Fashion, Art and a washable poodle

This cute paper doll is perfect for Beli's little hand. found via Cool Kids via Etsy.

I'm thinking of getting this for Beli's birthday, which is coming up in a few months. Thanks Betsy!

I have been reading Betsy's blog, Cool Kids for several months now and what I love about her posts are that not only does she find great gift ideas for kids, but also cool and affordable outfits like this cute pink shirt perfect for Valentine's,

or these darling shoes, I know bit too small for Beli but there are too cute.

And Betsy also gives her readers the opportunity to feature their children. So every Thursday a cool kid is featured, and today, it's Beli turn! You can read more about it here.  Have a wonderful day!



Fashion in the city

 Hubby went to the farm to finish  the harvest of the olives so that left Beli and I to hang out together this weekend in the city. She did so much better getting ready this morning. Lately I have been feeling frustrated that she fights my every choice of clothing and meals that I prepare. Which in turn makes me doubtful about my trip overseas next month. How will I manage without hubby to help me distract her? Don't get me wrong, I love her outgoing personality, her independence I just wish she could be nicer to me! But today something clicked in my head (resignation? maybe) and I'm changing my attitude. I will just give in to what she wants to wear. I will have to say she didn't do so bad picking out her clothes this morning. We walked to the bus stop and we waited for bus number 15 to take us downtown. Beli was anxiously waiting for numero quince.

There were so many beautiful and fashionable women. I felt underdressed with my silver flats!

love the boots

 Even with a population of roughly over 200,000 you will almost run into someone you know so there's a pressure to always look your best!

 Selling shoelaces.

I couldn't resist and I went to Zara's. I purchased this for Beli, what do you think? There was another shirt and I showed it to Beli and she said, "esta feo," it's ugly. I guess I should take her shopping more often so she can help me out with my wardrobe!

Lessons from my toddler

When Beli was less than two years old she would wake up next to me and call my name in hopes that I would also wake up and get up from bed, "Mami? Mami!" She would bring me my shoes and tell me, "come on Mami , come on," then a few months later it was "Mama, Beli is thirsty or Beli has a dirty diaper" then months later she wouldn't wake me up, she would just come by my side and caress my hair, my arm, and quietly exit the room. This morning I saw the light on in the hallway and I wondered why hubby was awake so early in the morning, but then I heard little footsteps running down the hallway. It was Beli! I looked out the bedroom and I saw her in the living room, very content, playing with her toys. Can I say that my heart melted. How can this small child be so amazing? So considerate?

Yes, she is growing and developing her own personality. I know I have said this before, but I love this stage of parenthood. The part where she is thinking for herself and let's it be known when she is happy, upset or angry.

How she reacted when I mentioned that it was time to go take a nap. She screamed, "NO Mimis."
Then I told her I needed to change her diaper (yes still working on potty-training)  of course she runs a tantrum and screams and cries.

Getting out of the house is also a challenge. I have to plan hours ahead because she refuses to wear the outfit I picked out, so I choose two pieces of clothing and I let her decide, sometimes this works sometimes not.

"Beli, cual blusa quieres, la blanca o rosa?" She looks from the white shirt to the pink shirt and replies, "No blanca, no rosa." Neither one she replies.

Then she changes the topic and wants to know where I left the plastic cat she gave me earlier to hold in my right hand. (She is very specific which toy goes on which hand)

"Mami, donde esta gatito, Mami donde esta gatito?"

Here is the cat, now let's get dressed.

 And some days if it's not the shirt, it may be the pants. "Mami, caca je, estan sucios." Mommy the pants are poo-poo, they are dirty. ( of course since she is still wearing diapers,  the pants don't really have poo-poo on them)

Oh yeah, that's her new word. When she dislikes something she says CACA JE: a spanish-croatian word she made up: caca is Spanish for poo-poo and je in Croatian means is.

Another example: caca je blue pajamas! ( blue pajamas is poo-poo) or like today it was the socks.
So hubby asked her to go choose a different pair, and this is what she chose, a plain white sock and a red and white Dora sock.

This is her Fashion statement.

Still wondering how I was able to pull this outfit! 

