect for my current situation.

In this week of vacation we decided we just couldn't afford going anywhere, but that didn't mean we stayed at home either. ;)  Mon-Wed we packed up the whole family (yes, Bela, too) and headed to the beach after our siesta.  There is a dog beach about 10 min past Málaga so that's where we went every day.  We got there in the cooler hours, around 6 and stayed until the sun went down, then we packed up and headed to the chiringuito for fish dinner. :)  

She loves her mama!

Emily is not so keen on the beach.  The first day there were a lot of waves and I think the sound worried her and perhaps also the sight of those white breakers coming in one after the other.  She spent the whole afternoon whimpering!  Tuesday and Wednesday, however, she was fine (no waves).  She even started crawling around on the blanket a bit.  She does NOT like the sand...  After all her digging in our lawn, I should think she'd love it, but I guess the texture is different.  And the water isn't her favorite either, although the last day I was able to get her feet wet.  Silly girl.  Someday, I'm sure she'll be happy to live so near the sea, but for now I think she really is happiest to stay home!

Bela, on the other hand LOVES the beach. :)  She didn't even mind the waves the first day we were there.  She was completely swallowed on more than one occasion and didn't even flinch.  I guess maybe because of their tails dogs don't seem to be as tumbled by waves as we humans do.

Now we're back at home because Angelines's work week has begun, but we've decided we'll take advantage of my free evenings and go to the beach again at least once this coming week.  I hope you're all enjoying your summers. :)

Emily going through the diaper bag and Bela chasing rocks in the background.

Sunset over the Med.

Ready for food!

The Barkley Family

Okay...Back to the U.S. for a post:

The big Nevada sky welcomed us with a beautiful sunset.

After our blitz visit in Philly, we made our way West for Emily Alejandra's big debut with the family.  My parents picked us up in Reno with their new toy--a fifth wheel trailer--and we headed to Carson City to spend the night.  The next day was a destination luncheon with most of my mom's family in Virginia City.  We were riding an old steam engine train from Carson to Virginia City for lunch with the family and a brief tourist visit.  Instead of driving the hour from Reno to our house and then getting up at 5am to drive two hours back down to Carson City, we opted to camp at the train station.  As it turns out, since Emily was now on Philadelphia time, we were up at 5 am anyway, but it was nice to be able to relax in the trailer instead of jumping back in the car.  Even after three days, we were still totally exhausted from all the travel and cutting back on driving became a priority that would dictate the rest of our vacation.  

The train ride was a big hit.  About half of the family rode with us and we met the other half at the restaurant in Virginia City.  The ride was about an hour, we weren't moving too quickly; it was fun to think about what it must have been like back in the day when this iron horse was the fastest means of transportation.  I tried to imagine a cross country train trip with a steam engine.

The only very unpleasant thing about the ride were the tunnels!  It was a hot day so we all had our windows open, of course, and going through the tunnels we were forced to breathe the train's nasty exhaust.  Once again, I thought about some of those long tunnels on the railroad through the Sierras--not fun.

Virginia City was fun, though we really only had time for lunch so I should say it was fun to eat with the whole family.  There were many, many cousins of all ages, some of whom I had maybe only ever seen once or twice in my life.  And my dad's aunt and uncle came over from Tahoe to join us, too.  It was great to be all together, especially to be able to show off our newest member to the Barkely clan. ;)

I don't know how it got by us, but somehow we forgot to get a picture of the whole group!  Anyway, I'll leave you with some choice photos from the day:

Our ride to and from Virginia City.

...All aboard!...

Auntie Maggie...

and Auntie Lucy, too!

Emily really hit it off with cousin Brendan.  This was just the beginning.

A game of checkers post-lunch.

Wild Mustangs on the way back to Carson City.

Emily getting her lunch, too. ;)

My mom stood in for this picture of four generations of Gutry women (my dad has no sisters...)

Breast-feeding--My Humble Opinion

A friend posted this article on her facebook wall the other day and I felt the need to respond; however, since then I've been mulling over this subject and it seemed like getting it out in a blog was the thing to do.  

