New Pictures of Leyla - Almost 11 Months!

These are some of my favorite new pics of Leyla. She loves playing with her ball, and she sits like I used to sit when I was little! How cute! and, she's standing on her own and learning to walk!

This past week...

I have had a rough week. The computer crashed and we lost all our files. ALL my pictures. Every day I told myself to burn them to CDs and I never did. I was so mad. But thankfully I was very good at loading pictures to facebook and videos to youtube, sooooo I have all of those still and just have to re-download them. I didn't lose everything, but I had thousands of pictures and only the best ones were on facebook. So I still lost a lot. But I am thankful that I didn't lose absolutely everything. It could have been worse I guess! I would have died if I had lost all her baby-baby pictures!

So got the computer fixed but then Windows was reinstalled in SPANISH and I could not figure it out, so we made a trade-off with a friend and have a new computer now! Internet wasn't working for 4 days either, but we borrowed another modem from the same friend so I am finally up and running again.

New video of Leyla "dancing:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UvEsysIg0Q

Back to work

Well this week it's back to work. No more vacation!

So far it's been GREAT....yeah, that was sarcastic. First of all there's no water in the house. I cleaned the pila, and then the water left - and hasn't come back. I spent so much time letting it run and drain until it finally ran somewhat clear and then, it was complete mud again! So I drained the pila again....and now it is completely dry because the water hasn't come back. But, it has been raining really heavily every night and we've caught rainwater....however, it didn't rain last night, so we are really out of water now.

Yesterday Maria and I went to the market to look for a huge barrel to catch more rainwater (Marcos is in the mountains) and brought it back ourselves walking. I'm sure we looked crazy. And it was heavy! My hands were hurting by the time we got back.

Then I tried to fix Leyla's crib. Got all the nails in except one and it WOULD NOT budge. I think it must have hit a knot or something. I was exhausted and frustrated and hit my thumb twice, and my back started hurting like crazy. Then after all the pounding another side of her crib came loose. Finally I gave up and let the nail bend! At least the other three are in straight.

Then I stayed up all night typing English verb tense exercises for my students....soooooo tired. Leyla and I are both sick with colds AND Leyla has been spitting up a lot and crying for me constantly. I'm afraid her stomach hurts her, too.

I will be glad when Marcos gets home, and this month is over....and then we will be in Oklahoma for the weekend!!! That will be a nice break.

Leyla's First Birthday

Leyla's first birthday is coming up in a MONTH! I can't believe it! I want to have a party for her, but I'm not sure how to go about things here in Honduras. I want her to have a cute little cake. So, I'm looking for ideas - thinking about making her one myself! I can buy all the supplies in the US when we go in two weeks, so that works out nicely. Here are some pictures of what I have found:

I like the idea of a cupcake-cake for her. Maybe not so many sprinkles...not sure if she could eat those with just her 2 front teeth.

Or just a polka-dot cake - that would be easiest to make. I don't know how to make a "1" though. My cake-carving skills aren't that great. I may try to put flowers on it.

I could do cupcakes for everyone else, or make a regular square cake. Not sure yet. If I made a big cake, it would definitely have "Happy Birthday Leyla" on it. and hers would have the number 1 candle. And LOTS of yummy icing. Maybe confetti cake? Pink strawberry icing? That would be fun. So I will need: decorative icing, candle, icing, I think 2 cake mixes, a small round pan, and special icing bags to ice with. I'm excited! Too bad it's a month away...

Breakfast in Marcala

Leyla loves fruit. She is going to be just like her daddy. One of the hotels in Marcala served us a free breakfast and gave us a ton of watermelon and papaya. I don't like either of those. So Leyla ate it for me!

 

Vacation Pictures

Here are some pictures from the trip. The weather in Marcala was nice and cool - 60s and 70s the whole time. So Leyla was all wrapped up :) This is the first time she has worn long sleeves and been aware of it - it was so cute, as soon as I put on her little sweater she just stared at her arms and felt her sleeves, wondering, what in the world is this on my arms?? Here she is standing up in the car after we finally made it. The other, I believe, is in Cabanas, where Marcos' mom and dad are from.