She is actually wearing a dress! Ok, so I lied and told her it was a shirt, which she didn't buy and wanted to take it off then I layered it with a pink cardigan then I put on socks and her new red shoes and I told hubby, "please hurry and take her outside now before she starts undressing herself."

And you know what? Afterwards she didn't complain, she didn't even tug at her dress/shirt.

 I asked my Mom, "was I this picky with my clothes when I was Beli's age?" She replied that I wasn't. But  I do remember  that I didn't like wearing dresses, ha I still don't.  So I guess I can't really blame Beli, but  she looks so darn cute with dresses that I wish she would wear them more often.

An Update at 2.5 years

I thought it was about time to do a progres report for my trilingual toddler, Beli is 29 months- almost 30 months.

Language:

Five months ago I took a trip to the States to visit my family after being overseas for a year. As you might remember at the time I was mixing all three languages when I spoke to Beli, (Spanish,Croatian and English). I was using words she would understand (example: la blusa,los shorts y los shoes)but the trip back home was an eye-opener because my family couldn't understand when Beli asked in Croatian, "Sto je to" what is this..for things and people. I was interpreting for my two year old! So upon our return to Croatia I mentioned to hubby that it was time I used the OPOL method (although I would add that he was already doing that, speaking only Croatian). There were times when Beli would only stare at me, lost in my Spanish words and would instead turn to Daddy because she couldn't understand what I was saying. So since our return to Croatia, Beli is now proficient in speaking Spanish. I don't know how she knows but she only speaks Espanol with me then turns to Daddy and says the same sentence but in Croatian.

Now about that third language, Ingles. I'm not sure which parent should speak it. She gets exposure via Baby Tv and just recently after a play date she was introduced to a CD full of children's songs like ...Mary had a little lamb (she says leeto lamb, leeto lamb) and she loves old mcdonald song (she sings MOOOOh) and I have starting reading some English bedtime stories. I guess my questions is should I really worry about teaching her English? Eventually we will be returning to the States where she will go to school there. Do I speak Spanish to her then translate to English?

Emotionally:
She is very independent and not the cuddly type (which had my Mom worried, she once mentioned to me, " La estaba arrullando y no queria que la abrazara."(I was putting her to sleep and she didn't want me to hug her!) I laughed it off and said that was quite normal for her.

But then there are those tender moments when she looks at me and smiles and hugs me, then goes to hubby and does the same..... awww I really enjoy those moments very much.

She's also becoming aware of her emotions . For example, she is reading a book and sees a grumpy face and she says, "enojado" or happy face "contento" or sad one "triste."

A conversation between the two of us: (A note: we call her Beli but she calls herself Bela, in the third person)

Beli: "Mami... Bela esta enojada, mami da abrazo" ( Mommy Bela is mad, Mommy gives hug to Bela.)
Me: " Me das un abrazo y un beso?"

Beli then gives me a hug and a kiss and says, "ahora daddy" (now Daddy).

She then goes to hubby and gives him a hug and says, " Tata dai poljubi."

Potty Training-

Still a struggle but with some progress. We went from Beli requesting the diaper by name 'pamper' to accepting wearing underpants (I let her choose between the Dora character or Princess one) and now we are back to not wanting underwear, only diapers!

and from screaming in fear at the sight of the potty chair to now completely ignoring it.

Now she feels discomfort wearing the diaper and thinks she has a diaper rash so she asks us to put diaper rash cream, "crema, pon crema." BUT she still doesn't want to go potty like her friend Emma. Oh well, it will come plus it helps to know my child isn't the only one.

Favorite Things:

Her favorite ice cream flavor is pinky (strawberry), she loves to eat chocolate, tomatoes, cucumbers and bread dipped in olive oil. Her favorite toys vary from day to day, this day it was a horse and a soldier, other days it's a duck and a spoon, or two teddy bears. She must always have one toy in each hand. I don't know if this is some sort of balance thing?

She also enjoys spending the night at grandma, she cries when we have to pick her up. And now that Baki has retired they are spending more time together. Did you notice the two paintings at the top? Yeap, my little artist drew them, with the help of grandma outlining the shape of the flowers and the tree. We have them in our living room and she looks at the them and says, "Bela boje." (Bela painted them)

She knows to count from 1 to 10 in three languages. She LOVES to sing and dance and enjoys helping in the kitchen.

