We were in the mountains of West Virginia far from any Target when the Missoni for Target madness happened.
Auntie K however was in Miami and was one of the people in line early in the morning and didn’t know what she had gotten herself into once those doors opened. lol
As always, she thought of Lily and grabbed her one of the cutest ponchos I have ever seen.
Thanks auntie K for Lily’s first poncho! (Missoni no less)
While in Beja we went to the public park every day.
I was so anxious to get Lily on a carriage ride because it was something I loved as a little girl.
Well, the pony finally showed up, Lily watched the other children go for a ride, she waited her turn and when I went to put her in the carriage, she said “no mommy, no!”.
I guess I will have to wait until next year when she will be a bit older.
Yesterday Lily was reunited with her cousins Sofia, Sebastiao, Luis and Kiko at my tia Tete’s house.
These are of course her second cousins or shall I say first cousins once removed? I always get confused how that goes.
Anyway, Sofia and Sebastiao are my first cousin Lena’s kids.
Luis and Kiko are my aunt’s kids.
We also met Constanca and Salvador (not pictured) for the first time who are my cousin Ze Maria’s kids. (I had not seen Ze Maria since I was a little girl…)
There were some other cousins missing and we wished they had been there but, the ones who were there get along great!
We have been back in Miami now since sunday and I finally know what it is about this place that drives me nuts.
Well, I kind of knew before but I have total confirmation now. It’s the weather!!!!
Miami’s weather kills me. Seriously.
After being in WV for a month and then coming back here to this heat, I feel so unmotivated and tired. I don’t want to do anything!
Before Lily came along, I was mostly at work in the a/c and even though I complained about the weather, it was nothing compared to how I could complain about it now from being out and about with Lily all the time.
I was so tired this week I didn’t even bother carrying my camera around. Here are some cell pics of Lily playing on Lincoln Rd.
I always heard it from other moms and didn’t believe it could happen this early but it has already started.
What Lily wants to wear and what she doesn’t want to wear.
On a regular day basis we are ok, she will easily let me put whatever on her without any care.
And then there are the other days.
The days when I go to put a certain dress on her and she throws a mini fit because she doesn’t want that dress.
In that case, I pull two others from the closet and she says “este” (this one in Portuguese) and she will happily let me dress her in the one she picked out.
What about the day I dressed her in the pink Sesame Street shirt with yellow shorts?
She happily said “pink, shirt, lellow”…. and then I went to put on her green Salt Water sandals and she threw a fit because she wanted pink shoes.
Pointing at her pink shirt she looked at me and said “pink. shoes. mommy. pink. shoes”.
Mind you she doesn’t have pink shoes.
The closest thing to pink shoes that she has are the brown and fuschia Soft Star sandals and she wanted nothing to do with those.
When other moms would tell me “wait until she wants to pick out her own clothes”, I always thought to myself “good luck to her, she will wear what I want her to wear”.
But now here I am.
With a not even 2 year old toddler who sometimes doesn’t feel like wearing what I want to put on her.
Being a big believer that fashion is art and a huge part of self expression, I have to only think that sometimes she wants to express herself differently from what I have in mind for her.
I have to remember all the times as a child when I hated what my mom put on me but didn’t have a choice. (there was no fighting with that mama)
My baby is growing up and part of that is finding her own individuality.
I will choose to encourage it rather than to fight it. 🙂
One thing I have learned about living here in Miami is that when it comes to shoes, Lily really doesn’t need more than 2 pairs at a time.
I overbought shoes in the first year (because I’m a bit of a shoe freak) but, I learned my lesson.
As many wonderful kids shoes as there are out there, there is no need to spend money where money shouldn’t be spent.
So, this Spring/Summer season, Lily has 2 pairs of sandals.
If you have been coming here for Small Style, you know that they are the green Salt Waters (the green was on sale for a great price and it just so happens to go with EVERYTHING!) and the brown and fuschia Soft Star Shoes.
And you know what?
When those get small, I will just get her the same brands in a different color or style because they are wonderful!
Lily rocked her green Salt Waters all week long! 🙂
Morgan at Mama loves Papa is the hostess to Small Style, go on over and link up!
I loved the line she did for Gapkids, it was a bit pricey but I did manage to grab the sweetest little dress for Lily on sale for $12.99. (the monday picture)
It’s labeled as a 3T but it’s obviously not.
It’s by far one of my favorite dresses that Lily has at the moment.
What are some of your favorite children designers? (even if you can’t afford them 😉 )