See you in our Blog #2

We reached our top of space for pictures in Picasa and rather than deleted posts or pictures, we moved to:

www.davidngianni-2004.blogspot.com

We'll be posting from there for now on, see you there :o)

Home & Ela (+ Darren is back)

Ela loves earrings and jewelry and knows where I keep mine (can't reach it yet), as well as my make-up (she can reach it but not open the drawer, yet). What she can reach and LOVES is reaching my dresses and skirts, even though my pants are easier to reach, and asks to put them on her... here is with one of her favorites


As her mama, she's not much of a morning person (jajajaja)
Still with the bottle (*sigh*), but just because she's been sick... in a couple of weeks it will be gone and our patience tested

One of her favorite people in the world is her beloved Wawa (Laura), my sister.

And her bubble baths


She loves to sit in this corner and make messes, read a book, rock herself, put her dolls to sleep...

Darren is visiting, we're SOOO HAPPY of having him back, specially since he might be moving to Zambia next year!!!
He's really sweet with Ela and although the were both shy with each other at the beginning, now they've bonded and they enjoy a lot time together

Ela and modeling her gloves-that-are-still-too-big-for-her

Her hair is very curly, but it goes down to her showlders when wet, I might be able to do girly stuff with it, but it doesn't last long

Loves her cashews by the way.



I thought if I tie her hair back she would leave it for a while, but didn't :o( She's like her parents, liking the natural, messy hair look


Our baby still loves to nap with us (and lasts longer when she does it)
Ela, smile for mami (David caught her after the smile)

It's been cool lately and Ela had fever for a couple of days, turned out to be one more tooth, however she got a bad cough and we had to wrap her in clothes against her will.

McKinneys Thanksgiving

One of my favorite US tradition is Thanksgiving and this is the first time we celebrate it in Costa Rica with our family and friends from there. Julie did most of the yummy cooking.

Ready to get wasted (not, this is non-alcoholic cider)

Ready for not letting Titi eat

You can see my pies in this shot: Apple (my specialty) and Pumpkin (my first time)

We were all starving (all day cooking), there was not much talking at the beggining. You can see us, Darren, Justin, Jaleh, Julie and the Hicks in this shot.

Our neighbors Bart and Garry came a bit later. Did you notice Ela is posing with Jaleh's scarf?

David had to work (he'll get his day off 'til next week)

Ela decided to cheer him up with a peacock feather tickle (titol-titol, like she says)


Later Andrea & Luis arrived, a bit late for the dinner but not enough for the food ;o)
Ela barely left Luis eat, she wanted his attention.

Ela, our girly girl diva

Ok, Ela is still a diva (we believe she'll ever be one)

Posing with her hat

And here with her hats and her babies with hats

Everytime she's wearing something I tell her is cute (or she believes it looks good or different on her) she asks for her daddy, she wants his approval. This time she allowed me to brush her hair.

Ela plays the harmonica, she asks for claps after she does it. When she plays her little xylophone/piano, she even blows kisses to the audience.





She refuses to be taken out of her car seat, because she wants us to leave her playing in the car, sometimes we let her.





"Ta-ta" is her favorite song, she took out the CD with this song and was dancing along with the radio.

She LOVES when we let her play with her brm-brm, she "changes" gears and honks the horn to annoy her daddy.

She founds her way to be silly at home

Her bimby, her love.

Marcus & Pachamama

Our friend Marcus from Florida (originally from Jamaica) came to visit, he wanted to check out a place called Pachamama in Guanacaste to decide if he's coming later to stay for a longer period of time. We hosted him for a couple of days and it was so nice to see him again, such a nice guy.

He bonded with Justin and they even went "hunting" (for girls) a couple of nights.

We went all the way to Nossara thinking Pachamama was there, but it was beyond Ostional, crossing 4 rivers and a couple of hours away from there (like 7 hrs total). We arrived and were told there was no dinner served that day, so we found a nice restaurant, Ela enjoyed there...

until she got her second black eye in her life and it wasn't pretty

You can see her boo-boo here in her left eye, we're back in our room.

The bed wasn't big enough for us, specially with the mosquito nest, but Ela had a nice sleep; except when the congos were making sounds.

Daddy too ;o)


David does all the driving ('cause he wants to, all the other three could have driven as well) and it was really tiring.


