Summer Kickoff

Sigh...Alessandra Mae Torres. Baby. 9 months old. Wild child. "Sigh" because I really can't believe how quickly time has passed. Also "sigh" because MAN is she starting to become a crazy critter! I honestly can't keep up! Less often is she napping and more often she is exploring. Incidentally, it also turns out that she is freaking hilarious!

I'll bring her into our bed with us on the weekends while Ricardo is still sleeping and she will purposefully crawl over to where he is lying and pull up onto him. She will shake him and slap his face and back (sounds like a horrible wakeup call, doesn't it?!?) and say "Hey Daddy!" over and over again. I supposed I shouldn't encourage this kind of behavior, but it is pretty darn funny.

Alessandra's daily duties include trolling the floor in search of any foreign object to see exactly what it tastes like. So far, she hasn't had a dust bunny in her mouth she hasn't liked! I can't even begin to count the amount of times I've done the old "hook the finger and sweep the mouth" action to get whatever it is that she's found. I'm convinced that babies are able to yield a treasure trove of ridiculous objects from even the cleanest of floors! Last night while doing a mouth sweep I did find a fun treasure for myself though...A sprouting tooth! At 9 months old, this makes her a late bloomer in the dental department, but from what I hear, that's a good thing!

Other accomplishments as of late: She claps when she is proud of herself or in a good mood (usually always). She is further encouraged when we say "Yayyyy!" She loves to play peekaboo and would play it all day if we let her. She pulls a blanket over her face and waits for us to say "Where's Ali? Has anyone seen Ali???" Then she pulls it down really fast and I have to say "Peekaboo!" Or else "There she is! Yay!!" This elicits hysterical laughter from her that I must admit is contagious. Her "lip razzing" has graduated to a far more complex sound, it almost sounds like a bird...Kind of like a really high-pitched "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

In the not-so-much-fun arena, it nearly takes two of us to change her diapers or clothes. One of us has to distract her (or pin her down in extreme circumstances) so that she won't roll over and fall clear off of her changing table. Man, does that make her angrier than a bee after its hive has been knocked down. When there is just one of us doing the job, it takes twice as long and a stern talking-to while looking her straight in the eye and telling her "No!". It's about the only time so far in her life she's been yelled at, but I can assure you it won't be the last!

What else, what else? Well...

...Her #1 Dance Party Hit right now is the alphabet song on her Spanish/English (or Spanglish as I like to call it) table. She just plays it over and over again and dances by swaying back and forth. She actually kind of has rhythm too.


She really likes to hang out in the foyer. For one, she can fulfill her position as Neighborhood Watch Baby, and for two, she really, really, REALLY likes to "twang" the door stopper. Always a good noise for drowning out say, a really good TV show you WERE watching.

One thing that hasn't changed...Elmo has remained equally as fascinating.

Ali also love to go "spelunking" in her aquarium cave. This actually was one of those "3-in-1 playmats" that went from her just batting at the hanging down objects to tummy time to this tunnel thingie. Remember when I was so excited that she could just lay one her back and bat at the objects? My how times have changed!

Now:
Then:

"Every day Ali is doing something new and entertaining to make us laugh. She has been smiling and making all sorts of fun noises and coos...Here she is exploring her new playgym. She squeals and laughs at the fish and the mirror hanging down from the bar. "


Ha! "Squealing and laughing"...All while she stared at it. Wow...How on Earth did we handle such action-packed days?!? ;)

Here she is just movin' and shakin' like she does best:

She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror. She gets it from her dad. ;)




At day's end after all that activity, we have a tired girl on our hands. Even then she usually tries fighting it. This is about the only time we deal with an ornery girl.

She'll resist and whine and cry until finally she surrenders to Mr. Sandman.



