birthday girl, part two

so here are many more photos of pilar's first birthday. we had such a great day! we started out having breakfast together, then getting pilar in the car to go to stanley park, and as she was now one she could sit in her car seat facing forward. sergio took her down to the car before me, and surprised me, i had actually forgotten about changing the car seat to forward facing. when I saw her like that i started to cry, how can my BABY already be one, and facing forward! she was very amused by the new perspective! 

after stanley park, we came home and put her down for her nap while we got ready for her birthday party. around 4pm family started showing up, my mom and mark, and my sister heather and her husband todd. heather got pilar a few pairs of pajamas, and my mom and mark got her a new winter vest and an egg chair from ikea, which to this day pilar absolutely LOVES. if you are considering one for a child, i can say without a doubt that this chair is FUN. is swivels 360 degrees, which is fun, but the cocoon shade adds an element of imagination. pilar spends hours in here pulling the shade up and down, up and down. we have added the ikea sheepskin to keep it extra cozy now that it's winter. 

lots of friends turned up for the party, including some friends pilar's own age! lucy and kiera came along, and the babies all enjoyed playing with pilar's gifts. here are some of the highlights in case you are looking for some gifts for kids this Christmas.

educo little autos (wooden toy)

in my pond (book)

laine drop bib

ikea "egg" chair

the hungry caterpillar by eric carle (book)

unikko socks by marimekko

children's place (clothing)

winnie the pooh slide and learn (book)

abc block cart

miyim fairytale collection (organic bunny)

birthday girl, part one

well at long last, three months later (I am pathetic I know), here are Pilar's birthday photos! we took her to stanley park to see the animals in the petting zoo, then on the train. she liked the animals, but as you can see in the photos, she LOVED the big old tractor. she loves to pretend drive, and likes honking the horn, she even makes the sounds! the train was boring for her. instead of the beautiful scenery she was actually more interested in the little piece of the sign on the seat in front of us that was ripped, and it was small, she notices the smallest of details, it amazes us all the time. also, we thought it would be fun to sit up front to watch the driver, but all we could smell was the burning fuel! if you ever go, please sit at the back!

this time last year

well, the updates have not been coming like i had wished. there is so much i would like to write here, but so little time. i have been going through all of pilars photos today and feeling so proud of my little girl, and seeing how much she has grown and changed over the last year makes me feel very nostaligic. i thought i would share a very sweet photo of her taken on this same day one year ago, december 12th. 

office lady

so in our new apartment, sergio and i set up a long desk with a set drawers in the middle that we both share. inside we keep our office supplies, cables for computers, etc. well pilar has become our little office assistant. she LOVES to rummage through all the drawers, but we let her root through just one of them. She spends hours picking up each thing, inspecting it, biting it, then hucking it on the floor. I put them all away before lunch, and she takes them all out again after lunch. same thing before and after dinner, after her bath and before bed. we have tried to encourage her to draw with the colored pencils but she just eats the paper! she really just loves to scavenge... and huck... scavenge and huck. mi ninia linda!

movin' on up

when pilar discovered we have a step ladder she was all over it, literally! she could not just crawl on by this thing, she had to crawl up it. and when she got to the top she always would do this little dance, reminiscent of her pole dancing days on our old kitchen island. just like with the toilet, if i cannot hear pilar tootling around making her raspberries etc, i know she is up to no good. if she is not flushing the toilet, she is trying to pull this step ladder out of the closet. if it is out, she's on it! in these photos we let her have some fun on it after a bath. love the housecoat!

lovely

i love my little pili ♥.

party in the bathroom

this is pilar's absolute favorite place to run off and get into trouble, the bathroom. well standing between the bathtub and the toilet to be exact. first of all it's a small little space perfect for her size. secondly, the toilet flusher is there, and this is what draws her in from far and wide. she can't get enough of flushing the toilet! sometimes she doesn't flush it, she just pushes the lever back and forth gently so it doesn't flush. when i don't hear her tootling around and making all her babbling and driving a car noises, i know where to look, she is usually here! i think she is asking you to join her...party in the bathroom!

potty training

well the time has come to start potty training! this was the first attempt at testing the waters, and as you can see pilar had a delightful time sitting on her own little 'chair'. after we wake up, we take off her diaper and pajamas, and get her all cozy in this pretty house coat from bibiana and fernando (muchas gracias), then we sit her down with her favorite little friend 'the lady' a fisher price toy that was once mine, she's actually wooden! and of course we can't forget reading material, like dora the explorer for example, for a little bilingual reading! and voila...a poop...in the POTTY! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. this is my life people, when you are standing in line waiting for your starbucks, i'm waiting for pilar to poop all civilized. and then i get to clean the potty! o joys!