Seems hard to believe that it’s been less than three weeks since we celebrated in Miami the launch of our book “Bilingual is Better.”

We finally got the video to share with all of you just how amazing it was to be surrounded with so many friends, bloggers, celebrities and press that were there to support us, the book and, well…you! Yes, you because you are the one making this a movement, a true and bonifide revolutionof parents who are convinced that bilingual definitely is better and that all kids should be given the option.

We need to thank once more Huggies and Fisher-Price for their support and for believing in what we do. Their contributions to making this party a huge success and unforgettable fun are invaluable.

A huge thanks also goes out to Cool-de-Sac, the awesome space in Miami where we had our party, for letting us take over for the day. If you live anywhere close to their locations in Miami and/or Mexico, you must take your kids there!

And now, enjoy the show!

As most of you know already, Ana and I are in the process of promoting our first book, Bilingual is Better, which will be officially released next Tuesday, Sept. 18. To that end, we’ll be in Miami all of next week for several media appearances — details of which we’ll be sharing with you soon in case you’d like to see us — and for our book launch party.

Although nothing would make us happier than to have all of you there to celebrate with us, the party is in South Miami and it’s by invitation only. So we’re taking this opportunity to invite ten (10) of our readers in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area and their children to the awesome party we’re throwing at Cool-de-Sac, a super fun indoor playground in Sunset Place.

We will have a book signing and other fun activities para toda la familia! This book launch party wouldn’t be possible without our sponsors, Fisher-Price® and Huggies®, who will have many surprises for you, too!

As a preview, Huggies has invited Jeannette Torres-Alvarez, early childhood expert and proud mom of two bilingual kids, to tell you all about their new Facebook app — Respuestas de Mamás.

Fisher-Price will have on-hand for you and your kids some of their hottest toys of the season to test out and play with, including favorite bilingual ones and their Apptivity line.

The party will take place Thursday, Sept. 20 from 4 to 7 p.m. and all you have to do to be invited is sign up using this form. The first ten (10) people to sign up will automatically receive an invitation as this will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. We’ll also be keeping a waiting list and continue to invite people as the spaces become available once we have a final count.

We’re looking forward to seeing some of you out there so we can finally meet in person!

We also wanted to take this moment to thank all of those who pre-ordered Bilingual is Better on Amazon and have let us know you received your copy through posts on Facebook or on Twitter. ¡Mil gracias! We can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

¡Nos vemos en Miami!

Last week was a major whirlwind as I traveled with my mom and my girl to Florida to attend two different conferences: Disney Social Media Moms Celebration in Orlando and Mom 2.0 Summit in Key Biscayne. I rarely ever take my family to conferences, but this seemed like a great opportunity for Camila to bond and reconnect with her abuelita, and it was just logistically the best way to go.

Why do I even attend these conferences, you may ask? Well, the truth is that one of my biggest blogging secrets is attending conferences. The investment made in them really comes back to SpanglishBaby and this huge familia in the way of opportunities, blogging lessons to continually grow and hone our skills and connecting with other like-minded bloggers.

These two conferences in particular took it to another level and inspired me to think of the ways I’m using—or wasting!—my time; how I’m taking care of myself as a caregiver and self-motivated entrepreneur; how we’re giving back to our community and advocating for social change; and how our children are learning from who we are and how we act.

It’s the last phrase above that really hit home for me and I realized a lot of these messages apply directly to parents raising bilingual kids and that extra layer of dutifulness that applies to our parenting styles.

Armed with my Window’s Live Suite of products on my Lenovo IdeaPad U300 (Giveaway Alert Here!!), I sat down at the opening keynote of the Mom 2.0 Summit and captured and organized on OneNote the best quotes from two exceptional speakers: Brené Brown—a research expert on shame and vulnerability– and Jess Weiner—an expert on girl’s body image.

Check out their quotes below and how I interpret them through our lens of bilingual parenting.

Brené Brown

Are you your child’s worse critic? When she walks into a room do you light up when you see her, or do you criticize?

Have you noticed if you spend more time praising your child for speaking in Spanish (or the minority language of choice) or criticizing her? This is an important reflection to make because if your child is feeling constantly nagged and criticized by you in a desperate urge to get him to respond, then what we’re doing is creating a spirit of rebellion in him. Language immersion should be fun, natural, playful and full of praise.

We can not give our children what we don’t have.

Please do not interpret this to mean that if you don’t speak Spanish you can’t teach your child. The way I interpret it is that if we don’t have a passion, urge, DESIRE for our children to learn, then they won’t feel it either. And, one of the keys for teaching a child a language is that they must have a perceived need for it. They must want it and understand the why of their want. For example, when my girl is speaking way too much English at home, I remind her that it’s a shame she’s not speaking Spanish because her adored prima won’t understand her. Gets her every time.

Who we are is a much more accurate predictor to how our kids will turn out.

Do you love and absorb cultures and languages? Maybe you’re not fluent in Spanish, but you could learn alongside your child and make it something special between the two of you?

