Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Best Friends

Lina loves Miss O so much that she will drop everything when Miss O arrives. Since my sister is still on her maternity leave, Miss O wasn’t at Mimi’s house Monday morning. Lina still had fun trying to steal my work computer if I got up and playing with whatever toy she wanted. But in the afternoon during a impromptu wrestling match, one which I was losing, Miss O walked in the front door. Lina climbed off of me as quick as she possibly could and ran towards Miss O. Miss O ran in as well with her arms open wide and they both stopped just short of giving each other giant hugs.


It was clear that she missed spending the day with Miss O. It was clear that no matter how much fun she was having with me, nothing can compare to playing with her best friend.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Halloween

While this is technically Lina’s second Halloween, it feels like her first in many ways. This year I got to see how much she enjoyed wearing her costume when she asked to put it on and then danced away once she was wearing it.

Thanks to my sister for this cute picture.


She also had enough hair this year for me to make a fun head piece to go with her costume.
Please ignore the flash glare, it was dark when I took this shot.
I made it from three zippers and some peacock feathers. I didn’t take any step by step pictures, but I got the idea from here.  I would also recommend being armed with some fray check once you cut the zippers.

This is also the first year she got to go trick or treating. She was very good about carrying her bag around and putting the treats inside. She thought running from house to house was so fun that she would erupt into giggles. And when she got tired, she was having too much fun to whine about it. She simply asked to be held, climbed in the stroller with her new cousin or went to the Monster Wagon. Lina and Miss O would giggle and squeal as Mason pulled them and the wagon along. At least until we got to the next house when they would climb down and run to the door.





Miss O was so good about waiting to ring the door bell until Lina caught up with her. She was also very clever when someone asked her for a trick. She simply replied “The trick is, you give me a piece of candy.”

Happy Halloween!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Finally an Update!

September was such a busy month that most of it is a blur. We had mandatory overtime and occasional weekends for the entire month. Which means after sitting in front of the computer for 10 hours a day, the last thing I wanted to do is go home and sit in front of the computer. As if that weren’t exhausting enough, Lina decided that sleeping through the night was highly overrated.

Anyway, we now have 3 more teeth, giving us a total of 8. 2 of them arrived on the same day and the 3rd showed up a few days later. You would think that would end the whole waking up in the middle of the night thing, but it didn’t. She has also had to adjust to being in a big girl bed. She climbed out about 30 seconds after we put her down for her afternoon nap one day, so her bed was converted to the toddler bed that evening.

Putting her down for sleep has been pretty easy. Keeping her in bed in the middle of the night proved to be the tricky part. The first night I’m pretty sure she walked out of bed. It took her a few nights to learn that she couldn’t walk around in her bed anymore. Now she has mastered safely getting out of bed and more importantly, getting back in.

Last week she received her very first hair cut and was not at all pleased about it. She cried and fought so hard that we got kicked out of the room. After we left, Lina sat in her chair and cried. But at least she sat still so Peggy could give her an adorable little bob.

But perhaps the biggest news of all is that Lina has a new cousin! Lina of course wants to hold her and love on her just like she does her baby dolls. Which means she is most definitely not allowed to hold her!
Pop and his girls.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

It's Not Easy Being One

The weekend after Lina turned one, she bonked her head on the coffee table. It was actually quite comical if you ignore the fact that there was pain involved. She bent down to pick up a toy and hit her head on the table, cried for a second and tried again with the exact same outcome. She did this three times in a row. After the third time I decided it was most definitely nap time. Two hours later, she woke up with a black eye. It wasn’t a bad one, it just looked like she was really tired. Fortunately it was the day after we celebrated her birthday with her Grandparents and Great Grandparents.

The very next weekend, we were planning on heading over to the park to snap some pictures for the invitations for her big party in the park. I wanted the sun to be a little lower in the sky for better lighting, so I planned on going after her afternoon nap. Guess who woke up from her nap with a fresh shiner. Bright and purple. I don’t know how that one happened, I can only guess that she banged her head on the crib while trying to resist taking a nap.

Since I was the one taking the pictures I decided to postpone the shoot until the next day when her eye would be a little less puffy. I thought we should do something a little more whimsy since I would be shooting her profile mostly. As much as I didn’t mind her having pictures with a black eye, I didn’t exactly want to send out twenty something black eye invitations. Dressed in her purple tutu dress with her matching purple eye, we headed to the park and found a nice, shaded, slightly overgrown grassy patch. We were on our way to meet up with some family members so we had to keep the shoot short. I may not have gotten the perfect shot that I was looking for in that short amount of time, but I was able to get a few good ones that would work for our needs.