I know it sounds like I'm overexaggerating, but she really is the happiest baby I've ever seen. Plus, we hear it from friends and perfect strangers alike, so of COURSE it must be true! :) In all seriousness, it is very common for someone to approach our table during a meal out to comment on what a good baby she is. We are truly blessed, and we do know how lucky we are. :)

As much as I could go on about Alessandra, mommy and daddy have lives too. As such, this Memorial Day Weekend we all headed up as a family to one of our favorite relaxation spots...Lutsen. Or, as we local Minnesotans call it, "The North Shore". About a four hour drive north of the Cities, this quaint skiing and fishing town about 20 minutes shy of the Candian border was discovered by our group of friends about 5 years ago, and we have all continued to go up at least once or twice a year since! It was Ali's first time up, but she seemed to appreciate it as much as we all do!

Just a tiny example of the beautiful scenery around the North Shore


The boys managed to squeeze a golf game in.


Here's the whole group. We brought the inside out so the boys could watch hockey!


Nephew update! The cuteness continues!

Gabriel looking all dapper after a bath:

One of my most fave Marley pics lately:


And for good fun, see how far we've come, how quickly time has passed, and how much we've learned! Check out my posting from one year ago. Gotta love those flashbacks.

See you at the next update and hope you are enjoying your "summer kickoff" season as much as we are!

Love,

D, R, and A

The Super Duper Blogging Blitz!

I know I usually only post once in a blue moon, but I have had so many wonderful things happen in the last few days that all deserved their own unique posting. In most of these cases, I'm a few days late (sorry Gabriel), but I still wanted to be sure that I record these moments all the same. Please be sure you scroll down and read all of the excitement!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of my favorite mommys out there...Enjoy your day!! I am celebrating my first Mother's Day exactly as I would like...With my baby girl, hubby and my own mama here with me! I received a beautiful necklace crafted by a very talented artisan with Alessandra's picture in it from Cardo. I will post pictures shortly, but just wanted to get my greetings out there in Blogland. Love to all!

Happy Anniversary!

Cardo, Alessandra and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on May 6th. We had a wonderful dinner at a steakhouse called Wooley's and it was SO good!!! The service was unmatched and they catered to our every whim knowing that we were there for a special occasion. At the end of the meal, they even brought us a cake and card signed by the entire staff working that evening!!! Not a slice of cake, but a whole cake!!! It was so good, but we were stuffed! We ended up bringing most of it home to pick at.

Even though we've only been married for three years, we have been together for much, much longer than that. We started dating in May of 1998, so we are officially at 11 years, and celebrate our knowing each other each anniversary as well! I love you honey and am so happy that I know you!!

Gabriel Jude Collier

Please welcome the newest nephew to the brood!!!:

Gabriel Jude Collier
Born May 3, 2009 at 1:35 pm
6 lbs 4 ozs, 19 1/2"

I am such a proud aunt! Uncle Cardo and I can't wait to meet you Gabriel! And Gianna, we know you are going to make the best big sister ever!!!

Our "Honeymoon"

Nearly three years from our wedding day, Ricardo and I finally took our honeymoon! I say this partly in jest, as we truly were not able to take one back in 2006. It was "show season" in my industry and the time just simply didn't allow back then. We made up for it via a trip to Cancun, Mexico this year, and it was an absolute wonderful time! I have never been to Mexico and was super excited to finally practice my Spanish! (Well, sort of. It WAS Cancun after all...) The resort was beautiful, the staff and guests friendly, and the weather was to die for. And thanks to all of the news sources oversensationalizing the swine flu, we had the whole town to ourselves to paint red! Life is always a little bit more tropical following a week spent on the crystal blue Gulf! Feast your eyes on these:

Before I had seen it with my own eyes, I honestly thought all the photos of the Gulf off of the Yucatan Peninsula were doctored because the water is so blue!

We aren't too used to being able to go out just the two of us any more...And getting a little tipsy to boot? Unheard of on this side of the Rio Grande!!!

Sexy Flexy!!

We met a great bunch at our daily happy hour!

Tired of the sand and waves on the beach? Just lounge in the pool complete with a swim-up bar (with a view of the ocean still) instead!


We called these guys "Mexican Squirrels". They were EVERYWHERE and this one was actually pretty small!


El Rey Aztec ruins


It was very windy down on the beach!!!

Thankfully we had this adorable face to make us excited to get home and back to the daily grind again. How can you not want to give these cheeks muchas smoochas?!?