Gigglebox

I love this age of 9 months. It is so much fun to watch her play. The cause and effect of things delight her. The rolling action of a toy sends her into a fit of giggles.

Fun in the Sun Part Deux

Isa has been gettin a lot of mileage out of her pool. We usually let her get in it about once or twice a week so that she could have some fun outdoors. Being in the water is probably about the only outdoorsy thing you can do in Florida at this time of year. It is so hot we usually wait till about 5 pm to bring her out so she doesn't get burned. Even then the weather is still pretty warm. She loves to splash the water with her hands.



It's so amusing to watch her play.She gets so excited even with just the ordinary hose. I place it nearby and turn it on to a light shower and she just goes to town.



I am so glad she isn't scared of the water.


Just watching her makes me reminisce about my childhood, swimming in the backyard pool with my brother and sisters. Subconsciously or not, I think we recreate the fun memories we had as kids. Is it a little selfish to think that she will enjoy the same things we did when we were younger? Or are most of the things that children like to do pretty universal. It's a little intimidating to think that what we are doing now for her will be her own childhood memories in the future. All the more to be mindful of creating lots of happy ones.

Seaworld

My mom and Emily were able to hitch a ride with my auntie Cely to come visit us so we thought this would be a great time to go take Isa to Seaworld. We've been on an aquarium kick ever since we got such a great reception from Isa with the one in Charleston. Erick managed to get a couple of free tickets from one his good friends (thank you) and I cancelled myself from work. What we did not realize was this was going to be the hottest day of the year!

Cooling off from the heat
Staying in the shade
Posing with auntie Emily
Stealing a kiss
playing with daddy

We were originally going to leave early and come back by noon before the florida sun reached its peak. Well we didn't arrive to the park till 11 am and we ended up staying till 5 pm. So much for the plan. It's been awhile since I've been to Seaworld and didn't realize that they really did not have that many indoor aquariums. We thought we could just go to all the indoor stuff so that we could keep Isa out of the heat but all they had was the Penguin Encounter and the Shark Tube.














Can you appreciate the similarities between species. It's funny, feathers or no feathers we are all alike.





We were wishing we could join the penguins that day
Cute little puffins



Penguins
Penguins
and more penguins!

In the Shark Tube!
Everything else was pretty much outdoors. They did have a cool aquarium in the Alladin gift shop that was built into the ceiling and the floor. There are fishies in the floor mommy!

Hey that's not mommy holding me
Can't you see I'm eating
The funnest part of the day was when my mom and Erick scored two large penguins for Isa. It was nice to see my mom so playful and competitive.
Isa cheering mommy onMommy helping Emily win something, anything

You have to win three games in a row in order to win the big prize. They both beat all the competition. That means that was six games they monopolized. I felt sorry for the other players. They never had a chance. My mom and Erick were pretty determined and they had the game all figured out.
The other players were just pawns to getting the big one. Oh well, my Isa got two penguins! I got over it pretty quickly. Of course we couldn't pass up a carousel ride. The fishes were so huge that I almost had to stand on tiptoe just to hold on to Isa. I don't know if it was the heat but Isa did not like this carousel as much. She wasn't shouting or gleefully screaming. It seemed like she couldn't wait to get off of it towards the end.Take the picture already!!
We finally decided to call it quits when Isa fell asleep on her father's shoulders.
But not before heading to the dolphin tank one more time. Erick wanted so badly to have her feed the dolphins but the line to feed was so long and the "free" side was so crowded. He manged to squeeze himself into a corner that was between the free side and the money side so that Isa could see one up close.
Flipper
We were able to snap a picture but could not really enjoy it because of the crowd. We made a mental note to come back when it wasn't so busy and hot. (For $5 more we were able to upgrade our pass to annual.) Once we arrived home, I was determined to cool Isa off in her kiddie pool. Emily couldn't resist and hopped in with her.

Yaya-yah!

Isa's Baptism

After much runaround from the priest at Immaculate Conception in SC, we finally got the okay to get her baptized. We chose to get her baptized in Charleston because both sets of grandparents and most of our closest friends were there. Before we could even schedule her, we had to register at a different church here and wait about 3 months since the church we were originally attending catered to tourist and did not have a parish (Father Frank did not believe there was such a thing as a church without a parish.) We both had to take time off of work to attend a baptism class which by the way Isa hated because she cried (loudly) throughout the entire thing. Since that was not enough for Father Frank, I also had to get the church to send him a letter that gave us permission to have our child baptized in SC. I guess it wasn't good enough that we had both been attending Immaculate since its conception and had even gotten married there. Steve the godfather also had to take a class which could only be taken on the first Saturday of every month. So a month before the baptism I finally got a date set for the fourth Saturday in July. There are only two times they do baptisms every month and that is on the second and fourth Saturday. We got the invitations sent to 20 of our closest friends and family and booked the restaurant Gullah Cuisine recommended by our good friend Steve for noon on Saturday. We wanted either seafood or low country but since my mom was now allergic to shellfish we went for the latter. I was shocked when I got a call around 9:30 pm at night at my in-laws by the church stating that because there was a funeral the baptism would have to be moved to noon. I was dumbfounded and did not realize I could argue with the church. I reluctantly accepted the new time. It now conflicted with our reservation. Erick ,of course, was irate and immediately got on the phone with Father Frank. They compromised on a new time for 1000 am. He then had to call everybody and inform them of the new schedule. Whew! I did not realize it was going to be this much work. I guess when Isa resents me later for baptizing her into the Catholic Church without her consent, I can tell her all of the trouble we went through. Luckily everything fell into place the day of and Isa became a child of God on July 28th 2007. Everybody was able to make it and witness her baptism.
I hope everybody knows how much we appreciated everybody being there. Isa took part in the whole ceremony without much of a peep except towards the end but quieted down again when the holy water was poured onto her forehead. The priest remarked that "she must love water."



There was a minor slipup in the ceremony when Steve thought he needed to help out Father Frank with the bib not knowing that the priest was intending for Jen, the godmother, to place it on Isa. We couldn't help but crack up at the dagger eyes Father Frank threw at Steve and his reaction.



After the ceremony, we were all able to make it to the restaurant which they had nicely set up for us despite the last minute change. All the guys sportin' the barong

The food was delicious but difficult to enjoy trying to watch Isa and mingling with everybody. My feet don't smell Ninong Steve!

The Lipata's

The Ventura's
The Escobar's
The Martinez
The Marshalls
Ninang Jen
Uncle Ricky and Auntie Donna
Mommy and Auntie Emily
The growing Pineda Clan

As always I felt "shortchanged" with the time we had to be with everybody and wished that we had more. I always seem to come away from these things feeling like I didn't get to talk to everybody. We then decided to go to my in-laws to open Isa's gifts and have dessert.
Isa's very first cross, thanks to her Auntie Rachel
Gabriel kept us entertained
Lovely book about God from Auntie Cher
Ninong Steve and Auntie Carla gives the best toys!
Cousin Gabriel says "Don't Cry Isa"
Cousin Gabriel feeding Isa
Beautiful ballerina frame with touching letter by Auntie Donna and Uncle Ricky

Everybody's present was way too generous but very much appreciated. We were really just wanting them to be there to celebrate her baptism. I was a little overwhelmed by what everybody gave Isa. Thank you everyone. I was touched most of all by the letter Donna wrote to Isa. "When you look back to your time as a baby and I hope that through pictures of your family you see what a true miracle you are to us and to the world. Always trust in God in good and bad times. He is the one who will carry you even when you feel that you are alone." Erick and I will cherish this letter and save it for Isa to read in the future so that she knows how much everyone loves her.