Unfair

Today, while I was cleaning some old papers, I found the below letter. I hadn't thought about it in a very long time, and even though we can all laugh about it now, at the time it was definitely not a pleasant surprise. We had been living in our house for only about five months when we received this anonymous letter from someone who clearly was angry enough to write it, but coward enough not to sign it. We later learned that several neighbors, up and down our street, had received the exact same letter. And just like us they were baffled, offended, and pretty angry themselves, as we were all undeserving of this.

We never knew who sent this letter, but this is the first and last one we received. Maybe they got over themselves, or maybe they simply moved away.

Mini me

Earlier today Sofia was playing with my old blackberry when I heard her tell Bella to be quiet, because she was pretending she was working and she was on a call. "Ouch", I thought, so I had to go upstairs to see what she was up to. Below is what I saw...

I don't like it when she imitates my work. It makes me feel like that is the only thing they see me doing all day long. It is true that I work way too much, but that's usually when they are asleep. The only time she sees me on the phone is when someone has the great idea of scheduling a 7:30am call.  Those are always annoying, and seeing Sofia's reaction makes me hate them even more.

Being little

I don't remember what its like to be a two and a half years old. Although it must be fun to not have chores or homework, I can only assume it must be really frustrating not to have any control. And I know Bella is always disappointed when we tell her she can't do something because she is still little. "I am not! I am big!" she protests, but it is pointless because as much as she would like there's a ton of stuff she can't do just yet.

Ice cream truck

Today Bella's daycare sponsored an ice cream truck for an end of summer ice cream social.  So after Sofia and I picked Bella up the three of us went to get a snow cone.  Sofia had some berry flavor, Bella had the "blue" flavor - whatever that was - and I had a pina colada one.

Embraced

On August 26, 1998 I arrived in Cincinnati to start my MBA. Who would have thought that 13 years later I would still be here. Cincinnati has been good to me.

Llorar y Llorar

Sofia cried at school again today. She told me she missed me, and that is probably the same thing she told her teachers, so they told her she could write me a note. I hope her days get easier once she feels more comfortable with her new teacher and her new classmates.

Hermanitas re igual

Sofia and I matched today. We did not plan it, it just happened that way.

Curitas

In typical Bella fashion, this is what she did yesterday morning. She sure had fun putting these on, but she did not have so much fun taking them off.

Tennis Encore

After the baby shower Gabi, Babus and I headed back to the tennis tournament to watch one of the women's semifinals. I was only able to go because after a very long day for all of us my mom still agreed to stay with the girls for a few hours longer. I really thank her for that.

Baby shower

Today was my sister's baby shower. The day started in a very stressful way with me having to work from 8 to 10:30 am due to a work emergency. This was exactly the time when I should have been getting ready for the shower, but instead I was stuck on a call and having to send follow up emails. Luckily my mom and my friend Perla pitched in, and even though we did have a bit of a late start everything turned out just great. Gabi seemed happy and so did our friends. And once the whole thing started I managed to calm down, get over the stress, and enjoy the party as well.

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10

It is hard to believe, but this past Thursday was already our 10th wedding anniversary.

Many things have happened since that August 18th, 2001. We settled in Cincinnati, bought our first and our second house, switched jobs couple times, and of course had our two beautiful little girls. We may also have now a few extra pounds, a lot more stretch marks, and here and there even some gray hair.

So yes, in 10 years many things have changed, but luckily many others have also stayed the same. We still love and enjoy each other's company, we are still committed to our lives together, and we still enjoy a low key date to celebrate. So instead of a fancy dinner we headed back to the tennis tournament to hang out, relax, and spend some time the way it all started 10 years ago: Just the two of us.

Before care

Last year Sofia cried and cried over the thought of having to go to before care at her school. So I gave up on the idea, and drove her to school every single day. This of course made me go to work really late, so this year we told her she had to go to before care at least twice a week. She still did not like the idea, but we told her she really did not have a choice.

Yesterday was her first day there, and although she was tentative at the beginning she stayed without crying, or at least did not cry before I left. By the time I picked her up she actually told me: "Before care was fun mami. Can I go tomorrow again?".

So back she went today, and back she will be at least couple times per week.