First off, I do not like this article much. While I agree with the basic premiss: women should not be made to feel guilty for formula feeding their children. No mother (or father, for that matter) should be judged for their parenting-style choices (with the exception of abuse, of course) beacause as they say in Spanish, every family es un mundo. Only each individual family knows what choices, breast-feeding or formula feeding will work best for their children and lifestyle. No one woman should feel guilty or be made to feel as though she somehow loves her child less for choosing formula over the breast.

For me, breast-feeding is equivalent to cooking a really labor-intensive, gourmet meal for someone I love. Formula feeding would be equivalent to taking someone I love out to a very nice, gourmet restaurant. There is a great ammount of pride and pleasure that goes into breast-feeding just as there is when I spend all morning in the kitchen concocting something delicious that I know my loved ones will delight in. The food at a great, gourmet restaurant isn't bad, nor is it un-nutritious (in fact, they may use even better ingredients than I do in my cooking!), but it's not the same eating from someone else's kitchen. It's not the same eating food that you know was made just with you in mind, exactly how you like it; even if you can have the choice of ordering to your taste when you go out.

As a breast-feeding proponent, I am probably guilty of the kind of attitude of moral superiority that this article mentions. Breast-feeding has been and continues to be wonderful for me, for my baby and for our family. I so enjoy the moments when I am forced to set aside whatever it is I am doing to simply tend to my baby. Nursing Emily relaxes me. When I can allow myself a nap, I easily drift off with her on the breast; and when I can't, I enjoy a few moments of calm before I have to get back to the chores of my daily life. I have never intentionally been condescending towards mothers who formula feed, and if I make comments or suggestions about how to successfully nurse it is only because I find so much pleasure and joy in the intimate sharing that goes on between me and my baby that I think every mother should take full advantage of this biological miracle, too.

Nonetheless, as I have said, I do not like this article. To begin with, I do not see why an obstetrician is the best qualified to discuss infant nutrition. Yes, she is a doctor, but her field is concerned with women's health, not baby health. For a woman there are a lot of societal, psychological, emotional, etc. stressors that can make breast-feeding hard or impossible, but that doesn't mean that breastmilk is still a baby's best option. She claims the difference between breastmilk and formula is "trivial"--I strongly disagree. In my opinion, the immunoglobulin in breastmilk do not constitute a "trivial" difference from infant formula. Of course breastfed babies can and will get sick, but it is just as true that the defenses that a mother can transmit to her child through breastmilk are an important part of immune development for the future regarding allergies, asthma, and other pathogens, not merely a way of avoiding a few ear infections or a bout or two of diarrhea, as the author suggests.

And another key part of the article that doesn't sit right with me is the assuption that the choice to breast-feed comes down to a difference in nutritional value. Honestly, the fact that breastmilk is the best food for my baby is just a bonus to a whole slew of other (perhaps more important) reasons why I breast-feed. All loving mothers will bond with their children and granted that a bottle allows dad (or other caretakers) the chance to bond during feeding, I still cannot believe that it's really the same coming from a bottle--even if you choose to bottle-feed your milk! The feel of the breast, mother's arms, her warm lap, the smell of her and the feel of her skin...It's a sensory overload of love. 

I must recognize, however, that my not working has made all the difference in the success of my breat-feeding experience. Mothers who work outside the home have the cards stacked against them. While in the States I was discussing breast-feeding with a friend who is also a first-time mom to a now 14-month-old. He had just recently weened when I was there and she expressed her relief at not having to breast-feed any longer. I was shocked and saddend to hear her this, but as our conversation went on, I came to understand her perspective. She works full time. She had six weeks maternity leave and then was back at work pumping as much as possible to keep production up and be able to still feed her little one breastmilk. She confided in me that if formula had equivalent nutrirional properties to breastmilk, she would have formula fed in a heartbeat. 

Here I think it's important to point out that one of the greatest enemies of milk production is stress. Does my friend's situation sound stressful? The article mentions that not all women are able to produce as much milk as their babies need to eat, and cites that 5% of women are unable to produce the quantity of milk needed to keep their infants at a healthy weight. I am not here to check sources, but I think we should consider the posibility that this statistic is slanted:  I suspect that the number of women who cannot meet their babies nutritional demands would likely drop even more still (I don't think 5% is as significant as this author seems to), if they were freed from unnecessary stressors. Having a new baby is stress enough, if you add work worries to the mix and then concerns about being able to pump enough (by the way, pumping doesn't stimulate the breast as effectively as the baby does and so pumping itself can endanger production), it's a wonder that any mother is able to balance work and breast-feeding! 

While we're on the subject, pumping is a pain. I am only just now becoming familiar with it since I've started a new job (more soon), but I can assure you there is nothing magical about sitting around with a machine noisily extracting milk from your mammory glands. I cannot imagine pumping from work, much less doing it practically around the clock for nearly a year straight as my friend did. Of course, on the weekend or early morning and evenings she could "really" breast-feed; but when the family would go out somewhere, she prefered most times to take a bottle because she found it rather uncomfortable to pull up her shirt in public. She virtually bottle-fed her son breastmilk for his "benefit".  

I say "benefit" here because it's tricky to define what's best for a child. A mother transmits her emotions to her newborn. When she is nervous, the child senses that and when she is stressed, that too is felt. If breast-feeding is or becomes too stressful for a mother, does it counteract the breastmilk's nutritional superiority? It's not such an easy question. In any case, my hat's off to my friend for such dedication. I'm not sure I could have done that. It's a lot more of a sacrifice to do what she did then to simply pop a breast in the kid's mouth whenever s/he asks for it. 

Hearing her experience deeply saddened me because I know she is not alone; many women have similar stories. And I believe that celebrating breastfeeding week is exactly the kind of thing that needs to happen to make society in general aware of the importance of changing views towards breastfeeding. I don't think this because I consider formula babies to be malnourished or loved less, and I am very sorry that this seems to be precisely the message that many formula feeding mothers get.  By breastfeeding awareness I do not mean simply extolling the nutritional benefits of breastmilk (though they are far from "trivial", as I have said); rather I think we need to prioritize and give full importance to a mother's unique role in child-rearing. That means prioritizing the posibility to breast-feed her children in the working world. I'm talking primarily about giving more maternity leave (even if a woman chooses to formula feed, time with her new baby is critical for bonding). Making it easier or more comfortable to pump from work--specific time allowed for pumping and/or comfortable place to do it--is also essential. I know that the work conditions vary from job to job, but in general I think most of them can be improved when it comes to a working mother's rights.  

Breastfeeding awareness should be a revindication of the woman's fundamental role in the family. Formula (and breast pumps) have made working outside the home possible for many mothers, but that doesn't mean that these two rolls have been assumed without consequences for the family. I think that in a truly modern society we should be able to find a more equal balance for women and families in this respect. Pretending that feminism and women's liberation lies only in her ability to contribute to the workforce in an equal manner to her male counterparts is equivalent to cutting off your nose to spite your face (pardon the clichéd expression).  

Denying the imperative role of the mother in family is denying her very womanhood.  In our facts and figures society, it too often comes down to the statistics: breastfed babies show X fewer cases of Y disease; formula fed babies are twice as likely to suffer Z as their breastfed peers. But I want to make a call for us to throw aside the science and the "benefits" for just a minute to be able to revel in the amazing capacity of the female body to care for her child. Can we, if only for a minute, push aside the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day and just marvel as we watch our growing infants' eyes roll back in their heads in extasy as they take that first long draw on the breast? Can we slow down just enough to admire their small jaws working up and down taking in our liquid love; and cherish the beauty of their small faces as they finally release, with milk dripping from pursed lips, completely sated? If we do this, is there anyone who can resist the thought that female body is truly magical?

I don't mean to say that women who choose not to have children are somehow less womanly than those who have become mothers, or that single-parent families, or families with two fathers are lacking in something fundamental and are less important; but I do believe that if we are going to respect personal choices and prioritize family in our society, we cannot ignore the role that a woman can play in her family, and societal pressures, explicit or otherwise, shouldn't interfere with that. The article claims breast or formula feeding is a personal choice concerning a woman's freedom and each family's lifestyle. I agree; however, I do not think that the problem lies in a simple question of the food we feed our infants, but rather the deeper issue of how we have come to view maternity and child-rearing in general.  Therefore, perhaps it is not so aptly named, but I believe that breastfeeeding awareness week is something at the very heart of feminism and women's liberation itself, and it concerns ALL women, not just those who choose to breast-feed.

Back to the Beginning

Our first day out with our tour guide.

 With my studies out of the way, a little bit of back-blogging is in order. ;)  As most of you know, Emily and I were in the States from the end of June through mid-July.  Angelines and a friend's daughter were there for the first two weeks and then Em and I were on our own for about ten days.

Our trip was mostly family oriented.  Having a baby means there are a lot of people who want to see "us" (really her).  Not that I mind.  I am of course, the number one fan of showing off my most adorable daughter. :)

However, we did begin our trip with some (mostly) pure tourism--Philadelphia.  I say "mostly" because, of course, although Independance Hall and the Liberty Bell are alluring attractions, my dear friend, Miriam is, much more so.  Our plan was to visit Miss M. and make a more gradual adjustment to the time difference.  As it turns out, thinking that a stop on the East Coast would lessen our jet-lag was a huge error; we managed to extend it by at least three or four days.  Travelling with a baby means jet-lag like no other.  Adults will lie in bed in a half-sleep until a semi-decent hour to get up...but Emily was up and babbling at 8am Spain time: 3:00am Eastern Standard.

All of this means we ended our days in the nation's first capital completely wiped out by 6pm.  Still, we were able to see some of the city and of course Miriam's company was enjoyed to it's fullest.  And although things got off to a rough start--our friend's daughter lost her bag!--we did manage to see the most important emblems of the city, visit a ship festival on the Delaware river, enjoy an Israli dinner, eat fresh-baked bagels and stroll along the Schuylkill waterfront.

It was a brief visit, but we enjoyed as much as sleep deprivation would allow.  After just three days we said our good byes and headed West.

Can you tell her dress is red, white and blue for her visit to Independance Hall?

Liberty Bell and Independance Hall in the background.

TFG

That stands for Trabajo Fin de Grado--my final project to obtain my Education degree here in Spain.  I am done.  100%.  I turned in my paper before our trip to the States (more on that in future blogs; I promise!) and yesterday was the defense.  I'll cut to the chase and give you details in a minute: the panel really enjoyed my presentation and my paper/proposal.  They gave me a 9.1 out of 10 which ammounts to the highest grade posible: sobresaliente. :)  I was on cloud nine.  It felt great to be done, but to go out with such a bang was icing on the cake.

The panel is made up of two professors from the UNIR (my university) and one professor invited from another Spanish university.  Since this is just a four-year degree more or less equivalent to a Bachelor's the defense is pretty minimal.  My presentation could be no more than 15 minutes and then an additional fifteen minutes or so for the panel to ask questions about my paper.

I was the very last presenter of the day.  They'd been at it since 9am with two hours for lunch.  My presentation was at 7:30pm.  I was nervous about being last because I know what it's like to be in that kind of situation where you're expected to be paying close attention for hours on end.  I was sure that come time for my presentation, the panel would be more than ready to be done, and I'd have to really work to keep their attention.

When I walked in the room, I immediately recognized one of the men--the president of the university!  As it turns out, he is also a specialist in Personalized Education (a key part of my paper: *gulp*).  Before I began, another member of the panel introduced herself as being a specialist in photography!  All of this was apparently coincidence, since the panel members have no control over the papers they read/grade.  I was just a bit nervous going into it knowing that there were two experts in my specific area watching and listening to what I had to say.

All went well.  I actually felt quite calm during the presentation, and I'm sure that came across.  They got a huge kick out of my Andalusian accent, and specifically complemented me on my level of fluency. ;)  More importantly, however, they were very impressed by my paper and genuinely interested in what I had to say.  I think we went over time with the question answer period because there was just so much to comment on and talk about.  Really, we could have continued all evening.

Once they had confered about my grade and called me back into the room to tell me, they ended by encouraging me to please consider continuing with this line of study in a Masters or Doctorate program because they thought I had really hit upon something original, cutting-edge and nonetheless sadly under-developed in the field of education. I was quite flattered to say the least.

So now I'm done.

In many ways this degree has been more important to me than my studies in the U.S.  I did my Bachelor's in the States almost out of intertia.  Not that I didn't enjoy it or think it was important, but I was too young (I think) to really know what I would do with my degree or even how it would influence my future.  I knew it was important, but that was about it.