One of the people in charge gave him (us included, Justin was asleep 'til noon) of the place.

It was nice.
Luckily, Ela slept through most of the car time.

On the way back we found a restaurant with an amazing view.

Andrea & Luis got married :o)

Our dearest friends Andrea and Luis got married and we were so happy to be part of it and share this special moment with two people that truly love and respect each other, we were so happy (and more nervous than they were).

We didn't take many pictures, but here there are some of them... when the official ones come up, we'll share some more.

The wedding was held in Swiss Travel which is about 5 minutes away from our home, she got ready here (which made it more exciting). She looked stunning, and we're so sorry of not having taken shots of when she was ready (but we were way too excited)

Laurita also took care of my hair and Ela's, who would give us enough time for David to take a pic, but not to her to finish her hair.

She managed to do a beautiful thingie and this is the way she looked just before she left. She was the flower girl and her dress came with one (same design) for her doll.

She was a great flower girl, a bit in a rush (sorry, no pics yet) and she even posed for the pictures. Here at the reception with her mama.

The groom and the bride ready to eat (sorry, this is the best shot we got of the two of them :oS)

The McKinneys.

When the music started, Ela owned the dance floor (with the bride and Fiorella). Here with one of her favorite people: Kiki (Andrea's niece), Ela asked her to dance. Behind them, the concerned mami, scared that people would step on her.

Here with Fiorella (another of Andrea's nieces) who was dancing until 2:00 am

She was SO HAPPY!!!
She charmed the band as well

Suddenly, asked me to hold her up and fell sleep almost immediately in my arms. She stayed asleep until when her daddy took her home after midnight. We were ready for the carnival, but just I could enjoy it.

Ela didn't enjoy the carnival, but she did love the hat!

Ela, the artist

Fingerpainting is so much fun, messy fun (the best)





Can be yummy sometimes (thankful for non toxic paint)

Why the paper if we have our body as a canvas?

She's distracted by a plane at the beginning of the video

In case you cannot handle the mess, you have a severe case of OCD, it's not your house, you don't have time to clean or there was way too much art this week, I found this AWESOME products called ELMER'S, which are fun and no mess.



Ela is using the Go Paint product, we got her the Finger Paint one as well, but it's still to hard for her.


Later, she was the one that picked up: NOT, she just like to play with the mini-broom

Fund raiser

Our friends Jalil and Affy organized a fun raiser and I cooked and David performed, Tahirih sang a couple of songs with them, Dennis played the guitar, Egitan sang as well, Jordan played the base guitar, Jalil the percussions and Ela stole the show!!

She sang, danced played drums...


She got thirsty of all that activity


She loves Affy

Later at home

Justin's brother Jeramy was here for some days, we barely saw him 'cause they were doing tourism around, this is the day he left back to Missouri

More Ela, all is about her

Ela wants to eat by herself now, and although she's always been a good eater (not a surprise there), it's harder now that she insists to feed herself (from her plate or ours)


She loves babies and it's a serial kisser, here with Santiago (Navvab's baby)

Her "Bimby" ~ the way she calls her blankie ~ is something precious to her, she doesn't share it often, she carries it around (biting it?) and falls asleep rubbing a corner of it on her nose. This is not her official blanket, it was a beautiful purple one, but she preferred the black throws of our living room sofas for that matter and, well, now this is her security blanket and obsession.


Ela doesn't watch TV (except of Sasha's videos, she's the #1 fan), but has this tender spot for Elmo, whom she doesn't know except from a couple of books and a toy that she has since she's 6 months. If she sees one in a store she's got to have it, although we don't always please her with her demands, these sleepers were way too cute to resist: she LOVES them


Loves her showers and her bubbles

She found so funny that I did this with my her and towel after a shower, that she had to try it.


She's so funny
This is her baby, we wanted a dark baby and she did want a baby (such a girly girl), and loves the hats too.

Ready to go out, if it's at night, I gotta hold her hand or she cries, she's getting very scared lately


We attended a babyshower for Alejandra (Luis Dumani's wife) and although we didn't take many pictures, I got one of the two beautiful pregnant woman. Afshan who's due in January and Alejandra who's due anytime now.

... and he was born: Matías Dumani was born on November 17, a big healthy baby who blesses the Dumani family and joins his brother André and sisters Saret and Amanda.