Later when I was playing with the images in Photoshop and looking for the perfect invitation that I could get quickly and cheaply I was pleased with how everything came together. The purple dress that she got from her Ginga (Mason’s mom) and the purple carnation that she got from Great Grandma Ev (my grandma) ended up going perfectly with the Tinker Bell invite from Wal-mart, thus changing our theme from Rubber Ducks to Fairies. I was so nervous when I decided to use Wal-mart, being a photo snob, I questioned their quality. But I couldn’t find a better price or a better turn-around time. I could have both my invites and my thank you cards in an hour. When I went to pick them up, I was shocked at how much I loved them. The colors were spot on and there wasn’t a pixel in sight. I love when my low expectations are proven oh-so-wrong.

This wasn't one of the pictures we used, but it does show off her eye quite nicely.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

A Very Long Weekend

I think it’s safe to say that I need a break from the long weekend. It started off great with an incredibly HOT birthday party in the park on Saturday. The kids didn’t seem to notice the heat, but the adults sure did. It was a great party and we are so blessed to have so many of our friends and family able to brave the heat and celebrate with us. Eventually we made it home where we chatted with our out of town guests for as long as we could keep our eyes open.

The next morning we got up and got ready to head to the zoo. The long days from the week before had definitely taken its toll on my walking abilities. Which I proved by missing the last step and tweaking my ankle. I’m not gonna lie, it hurt. It hurt so bad I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to stand up or not. But I managed, and limped out the door. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure my ankle didn’t keep us cooped up inside on such a beautiful day. And I’m quite sure our friends didn’t travel all the way from KC to sit on the couch and watch Netflix all weekend either.

So I played tough. But I also knew it would be impossible for me to walk around the zoo all day. So I walked hobbled from the car to the entrance. Once the chair was secured, Mason pushed me around through the zoo. Go ahead, make fun. But I knew that was the only way we were going to get to do what we had planned on doing. I thought I was feeling better when we were done. But that was apparently only because I had been keeping the weight off of it. Once I took that first step and almost fell over from pain, I knew that my $7 rental fee had not gone to waste. The boys ran off to get the cars and Tami chased Lina around for me while we waited.

That night, I promised Mason that if my ankle wasn’t feeling better the next day, then I would go and get it checked out. I lost that bet. So after our guests left we made our way to the Urgent Care where they contorted my ankle in all different directions in order to take x-rays. The x-rays proved that I was right, it was just a sprain.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Celebrate!

I think I may have mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again just in case you forgot.  The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays.  Unfortunately for me, it is not anywhere close to being one of Lina’s favorites.

It wasn't all bad though.  She did have fun at the party at least.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Labels



I received some labels in the mail from Applied Labels for Elina to review on this here blog.  They claim to be dishwasher and laundry proof and perfect for labeling kids items for school or daycare.  Well, Lina is still to young to attend school and going to my Mom’s house doesn’t really count as daycare.  So I had to get creative about what was worthy of getting a label.  I thought about putting a label in one of her books, but that wouldn’t really test the product and it would drive me crazy.  I can’t even handle price tags on my books, or folded pages for that matter.  Call me weird.  I didn't want to put a label on her clothes, because she might have a sister one day who will be able to wear her adorable clothes.

Finally our trip to Mason's family reunion/vacation proved to be a worthy event for testing these labels.  Four items were tested for this trip.  A sippy cup, a snack catcher, a pink rubber duckie and a squirty elephant.  I wanted to put a label on her fabric covered raft as well, but the directions for the labels said to put them on the tag only.  There was no tag, so I didn't attempt it.

The Results:

Sippy Cup:  There was no flat surface on this cup, so I couldn't find a good place to stick the label.  Since the label had no stretch, the top and bottom of the label were left unstuck.  Even partially unstuck, the label showed no signs of falling off.  It was pulled off before being stuck in the dishwasher.


Snack Catcher:  There were plenty of places to stick the label on this one.  This probably also received the most abuse on the trip as well.  It held Lina's snacks, became a toy with several of her cousins and spent most of it's time being drooled on and dropped on the ground.  It has been through the dish washer several times and the label is still there looking brand new.