Washing Hands

I find it pretty humorous that at daycare they have these pictures of Bella demonstrating how you are supposed to wash your hands. It is not that she is particularly horrible, but since she is only two and a half years old, let's say that she is not the best.

Princess Day

Today was Princes and Princesses day at Bella's daycare. She couldn't wear her snow white dress to school because the first activity of the day was sprinkler day, but I know for a fact that she did wear it later in the day. I wish I had been there to see her in it, dancing around with all her friends. As a consolation prize I at least snapped this picture with her lovely plastic tiara from the dollar spot.

Verano

Sofia must have been asked at school to draw a picture about her summer, since she came home from her first day with the drawing below. I particularly like the detail of the arrow that points to the "water". Just in case we didn't get it...

The look

I loved Bella's look today. She was wearing those sunglasses when she left for school, and she was wearing them when she came back home.

First day of first

Today was Sofia's first day of first grade. She was actually excited to go back to school, or at least that's what I think because she never complained.

To ensure she would have my full attention on such an important day, Lionel took Bella to school. Sofia then got dressed, we had breakfast, I made her lunch, and we headed to the school. I dropped her off in car lane and just like that she walked inside the school. No extended good byes, and no cries.

When I picked her up I asked how her day was, and she told me it was Ok ... except for the couple times she started to cry. "Why did you cry?" I asked. She replied that she cried because she was missing me, but that it was ok to cry because today was just her first day in first grade.

God love that girl.

Back to Madness

For the last three business days I have been on vacation. That means that I have not checked my work email, that I have not been in meetings, and that I have not gotten stressed over all the stuff I have to do. Since tomorrow I am back at it tonight I could have chosen to start reading my email, but I decided against it. I had personal items I had to take care of, and I there is no reason to get stressed ahead of time. I am still on vacation, so work can and should wait.

Bella's Summer Part 2

Here are a few more of the notes in Bella's dailies. I love getting these. The funny thing is that for some reason I always enjoy them more when they are written in color, than in just plain pen.

Day Off

Today was the last day off of my mini vacation. And I enjoyed it very much spending the day with my friends and especially with my girls. It was a rare low key day, with an extended visit to the playground and no rush to get anywhere.

Tennis Tournament

It is that time again! Yes, time for the tennis tournament, which is the only sporting event I usually look forward to, and refuse to miss.

Lionel, Sofia and I went yesterday while Bella stayed with my parents because she is still too little to attend or enjoy the event. Sofia decided to wear her tennis outfit, her tennis silly bands, and her tennis head band.

We knew none of the top players were playing, but we were hoping we could at least see them practice. Lucky for us, we did indeed. We saw Sharapova, Federer, Nadal, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Martin Del Potro, Simon, and couple other Spanish players. It was a good time. And I also noticed that Sofia had a lot more patience than just the previous year, when she just wanted to keep moving around.

I hope going to the tournament is a family tradition we can keep for years to come. I really enjoy going with Lionel and Sofia, and I am looking forward to when Bella can also come with us.

Just dance

On Saturday evening my mom invited me to the Aronoff center for a dance gala with professional dancers from around the world. As with any event, some performances were amazing and moving, some were confusing, and some were flat out long, boring and dreadful.

The good news is that the good ones we enjoyed together, the dreadful we complained about together, and the confusing ones gave us some really good laughs.

The Beach Waterpark

On Saturday we went to The Beach Waterpark. Even though I have been living here for almost 13 years, I had never been there. But Sofia was there couple times with her summer camp, so I thought it would be fun to be back as a family.  And that would give us a glimpse to the type of activities she had while she was away from us.

The park itself is not all that. It is not bad, but it is not great either. I guess I should have expected it as it is not easy to replicate a tropical space in the middle of Cincinnati. But we still had a good time. The girls loved playing in the water, floating in the lazy river, and going down a small slide multiple times. Sofia went on a ride with Lionel while I stayed with Belly, and we closed the afternoon eating ice cream before finally heading out.

Grandparents

Couple weeks ago Lionel's parents came to visit for a few days. I didn't get a chance to upload the pictures until now, but here they are. On Sunday we all went for lunch to Nectar, our favorite restaurant. The place was very busy, so we had to wait for a little while.