¡Feliz Navidad y próspero 2009!

Querida familia y amigos:

Con el año llegando a su fin, los queremos saludar para desearles que tengan unas felices fiestas y que en el nuevo año se materialicen sus deseos y esperanzas.

Hemos tenido un 2008 lleno de eventos. Resumirlos aquí es prácticamente imposible, pero nuestra visita a Argentina a comienzo de año, una reunión familiar en California y el viaje a Bruselas y París nos mantuvieron ocupados la primera parte del año.

Karen volvió al trabajo después de un año de licencia por maternidad. Con el viaje a París y Bruselas, Karen cumplió uno de sus sueños de visitar esa parte de Europa. Inspirada en gran parte por este viaje, Karen sigue preparándose para confeccionar chocolates (bombones, trufas, etc.). En enero, comenzará un curso, patrocinado por la University of British Columbia de Vancouver, para obtener certificación como chocolatier.

Lucas continúa en el programa del doctorado en ciencia política. Recientemente, Lucas fue nombrado "titular" (los títulos son diferentes en Canadá) de cátedra para el primer semestre del año. Ésta ha sido muy buena noticia porque es la primer oportunidad para dar un curso... ¡de 120 estudiantes! Para el mes de enero, Lucas fue invitado para participar en un simposio en la ciudad de Toronto.

Melina cumplió un año en marzo, pero en estos meses ya cambiado muchísimo. Es increíble pensar que en unos pocos meses ya cumplirá sus dos años. Cumplir un año significó para Melina tener que empezar a ir a guardería una vez que Karen regresó al trabajo. En su guardería actual, Melina es una de las "favoritas" de las maestras y también de los compañeritos que la vienen a recibir cada mañana cuando llega al aula. En casa le hablamos en los dos idiomas y a esta altura responde a ambos. Melina comenzó a "hablar" y ya se le escucha decir palabras como "uno, dos y tres", "one, two and three", "op" (open), "up" (arriba), y otras más.

Este es un breve resumen del año que pasó y de las expectativas para el 2009. Esperamos que se encuentren muy bien y les deseamos lo mejor para el año que comienza.

Con cariño,

Lucas, Karen & Melina

Halloween 2008

We went to Ottawa to visit our friends Christina and Réal during the Haloween 2008 weekend. Melina had so much fun and we enjoyed the experience of bringing Melina for "trick or treat." Melina, wearing a cat custome, got the hang out of trick-or-treating very quickly. The good part is that she does not know what she was getting. When she learns that that was candy should would probably start claiming it back! 

Melina, flower girl

This post comes after a long time. I guess we were enjoying the summer too much! Last weekend (Saturday, September 20th) we went to Windsor, to celebrate Christina & Real's wedding. Melina was one of the flower girls. Karen was one of the bride's maids.

For more pictures, click here.

Ha pasado mucho tiempo desde la última vez que escribimos algo en este blog. Ya estamos en pleno otoño y el verano pasó volando. El sábado pasado (2o/09) fuimos a Windsor con motivo de la boda de Christina y Real. Melina llevó flores en la iglesia y Karen fue una de las madrinas de la novia.

Para ver más fotos, hagan click aquí.

California Trip - May 2008

Our trip to California. We visited Los Angeles for the Santiago Family Reunion 2008. We had a lot of fun seeing relatives again, dancing, a picnic and a visit to the beach in Santa Monica.

After Los Angeles, we went to San Diego. Lucas was presenting at a Conference held at the University of California in San Diego.

During our trip to California, Melina started to walk longer distances and getting better at holding her balance.

For more pictures of our trip, click here.




Nuestro viaje a California. Acabamos de regresar de nuestro viaje al estado de California, en Estados Unidos. Primero fuimos a Los Angeles, porque allí celebramos un encuentro de la familia Santiago. Durante nuestra estadía en Los Angeles, visitamos Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica (playa), y otras partes de la zona.





Luego de Los Angeles, fuimos a San Diego, a un par de horas al sur de Los Angeles. Allí, Lucas presentaba en una Conferencia de la Universidad de California en San Diego.





Durante nuestro viaje a California, Melina siguió aprendiendo a caminar y a mantenerse en pie por más tiempo.

Para ver más fotos de nuestro viaje, hagan click aquí.

Melina's first steps!