Here is Elvia and her home in Bailadero, a little farther than Cabanas (both are in the mountains about an hour from Marcala). Her little boy is almost a month older than Leyla. Poor thing was sick the whole time we were there :(

They taught me how to make real corn tortillas. Here I am grinding the cooked corn and then making it into masa. You simply grind it, mix it with water until it forms a dough, and then with the stone you flatten it out some more to make sure it's a good, smooth texture. Then you form them into tortillas!

This is the road we had to walk down to get to their house. The truck couldn't get down there. They lived on the side of a mountain.

These are a few pictures of the lovely road we took to get to Elvia's.

On Vacation

This whole week has been vacation for me. There are holidays every day...so no classes! Marcos had some friends in the mountains that wanted to go to La Paz, and were going to pay him, so, here we are on vacation in La Paz! Most of the families in the mountains where Marcos works (in Catacamas) have family in La Paz. Marcos's mom and dad are actually from there too, so he was excited to come and see it for the first time. We are staying in Marcala, a pretty nice sized town, a little smaller than Catacamas. Every day we have driven up to the mountains, to Cabanas (where his dad is from) and to a place caled Sabanetas, where Maria's sisters are living since their mom died.

I have pictures to put up but left the camera in the car, so those will come later. The roads up to Cabanas and Sabanetas are AWFUL! mud, mud, and more mud. It was good to see Elvia too, and all the other girls. Elvia's baby is 11 months now, and the poor thing is sick again. They taught me how to make real corn tortillas - I used the grinder to grind the corn, then the rock to smooth the masa, then I made the tortillas. I was proud of myself because they popped up in the middle :) and they were good. Everyone was laughing at me though during the process - I couldn't get the masa to stay right when I was mashing it on the rock. They thought I was hilarious.

Also, La Paz is really close to El Salvador so we decided to go! Ha ha ha...didn't realize it wasn't a LEGAL crossing. We got deported...haha. We crossed over fine but then there wasn't a customs on the other side, and nobody stamped our passports! So we were driving along and some military stopped us and searched our stuff, then a mile later, they stopped us again...But this time they searched everything, counted our money, everything - and called their boss and decided we had to turn around. He said it was because as a US citizen, without a stamp, they had no idea that I had entered the country - so I wasn't protected. It was for my protection. But when we turned around, the other military stopped us again and said we should have been able to go through. So who knows. But I think God was telling us it probably wasn't a good idea. So we turned around and drove back to Marcala!

In other news, Leyla stood on her own today! I mean, without me helping her at all! She was playing in the suitcase and has toothpaste in one hand and a comb in the other and obviously couldn't hold onto the suitcase! She just stood there and looked at me! For a good amount of time too. I'm waiting for her to do it again so I can count the seconds :) she did it twice. I was so mad the camera was in the car!! So, as soon as Marcos gets back...I will take more pictures and put them up!

So...here's another video

I have been taking so many pictures and videos lately! Leyla has been doing so many things lately it's hard to keep up. Here's a new one of her "walking:"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOX83azoxro

Oh, and side note: I didn't dress her. That was Maria.

One more thing! I finally took a better picture of her TEETH! not tooth, teeth! She has 2 perfect little teeth.

My precious baby is growing up!

It's amazing how quickly Leyla has grown! I was looking back at old videos and remember the first time she rolled over and how excited we were! and now she's moving all over the place, almost walking, talking, pointing, feeding herself...wow. Just a few days ago we noticed her shaking her head, too, saying no!

I'm reading my "What to Expect the First Year" and looking at the milestones for a 10 month old. It says by ten months Leyla should be able to:

1. stand holding onto something or someone (check!)
2. pull up to standing position from sitting (check!)
3. say "mama" or "dada" indiscriminately (check!)
4. play peekaboo (check!)
5. exchange back and forth gestures with you (check!)