Reflection gathering

We went as usual and Ela enjoys it more and more each time, although she's still too small to be in the Children classes.

For no reason she started (thankfully temporarily) to suck her thumb.


She was really friendly with her friend Gabriel (Jordan Hughes & Fiorella Cardenas' son)

This image will torture them in their teenage years, jajajaja

She loves to be with the guys... here with Egitan

And here with Gerald
Later her dear Luis put her to sleep, when he's around no one else exists

2 Brides, 1 Groom, 1 baby and 1 couple

David had to go to a training in Florida again, this time we decided to go with him since we could take advantage of two upcoming weddings: my friend Andrea in mid November (her fiancee had to go to Cincinnati during the same dates) and David's friend Jesse and Barbie in March.

Andrea traveled with us, here at the airport.


This was the first trip after Ela walks and we knew it was going to be challenging, she was waving and saying "Hi" or "Hola" to everybody and gave them her usual warm and kind smile

We didn't take many pictures, we were shopping... here with the two beautiful brides.

The big group after a looong day, finally having dinner. As you can see, Ela was rarely with David or me.

Rocking Barbie's hat
She loves Andrea, or like she calls her: Noni or "ota mama" (the other mom). But she also loves to fight with her.



Jesse & Barbie

Gianni & Andre

Training Jesse (jajaja), he's already trained, he has a nephew and a niece.

Ela dancing with no music.


We spent Halloween there and Ela was our monkey... dental hygene monkey

She agreed to wear the costume for about 5 minutes (here is not wearing the bottom part already)

When we went out, she refused to wear it. Here with Ali & Ilka (who came down to see us) in one of her group walks.

She eats her veggies whenever she wants, usually when someone besides her mommy or daddy gives them to her.

Ali & Ilka, a glimpse for the future (she's 8 months pregnant). Ela had the attention of public even without wearing a costume, she danced around and was silly.


A shot of Mrs Belly (Sierra McKinney's temporary's home)

Isn't Ilka glowing?

Lovely tíos
Ali is wearing glasses now, we thing it adds an intellectual air to his good looks. We love you guys!

Ela wanted to be with Andre, cute shot !


Disclaimer: we apologize to all our dear friends in Florida for not visiting or even calling, our trip was business/shopping and we were there only like 3 days. Til next time :o)

Ela all grown...

Whoever has met Ela would know that usually she has something to eat in her hand (if not, she might ask for or take away food from other people, knowing them or not). She likes to wear socks now.

Wearing mami's sleepers and pretending the TV remote control is the Wii one

Her beloved "Dutie" (her version of duckie), that we learned it's a children TV show character named Pablo - she doesn't watch TV so we still don't know about this stuff.

She loves to be in the kitchen and help me cook

Her beloved Luis and Andrea, she ADORES them!!!

Justin's friends Tomás and Maggie came to visit and Ela bonded with them, she's so social!!!

Mami is baking now, and this is her favorite part (this is banana cake)

She's always running around the house and just trying to charm everybody

LOVES my shoes, wearing them and trying to walk around the house. HATES any kind of clothing - even diapers -

Posing in my grandpa's house, there's a younger baby there so she has to be extra charming ;o)


The weather is so beautiful now, we could have fun in the yard. Dry season is starting (yeah baby!!!)

But the pool is getting small for her and her splashing needs


Playing with her friends, here with her swimming classes friend after the pool: Andrés and Mateo

Jumping with Sophie
Running around with Emma & Sophie

My friend Andrea bought her a big book of stickers, she loves playing with her

But she thinks stickers are for body art (she doesn't like them in paper)

Ela & lima beans

Ela is still only 16 months, but we can fit some 18 months activities for her to learn while she plays and here some pictures of one of her favorites: Lima beans


This idea came from a book that David's sister sent us about Montessori activities at home: thank you Aria, you're such a great mother we're copying you along the way ;o)

Papi's birthday surprise

We surprise my dad on his birthday at my grandma's house (where he has breakfast with some of his brothers and his mom every Sunday), all his kids arrived with some lunch and a birthday cake.

Cure for "mamitis"

Ela was going through this stage that she couldn't be happy unless she was held by me... and no matter how flattering and cute it was, it becomes really exhausting and stressing not being able to do much without hear her complaining and crying: "Mama, up... please!!!"

