A new syllable... and a new roof!

The past few days have been rather stressful as we had our roof replaced. It was quite loud and Elie didn't really care for all the banging, and neither did I. Yesterday we spent the day at Aunt Gale's house and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Today I ran some errands after Elie managed to nap during the banging and when I came home they were done! Here is a before and after:

Before

After - much lighter!

And, just in time for father's day this Sunday, Elie has learned to say da-da... and da-do-de-da. Of course this isn't directed at Adam, and she says it to everything - happy or upset. It's really cute to see her so excited about acquiring language - of course she doesn't know that's what she is doing. Here is a video to enjoy of her talking to her toys and deciding what to play with next! She does love her exersaucer!

Swim baby!

We had our first swim class today and Elie LOVED it!! She loved me swirling her around in the water and all the different activities/exercises we did in the pool. And, because she is almost 7 months old, she loved sucking the pool water on her hands. She was so calm and happy to just be there and enjoy the water - I can't wait for Thursday's class!

Enjoying playtime in the crib

This past weekend I decided it was time to paint our hallway bathroom. So, we went to get the paint and started the project on Saturday afternoon and finished up on Sunday. It looks really great! Adam and I are both so happy with the results and think the bathroom looks 10X better!

So, here is a picture of what it looked like before (sort of) - I took this right after we bought the house last year.

Before

And, After!

So pretty! As Elie gets a bit older I want to get a fish/beach theme going in the bathroom. There's a lot more painting I want to do in the house, but that will all have to wait. This is a good start though.

We are excited for this weekend coming up - we are going on a date on Saturday while Aunt Gale and Uncle Peter watch Elie for a few hours in the afternoon. And then on Sunday we will celebrate Adam's first Father's Day and do fatherly type things all day - I have no idea what that means, but it sounds fun!

Sorry for the delay

So, we've had a busy few weeks here... We had a visit from my parents (Nan & Pere to Elie) two weeks ago followed by throwing a baby shower and a going away party this past weekend for our good friends Isaac and Rayna. It's been a lot of fun, but now we are looking forward to just hanging out for the next two weekends - and Adam's first Father's Day! I hope to make it as special as he made Mother's Day for me.

Elie and I start swim classes next week - I am really excited to get in the pool with her since she loves the water so much. Also taking the class with us is a friend from my playgroup and her 9 month old daughter... it will be nice to have familiar faces there!

At the end of this month we are very excited to be traveling down to Florida to visit with my sister, brother-in-law, and meet our new niece Vivienne (4 months younger than Elie). We will be attending her baptism - a first for the three of us! I will also be spending two nights with my sister after the baptism to hang out with the babies and have some fun - Adam will be returning to NC for work. It will be my first time taking care of Elie alone at night - I just hope she sleeps well!

Elie with Nan

Since Elie is now 6 months old, we've introduced her to solids - yay! It's so much fun to watch her and to watch Adam feed her! She's still getting used to food, but her expressions are priceless (so are Adam's as he feeds her!). So far she's had sweet potato and banana. Hopefully this weekend we'll try something else as she continues to get used to textures and flavors going down - yum yum!

So, we're excited for a fun summer of family visits, swimming, and vacations! We also have Adam's parents coming to visit in July, and we are going to the beach for a week in August with Aunt Rachel! Hopefully I will be getting back in the habit of updating this blog - it's pretty fun to look back at even for us. :-)

Giggles and New Friends

We have been busy lately with our play dates, keeping up with the house, and trying to find new activities to keep us busy.

My Tuesday play date has been going well and is now meeting in the afternoon which is more difficult for us due to napping, but we still get to see everyone for about an hour.

Adam has been busy tearing out poison ivy and other invasive plants from our backyard on the weekends. Hopefully he will conquer the poison ivy and then we can get a play gym for Elie in the backyard. Luckily we have some years before she will be ready for a jungle gym.

Today I tried out a story time at the library with one of the other moms from my play group. It was a lot of fun, but I think it will be even better for us once Elie gets a little bit bigger. Most of the babies were running around and we're not even crawling yet - although Elie does seem to be getting closer and closer each day.

We also met another mom in our neighborhood who has a little boy two months older than Elie. She is home every other week with her son and so we are planning on getting together for some walks.

Now I am looking into some active classes I can take (such as Salsa Babies!) for either this summer or the coming fall. I have been itching to get out and meet some new friends, both for myself and Elie as you can probably tell. And, to make it easier one of the moms from my play group, Candice, and I have been meeting for walks and she was at the library today and we want to sign up for one of these classes together. Oh the joys of being a stay-at-home mom! I feel so lucky! Oh and I had a terrific first mother's day thanks to Adam (and Elie)!

Here is a video of some of the fun Elie and I have during the day... She just loves it when Adam and I kiss her and pretend to eat her up! So much fun!

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.

-William Carlos Williams

The Pits!

One more thought on teething... appears I've had this thought for a long time! I had to scan in this old photo of myself -- only if I still had the onesie! Although I was quite a bit older in this photo than Eliora is now. Too funny!

Tooth Puns... for Great Grandma Lila

So it seems that Eliora is teething. She’s drooling a lot more than she used to and is rather cranky. I think she really wants to get the tooth, but she can’t yet handle the tooth. I guess we’ll just keep at it until she gets the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth. I dared her not to get teeth, so I guess it’s up to her: tooth or dare. She hasn’t been crying too much, but she has been a little whinier and more talkative than before... I guess the tooth hurts. Here's some fun pictures of Elie being happy despite the tooth.

Thank goodness it's Friday and Adam is coming home soon!