She's got all of them! She will probably be able to:

1. get into a sitting position from stomach (check!)
2. play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye (check!)
3. pick up tiny object with thumb and finger (check!)
4. walk holding on to furniture (check!)
5. understand "no" but not always obey it (check!)

100% again! She's on perfect track. Now, of the more advanced milestones, she's still trying.
She may possibly be able to:

1. stand alone momentarily (check, as of yesterday, and for 3 seconds!)
2. say "dada" or "mama" discriminately (ok, not quite there yet - but she IS learning 2 languages)
3. point to something to get needs met (check!)

And she may even be able to:

1. indicate wants in ways other than crying (hmmm...she points to things? check)
2. "play ball" - roll ball back to you (she has played with a ball...check!)
3. drink from a cup independently (not yet :( still needs help)
4. pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger (check...she is pretty good with her fingers)
5. stand alone well (nope :( but give her a week!)
6. use immature jargoing (ha well, she ba ba pa pa goo gooes all the time...check!)
7. say one word other than "mama" or "dada" (nope...again, learning 2 languages!!)
8. respond to a one-step command with gestures (um, not sure - maybe, but probably coincidentally - we'll say no for now)
9. walk well (she walks really well! but not by herself :( so nope!)

But hey, out of 12 items, she's got 6! and those are the advanced ones! and I'm sure she'll hit at least the walking ones by the end of the month :) and she's doing everything it says she should be doing and has been doing it for a couple months now. I'd say she's a SMARTY!! :) :)

Yet even more videos of Leyla!

Here's the newest video of Leyla - walking!! But don't get too excited yet, she's still using a little help :P In this one, she's walking around in circles and giggling like it's the greatest thing in the world! Towards the end she lets go and stands for a few seconds BY HERSELF!! Go Leyla!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BohDuzwBC2Q

And, don't forget to visit my "Pictures of Leyla" page to see some of my new favorites :)

Drinking from mommy's water bottle!

New? Music

So, I haven't heard new music - well, new English music - in forever. I used to listen to music constantly, but now that I don't drive and listen to the radio, and don't watch music videos, not to mention the fact that I live in a Spanish-speaking country that doesn't play up-to-date music....

I actually happened to be watching a channel that I thought played Spanish music but at the time for some reason was playing a bunch of English songs I had never heard. I really liked this one, turns out it's from Twilight...ugh...nothing against Twilight...just don't want someone to think I'm a fanatic like everyone else...but I love the piano and how it turns into a rock song! and the lyrics are pretty poetic, too:

I was searching

You were on a mission
Then our hearts combined like
A neutron star collision
I have nothing left to lose

You took your time to choose
Then we told each other
With no trace of fear that...
Our love would be forever
And if we die
We die together
And lie, I said never
'Cause our love would be forever
The world is broken
Halo's fail to glisten
You try to make a difference
But no one wants to listen
Hail,
The preachers, fake and proud
Their doctrines will be cloud?
Then they'll dissipate
Like snowflakes in an ocean
Love is forever
And we'll die, we'll die together
And lie, I say never
'Cause our love could be forever
Now I've got nothing left to lose
You take your time to choose

I can tell you now without a trace of fear
That my love will be forever

and we'll die

we'll die together
Lie, I will never

'Cause our love will be forever

Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTvgnYGu9bg

Also, I saw the video for Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and like it a lot too - pretty catchy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fj2HVYlD_4

One more! and this one is in Spanish: Tu Amor Por Siempre, by Axel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMtBOR_U-pI

Almost walking...

Yesterday, I finally finished putting the child safety locks on the cabinets in the kitchen/dining room. It was so frustrating!! I'm afraid I have no patience. Every time I tried to screw one in, the screw fell on the floor...like 5 times. Or, I would get both pieces on and then shut the door and they wouldn't match up! Grrr...I was so tired and hot and sweaty too. I still have the drawers in her bedroom to do...then I'll be DONE!

