A Weight Concern

Big girl Talia had her 12 month well baby check up. It was kind of embarrassing since the last well baby check up I remembered to take her to was at 4 months. I had always been very diligent with my other two. . .poor Talia.

I am not quite sure if her teeth were bothering her since it feels like a Saber Tooth Tiger size tooth is attempting to move as slowly as possible through her sensitive gum line or if it reminded her of being dropped off at the gym daycare, but Talia started screaming for rescue as soon as I laid her down on the weight table. She didn't stop screaming until her shoots. Yes, she screamed louder and longer for her standard check up then she did for the shots that were stabbed into her thighs.

As for the disjointed appointment, I was treated kind of like a suspect. It didn't help that I brought my own little show of Talia's vocals and Mia and Tiago's sibling antics. (You know, whatever one wants to do or have the other one really wanted. Funny how wants are produced sometimes.) The doctor watched as I tried to arrange a truce between the two, all the while trying to soothe a grumpy and loud baby. I even shushed the doctor so I could intervene in what appeared to be the second stand of the Alamo that was staged on the sit and stand stroller we are borrowing from our friend.

Finally the concern is breached. Talia's weight is a bit out of controlled. In fact, the doctor arranged for us to come back in one month to see how it is progressing. The shock, she is not big enough! When she asked "Does she eat enough?" laughter burst from my lips before I could stop myself. Then the doctor ordered a "standard" anemia test.* I couldn't help but wonder if the standard was due to age or the concern more malnutrition.

These and many other images rushed through my head while the doctor expressed her worries. This is Talia trying to consume every possible morsel of cake left in the pan from Mia's birthday cake. She even resorted to the mouth to plate technique. We'll keep you posted on our little lady.




*The anemia test involved Talia being awkwardly restrained over this arm rest while a lab tech milked her pierced finger for all it was worth. Then, to stop the bleeding, they wrapped Talia's hand with that strange rubber wrap that sticks only to itself. Her hand turned into this strange looking club hand. Talia was more interested in what happened to her fingers then the pain she might have been in. I wish I had a camera. She was hilarious to watch. It was a mix of confusion, adoration, and plotting.

How all shopping should be

My Tuesdays and Thursdays usually revolve around attending Zumba. (I know, enough already about it, but it's my blog so it's going to mention this new fascination). This means that I have to tweak Talia's nap schedule to correspond with the 9 am Tues class as compared to the 11 am Thurs class. It's takes a lot of planning and cooperation on everyone's part.

This past Tuesday, started with the plans to attend my beloved class, but plans changed with Talia was still peacefully sleeping at the designated go time. So, I decided to spend some fantastic couch time with Tiago reading any book of his choosing. Over 45 minutes of reading together was wonderful. Then we heard Talia on the monitor and I got an idea. Why not attend the step class that my friend teaches and then do some much needed errands at the mall near by? Perfection.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I hate shopping at malls. I hate the music, the noise, the priceyness, the perfume sprayers, etc. This is some of the reasons why my wardrobe doesn't change all that often. I am done looking frumpy and so I have been window shopping for purchases trying to avoid my mistake of buying sale items in hopes of learning to love them.

Today was the day. I would return to a mall mainly because I had to exchange some clothing purchased for Mia, but would actually stop in some shops for myself. I couldn't have picked a better place to start. The Shops at La Cantera is a shopping paradise. It isn't enclosed and stuffy like most malls. Instead its shops are the only enclosed part and you get to stroll down bamboo lined manicured gardens with babbling brooks and little waterfall interruptions in the cement walkways. They even had a little playground to break up the monotony of shopping. And although I didn't find anything I loved for myself, I left refreshed and wanting more.

Happy Birthday Mia

(Mia wearing her new skirt designed by her grandma and aunt angela. The excentric print was inspired by a telling conversation her aunt had with her some weeks prior. Just for everyone's information, Mia likes cats and purple and doesn't like yellow that looks like and I quote "mayonnaise and mustard mixed together".)



Fernando and I can't believe that Mia is already 6 years old. It makes things more strange since Talia is wearing all of Mia's old clothes. When I look at Talia and Mia together, I just can't imagine Mia that small. With that said, I am amazed at how much she has grown and learned and taught us. And although we can become much akin to head ramming big horn sheep at times, I love her with all my heart.