This time, I made a concious decision to go back to school because I needed my degree in Education to continue doing what I've discovered that I love--teaching.  This degree has been very closely related to my life and work since I began five years ago and it hasn't always been easy to maintain motivation or find time to work between other life events.  The fact that I have finished despite it all, and especially getting such a great grade, honestly make me very proud of myself.

As I left the building, I had the sensation of watching myself. I felt so grown up, so professional in my dress clothes and glowing from an exhilirating discussion with doctors in my field of work--I couldn't believe the woman I was seeing was me!  Little Viola from PHS, standing in Madrid, Spain after having finished her second univerity degree, this time with a family and work in mix (!?¡).  It was a wonderful, but strange feeling.  Apparently I'm an adult.

Piggy Playtime

Just a cute video to share.  I don't know why the focus was going in and out...darn camera.  Emily wasn't really interested in her pig, but she's so darn cute, I wanted to share the video anyway.  I just love how she sits by herself--such a big girl!

Discovering Spaghetti!

...And here's the video. :)  Hope you like it as much as Em likes spaghetti! ;)

The Dirtiest Diaper

So some of you know that we have begun cloth diapering.  Emily has extremely sensitive skin and so we have switched over to cloth in hopes that the lack of chemicals and bleaches in disposable diapers would clear up her chronic diaper rash.  I made the purchase on Amazon--the cheapest diapers I could find at about 6 bucks a piece.  I bought twelve and since for some silly reason they wouldn't ship to Spain, my mom brought them to me when she came.  So it's been about a month and a half with the cloth diapers and so far so good.  I wish I could say they worked miracles and her diaper rash went away for good, but alas, that isn't so.  We still struggle with a pretty nasty rash although for nearly a week now her little bottom is looking better than ever--not even a red spot!

Anyway, it's been a month and a half of diaper washing for me.  Being nearly 100% breastfed still, her diapers are pretty easy to wash and not really even too stinky.  I liken it to when your dog licks you: you don't mind, 'cause it's your dog...but someone else's dog kinda grosses you out.  Same with poop, it turns out.  I don't really mind washing her diapers, but I'm sure most of you can't even stand the thought! ;)

Spaghetti selfie! Bon appetit!

Things have become interesting on the diaper front since we've begun introducing solid foods.  And by solid I mean actually solid.  We are not giving Emily blended baby foods at all.  She eats what we eat, or a version of what we eat.  The interesting thing is that it seems as though nearly all of what she eats passes through unchanged!  I find bits of carrot, pepper, tomato, etc. in her diapers daily and I am amazed that her little digestive system doesn't do a more effective job of breaking this stuff down!  It turns out that teeth and chewing really are an important part of digestion!

But I'm getting off track.  Except for bananas, it seems as though most everything else changes very little on it's trip through her intestines and therefore her stool has continued to be the trademark liquid yellow of a breastfed baby.

Yesterday she had spaghetti.  She loved it!  I will post a video in a minute.  It was adorable how she sucked down the noodles!  Angelines, of course, was worried she'd choke and wanted to pull the noodles back out, but I insisted that she leave her be--I am an expert at swallowing whole noodles (see Ramen post from a few weeks back!) and know that there's no harm done so long as it's going down the right pipe.  Sure enough, Em was fine and slurpped down noodle after noodle. :)

It was all fun and games until she went to the bathroom today!  I haven't washed a dirtier diaper in my short experience of cloth diapering.  Talk about full!  I will spare the details...but let's just say I won't be smiling quite so much the next time spaghetti's on the menu.

...But the pictures are pretty cute, right?  This family certainly knows how to have fun with food!

For some reason Bela has begun taking more of an interest in the baby lately... ;)

Between Bites

Once again, I am eating and blogging.  It seems that weekends, when Angelines is at work and I've put Emily down for the night, are really the only time I can squeeze a blog in!  Aside from a quick video here or there. ;)

And once again, I am working on my project...or rather taking a study break to eat.  This weekend has been very productive, I'm happy.  I know I haven't really blogged about my topic so you're all in the dark as far as what I'm working on is concerned; all, that is, except my mom who's been my sounding board from the beginning. :)

So the short answer to the question: "What's your capstone project about?" would be: it's a lesson plan.  The longer version would be something along these lines: It's a lesson plan grounded in research that uses CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) to combine the teaching of arts edcation with English as a means of furthering personalized education.  Whew!