Bath Toys:  I brought these along for Lina to play with in the pool, they weren't very expensive so I wasn't too worried about loosing them.  But I didn't exactly feel like replacing them either.  I also wasn't expecting the labels to stick very well either.  The material was just too flexible, and the labels did slip a little.  That being said, those toys have been floating around in the pool with the hot sun shining on them for a month and the labels are still there.

All in all, the labels worked great.  We returned from our trip with all of our items.  The snack catcher went missing for a little while, but it was returned by dinner.  It's a good thing it had her name on it, otherwise who knows where it would have ended up.

Because I liked this product so much, I get to share this deal with you.  $5 off your labels and free shipping!



Shop www.AppliedLabels.com

Enter "B2S2011" in your shopping cart (the field is in the bottom left corner).
Click the blue button below the field reading "Enter Coupon Code & Click to Update."

*Free shipping is first-class and ONLY available on label packs. $5 OFF coupon is applied to each label pack and each order containing Applied Labels™, Mini Applied Labels™ and Tag-A-Longs™. Excludes all B2B orders.

STOCK UP! HURRY and beat the rush! This offer will expire September 1, 2011.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Her First Sentance

If Elina were one of the Little Miss characters, her name would be "Little Miss Sassy."  In fact I think she is going to need some of those books for her birthday.

On Friday I asked Miss O to come get a piece of paper from me and give it to Mimi.  Normally Miss O would jump at this opportunity.  But this day, the blocks were more important, so she said "no."  I of course had no choice but to try again.  When she ignored me, my sister told Miss O to tell me what she always told her.  Miss O continued to play with her blocks and yelled (as if we were in separate rooms), "Just a minute!"

Lina adores Miss O and wants to do everything that Miss O does.  Without skipping a beat, Lina shouted "Yus-a-yenet!" 

The words might not have been perfectly formed, but the tone was dead on.  I knew I was going to have my hands full while I was still pregnant, but how do you prepare yourself for your 11 month old daughter telling you just a minute?

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

My Very Own Fight Club

It’s not every day that I get to talk about the time I punched myself in the face. Total spoiler alert, I know. Well, my sister and I have been shopping quite a bit lately, which means we either have to drive separate or play musical car seats. For both our amusement and the girls, we have been choosing to play the car seat game.

Since my sister is expecting her second child, that leaves all the heavy awkward lifting to me. While installing Miss O’s seat in my car, I wanted to make sure it was nice and tight so that the seat wouldn’t budge. I was giving the strap one final tug when the clip slipped off the hook and my fist went flying towards my face. My knuckles crashed into my forehead and the heel of my hand struck my glasses driving the nose piece into the side of my nose and smudging my lens. Fortunately my glasses survived the attack of my fist and I only had to tweak the nose piece a little to get it back into place. And I am so glad my face took the impact instead of Miss O if an accident had happened.

I bought myself a soda after that. I needed the bubbles and caffeine to battle the headache that was brewing, and Miss O needed an orange lemon-aid from Old McDonalds (also known as orange Hi-C from McDonalds, but don’t tell her that).

Monday, July 11, 2011

Peek-a-Boo!

Lina just LOVES her cousin!  Listen closely, she says her version of Olivia.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Father's Day

For Father’s Day, I had some amazing French Toast for breakfast.

Mason didn’t though. I don’t know what he had, probably a bowl of cereal. I was in Hermann celebrating my friends 30th birthday, he was back home with Lina. That was his real Father’s Day gift, a weekend of precious bonding time for the two of them. They had a lazy Saturday morning together while I woke up to a lovely breakfast of fruit and granola before getting an amazing massage. He dressed Lina in mismatched clothes while I was busy doing things like this after drinking more than my fair share of sample wine.

After breakfast on Sunday I played find the gnome (I’m convinced there were more than 2) while Mason and Lina got ready to go bowling with his family (once again in mismatched clothes).

Mason’s weekend was filled with dirty diapers, temper tantrums and a teething baby. Mine was filled with great food, shopping for antiques, wonderful ice cream, relaxing massages, fun games, famous Bratwurst and amazing friends. I had a great Father’s Day Weekend.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Mason’s mug came in and as I expected, I have mixed feelings about it. While I love the concept and I think it is the perfect gift for Mason, I don’t think the quality is up to my standards. I will be the first to admit that I am extra picky when it comes to photography things, so perhaps I’m not the best person to review these types of things. That being said, I think Mason won’t even notice the things about it that drive me crazy.

The winning photo.

The finished product. The colors are a little weak and it’s very pixilated. But that is such a cute girl on that mug!

The view that Mason will see while he drinks. This is the part that bothers me the most.

All in all, this is exactly what I expected. I had the same complaints with the regular mug that I got for free when Lina was 3 months old. I still drink out of it, I still like to look at her picture and I still get compliments on it.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Someday, I'm Going To Win The Lottery

I know what you are thinking. Where did Kayla go? And why did she take her wonderfully witty stories with her? Well it just so happens that I was working on a post that was all about my first trip to the eye doctor in a decade. I was off to a great start, but just couldn’t get to an ending. So, let’s just say… I can see clearly now, my eyes are fixed. And if you didn’t at least sing that last sentence in your head, then you can go ahead and stop reading now.

Now, on to more fun things. Mason has started drinking coffee, which is totally my fault since he hated it when we got married. Anyway, I came across a travel mug on Snapfish. While I have had mixed results with their products, I still thought I had to give this a chance. After all, it is the perfect gift for him. He keeps saying that he needs pictures to show off, yet he has nowhere to put them. With the mug, he can carry around his sweet baby's face and drink his favorite morning beverage at the same time. Anyway I wanted a recent picture of Miss Elina for this project so we had a quick impromptu photo shoot in the front yard while Mason was at the bank. And since Mason doesn’t read this blog, I’m not afraid to share some of my favorite outtakes with you.
It took her a moment to be okay with the weeds on her feet.

"Ahhhh!"  Cute, but it needs to be horizontal and not quite the look we are going for.

That's better, but still not much of a smile.

Close, but not quite there yet...

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Dancing Queen

Guess who can walk… if you guessed Elina, you would be right. Well, almost. She can take one independent step before she has to grab onto something or plops on her bottom. Unless of course she is wearing her sparkle shoes. They have a strange affect on her. They make her dance.

She holds on to your hands and kicks her feet around and shakes her little diaper clad booty. If you let go of her hands to encourage her to walk, then she just plops down and starts grabbing at her feet. Personally, I’m a HUGE fan of the dancing.

It was actually while we were in line to see Miss O dance that she started rocking out in her pink sparkle shoes. Miss O danced beautifully, in case you were wondering. It was a great show and I was so proud of Miss O. So proud in fact that I fear for my own sanity when it’s Lina up there dancing one day.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Lunch Time Singing

To encourage Miss O to eat her lunch and not get distracted, we made up a new song.

Eat Your Food
(Sung to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

Dip, dip, dip your fish
Into the Ketchup
Then we'll take a big ole' bite
And chew it right on up!

It must have worked since she ate more than I did.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

She Has a Mischievous Look in Her Eyes

We received a bunch of hand me downs over the weekend, so I’ve spent the past couple days trying to get them all cleaned, sorted and put away.  Last night Lina took it upon herself to help out.  She started out by pulling clothes out of the laundry basket and “handing” them to me.  Then she thought she would help me out by refolding a couple shirts.  I gently explained to her that those were already done so she didn’t have to pull them off the couch.  So she went back to pulling them out of the basket.  After awhile, when I wasn’t paying attention to her little hands, she quickly grabbed the shirt sitting on top of the pile.  Once she had it completely in her arms, she laughed hysterically.  Of course I had to punish her with kisses.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Tornados and Wall Clouds

If you own a TV or read the newspaper, I’m sure you’ve heard about the tornadoes that struck St. Louis over the weekend. The first one that hit was south west of my house and the second one, which caused 22 miles of damage, started just north east of us. If the first one had held together, there is a good chance it would have been extremely close to our house.

I’m used to tornado threats, I’ve lived my entire life in the Midwest. With each place I have lived, one thing remains the same. Once the first spring storm hits you start thinking of where you will go if and when a tornado comes close. Many people who grew up in the Midwest are so used to hearing the sirens sound that it doesn’t even phase them anymore. Around here, the sirens that cry tornado are much like the boy who cried wolf. So many people, myself included on occasion, tend to go outside when the alarm sounds. Perhaps not the brightest move, but it lets us know if there is actually something to worry about. Not to mention that storms like this are really cool to watch. This year there is one major difference, I have a baby to think about.

The plan in our house is for me to grab Lina and her diaper bag and head down stairs while Mason corrals the three dogs and all six of us squeeze into the tiny laundry room. Except this time, Mason wasn’t home. The first time the alarms went off, the first tornado had touched down nearby, so I focused on just getting the dogs downstairs.

Damage to the East of us.

The second time the alarms went off, I was feeding Elina, because storm or not, that girl likes to eat. So I did the typical Midwesterner thing and stuck my head out the back door and decided it wasn’t going to hit us. Shortly after that, I heard an alarm in the distance when the second tornado touched down. The weatherman was stationed in that area and sent his fellow workers to the basement. He promised to keep talking to us if he had to get under a desk. Now that is commitment. Perhaps a normal person would say hey I’m gonna go downstairs for a moment, please keep your eyes on this here map. I don’t have anything new to say anyway so you won’t miss a thing. That would be the highlight of my story, Mason’s story is much better though.

After Lina’s dinner we were back in the living room tracking the storm with our weatherman who was poised and ready to jump under the desk. A reported tornado (it was later reduced to a wall cloud) was headed down a street not far from our house and the road I expected Mason would be using to get home. So I called to see where he was. If he hadn’t left yet, I was going to make sure he didn’t leave until it was safe. Guess where he was… the worst possible place he could be at that moment. He told me he was just blown into a different lane before I called and we hung up so he could focus on driving since there was nowhere to pull over at that moment. The wind continued to push his truck around the highway, from one lane to the next and back again eventually pushing him into the wall. Fortunately the wall only pushed his mirror in and he ended up back in the lane he started in once the winds let up.

Actual wall cloud that Mason drove through.
We were lucky.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Cheers!

Okay, let’s go back a few weeks when Lina and I had to run to Sams to get formula for Mimi’s house. Lina has been doing very good in stores, sitting in the cart like a big girl and looking at everything the store has to offer. I believe this has even helped with her stranger anxiety. But I’m getting off topic. So we are walking around in Sams and I decide to see if they have any cookies to sample, I grabbed a chocolate one and broke off a small piece for Lina then headed over to the baby section. At one point, in-between bites, I tapped my piece of cookie against hers and said “cheers.” She looked up at me and smiled. The next thing I know she’s tapping her cookie on mine waiting for a “cheers” in response.


The next weekend we were back at Sams, for diapers this time. Mason and I decided to grab a slice of pizza on our way out and I shared my pizza crust with Lina. This is when I finally remembered to tell Mason about the whole cookie cheers thing and she must have heard me. The next think I know, she’s holding out her crust for me to cheers with. And as soon as I did, she gave a huge grin. Of course I was then obligated to cheers with her after every single bite she took.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Germs, Teeth and Tantrums

I’m just going to mention it once, and then I’m done. Cause it’s so annoying when people drone on and on about how they HATE being sick. But guess what… I’m sick. Again. This makes 5 colds this winter. That’s right people FIVE. Last time I got sick that much in one year I had my tonsils removed. This one started Saturday night while the three of us were a bunch of dancing fools at my Food Twins wedding. When my throat started hurting, I thought “Oh man, I should not have done that much loud, obnoxious singing on the party bus.” Oh how I wish that was the problem. So now we are all sick, again. Please spring, don’t let anymore cold weather come around. I just need to be healthy so I can have the energy to function. Please Lina, start sleeping through the night again so Mommy can have enough energy to fight these germs. Which reminds me…


We have a tooth! Friday night while at the rehearsal dinner, Lina cut her first tooth. I knew it was coming, she kept feeling that area with her tongue. When I felt the tooth, I almost jumped up and screamed about the tooth, but I quickly remembered this little party wasn’t about me and someone may have been giving a speech at that moment. Poor timing for my excited freaking out. Not that she needed teeth, she seems to be doing just fine with adult food. Bagels, pizza crust, cookies, and now french fries and shredded cheese. True the bagels and crust just get soggy and mashed, but she’s very skilled in her mashing technique. Now don’t scold me for giving my 8 month old french fries, I’m not the one who gave her the first one. But I totally shared my fries with her the next day. And guess what… she loves them (Who can blame her really?). And she can mash them up until they are small enough to swallow.

She’s throwing little temper tantrums too. If she could talk it would go something like this… “Oooh, a straw! I need that straw! I need to chew on that straw! Wait, why are you moving it further away from me? I can’t reach it! I NEED THAT STRAW!!! A yogurt melt, I love yogurt melts!”

