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April 18, 2010

I like to ride my bicycle

It took over an hour to figure out how to add air to the tires (the pump end – for which I cannot find a name – just wouldn’t fit into the valve), but we took Marina out with her bicycle for the first time today. She can still barely touch the ground.

March 28, 2010

Dos-Tres-Dos

No one would believe us, but we’ve captured it on video. It’s Marina’s version of One-Two-Three only it’s Two-Three-Two (in Spanish).

March 27, 2010

Marina turns DOS!

All she wanted to do was eat the cupcake, but instead MAMMA and PAPPA made her sit through 4 versions of Happy Birthday (English, Spanish, German and Serbian). In the end, Princess Marina had lots of fun and more than a healthy dose of refined sugar (carrot / orange, vanilla lemon and chocolate orange cupcakes) at her If You Give a Cat a Cupcake Party. And everybody knows what happens if you give a cat a cupcake… he might want some sprinkles to go with it.

February 08, 2010

Words of the week

  • aquí
  • este
  • eyes
  • nose

February 06, 2010

Rockin' out

A sunny windy Saturday at the Barceloneta. We nabbed an inside sea-side table for our regular Buenas Migas Saturday desayuno which led to some creative “rocking out” to the 80’s music inside.

January 20, 2010

Words of the week

  • snow
  • ave
  • abeja

January 09, 2010

Word of the week

The word of the week is allá – the place where mamá and papá need to high-tail, so that Marina can do her thing SOLA. In the video she says ciao, her other fav word!

January 04, 2010

Word of the week

yeah (yes)

May 29, 2009

Gram and Gramps

My mom and dad, A.K.A. Gram and Gramps, came to spend a week and a half with Marina and a week in Tuscany. Marina thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them -- playing with the things in Gram's purse, going to the zoo, playing at the beach, etc. etc. I think the photos (sorry there's so many) are pretty self-explanatory and sum up the visit quite nicely.

May 09, 2009

Mastering the spoon

OK, this is really just for true fans of Marina, 'cus to anyone else this might be a totally boring video. It's significant, though, because as soon as she gets this down, it's one less thing we have to do for her and one more thing she can do on her own.

May 08, 2009

Marina in the morning

I took this video with our new camera just after Marina finished her breakfast. There's just something about her this morning that strikes my funny bone. Make sure to play it in HD and in full-screen mode!

April 25, 2009

Que bueno!

Every once in a while Flavia snaps some photos of Marina at lunch time. In this photo she's outside on our balcony overlooking Plaça Letamendi eating asparagus, pea, green onion, and goat cheese pizza. It's also one of the few times she didn't immediately pull of her sun hat.

April 23, 2009

Bath time!

It's been a while since posting any bath photos, so here you are. This time we made it a bubble bath -- which is just all the more fun!

March 30, 2009

Learning some Japanese

美咲ちゃん(Misaki-chan) having fun with one of her birthday gifts from Japan. For each animal in the book, there's a button that plays the animal's sound. Her favorite, as in the real world, is the dog (inu).

Learning some Japanese

美咲ちゃん(Misaki-chan) having fun with one of her birthday gifts from Japan. For each animal in the book, there's a button that plays the animal's sound. Her favorite, as in the real world, is the dog (inu).

March 28, 2009

"Feliz Cumpleaños"

Whoah! Flame accompanied by song?!!???!?

Marina's first birthday party

I hope it's ok with Raquel, but below I'm pasting her response to Gina's mom's request for a report on how the party went:

"Marina estaba PRECIOSA y creo que se divirtió mucho. Estaba con vuestro vestido... parecía una princesa. Al principio, creo que se veía rara, pero luego se lo tocaba, se daba una vuelta... (como una princesa, vamos). Eso sí, no se lo podrá poner mucho porque le queda justo para ahora, y con lo que crece... Al principio se extrañó de que hubiese tanta gente, pero luego creo que se lo pasó muy bien. Había bastantes niños: unos cuatro o cinco y casi todos pequeñitos. Con los gorros, los "matasuegras" (no me imagino como es en inglés "son los que soplas y se estira"), los dulces... miró la vela con cara de "qué es esto" y creo que pensó lo mismo con el "cumpleaños feliz"...pero... le llegó la hora de comer y volvió a ser la "princesa más feliz del planeta" (come estupendamente bien). Gina y Tyler, seguro que tienen un montón de trabajo hoy. Éramos bastantes y no sé a qué hora se irían todos... Seguro que enseguida os envían fotos. Fue todo muy bien y seguro que a "la princesa de la casa" le hubiera gustado que estuvieran sus abuelos... pero, otra vez será."