Melina took her first steps yesterday. Lucas was the one to see it first as Karen was upstairs in the bedroom. But Melina was eager to show us her new skill. She gets so excited that her upper body tends to lean forward before her steps. But with practice I’m sure she’ll get used to it. Here is the video we took right after her first steps. She can take at least five steps in a row!

¡Ayer, Melina dio sus primeros pasos! Mientras Karen estaba en el dormitorio, Melina dio sus primeros pasos hacia su papá. Melina estaba tan contenta que no quería parar de intentar, aunque todavía no logró equilibrio total. Aún le falta un poco de práctica, pero por ahora, dio sus primeros cinco pasitos seguidos.

Andre & Melina turn 1 - Windsor Party

Andre and Melina had a lovely birthday party in Windsor last Saturday. Lolo and Lola, titos, titas and proud parents were helping out to make this party an unforgettable event. Delicious filipino dishes were featured, including a Halo-Halo station! Melina and Andre had a good time and so did the other children present. While for the babies eating the frosting of the birthday cake was so much fun, the toddles had a good time with the piñata.

Thank you so much for the presents!

To enjoy more pictures, http://dropshots.com/Melina_is_One

Andre y Melina festejaron su primer cumpleaños en Windsor el sábado. Lola y Lola, tíos y tías, y padres ayudaron para que esta fiesta sea inolvidable. En la fiesta se sirvieron deliciosos platos de la cocina filipina, incluyendo una estación de Halo-Halo, famoso postre de Filipinas. Melina y Andre se divirtieron mucho, al igual que los otros chicos presentes. Mientras los bebés se entretuvieron comiendo y jugando con la cobertura de la torta, los más grandecitos la pasaron muy bien golpeando la piñata.

¡Muchísimas gracias por los regalos!

Para ver más fotos, http://dropshots.com/Melina_is_One

Melina's first report card - El primer día de Melina con su niñera

A day after her birthday, Melina went to spend a few hours at her daycare. Mom and dad were not feeling as sad as they thought. Melina had a good day and since she is not usually shy with people, she did not have any problem. She even had all the food offered to her for lunch!

Un día después de su cumpleaños, Melina pasó unas horas en la casa de su nueva niñera. Mamá y papá se quedaron tranquilos, al saber que Melina generalmente no tiene problemas con gente que apenas conoce. Lo más gracioso, es que comió todo el almuerzo. Al parecer, no es tímida cuando llega la hora de comer.

Melina is 1 year old - London party

Melina is one year old. What a year! Melina has changed our lives so much and we are so happy she gave us an amazing year. We witnessed how much she changed over these past months and we cannot believe how fast time went by.

We celebrated Melina's birthday in London last Saturday. Melina's actual birthday was yesterday (March 31st). We wanted to make sure we could share this moment with Melina's playmates and our friends from London. The babies and toddlers in the party had so much fun. Melina loved eating - and playing with - her cake that Karen made especially for her and the other babies to enjoy. As you can see in the picture, cousin Andre had a good time with the cake too.

Melina cumple un año. ¡Qué año hemos tenido! El tiempo se pasó volando. El nacimiento de Melina nos ha cambiado la vida, y para bien, claro. Es que Melina nos traido tanto este año que pasó. Es increíble ver cómo ha cambiado y crecido desde que nació.

Este sábado que pasó le celebramos el cumpleaños aquí en London. El cumpleaños de Melina fue ayer lunes 31 de marzo. Para la fiestita invitamos a sus amiguitos de London y a nuestras amistades para compartir este momento tan especial. Los bebés y chicos que vinieron a la fiesta la pasaron muy bien. A Melina le encantó jugar con la torta que Karen le preparó especialmente para ella y los otros bebés. Como pueden ver en la foto, Andre también se divirtió con la torta.

Melina "reads" - Melina "lee"

We wanted to shared this short video we took of Melina today. She really love books (we wonder why) and she is becoming very interactive with them. Sometimes she would be very hyper but she would calm down when we sit her on our lap to read her a story (in English or Spanish). In this video, she is "reading" a book we got in Argentina.

Queriamos compartir con ustedes este video de melina. A Melina le gustan mucho los libros y cada vez juega mas con ellos. Hay veces incluso que la calmamos, sentandola con nostros y leyendole una historia, en ingles o castellano. En este video, esta leyendo el libro "Bubba y sus sentidos" que le compramos en Cordoba en este ultimo viaje a Argentina.

