This might be 'Esperanza overload' since I still have to blog about the birthday party. I really have to journal a few things about Esperanza though so I can look back in the future and reminisce. She's growing up so fast. I feel like everytime I blink, I miss something. Here's my Esperanza at 3 years old... 
~Her best friends include my best friend Val, her cousin Rafael, our neighbor girl Lili, Grandma's dog Daisy & Woody from Toy Story. It changes by the minute but Rafa is a constant and forever best friend.
~Though she had been potty 'learned' for several month, ever since the arival of her brother, she gradually started to need to wear diapers again. Now, she's in them full time! Aaarrrg! We'll be starting all over again sometime soon and I don't wanna talk about it.
~Esperanza loves stuffed animals. I'm not going to count them, but I'd guess she has over 60 stuffed animals. Half were gifted to her and the other half came from those 50 cent toy machines that are next to every grocery store entrance. Armando wins every time! Esperanza will sometimes start pulling each stuffed animal out of the chest and asking me where it came from. Amazingly, I know where most of them did come from, but there's quite a few that I have no clue how they got inside my house.
~She can count to 20 in English & Spanish but will never do it on command and always skips 4. I keep teasing her that we're going to have to skip her fourth birthday if she keeps skipping it while counting.
~She's still a very picky eater but does have her favorites which include blueberries, yogurt, trail mix, oatmeal & of course cake.
~She weighs about 28 pounds and is roughly 3 feet tall (give or take half an inch or so).
~Her shoe collection is out of control and consists of at least a dozen pairs of shoes which include: 1 pair snow boots, 1 pair rain boots, 1 pair salt water sandals, 1 pair of Keens, 2 pairs of fake crocs (different styles), a pair of light-up princes sneakers, a pair of shoes from Mexico, a pair of Adidas and a few other random pairs of shoes.
~Her favorite books to read at night before bed include any Clifford book, a book we have from the library called Tiger Trouble and a book we have called Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See.
~Anytime she get hurts, small or big, I can kiss her wherever it hurts and it's all better. If by chance that doesn't do the trick, I'll ask her if she wants some medicine and she perks up. Medicine can be anything from Arnica cream to Calms Forte tablets or even just a simple bandaid with Cookie Monster on it...she loves medicine!
~I think Esperanza might become a sleepwalker. My sister actually brought up the possiblity of it happening and I blew it off like there was no way. Then, the night before last, she sat up in bed a few different times. The first couple of times her eyes were closed. I laid her back down, thinking she was just restless but then, she sat up again and this time her eyes were open. Wide open. But no one was home. Best way to describe it, creee-py! I kept asking her questions and trying to wake her up but she wasn't respnsive, yet her eyes were open. Then I asked if she wanted some juice and she snapped out of it. I really think had I not been right there she would have gotten up and...well, who knows what she would have done.
~Though she had been potty 'learned' for several month, ever since the arival of her brother, she gradually started to need to wear diapers again. Now, she's in them full time! Aaarrrg! We'll be starting all over again sometime soon and I don't wanna talk about it.
~Esperanza loves stuffed animals. I'm not going to count them, but I'd guess she has over 60 stuffed animals. Half were gifted to her and the other half came from those 50 cent toy machines that are next to every grocery store entrance. Armando wins every time! Esperanza will sometimes start pulling each stuffed animal out of the chest and asking me where it came from. Amazingly, I know where most of them did come from, but there's quite a few that I have no clue how they got inside my house.
~She can count to 20 in English & Spanish but will never do it on command and always skips 4. I keep teasing her that we're going to have to skip her fourth birthday if she keeps skipping it while counting.
~She's still a very picky eater but does have her favorites which include blueberries, yogurt, trail mix, oatmeal & of course cake.
~She weighs about 28 pounds and is roughly 3 feet tall (give or take half an inch or so).
~Her shoe collection is out of control and consists of at least a dozen pairs of shoes which include: 1 pair snow boots, 1 pair rain boots, 1 pair salt water sandals, 1 pair of Keens, 2 pairs of fake crocs (different styles), a pair of light-up princes sneakers, a pair of shoes from Mexico, a pair of Adidas and a few other random pairs of shoes.