This is the love that kept me going through the marathon day of her birthday. We dropped her off for what she felt was going to be a pretty normal day at school. Then we raced home to clean up the toy room that was going to become her new bedroom. Tiago worked hard for his little 3 year old self and we were racing against the clock. The room was pretty messy and I had some grandiose plans. (this is after some cleaning)
I had to remove shelving in the closet to make room for a bookshelf. The bookshelf needed cleaning from its stint in the garage. This was the most terrifying since there happened to be a little black widow next to a humongous spider carcass. Thank heavens for layerable toilet paper that slightly protected my hands from the human eating spider 40 odd layers between me and death. (yes, aside from being afraid of clowns, I am terrified of any and all spiders) I had to dismantle our bedroom curtains (which was a much needed project) for a reading canopy nook. I had to hang some curtains in the room to help block the summer sun for our early bedtimes. I move her bed into the room and make it with her new duvet cover.

In between these plans, we surprised Mia at lunch with macaroni and cheese (with broccoli*) and octopus hot dogs. I should point out that the octopusness of the hot dogs was only in form and not ingredients.
After eating, I read a few of our favorite books such as The Ok Book, and Clinton Gregory's Secrets. It must also be noted that we keep adding to our favorite books. This happens when you are at the library once a week and check out at least 15 books each go. Once we were told to pick between some books because we were at our limit.

After lunch, we raced home in hopes of finishing before we were needed back at school for the honorary birthday treat celebration in class. We brought popsicles since another classmate who shares Mia's birthday already said they were bringing cupcakes. These cupcakes turned out to be crisco frosting wonders with a little cake below. I tried my best not to imagine the texture and taste of those blue babies. The kids on the other hand loved every last glop.

While trying to take Mia home after the class party fun, she was swarmed by her classmates in this group hug. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even get my camera out in time to capture the moment.

At home we had Mia's favorite eat out items that I am capable of making at home which happens to be Panera's Broccoli and Cheddar Soup and Panini Sandwiches. I creatively used the last of Fernando's cake to make mini ice cream cakes that were topped with caramel syrup. We or I should say they watch a movie while I did some finishing touches. In the end she was happy and very tired little girl ready to sleep in her new room. Talia also benefited from this move. This brought the impending transition from her closet room to real room into fruition.

Work is a Child's play

In my MFHD major (wow that took a lot of courage to admit that), we often talked about how play is a child's work. Well, here in the Tovar home, we have some opposite situation. Now that Talia is one we are putting her to work. Cleaning and cooking are the starting jobs and we'll move on from there.

Happy Birthday Talia

After a whirlwind week of Easter fun and three birthdays (not including Fernando's and my respective brothers' birthdays), I finally have a moment to blog about Talia's "special" day.

What says I love you on your first birthday more then being dragged to the gym daycare for mom to go to Zumba? (I should ask Zumba if I could get paid for all the free advertising I give them on my blog). She did really well surprisingly. After the gym, we headed for Costco. Yeah, I am the fun mom! She did get a few treats there in the form of samples. Then while she slept, Tiago and I worked on getting Mia's present ready. This involved gutting our linen closet and organizing it into our new toy closet. In between naps, we would play and giggle.

For dinner, we couldn't decide on which food would be her favorite. She is on a see-food diet so it is kind of hard to narrow it down. We tried chicken salad on croissants:



it wasn't a big hit. So we moved onto the cake and ice cream which happened to be left over from Fernando's big day:



Much better. Then on Saturday we had a bigger and better surprise cake at a friend's 1 year old party. This friend lived by us in MD and had their boy the day after Talia at the same hospital.





Bath time was the only chance for Talia to really feel like she was doing something fun on her birthday. As a result, we got a yummy smelling girl with beautiful curls ready to open presents.

Remembering a Friend

I am truly grateful for all the well wishers and dog lovers who commented on the last picture. I wish I could say that it pulled at my heart strings, but alas, I am unmoved. Enjoy the movie.


PS I think that everyone has there ideas of what is easy. From my earliest memories, I wanted to own all types of animals, but now, that idea just gives me a headache. I'll focus on my brood and branch out when it seems time. This time may or may not come.