Melina is 11 months old - Melina cumple 11 meses

Melina is 11 months old. We wanted to do this long time ago when Melina actually turned 11 months but for different reasons we just did it today. We decided to use green colours to reflect St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Melina has grown so much in these past month. She has six teeth (two at the bottom and four on top) so it is becoming much easier for her to chew her food. She loves having bread (baguette style) especially if we add a little bit of butter on it.


Melina cumple 11 meses. El tiempo ha pasado volando y ya Melina está por cumplir un año. Disfruten estas fotos que le sacamos hoy, celebrando sus 11 meses. Desde el viaje a Argentina, Melina se ha adaptado nuevamente a nuestra rutina en Canada. En unos dias, estaremos celebrando su primer cumple.

"It's peanut butter jelly time"

Melina was introduced to the song "Peanut butter jelly time" when we were in Argentina. Since then, she loves dancing when we play it. Usually, Karen plays the song in the morning when Melina wakes up. She dances in the crib for a while and then she is ready to start the day.





Melina escuchó el tema "Peanut butter jelly time" cuando visitamos Argentina. Desde ese momento, baila cada vez que escucha esta música por You Tube. Generalmente, Karen pone la canción a la mañana cuando Melina se despierta. Así, Melina empieza el día bailando en la cuna.

Visit to Argentina coming to an end

We had an awesome stay in Argentina this past month. Melina has learned so many things this month and she was so good with her family. She is standing up by herself and she loves going for "walks" with people as long as somebody helps her with both hands. She can also wave hello and goodbye or "hola" and "chau". She learned to move her hands with a Spanish song "Qué linda manito" or "What a pretty hand".

Melina also adapted very well to a new schedule she was not used to. In the beginning she had a hard time to go to sleep in a new crib but her sleeping improved considerably. Her eating habits also changed a little. She was introduced to a few new things, such as pasta a la beurre.

Despite all these minor changes, Melina's biggest thing was to be surrounded by a lot of people. She was a "social baby" at all times and she enjoyed playing with family and friends of Argentina.

We are coming back to Canada in three days and we know we will be missing not only the summer but also our family that showed us so much love.

Melina is 10 months old!

Today is Melina's 10 month birthday. As listed in the previous post, she is learning new skills rapidly. We are practising how to walk, although she crosses one foot in front of the other. We say she's doing the "model" walk. Today she learned how to stretch her arm and open and close her hand to say "bye-bye" and "ciao-ciao". From what we learned in a communication class for infants, if we want to help her learn sign language, we must always use the action with the word. In this case, we will try to incorporate both English and Spanish. She seemed to understand that "bye" and "ciao" means the same thing.

It is unbelievable that Melina is 10 months old already. The months have passed so fast. In two months, she will already be one year old! We certainly appreciate each day Karen has on maternity leave. She is going to miss her very much when she has to go back to work. But Lucas will get to spend more time with Melina. Day care is still uncertain as we are on numerous waiting lists. Lucas might have to juggle doing his work at home to take care of Melina until we can secure a spot for a day care or home care for her.

Now, we are enjoying our time in Argentina. Not a week has passed and she has met so many people. She is such an entertainer. Always smiling and "dadada" to every person she meets.

Trip to Argentina - Viaje a Argentina

Hi everyone. We're in sunny Argentina visiting Lucas's family for the month. We had kept the date of arrival secret for his mom to surprise her for her birthday. It was planned that Lucas's parents go on a weekend getaway so that we have a chance to arrive in Argentina and get ready for the surprise. When we knew they were at the door, we hid and left Melina to sit in the hallway in front of the door. Can you imagine her expression to open the door and see her first grandchild just waiting for her! It was a happy moment for all.

We have seen many visitors in the past few days wishing Cristina a Happy Birthday and also meeting Melina. Melina has adapted so well to the environment and enjoys seeing and meeting people. She smiles so quickly and even claps in excitement for all the people. Who would've thought that we had such a sociable baby?

She is also learning new things. We had mentioned that she's been crawling, and she can sit on her own. Now she knows how to sit up from a lying down position, she likes to say the words "da-tah" and "Brrrp!". As well, she just learned to wave a little. All these things in a course of a week.

She has adjusted to the different foods here. She started eating finger foods last week and although the vegetables are similar, they do taste a little different. But she is still hungry as ever and growing so much! I don't know. It looks to me that she has grown this past month more than ever before.

It's a good feeling to be here. She has met her grandmother, her great-grandmother, and her great-great-grandmother. Five generations! Unbelievable.

That's all for now. We hope to post more during our stay in Argentina.

Melina and Cupcake

Melina went to her first 1st birthday party. Her friend Jordan had a playdate at Adventures in Wonderland, a big huge playground. For infants under 1, it's free. It was our first time checking it out. There were a lot of people on a Sunday.

Since outside food was not permitted, Jordan's mom gave us some cupcakes when we were leaving. We "hid" them at Melina's feet, and covered them with a blanket. We went next door to Angelo's, a larger version of Paesano's for coffee. It was bitterly cold so we covered Melina in her stroller. We were in the shop for a few minutes browsing around and didn't hear a peep from her. We assumed she was asleep after all the playing. So Lucas went to check on her...

Well, you can see the pictures and figure it out! We didn't even hear her eating the cupcake and the icing was all over her cheeks, her coat, and Senor Rana (Mr. Frog). After a taste of sugar, she had no afternoon nap at all! She finally crashed in the evening. After all we are trying to do to prevent a sugar-laden diet, it was ruined in one fell swoop. :)




Melina y "pirotín"

Melina tuvo su primera fiesta de cumpleaños. Su amiguito Jorgan celebró el acontecimiento en un parque de diversiones para niños de todas las edades. Para bebés menores de un año, la entrada es gratuita y esta fue la primera vez que llevamos a Melina allí. Al ser domingo, había muchísima gente: muchos bebés para jugar!

Traer comida de afuera no está permitido, así es que la mamá de Jordan nos dio unos pirotines que tenía en el momento en que nos íbamos. Los "escondimos" en el asiento de Melina, cerca de sus pies, y los cubrimos con una de las mantitas que usamos en el invierno. De allí, fuimos a un almacén muy pintorezco que está al lado del parque. Ayer hacía muchísimo frío (15 grados bajo cero, con sensación térmica de cerca de los 20 0 25 grados bajo cero) por lo que tuvimos que tapar a Melina y cubrirla lo que más se puede.

Cuando entramos al negocio, caminamos buscando algunas cosas que necesitábamos y de pronto nos damos cuenta que ya Melina estaba muy quietita. Lo que no había dormido la siesta, pensamos que ya estaba en ese asunto... Lo que nos encontramos fue con esto que pueden ver en las fotos. En cuestión de minutos, Melina comenzó a deborar uno de los pirotines, dejando huellas en sus cachetes, el carrito, las mantitas, todo. Hasta el pobre Señor Rana sufrió las consecuencias. ¡Nuestro plan de que se mantenga alejada de alimentos con mucho contenido de azúcar se fue por la borda en cuestión de segundos!

Happy New Year! Melina is 9 months old. This is a late post. We tood this picture on time but we couldn't manage to upload it into our blog until today. Lucas, Karen and Melina all catched a cold during the holidays. Everybody is doing very well now but we all had to fight a nasty cold that left some throat and ear infections on its way.

Melina is doing very well now. She now has two (bottom) teeth. She seems to like using them when she has her "mum-mums" (rice crackers for babies). Her crawling improved tremendously since our last posting. She can crawl so much faster now we can hardly keep up! She is clapping constantly since she found in this another way for making sounds.

Happy New Year to all!

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Melina cumple 9 meses. Finalmente nos hemos hecho un tiempo para subir esta foto de los 9 meses de Melina. Es que durante estas fiestas todos (Karen, Lucas y Melina) estuvimos enfermos, con un resfrío que dejó en su camino algunas infecciones de garganta y oído. Ahora ya estamos todos bien, pero por unos días estuvimos sin mucha energía para hacer otras cosas.

Melina ya está muy bien y ha vuelto a su rutina que se había visto afectada por el resfrío. Las novedades son que ya tiene un segundo diente abajo que parece disfrutar cuando le damos unas galletitas de harina de arroz para bebés. Esta última semana empezó a gatear bastante más rápido que de costumbre así es que si nos distraemos un ratito, Melina ya está del otro lado de la habitación. Además, le encanta aplaudir todo el día, ya que encontró en este pequeño juego una forma novedosa de hacer ruido.

¡Feliz 2008 para todos!