MAY
May was a beautiful month here in Buffalo, spent enjoying spring's awakening of flora and fauna. I found that Elisa loves being industrious, copy-catting things her mommy or daddy are doing around the house, and sometimes offering actual help in her efforts! My favorite task to share with her is when I toss her the clean, wet laundry of the washer, and she throws it in the dryer. I have also taken advantage of this work ethic to instill an early love of gardening. Basically, anything we can do to spend time outside once Buffalo's winter breaks is fair game.
We hung a hammock in the backyard. It now hangs between two trees that seem as if they were planted just for this purpose. (They also happen to each have hardware already in place for such an installation. Perfect!) Elisa has since advanced in her hammock swinging...she now prefers getting wrapped up like a fish, and while I hold tight to both sides to keep it closed, I launch her sky-high as she squeals with the thrill of it all. Video to come...
My mom is big on heritage plants. It's much more special to take a cutting or piece of a plant, regenerate it, and then have it remind you of its origins. This forsythia was just a wee shoot just a few years ago when we dug it up from my mom's house in Ithaca. It has since flourished into a lovely little shrub. I love forsythias because they are some of the first flowers to appear in spring and they are so cheerful. They will also now forever remind me of when Elisa first learned the color "yellow." For at least a few weeks in spring, every flower was "yellow" because she learned forsythias and daffodils first.
Many a Friday were spent "outSIIIIDE" (another of E's favorite words), and on this day, with books and a picnic in the backyard.
Elisa meets her first horse friend in East Aurora, NY. She loves shouting out animal sounds, and I learned she is quite fond of reciting a very cheerful, "neeeigh!" Other favorite animals include gatos, dogs, fish, and toads.
Elisa and mom working in the garden.
O O O O O O O
JUNE
Towards the end of May, we were busy preparing for our first big event of the Silva summer calendar: the marriage of Diego's brother Jorge to his bride Brenda in Cuernavaca, Mexico. I had months to plan for Elisa's first plane ride and international travel, but at the end of the day, I knew that all we really needed was some diapers, my trusty moped-print Bamberoo carrier, and of course the gorgeous flower girl dress created by a very talented Buffalo friend and former colleague, Liz. The rest could be purchased, laundered, or lived without! (I actually did put effort into packing, but I decided to stop worrying over how Elisa would behave while traveling). We were going to have so many extra hands to help, too, once we got there!
First stop: Charlotte. Note: I highly recommend traveling to Mexico over Memorial Day weekend - flights were empty and we had ample room to spread out!
Just like her mama, Elisa was enthralled with all of the ridiculous options for purchase in the SkyMall catalog. She also enjoyed standing up on one of our lap's and very loudly whispering "shh," "quiiiet!" and "seeping!" when she realized everyone around her was participating in nap time.
Once we passed effortlessly through the slew of airport arrival formalities (turns out, if you have a baby in line for Mexican immigration, you go to the front of the line!) and wasted no time in getting in some quality Abu and Aba time!
Just a few days in the city, and I was craving some open space! Enter Los Viveros: a beautiful national park situated in one of my favorite Colonial neighborhoods of Mexico City, Coyoacan. These grounds serve as recreational space to chilangos as well as a nursery for thousands of tree saplings and plants cultivated to help reforest the city. It's a lovely concept, and I really enjoyed seeing this little gem I hadn't ever visited before (all the while playfully elbowing Diego, asking why he never took me here in the year and a half I lived there!)
Elisa on the adorable wooden cars repurposed from tree trunks.
Diego played here as a boy with his grandparents who lived nearby. He fondly remembers his tatito buying him a small toy or treat each time they went.
A cautious hand from Abu as she navigates the play structure.
Clapping for joy!
I just had to snap a picture of this part of the park, which probably does it no justice... but this was a huge adult jungle gym! It was an entire area where Crossfit/MovNat-esque exercises were possible by monkey bars, ropes, and other kinds of apparati. I am definitely going back there with sneakers!
Someone was pooped after all that fresh air.
Fresh as a daisy from her nap, later on we met up with Tio Jorge and Aba, where we all enjoyed a fabulous meal at an Argentinean steak house. Oh, Buffalo, you have no idea the culinary feats you have yet to accomplish!
Playing with Aba.
Elisa's Grandma C and Papa Mike arrived a few days later, and being first time visitors to Mexico City, some touristic stops ensued. A visit to DF isn't complete without a breakfast at Sanborn's, and what better location than Los Azulejos right downtown. What a gorgeous old palace now turned restaurant. I never get tired of its grandeur!
Mom and me in front of Los Azulejos.
Lizie, Norma, me, Elisa, and mom inside Los Azulejos.
Next stop was el centro of Mexico City, with its grandiose arquitecture (the cathedral amongst many other beautiful buildings and ruins.)
This is the Zocalo plaza where el grito is shouted every independence day by the President. We have historic prints of this plaza framed at home. The amount of culture and history here is breathtaking.
Diego, Elisa, and Lizie enjoying some shade.
Thanks Abu and Aba for the new stroller! It proved most useful on our walking tour of Mexico.
Elisa's Aba and Tia Abuela Lizie with me in front of Bellas Artes, one of my favorite buildings in Mexico.
Here is another shot of Bellas Artes... which, if I'm not mistaken, is sinking approximately 1 cm per year due to its unstable foundation. Fault the Spanish settlers who came and filled in a perfectly good lake so they could have more land to develop... equates to a foundation that is often assimilated to gelatin.
Elisa enjoying the bugambilia flowers in Aba's garden.
More Mexico travel love to come...and I promise it will be well within 3 months!
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