Thanks to Gina's mom, Marina DID very much act the part of a princess/hostess greeting everyone at the door and making everyone feel at home. She enjoyed very much every minute of the party and was sad when it was all over. The only thing she couldn't quite figure out was why there was a burning stick in a cupcake in front of her while everyone sang a song to her.

March 26, 2009

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Marina's first birthday by having cake and chocolate at Sampaka. Qué divertido! And what a mess!

March 25, 2009

O-bento basu

美咲ちゃんは菜食主義なのにえびフライチャンが大好きです!

February 08, 2009

A typical weekend with Marina

A morning on the Barceloneta - breakfast at Buenas Migas and exploring on foot - followed by an afternoon nap and an afternoon pretending to make pasta. Sunday afternoon in the park downstairs (this was her first time on a playground) followed by a coffee at Starbucks. Why Starbucks? Because it's a nice clean smoke-free cafe where she can walk around freely and the staff there just adore her. She loved the balloon they gave her, but we were a little afraid she might pop it.

February 03, 2009

Marina update

It's teething time again, so it's back to putting anything and everything in her mouth. The top two teeth are erupting this time.

January 27, 2009

Marina goes further

In just a couple short weeks, Marina has gone from being all about crawling to being all about walking!

January 24, 2009

Thank you Tia Marisa!

Marisa's Christmas gifts for Marina included this adorable jacket from Peru. It was an (almost) instant hit -- Marina doesn't like to wear jackets or hats or mittens inside :)

January 21, 2009

Afternoon tea with the group of "mamis" and "bebes"

The moms made a kind exception and allowed me into their exclusive club -- I was the only father amongst the crowd of moms and babies this afternoon. It was a giant reunion of sorts, with tea, chocolate, juice, pastries, etc. Marina is one of the older ones with only a few kids older than her. She would not sit still for the group photo on the sofa, preferring to run around with other kids' toys instead.

January 20, 2009

Watching the inauguration speech

"Hurry up and finish, President Obama, I'm ready for bed!" Marina has been waiting for this day her entire life, but all she hears is "blah blah hope over fear blah blah unity of purpose blah blah worn-out dogmas blah blah happiness blah blah blah..."

January 17, 2009

Hanging with Mar(t)ina

She and Martina are definitely a lot more interactive now that they're almost 10 months old. For now, I'd say Marina's still got the upper hand, but who knows for how long...

January 15, 2009

Marina is already walking

She must take after her daddy, who also started walking when he was 9 months old. This has been an exciting week with Marina taking her first steps unassisted! For a while she has been standing up and walking around while holding on to furniture, but then about 3-4 weeks ago she started to stand on her own. On Saturday, she started by taking a couple steps, on Tuesday she took about 13-14 steps, yesterday Gina counted 38 (OK, it's time to stop counting:), and now she's able to practically cross a whole room on her own!

January 10, 2009

Marina enjoys the Very Hungry Caterpillar (in more ways than one)

Every night right before bed, I read Marina a short story. Sometimes she really gets into it -- for example, while reading "The Very Hungry Caterpiller" she even bit off a corner of the last page...

January 06, 2009

Last day with Valeria

Today was Marina's last day with Valeria, Flavia's friend who baby-sat Marina for a month while Flavia was in Argentina. Thank you, Valeria!

December 19, 2008

Opening more Christmas presents

Marina continues to open Christmas presents. She seems to enjoy the wrapping paper and tags more than anything. Her favorite presents include the plastic case that the soft blocks came in, her pink ball as well as Biscuit's Pat and Play Christmas book.

December 01, 2008

Mona

So cute in her new monkey pajamas! By the way, the common use of "mona" in Spanish is to mean cute, but mono also means monkey. I couldn't think of a more fitting description for this photo :0

November 25, 2008

"Bah bah bah"

Marina has been adding to her repertoire -- this week it's "bah."

November 24, 2008

Shoelaces

A new favorite of Marina's: shoelaces! She's getting pretty good at untying them. Now we just need to teach her how to tie her own laces:-)

November 21, 2008

Flavia

Flavia has been taking care of Marina during the day while Gina and I go to work. She's been fantastic and Marina likes her a lot! It occurred to me that we had no photos of them together, so here are some shots I took right before Flavia went back to Argentina. We look forward to her return in January.