~Her favorite books to read at night before bed include any Clifford book, a book we have from the library called Tiger Trouble and a book we have called Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See.
~Anytime she get hurts, small or big, I can kiss her wherever it hurts and it's all better. If by chance that doesn't do the trick, I'll ask her if she wants some medicine and she perks up. Medicine can be anything from Arnica cream to Calms Forte tablets or even just a simple bandaid with Cookie Monster on it...she loves medicine!
~I think Esperanza might become a sleepwalker. My sister actually brought up the possiblity of it happening and I blew it off like there was no way. Then, the night before last, she sat up in bed a few different times. The first couple of times her eyes were closed. I laid her back down, thinking she was just restless but then, she sat up again and this time her eyes were open. Wide open. But no one was home. Best way to describe it, creee-py! I kept asking her questions and trying to wake her up but she wasn't respnsive, yet her eyes were open. Then I asked if she wanted some juice and she snapped out of it. I really think had I not been right there she would have gotten up and...well, who knows what she would have done.
~Anytime she goes to the park, all she wants to do is swing. We're are trying to teach her how to move her legs back and forth to get and keep herself going. She's learning but it doesn't compare to under-doggies or how high her dad will push her.
~When we're at home, she does anything and everything to take my attention off of her brother and onto herself. She is jealous. Extremely. The adjustment from being the baby to being a big sister will take some time. When we're out in public though, she's very protective over Ezra. If someone she doens't know very well is holding him, she gets upset. I suppose it could be just another way for the attention to get back on her, but I'd like to think it's because she's looking out for him.
~The concept of time is still beyond her. When we talk about past tense events or happenings, she always says it happened 'last night'. I say after her the correct time it happened so she knows that not everything occured the night before - this morning, yesterday, earlier, before, last year, when it was winter, a while ago, the other day, etc. She'll catch on.
~When we're at home, she does anything and everything to take my attention off of her brother and onto herself. She is jealous. Extremely. The adjustment from being the baby to being a big sister will take some time. When we're out in public though, she's very protective over Ezra. If someone she doens't know very well is holding him, she gets upset. I suppose it could be just another way for the attention to get back on her, but I'd like to think it's because she's looking out for him.
~The concept of time is still beyond her. When we talk about past tense events or happenings, she always says it happened 'last night'. I say after her the correct time it happened so she knows that not everything occured the night before - this morning, yesterday, earlier, before, last year, when it was winter, a while ago, the other day, etc. She'll catch on.
~She loves these snow boots a friend passed down to us recently. Snow boots and sun dresses, how appropriate since we get very little of either here in the NW.
We love you Esperanza!
We had a little birthday party for Esperanza on her birthday. Complete with blue cupcakes, candles, a happy birthday song and a couple of gifts. Esperanza has been asking for "Jessie" - the Toy Story movie character - for many, many months now. She has seen other little kids with her and of course watches the movie way too much. So, we gave in and got her Jessie. She's in love!
Shouldn't all you kids be picking berries instead of hanging out?
Sisters, and my nieces, Marissa & Jissel with Ezra
We finally made it to the river, on a hot day. We've had very few, and even farther in between hot days, this so called summer. After a long day at the Vancouver Farmers Market this past Saturday and then an exhausting trip to the store to get some things, we came home to a really hot house. We stayed just a moment to pack a few things then headed down to the Washougal River at Hathaway Park. So many childhood memories here! It's kind of exciting to know that my daughter will have memories of this place too. Here's our first, and hopefully not our last visit to the river this year...
Having way too much fun
Mary & Ezra
Cyndi & Roman
George is recovering well from this major surgery, yet he still has many other illnesses that he continues to struggle with on a daily basis. The title of this post came from my favorite Grandpa. Grandpa Al, who is a WWII Veteran, said this in an email to me recently in regards to George and the health issues he has had to live with since Vietnam...