My friend Andrea moved back from Chile and usually spends the Tuesdays with us, we go (David, Ela, Andre and I) to the mall or something and later I get in the theater with her and David stays with Ela or goes back home with her. These couple of hours had made her bond with her daddy more than they're already and detach a bit from being with me ALL THE TIME.

At the beginning she was a bit upset with Andrea, but it didn't last long... they just love each other!!!

Here with her grandma, she goes over in the mornings with David.

Here with Afshan, whom she loves and loves her name as well (and she says it really clear). She only wanted her to read her books and rub her belly and say "baby".

She had a period where she didn't want to eat bananas anymore, so I made her a milkshake and
she likes them back ;o)
Yummy!!
After being so good, she decided she deserved a treat, so she went on, grabbed a chocolate truffle, peeled it and ate it in 10 seconds, this is when I realized what she did.

Her cousin Thea came to Alajuela to play (so did we) and she's so cute, she sings along and already let her mami know when she needs to go to the bathroom and she's 3 months younger than Ela!!!!

Using daddy's knee protectors.

My birthday...

David surprised me with my close friends and family with a birthday party in Ela's playhouse, after having a great breakfast in a restaurant nearby and I was a lot of fun!

Jaleh, Luis, Andrea, Laura, us and Julie

Adriana & Ricardo, Camila was running somewhere

Marcelo, Tomás & Myrian

My brother Max & my mom

My grandpas and my nephew Aldo

Ela was very upset because people wanted to hug me and well, I'm hers

Later we had a calm afternoon, although it was a Saturday, David had to work. Ela was happy eating cheerios.


Suddenly I couldn't hear her and I found her sitting on the corner of her room, in her rocking chair, eating more cheerios by herself!!!

It was a wonderful birthdays, and although I'm a little older, I still like to celebrate with the people I love that is available in the area ;o). Thank you all for the nice bday wishes.

4 years and counting

Today we're 4 years married and although it feels like yesterday, it also feels we've been together forever... This is our most precious gift, our 16 month old baby that has our hearts forever!!!

We started the day normally, going swimming with Ela. When we came back Julie (David's mom) generously had arranged a dozen yellow roses in our entrance, she's so sweet.

I was planning on having a romantic dinner at home, and David had arranged with his job to take some time during the night so we could have some dinner quiet time. Of course, someone had to be asleep, and cooking while she was awake was a big challenge

We managed to do it and when I could put her to sleep, I cleaned a part of the house and called David so he could come up and we could have dinner together.


When I was about to serve the desert, Ela was up calling for her mami and David had to go back to work; but we had some time to eat good food and toast for the rest of our lives together and be thankful for our good life, health and beautiful family.

A picture of our wedding day... October 3, 2004

Some time at home

Aldo and his parents came to visit, Ela was happy to take care of her little cousin and to be able to help, specially because he was smaller than she is!!! (He's a month and a half)


She liked to kiss him and she's so soft and caring, she'll be a great old sister when the time comes (not yet). She gets scared when he cries though.


She likes to put stuff (pretty much everything she can) on her head as a hat. Here with the swimming diapers.

She's so big now, she can swing by herself

She's eating by herself, she loves to grab the fork and eat her own food (or her mami's), she also loves mami's pancakes.

Looking at herself and modeling in front of the mirror is a plus

She's learning to jump, her favorite: the couch


Mami's girl, lately she doesn't let people grab her (neither David) or beware of getting close to me!!!

She can play with her beloved daddy though :o)

She's so cool

Ela, just Ela

Our diva doesn't take her sunglasses off

She's all smiles when she wants too

Girly girl like no other

Some of her "babies" (she calls thme like that)



Some of her moves here ;o)

Ela in the Playhouse with her friends

We decided to meet every Thursday with the prenatal classes friends to have playdates with our kids, Camila is the most regular (as well as Tomás who lives nearby but came after the pics were taken) and Ela and I are getting it in our routine and she loves it!!!

She likes to share a lot, she already recognizes Camila and although they don't play together all the time, they interact more everytime they see each other.

Mathías came with us, he loved it too!!!




The hula hoop is one of the things that attract her the most, she's still figuring out how to do it and I cannot help her on that one!!