The Concept of Sharing:

when we visit other children's home she says everything belongs to her and when I say they belong to her friend she screams BELAS. ok you can't argue with a 2 year old right? Yet I want to teach her the concept of sharing so I say, "bueno pero cual juguete le prestamos a tu amiga, allright but which toy should we lend to your friend? and she looks around in the room, grabs a doll and runs over to her friend and gives her the doll. I always say, "gracias Beli!"

Sometimes at home when I give her something she wants she says, "gracias" so tender and sweet I just want to melt.

She also says "please Mami daj cartoons." (please mommy give cartoons) Hey I just realized that sentence has all three languages!

My favorite words, "MAMI ven!" she tells me when she wants me to hold her. In my eyes she is still my baby.

When one is young

"When one is young it's easy to think that all kinds of things about the world are fixed, that they have always been there. With adulthood, though, comes the realization that very little is fixed, that things change all the time..."- -excerpt from "Another Fool in the Balkans" by Tony White.

Qué tan ciertas son estas palabras! Siento una cierta melancolía al recordar mi infancia. Cuando vivíamos en México, mis hermanas y yo pasamos todos los veranos en el rancho de nuestros abuelos, pero un día eso cambió cuando nos mudamos a los Estados Unidos. A la edad de 8 años me di cuenta de que mi mundo no era fijó y me enfrente con cambio a mi alrededor. Ahora que vivo en Croacia tengo la oportunidad de revivir esos recuerdos a través de mi hija.Sus bisabuelos tienen un pequeno rancho con gallinas y muchos árboles frutales. Me siento como en casa y cuánto desearía que Beli recuerde estos momentos cuando sea mayor. Supongo que estoy haciendo mi parte atraves de fotografías que tomo cada vez que visitamos el rancho.
How true these words are. I feel nostalgic when I remember my childhood. When we lived in Mexico my sisters and I spent every summer at my grandparents farm, but one day that changed when we moved to America. I was eight years old when I realized that the world was not fixed and I was faced with change all around me. Now living in Croatia I have the opportunity to relive those memories through my daughter.

Beli's great grandparents have a farm with chickens and plenty of fruit trees. I feel right at home and I hope that she will have the same sweet childhood memories that I had when I spent my summers at my grandparents farm.

I guess you can say I'm doing my part by taking plenty of photographs! Now what to do with all these grapes?

A shoebox and play-doh

Do you like the art I drew inside the box? It's my best work ever. Maybe?

I'm surprised that she can spend hours entertained by such a simple concept as play-doh.. She asked me to create cats, dogs, and elephants. I'm pretty good with cats, which consist of two small round balls and triangles for the ears on the cat, for the dog the ears are smaller round circles, but the elephant I have no idea. I passed that task to hubby.

My childhood version of play-doh was mud and water. From what I recall as a kid it was just as fun. But the advantage of having the play-doh versus mud is that cleaning up is much easier!


I was trying to make handprints but Beli only wanted prints of her feet.

From my kitchen: a fusion of Avocado and Mango

I call this my Mediterranean Avocado Mango salad. Now that the summer is here I rather spend my time at the beach or at cafes with friends than in the kitchen. This recipe is quick, nutritious, and delicious for even toddlers to enjoy.


Like I said, kids will love this. Beli's taste buds are a bit confused since she eats applesauce with scrambled eggs but she usually tries anything. All the ingredients in the salad are her favorites so I though, "why not combine them all into one dish?" I think from her smile it's a keeper in Mommy's recipe book.


If you would like to prepare it, here are the ingredients I used.

One avocado, peeled and cut into small cubes

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tsp of olive oil

1 tomato diced

1tsp of capers, rinsed (don't worry the tanginess will be balanced by the mango)

1 mango, peeled and cut in small cubes

Mix all ingredients, add salt and pepper to your taste and garnish with green or red grapes(as you can see from the previous picture, Beli was not fond of that idea so she removed them from her plate). I garnished mine with parsley and crushed red pepper. In case you are wondering I brought the crushed pepper from my recent trip to the States because I couldn't find it at the grocery store. Then I served it with bagel chips. What do you think? Feel free to substitute or subtract the capers but the mango is a must.