Jess Weiner

Matching intentions with action is where real change comes.

It’s not enough to want and have the best intentions to raise a bilingual child, you must have a clear and concise plan of action and you must be consistent with it. There’s no way around this one. You must be active every single day in making sure your child gets the right exposure to the language. You do this by buying bilingual/Spanish books, joining or starting bilingual playgroups, finding immersion schools, etc. Your actions may also involve immersion travel, actively seeking out cultural events in your city, making sure your child has a Spanish speaking family member or caregiver she connects to, and so much more.

Change is slow and never looks like a reality show reveal.

Oh, this is so true for bilingual children and we haven’t talked about this enough! Many parents give up speaking to their kids in the minority language at home because their kids start responding to them in English. Don’t do that! It’s only a phase and it totally depends on the language input she’s had so far. But you must remain the consistent source of Spanish and they will eventually come around.

Women are the biggest keepers of our own happiness and disappointments.

Simple. Want your child to be bilingual? It’s totally up to you and the decisions you make. We wholeheartedly believe bilingualism is the biggest gift you can give your child.

I did it because the vision was bigger than my fear.

Don’t believe all the myths surrounding bilingualism which are fueled by ignorance, social injustice and more fear. Remain strong to your vision of raising a healthy, educated, well-rounded bilingual child and your payoff will be a lifetime gift for your child.

My passion is to be a storyteller for social change.

This one hit me personally. The SpanglishBaby familia shares all these stories with you every week because we believe in this movement of social change towards a bilingual nation where every child’s voice will be heard, respected and adored.

Thanks to the Windows Team for making these insights possible through their belief in what we do and sponsoring me to attend the Mom 2.0 Summit. Not only did this sponsorship allow me to listen to amazing and inspiring women and learn from them, but also to spend time with the two women that inspire me the most in life: mi mamá y mi hija.

And speaking of Windows, have you entered to win a Lenovo IdeaPad U300 courtesy of Windows? It ends this Sunday, so enter here now.

{All images courtesy of Michael Cummings of dreaminpictures.com}

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Mateus

Anyone that gets to know my little girl will notice that she is very observant. Yes, even at the tender age of eleven months the girl soaks up her surroundings before taking the plunge to interact. To watch her reactions on our first family vacation was, as cliché as this may sound, priceless!

There are numerous stories about my time in Miami that replay in my mind each time I am about to visit the vibrant, colorful, Latino city! The first time I traveled there, over ten years ago, I felt as if I were somewhere in Latin America. For these two reasons alone I was extremely excited to immerse my bebita in a different culture: the Miami-Cuban culture!

I was looking forward to sharing the food, the music, the beautiful beaches (her first time ever to the beach) and the local language that make up a huge part of Miami’s Cuban identity. We were lucky to be in town when an annual event occurs to remember and experience Cuban culture. My mother makes it a point to attend Cuba Nostalgia (http://www.cubanostalgia.org/) as often as possible. I think it gives her an opportunity to indulge in a version of nostalgia for her native country of

Mexico. It is her excitement and my interest in celebrating Latino culture that motivates me to transmit the same spark to my bebita, starting now!

When we arrived to Cuba Nostalgia there was a cacophony of noise coming from every direction.  It reminded me of the buzz that seems to permeate around Miami from the chatter of the people (also referred by Cubans as the tiki, tiki) to the salsa music on every other station. I thought to myself that “…this, this would be a great city to raise a trilingual baby.” The use of Spanish certainly dominates, but my husband and I noted several languages being spoken almost everywhere we went.

What I loved most about my baby’s first traveling adventure was seeing the look on her face when she experienced something new. For instance, when she awoke from her nap at Cuba Nostalgia she saw a lot of people dancing and the noise didn’t seem to even faze her. In fact, at one point my mom brought her one of the maracas a local booth was giving away and she held it tightly in her hand while shaking it to participate with everyone else! In addition, her reaction when her little hand touched sand for the first time reminded my mom of how much I disliked it as a baby also. Lastly and most importantly, the opportunity to hear Spanish in a different context other than our home in Central Texas was pivotal, in my opinion, for her development as a Spanish speaker.

I like to refer to the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz, with this last point. She states in one of her songs sin clave no hay son (without the key, there is no rhythm). One of salsa music essential ingredients is la clave (the key). It’s a certain beat that many times I have seen people clap. Well, that’s exactly how I feel about becoming bilingual or trilingual. The key, or as Celia puts it, la clave is immersion and in multiple contexts. My bebita, I am proud to say, got to experience la clave, both figuratively and literally speaking. I must say that it will certainly be hard to compete with Spanish as she gets older and as we attempt to provide a remotely similar experience for the third language (French) we are teaching her.

Nonetheless, I think what my mom said about Sabrina’s experience at Cuba Nostalgia pretty much sums up her first travel experience and immersion in Latino culture, “It was like she knew exactly what her mama & papa love (everything and anything Latino), and went right along with the celebration!”