Spring break 2011! Woot! Woot!

Don't know about you guys, but our favorite spring break vacation spot is Oatmeal, TX. In the middle of hill country, with no city noises, or light pollution. Fields of "nopales", beatiful views, fresh air, warm weather - what else do you need! Oh, and lots of good food, especially desserts :) This trip Ophelia got the word "dessert" down, which I shouldn't be surprised about :) This is us before leaving for Oatmeal, we try to wear Ophelia out by taking her to the park, so she sleeps the whole 3 hour trip down there.



See what I'm talking about? These are the desserts:



Yumm, yumm. These are called "kukens", which are German pies filled with fruit and custard. Sooo delicious! It was a quest to find the exact recipe that PJ's grandma used to use and this is it!
Here is Ophelia hanging out with Grandpa. It is so cool to see their relationship and connection growing with each visit. She loves tickling Grandpa's toes and pulling on his beard.



Celebrating family birthdays! Fun times! Love these guys :)

Ophelia's favorite part was the balloons:

Not sure who had more fun playing here :) Actually Ophelia did love this sesame street playground toy. It was made back in the 70s and the quality+fun factor is hard to compare with contemporary toys. It does NOT make noise for one. Second, no batteries required. We have never used as many batteries as we do now with having just one child! Note the Elmo toy on the left bottom. That one does make noise...unfortunately pretty annoying ones...like Elmo's laugh...sure glad it has an off switch. Ophelia loves her Elmo though. She can sing along the "Elmo song". I'll have to get that on tape some day. It's cute because she has no perception of low/high notes, but stretches the words :)

Ophelia being cuddly with Grandma after bath:

Here she is...welcome our little star...Miss Ophelia!!!

She enjoys all the attention she gets at Grandma's and Grandpa's house and the absense of time-outs! She gets all kinds of cool things, like... sqeeky shoes...wow, wish I had some :)

Springing forward!

Can't believe it's March already! And it's birthday season in our family. We celebrated by b-day by going out to eat and leaving Ophelia at our friends' house (the Hills). That was a nice tiny getaway. And, as usual, I was thinking throughout dinner about Ophelia crying or looking for us... yeah, right :) She was loving it at the Hills, exploring everything and running around a new house that she hasn't been to before. When we came back and I asked her if she wanted to go home, she said "no". I don't know why I am such a "worrier", she does so well with others!

Mid-February, we started leaving her in nursery at church all by herself. The first day she did great up until 1/2 hour before church ended, when she was brought to me sobbing. She got a bit overwhelmed with kids yelling and running around. Since then the two following Sundays she did awesome. Apparently, she is a quiet one there, just listening and watching everybody. Well, let's give her a couple months to warm and then we'll see :)

Here's the signing video I promised of the "feelings" signs:

Today was our last tumbling class of the season. For the first time, Ophelia did the song moves all by herself, without me moving her limbs :) It only took 2 months! Of course, I signed her up for the next season already. She will also be starting a music class at the same rec center. It should be lots of fun! Here is our little tumbler:

To receive a stamp on your hand at the end of class, you are supposed to put your hands on top of your head. At least she knows where she needs to sit to get a stamp...may be the hands will come next season :)



Today is Registered Dietitian day, my professional holiday. Me and Ophelia went out to lunch with all of my friends from work. Hamburger lunch with waffle fries topped with italian creme cake, what else can a dietitian wish for???

To continue the birthday season, this weekend we are going to Oatmeal to celebrate PJ's birthday, as well as his brother Mark's and our sister-in-law Camille's. Yay, party time! Ophelia is excited to play with Grandma and Grandpa! Here is a flashback of them playing a couple of weeks ago: