First Father's Day

I could not think of a better person to share the joys of parenting with than Adrian. We laugh together, figure it out together and talk about our Valentina constantly. He's a world class Daddy and I look forward to many more adventures in parenting with him.

To celebrate his day Valentina and I went to Starbucks to start it off with caffeine. We gave him a dude diaper bag and our first Daddy's Day art project.  For lunch we found a cool crab house along the Potomac to take him and the rest of the day was spent running errands as a family. 

Thank you God for giving us the blessing of being parents and a wonderful weather day to celebrate fatherhood.

Adrian and his Little Lady, August 2, 2013

Adrian and his Little Lady, June 15, 2014

Valentina's First Daddy's Day art project

Happy 1st Father's Day, Daddy!

Telling Daddy which boat she wants

Hanging out on the pier

We will definitely be back here!

Valentina did not care to show her teeth

Bring me the crabs

What is a DC born kid to do?  Play with Maryland crabs!

Daddy was playing with the crab's little leg and she just wanted to eat it.

Bird Class

Every week she gets stronger and does more at her gym class. This open gym time included kids that were running around so she was fascinated with their movement. 

Take a picture of my good side, Daddy

Look at me!

With Ms. Nicole

Feed myself Wednesday

Little V gaining independence is fun to watch but messy. On Wednesday there was no desire whatsoever to be fed. Adrian and I decided to embrace the madness and this is what happened. For background it started as ground beef, beans and avocado. 

  

She went immediately from her chair to the tub. It was a mess of floating meat and beans and quite disgusting. 

After a few times of washing and refilling the tub she was all clean and had a jam session with her Daddy. 

Being parents to this little girl is so much fun. 

Korman for District 16

When Marc and Rebecca started dating we all knew we'd be volunteering on his campaign one day. Marc is running to represent Maryland's District 16 in Annapolis and we couldn't be more proud. He's working really hard and we look forward to the day we visit him at the state Capitol. 

This weekend we stuffed, sealed, folded and walked in support of Marc. Valentina was a great helper. Her favorite activity was playing in the ballpit and with stickers. 

Fun-ventures

Adrian and Little V have fun-ventures every week. Even things like going grocery shopping are turned into a treat. 

On Tuesday they drove me to work and then visited the Capitol Botanical Gardens. 

On Wednesday they had music class and the baby gates made an appearance. They also joined Aunt Kerry and Cole for a play date. 

on Thursday they went to Sams and invited Snoopy. After they had lunch and Little V discovered how delicious a grilled sandwich is. 

Friday was a stay at home and torture Akira with all the crawling kind of day. 

From bug to bird

Our baby is 10 months old today. She has six teeth, is crawling faster and faster and is still as happy as can be (except when she's hungry).

She also graduated from a bug to a bird today. You read that correctly. A few weeks ago Valentina started her classes at The Little Gym and was in the bugs class. Now that she is crawling around she graduated from a bug to a bird. 

I was fortunate enough for this momentous occasion to occur while the House is in recess so I could attend her class. I was so happy to see firsthand what Adrian means when he says she really enjoys her class. She was all smiles as soon as she walked in. Today's class started with a welcome song, some warmup exercises and stretches. We played with a big parachute, explored around the gym, sang some songs and played with bubbles. At the end she and her classmates received a ribbon for completing the session and took a class photo. As an added surprise the Thompsons were at the veterinarian next door so we were able to briefly visit. 

Practicing her superhero pose with Daddy

This is her wheelbarrow pose.

Our future Olympic gymnast?  She was holding herself up all alone and looks fierce!  

Balancing all by herself on the ball.

Do you see the Thompson kids watching her at the door?

Getting her ribbon

Daddy and Valentina are proud graduates of The Little Gym bug class

This is their class photo.  Valentina took the ribbon from the boy next to her who is holding onto his neighbor who is about to get eaten by the boy on the far right.  Kids pictures are so funny!

Valentina is definitely a 21st Century Woman.  She found something she wanted and took it.  We are going to have to add some lessons about stealing to the repertoire.

She'll start the summer session next week and play with the birds. 

What's more fun than one? How about three?

Luke and Kristin had a wedding so we offered to watch the kids. They're fun, smart kids and good at teaching us what to expect when Miss V is a toddler and kindergartener. More importantly they love Valentina and she loves them. 

Saturday we played inside, took a road trip to the mall for lunch, played with the water table, had tacos for dinner, did a group bath (what were we thinking?) and finished the day with story time. 

Sunday got started much earlier than the Tamez household is used to. There were blueberry pancakes for breakfast followed by a visit to the park. Adrian and I continue to be impressed with the parks in the area. This place had a big playground and a splash park. We didn't bring our swimsuits but next time we will!

After lunch we had a Frozen movie date and I have had those songs in my head since. It was a great weekend and judging by the fact that Valentina had a great rest last night,and a very long nap today, she had fun too.