This winter was full of family! We visited Seattle for Christmas, my mom's birthday and New Year's. When we returned to Catalonia in January, we met our new niece Mey. She is a wonderful gift for our family. We celebrated many, many birthdays between December - March: Kilian's mom, my mom, Mey's birth, Kilian's grandma, Kilian's grandpa celebrated his 80th with a big bash, cousin Nabil and cousin Leila, one of the little cousin's and Kilian's sister Alba, Kilian's uncle, and my birthday (and I hope I am not missing any). Here are some photos from this season.
Mr. Wendell Roc is now one year old! Roc started preschool in September and loves it. He gets to spend time out of the house, in a different an environment. He has five teeth with one more that has just broken the surface. He walks using a walker and stands sturdily. He is very friendly, smiles and says "hola" to almost everyone he sees passing by on the street. He loves watching pigeons, dogs and cats. He is very observant and curious. We are enjoying watching his personality develop. It's very lovely.
Happy birthday, Roc!
In March we moved to Terrassa from El Vendrell. We didn't really start settling until after we returned from the Holy Land in May. The move changed our daily routine quite a bit. I went from having daily support to managing a home on my own (obviously, my husband helps when he is not working) and taking care of Roc full time, right at a point where he became much more alert, aware and active. It has been an abrupt change - one which I hope to write at more length with time.
With May, came the end of the academic year and I had to wait to start many activities, making for a very long summer. Thankfully, now that fall is in full swing, I have started participating more in the life of society: Catalan classes, English language interchange, quilting classes, driver's ed, children's classes and study circles. This involvement has helped a lot in terms of emotional, social well-being. It's nice to slowly meet people, create bonds and friendships, and connect with the community in a variety of ways.
In July, my mom visited and we went to southern France. It was wonderful and beautiful. We visited Provence, in and around the Luberon/Vaucluse area during lavender blooming season. Some parts of the region are rich with ocher, and ocher mines, which we visited as well. The trip was really a feast for the senses - sights (blues, yellows, oranges, greens), smells (lavender, herbs, fruits), tastes (Provencal cuisine, fresh summer fruits like melon, cherries and yellow plums, gourmet ice creams), sounds (nature and quiet - we stayed in a rural area, nothing like not hearing sounds of a city) and textures (of the aforementioned). It was blissful and I long to go back.
We just returned home from a month in Seattle, visiting with family and friends. It was an amazing trip. I am already missing so many things from home: my mom and her home, the copious amounts of comfort food, the convenience culture (overnight grocery delivery, 6 hour dry-cleaning, Starbucks drive thru, Thai food delivery, ready-made food bar at Whole Foods), online shopping and shopping at Bellevue Square, Quiltworks Northwest and my sewing machine, our friends, etc. Here are a few of the highlights from Seattle:
We arrived in time to celebrate Christmas with my mom.
Meanwhile, my mom dressed up Roc as Santa Claus. She is radiant, overflowing with happiness that we were there.
We had an impromptu BWC reunion brunch at Cafe Flora on Madison. Good times with wonderful friends.
We supported the Seattle Seahawks during the playoffs. #12thman
The mandatory Starbucks run – in Seahawks gear for our 12¢ brewed coffee.
Our dear Tara flew in from New York. This is her meeting Roc.
We got to see the lovely Mona for the first time in a year and a half!
Kilian and I shared some quality time.
We visited with longtime friends from the Seattle Baha'i community. We saw many more and of course forgot to take photos. We missed out a number more because of time constraints.
Roc had play dates with his baby friends.
We took naps when necessary.
Roc's great-grandmother and great-grandfather visited too, it was so beautiful to see.
Roc's great-great-aunt Peggy had a lot of fun with him.
We saw Mount Rainier and finally had a family photo taken.
We went to the park when the weather allowed (Kerry Park on Queen Anne).
We celebrated my 28th birthday in style - brunch at Tilth Restaurant in Wallingford, a favorite of mine.
We had a house full of family and friends for my birthday dinner.
Yes, Roc is now three months old and every day more alert, more aware, more fun. He is taking less naps and loves interacting with people. It's fabulous that he has such a healthy social appetite but it requires a lot of energy to keep up. He's gotten into the habit of fall asleep while being carried but today I successfully got him down without being held—and it felt great! Little by little, day by day.
His three months old obligatory photo
In his second month of life, he took his first international flight and handled it remarkably well. He slept through most of it and we didn't have any major blowouts or anything so we felt more relaxed. When we arrived to the States, he experienced his first Christmas which was really fun for us all.
first Christmas with my mom
My mom prepared for our arrival by purchasing everything the baby would need for a month at her home: crib, bassinet, car seat, stroller, changing pad, blankets, baby bath tub, and loads of clothes. Most of these items she found heavily discounted at a consignment store which makes it even better. Having all these things on hand made traveling much easier since we were able to travel with less.
It took us some time to adjust to the time difference but my mom has not wasted a minute in teaching him how to rollover and crawl. He's getting stronger by the day and really enjoying tummy time now. He can hold his head up quite high and he is having so much fun looking around. He really can't wait to be able to move on his own.
look at this strong guy
This little guy is really growing quickly. He has mostly grown out of three month clothes—that happened almost a month ago—and we are trying to keep up. I'll need to weigh him to see how much weight he gained this month; he's sleeping now so I'm quickly scribbling down this post before it's too late. Here's a few more photos to enjoy:
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