On a happy note, Leyla was in a really sweet mood yesterday. She took a good nap in the morning and woke up talking, not crying! She was in a really good mood, you could tell she had slept well. We changed her diaper and took a bath and then played around the house. She's started walking on the wall now! She went to the cabinets, and surprise! they didn't open anymore! So she quickly lost interest in that! But she stayed standing and walked her way around the cabinet to the wall and to her bedroom! It was soooo cute. She was slowly making her way around, with ONE hand on the wall, moving one foot at a time...then she squatted down slowly to crawl and with her feet and hands on the ground and her butt in the air, off she went! I'm just waiting for the moment she walks on her own!!

Leyla's First Tooth!

Leyla got her first tooth right before turning 10 months old. It is the bottom left front tooth. Now you can see it better and the right one is starting to break through - I will try to get a better picture to post later!

More and More Videos

This video is of Leyla bathing. She has gotten to be extremely difficult to bathe! She wants to stand up constantly and refuses to sit down. It scares me because I'm afraid she'll slip!! She likes to pick up the bowl I use to pour water over her and throw it in the pila. Then she looks after it and says, "Ahha?" She throws her rubber ducky in the water too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiJdtTOVx1I

This one is of Leyla in the garden. She was standing by the flowers balancing and playing with a ball Maria was passing her. She tries to pick my flowers too! At one point she kind of stands alone, when she's in the process of switching her hands. After I took the video too, she stood by herself - I think she forgot that she was standing and let go with her hand to explore the flower she had with BOTH hands. For about 2 seconds she was standing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPhcoKvVlYo

Babies!

We had SO much fun last night - some friends invited us over for dinner and they all have babies! Mia is almost 2 and Aime is 11 months. They had so much fun playing together, and Leyla has never played with other babies! I really enjoyed watching them together. Leyla mostly stared at them - Aime was yelling and making lots of noise and crawling all over the place and Leyla didn't know what to think of her! She kept trying to bite/kiss Leyla too! and Leyla hit her! oops! and they all talked baby talk to each other. It was super cute. I hope we get to do it again!

My Flowers are Insane

Here's a picture of the flowers a few months ago, with Leyla in the stroller :)


Since then, they were attacked by something (ants, mold - not sure)and lost almost all their leaves. You could tell the plant was in distress, so we weeded really good and cut back the plant so it could start over - and this is what we found underneath!




If you think it looks like grass, think again - they are tiny, tiny, baby impatiens. How incredible is that? These flowers don't have seeds...I don't think...I have no idea how they grow like this. It's like they sprouted from the roots or something. They're insane.

Oh, and here's another one I found...


Yeah, that's right. That's the frame around our front door.

We have screen doors!

We had two screen doors made for the house. Marcos sanded them down really good and I stained them (3 coats), then we put on the hinges, hung them, and today we bought some springs for them so they stay closed. I think they look pretty nice!!





And here is yet another video of Leyla, this time climbing up the stairs in her Abuela's house:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQ1dptqYjI

New Pictures

Here are some pictures of Leyla. I like the ones of her eating because she's eating a banana and stuffed it in her mouth whole!

More Videos of Leyla!

Leyla playing at her bookshelf:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt47qlQYFb8

Leyla crawling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVg9xc2GSfo

Making really cute noises:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBaAS3jzcfc

Been awhile...

I haven't updated my blog in a long time! So here's what's going on right now.

Leyla has 1 tooth! Finally! It popped up last week - front bottom left :) it's super cute, and SHARP! She's eating big-girl table food now too. I made her chicken and rice and a yummy vegetable soup with all the Honduran non-veggie-veggies like yucca and pataste, plus carrots, potatoes, corn, and plaintains. It was a very hearty soup. I'm pretty proud of myself and all the cooking I can do and have learned living in Honduras :)

School is almost over for me - one more semester. CAN'T WAIT. Hopefully I can get another job then so I won't have to teach next year!! Marcos's company is looking at partnering with another small already established coffee company here, and I am hoping to do the accounting and adminstrative work for them :) I would really enjoy working with him, and I think it will help in general just being involved more and working together.

That's all the basic news. I'll add pictures next!