Way back when I was hemming and hawing about what I should do for my project, I decided that the most practical was to do a lesson plan (of sorts) pertaining to English teaching, since it is very likely that I will be teaching English and can perhaps someday actually put my plan to use.  Not all of the capstone projects are so practical.  Some are purely research based, some are original research, etc.  And although you might be thinking that it's obvious that I would choose English, you're wrong.

I decided to go back to school to get my degree in Elementary Education here in Spain primarily because I decided I loved teaching...just not teaching English!  I suppose that's not entirely true, but the fact is that I am a curious person and love learning about lots of things (thus teaching a variety of things).  Limiting myself to English education just seemed too boring.  I wanted to be able to open up the posibility of teaching science, art, math, or language arts.

In choosing the topic for my project I was going back and forth as to whether or not I should even deal with English at all!  But the more practical side of me won out and so here I am; however, you'll note that I am combining it with arts education to spice things up.  In fact, CLIL is really about teaching content through an additional language so it's right up my alley. :)

I have dcided to focus on photography--a long-time love of mine--and the manipulation of images through new technologies (Photoshop, etc.).  Surprisingly there are some parallels between my current project and my thesis from way back at Pacific on ficcion vs. fact in literature.  I have chosen to work with the art of Catalan photographer, Joan Fontcuberta who plays constantly with the line between what's real and what comprises fiction.

His most famous photographs are part of collections that are entirely "false" so to speak.  For example, in one show he worked with another artist as well as taxidermists to create an elaborate farce about the astounding Darwinian discoveries of a Dr. Ameisenhaufen, a German zoologist from the 50's.  The alleged doctor discovered many fantastic creatures such as a centaur-like animal with the body of a monkey, flying elephants or legged snakes.  All of these discoveries were documented along with the "original" sketches of Dr. Ameisenhaufen.  The re-discovery of these amazing documents was displayed in a show called "Fauna".  After viewing the show, they found that 30% of visitors between 20-30 yrs, with university training believed the photos to be true!

Many of his shows run along similar lines, challenging the idea that so many of us have of photography as an objective reflection of reality.  When really, the truth is that even when there is no manipulation per se, all photography is subjective because of course we only take pictures of exactly what we want others to see...  And so in my project I am using his work to introduce the idea of photo-manipulation and challenging the students to look critically at the images that surround us, particularly in advertising.

The final product is due the 26th of June.  As some of you know, I will be in Philadelphia with my dearest friend Miriam at that point so the due date for me is a bit earlier.  So far I have finished a first (very rough) draft of the theoretical framework grounding my lesson plan and am plugging away at the acutal classroom application part of it all currently.  We must include all the worksheets/presentations that we mention as materials in the write up, so I am not only writing, but drawing up powerpoint presentations and worksheets like crazy! I would like to turn in the first draft of my actual lesson plan tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'll have all the materials made.  As it stands now, I am pretty much finished detailing each session, but I have yet to make up some of the materials.  We shall see.  Perhaps it will have to be Tuesday.

Wish me luck.  I'm back to work. ;)

A Li'l Drinker!

Another day in the life of Emily's lunch-time adventures!  Although most days she's very interested in her food, she still isn't great about getting much of it into her mouth.  Today's meal was a bit of rice, boiled carrot, squash, pico and a slice of nectarine.  She was pretty interested in the rice; so much so that Angelines couldn't help herself and began feeding her from her own fork.  Emily loved it!  I think she stuffed herself on rice!  But the highlight of the meal was by far when she took it upon herself to drink from her glass.

They say that you needn't give breastfed babies any other liquids, although it's a good idea to offer water with food.  Angelines has been giving her water in a glass for several weeks now.  The truth is she drinks really well.  The times we've tried a sippy cup it just hasn't worked at all...and I'd just as soon she not get used to a bottle even this late in the game.  Today after helping her drink a little, she seemed like she wanted to do it herself, but wasn't quite sure how to grab the cup.  She kept wanting to do it with just one hand like she does her food.  Angelines helped her do it with two hands once and that was that!

Here's a quick video for you all--so cute!




Just to clarify, the first time there was nothing in the cup; and she had been doing much better than you see here before I thought to grab the camera.  Pretty good, huh?