Hippity Hoppity

I never realized that I was a holiday sort of gal. Turns out I am. I love celebrating special days with the chiquita. It's so much fun to see her experience all of these things for the first time. Everything is so brand new for her and her excitement seeps into me.

Easter was so much fun this year. Last year Leeloo was too little to do anything more than bunny ears. This year she was the perfect age to enjoy all the festivities.

She's only 15 months, but she loves to be around older kids. Just before Easter we got invited to a craft play date. All the other girls were around two years old, but Leeloo did a great job of keeping up with them. She painted for the first time, she built a little foam Easter bunny and she ate lunch at the big kids table with all of them!

We used marshmallows instead of paintbrushes perfect for little fingers!

Reading with Miss Ella - the hostess of the day.

Eating with the big girls - she used her fork and everything!

On Saturday we headed to Poinsettia Park for the Carlsbad Easter Eggstravaganza. Although most of the activities were geared towards older kids, the chiquita loved watching all the people and running around in the grass. Now that she's mobile we can't hold her still!

Excited to have a pinwheel and already one bow short (we always lose at least one ribbon!)

She liked the eggs at first, but she loved them when she realized there were prizes inside!

Luckily for us she didn't notice that we traded out the candy for cheddar bunnies and graham crackers. 

She loved running through the drying paintings (until mami realized they were still wet)

This is as close as she got to the Easter bunny. She was all smiles, but very cautious.

We bought her first Easter basket this year. We filled it with hand puppets, a stuffed bunny, a new big girl cup, a pinwheel, a book and a rubber ducky. I didn't know if she'd even notice it, but she woke up and right away pointed to it from across the room. So far the pinwheel and the book are the biggest hits.

Books with moving parts are big right now. 

After breakfast we headed to our neighborhood park to meet Leeloo's little friends for an egg hunt. We have been lucky to find a group of kids her age that live nearby. Everyday we try to head down to the park so she can tromp around with them.
I filled eggs with bunny crackers, grahams, animal cookies and rubber duckies for the kiddos to find. The chickadee was more interested in pine cones and snacks than Easter egg hunting, but the other kids scooped them up. Leeloo ran in the grass and played under the parachute and was ready for a super nap by the time we were finished.

Covered in strawberries!

After an extra long nap we headed to the chica's godparent's house where she discovered their bookshelf and the piano. We finished the night by singing and dancing together .

Helping her Nina Lorena with the higher notes.

Looking at a Hawaii coffee table book with her Nino David.

So excited that she can climb onto the patio furniture.

I missed the kiss, but she was being especially sweet to baby Daniel.

All in all it was an excellent holiday. I'm already excited about the next one, what is it? Memorial Day?