November 16, 2008

Marina begins to babble

Just last night all of a sudden Marina started babbling (I guess they call it "canonical babbling"), saying "doo doo","dah dah", "goo goog", "boo boo", etc. Anyway, listen for yourself -- I caught her on video today as she was exploring our bedroom furniture.

November 08, 2008

Pots and pans

Anything can be a toy. Marina is making her parents proud by showing an early interest in cooking.

October 29, 2008

Upwardly mobile

We have liftoff! In addition to crawling around, Marina has added a third dimension to her exploratory excursions. She is now trying to climb anything and everything.

October 12, 2008

Marina

Yet another Marina fix. She is undergoing a growth spurt, so some new clothes are in order. It's getting chillier now, making the furry pink jacket her new fav!

October 04, 2008

Marina and Martina

Marina and Martina are beginning to interact a bit more. Aren't they adorable?

September 26, 2008

Mobile Marina

At just six months, she's getting places! No more leaving her by herself for even a minute. While she's not truly crawling yet, she pulls herself forward with her forearms.

September 25, 2008

Marina's first veggies

Sweet potato! Even better than the rice cereal. Love the Baby Bjorn bib - it catches everything!

September 22, 2008

Marina's first papilla

Introducing solid foods at 6 months -- rice cereal! She actually didn't hate it. A little messy but no problem.

September 21, 2008

Marina before trying out daycare

We're not that excited about it, but Marina's headed to daycare tomorrow for a few hours each day this week before Gina goes back to work next week. We'll see how she does... hopefully she doesn't hate it.

August 26, 2008

Martina and Marina hanging out

Martina and Marina

Just a lazy afternoon in our apartment. Gina snapped these photos of Marina and Martina and Martina and her mom Emilia. I personally like the shot of Marina with her feet in the air -- clearly her feet are more interesting at this point than playing with Martina...

August 09, 2008

Marina

Marina and Gina

Another Buenas Migas moment.

August 02, 2008

Buenas Migas

Marina and Mommy

We're continuing our breakfast routine at Buenas Migas. I just had to post these photos. In fact, we'll be posting photos fairly regularly even when we have no "news" to report.

July 06, 2008

Marina tries out the new floor gym

We owe a huge thank you to Tyler's office mates, who gave us the tropical island themed floor gym! Marina loves it.

July 04, 2008

The Fourth of July

How patriotic! Yes, she is American!

June 29, 2008

Sophie the giraffe

Thank you Alder and Ruth for introducing Marina to Sophie. You should see how she just loves to gnaw on her and wave her around. I guess Sophie's withstood the abuse of many a baby over the decades since she was introduced in France, and we gather from our recent trip to Provence that she's still famously popular there.

June 01, 2008

Tia Marisa pays a visit

Marisa and Marina

Favorite aunt (only aunt) Tía Marisa came to share the love with her new niece in early June. She and Gina spent 10 days walking and eating and playing in Barcelona. There was some drinking too, but not as much as a breastfeeding mom might have liked. Marisa took over the late afternoon fussy shift; she particularly enjoyed Marina’s morning stretch IN PERSON.

May 09, 2008

Marina's Second Month

marina

We're getting out more with Marina. To the sea. To the mountains. Up Diagonal. She is very content being wheeled around in the Babyjogger or MaxiTaxi or just carried in the BabyBjorn or sling. This is also the month of smiles!

Continue reading "Marina's Second Month" »

April 25, 2008

Marina's First Month

marina

Gina's parents (hereafter to be referred to as Nonni and Nonno) came to Barcelona to spend about three of Marina's first four weeks with us. We are so grateful for their help and advice, the time they spent soothing and playing with Marina, and their babysitting while Gina and I could go out for brief walks to the sea or Tibidabo.  

March 26, 2008

Welcome, Marina Misaki Alioto!

marina

After a mere 5 hours of labor and no epidural, Marina Misaki Alioto (click here for more photos of ME!) was born at 7:05 am on March 26, 2008. Marina is named for her mami and papi's love affair with 2 beautiful port cities, for her great grandfather's years as a fisherman in one of those cities and for her sister who happens to have their favorite first name. Marina is pronounced the same way in English, Spanish, Catalan and Japanese. Her second name means "beautiful bloom or blossom" and originates from the myriad suggestions from Japanese family and friends in their second home… Kyoto.