Monday, April 11, 2011

Milestones

Hey, remember me? I’m the person who supposedly writes this blog. I know you probably forgot all about me, but I’m still here, floating around in the background, making a mental list of everything I need to mention on here.

So much has happened since I last had the time to write it down. Elina has learned to clap and wave. She has mastered her high speed crawl and looks for anything she can use to pull herself up. She will come over to the couch pull herself up and smack you on the leg until you look at her and acknowledge her achievement. She absolutely loves it when we clap for her. No matter what, it makes her smile when I clap and cheer.

Elina has also taken those first tiny little steps.  She takes a few tiny steps while holding onto the coffee table, the couch or our hands, and Elina seems quite pleased with herself when she gets where she was trying to go. I’m quite pleased with her too, even while secretly telling her not to grow up too fast. It’s perfectly okay to wait a few months before walking independently, climbing mountains and running marathons.

The other night at dinner, she and Pop had a laughing conversation. Lina would give one of her squealing laughs and Pop would reply with a similar more manly laugh. Back and forth these two went, Lina clearly delighted with the exchange. Lina and I often have similar exchanges at home, where I repeat whatever noise she makes, it’s usually yelling.

One of her favorite games is peek-a-boo. It is also one of the only things that will keep her still while I’m trying to change her. I simply place a small burp cloth over her eyes and ask where Lina is. She then grabs the cloth and gives me a huge grin when I shout “There she is!” This also works when she is sitting (or standing) with her back to me. She twists and turns until she can see my face and waits for those magic words.

Now let’s talk about those first words. One morning as we were getting ready to go, she looked right at Mason, held out her arms and said “Yeah-yee!” Clearly she said it with intent, therefore I had to count it. Later in the day I thought, I wonder if that means I’m Ya-ya, the other word she says all the time. That same evening while I was getting her dinner ready she was watching me, as soon as I stepped out of her line of sight she yelled “Ya-ya! Ya-ya! Ya-ya!” When I reappeared she stopped and smiled up at me. When I disappeared again for a second, the same thing happened. She may not have her M’s or D’s mastered, but she clearly has our names figured out. On Friday at my parents house, she was sitting on my lap, playing with Pop. All of the sudden she yelled “Pop!” To which we both replied, “I think she just said Pop.” To make her point Lina looked right at Pop and yelled “Pop!” She is starting to get her M‘s too as I’m sure she said Mom a couple of times. But when she is really talking, I’m quite sure I’m going to miss those grunts, growls and yells she seems so find of.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Amazing

It's amazing how much changes in just 6 short months...


Friday, February 11, 2011

Happy Half Birthday!

Dear Elina,

Today you are six months old. It seems like just yesterday I was telling our family that we were expecting you. Just yesterday I was waking up your Dad to tell him that we were finally going to meet you. Just yesterday I listened as you laughed for the first time. Just yesterday you found out you can yell and squeal, you have yet to stop. Just yesterday you sat up on your own. Just yesterday, you crawled for the first time. No, I mean it. It really was yesterday that you started crawling. 

When I look into your eyes, I can see the wheels turning as you absorb everything around you. I love watching you pick up a new toy and figure out how it works. You are so smart. You have been early on every single one of your milestones and you never cease to amaze me and your Dad. I love the way you sit there and look at me or your Dad and smile a huge smile just to get our attention. You laugh when we look or yell when we take too long to notice. Both of which make me the happiest person alive. 

I love the belly laughs that erupt from your lips when I tickle your ribs. Your crazy hair makes me laugh and your dimples warm my heart.  You have the sweetest little button nose and the most perfect little lips.  Your squeals and shouts give just a hint of your personality.  I can already tell that you are going to be stubborn like your Mama and just a little ornery like your... well like both of your parents.  Your desire for independence and your love for cuddling make make you a joy to watch and snuggle.

I love you Elina, and I can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring.

Love,
Your Mama

Sunday, January 23, 2011

She Said What?

Last weekend while Mason was playing with Elina, with her back turned to the both of us she uttered one little word.  It was crystal clear which means it had to be just babble.  Right?  I mean what baby says her first word perfectly?  Since we had just spent the entire week talking about how to say Mama, I really don't see how Daddy could be her first word.  She hasn't said it since, so I'm not counting it.  She has to say it at least twice before I count it.  Unless of course she says Mama.