Hi. My name is Gabriela Madeline Stark, but you can call me Ela. Welcome to my blog! I can’t speak English, Spanish, French or German yet, but my parents are going to write down some of the cool stuff I do, until I’m old enough to do it myself. I hope you enjoy reading about me. I’m completely oblivious.
Our new little friend, Daniela Marte, was born yesterday at 2:19 pm and weighs 7 pounds 8 ozs. She's the daugher of one of my closes friends, Kassie (Faber) Marte and her husband Melchor. Congratulations! She informed me that she, too, is to be called Ela--at least here in the US. In the DR she will probably just go by Daniela, which is a great name too. Ela and I hope to meet Daniela in early August before she and her mom head back to the Dominican Republic.
Here are some pictures from the last week. Lily had to go back home last Wednesday and we miss her terribly. We had so much fun with her around. But life goes on somehow.
Good news. I have a job interview on Tuesday for a position at the Public Library. Anyway, here are the pictures. Enjoy.
Ela and her cousin Lily reading The Foot Book
Cool new sock from Aunt Dee
She went to the bathroom on the toilet for the first time a couple of days ago. It hasn't been consistent since, but it was a lot of fun!
It's been a while since I last posted but it seems like I should try harder now that we've moved far away from most people who have gotten used to enjoying Ela's company. The move went pretty smoothly although there are still boxes everywhere and I look forward to clearing them up so Ela can run freely around the house. There's a lot to tell but I'll go ahead and put some pictures up to tell the story.
We stopped by Indiana to visit cousins Lily & Robert and Aunt Dee. We had a fun time. Lily decided to take the rest of the trip with us to help watch after Ela. Dee is coming down on Monday or Tuesday to fetch her.
Thom & Lily going trough books.
The front of our new home. Ours is the door that's open.
Moving can make a little person very tired.
This is a video of Ela with her new sounds. Anyone who has heard her knows the tongue/lip noises are new. It sounds so funny to me but it's terribly cute. She'll be communicating in no time!
A lot of new things have been happening at the Starks. Ela is teething again. Two new top teeth can be seen beginning to push their way through. She doesn't seem to be suffering too much although she's had an occasional moment or two of desperation. This morning, during breakfast, I was finally able to catch on video something that she's been doing for quite some time. If you blink at her she will make eyes back at you. Here, watch:
I think she looks so intense in this picture. Wonder who she gets it from?
Ela taking baby for a walk. She's walking all over the place now. Mostly she uses the furniture to help her get around but she'll also take up to six or seven steps all on her own before she plops down on the ground. It's exciting to watch her wobbly little steps.
In the following picture she is sharing some quiet time with new friends. I've been trying to teach her to be nice to the dolls instead of throwing them on the floor. She's learned to hug and kiss them and we're working on learning to feed them their bottle. Although notice she'd rather chew on it herself. I think the progression of events in the next three pictures is funny (I didn't stage this. It just kind of happened, not sure how):
They were getting along fine when suddenly they decided to gang up on her! She is clearly annoyed at them. Bad babies. Then again, maybe she shouldn't chew on their bottle.
This is the lovely jump suit from her Aunt Amanda. She always helps bring style into this tot's life.
And finally, the best video I've seen in a while. Ela had spaghetti for dinner tonight. This is just some of what happened:
Aunt Amanda visited this past weekend and Ela had tons of fun with her. Here they are playing peek-a-boo/tickle. Notice she sports the hot pink tutu even when it's too chili to wear just the tights.
Today Ela went for a walk with her abuelo. They picked a rosa (Spanish for rose, that's what my dad called it) for me. Ela at first didn't want to touch it but when she saw how much I liked it she decided she might just want to keep it for herself. We compromised and it's in a vase on the coffee table where we can both look at it.
And the video of her using her walker. I think she looks like a tiny old person. My mom babysat her this morning and she reports that Ela actually took a couple of steps alone by her own initiative. I was sad I missed it but I'm sure it will happen again soon.
And last but not least, the video I call peek a boo. I'll let you figure out why. She will do this over and over and she even likes to do it in the bathtub with her ducking down inside the tub while I'm outside of it. I'll try to get a video of it sometime.
Last weekend my friend, Ceri, came over. She brought an old bridesmaid dress and a bunch of hot pink tulle and said, more or less, "let's give this dress a makeover". So we did--maybe I'll posts pictures of the transformation if I get any from her, but she over-calculated on the tulle she would need so some of the extra turned into a tutu for Ela:
Ela loves being a ballerina.
This is an action shot. She's either dancing to some music or doing one of her newest things-- hold on to the coffee table and scoot all the way around it. She does this many times a day now.
Waking up from a nap. She looks so big to me in this picture.
Kimono from Uncle Jim and his trip to Japan. Her Aunt Dee, Cousin Lily and Cousin Robert all sent her fun gifts too.
Here's a video that was taken about a month ago but I was looking through them and rediscovered it. It made me laugh so I thought I'd add it. She's moving around a lot more on her own now. She uses the furniture to get from place to place. It's fun to watch.
I finally completed a project I've been wanting to do for a while now. It helps that now I have my own sewing machine so I can have at it whenever I have free time. Ela's high chair is a hand-me-down that someone gave us. It's in great shape and serves its purpose so I can't complain... except for the color of the padding. It's just ugly. Here, you can see for yourself:
So Ela and I picked out some fun fabric and I got to work. Here's Ela posing with the fabric for her "new" high chair:
And here's Ela in her high chair with no cover while the project was in progress. I had to include this video 'cause it makes me laugh. I've entitled it "Ela Eats with a Fork":
(there have been some difficulties in uploading the video. I will try again to upload it later so check back again. I promise it will be worthwhile.)
And the finished project. It feels fresh, it feels new, it feels pretty. It took me a couple of nights of work for a total of about 4 hours (includes trial-and-error so I'd get it done much faster if I did it again) and it cost me $4. Not bad!
In other news, Ela seems to have come down with a little bit of a virus. She's running a fever, got a runny nose and a little bit of diarrhea. She has to go on the "brat" diet: banana, rice, apple, toast. Basically anything high in fiber. I hope this doesn't last long and that she starts feeling better soon. Now that I think of it, she hasn't been sick at all since a mild cold she had in December so I can't complain, but it's still no fun having a sick baby.
Before & After
Goes to show that you don't need a new high chair, just an old one with a makeover!
It's been a while since I last posted about Ela and so I sincerely apologize to those who check back here for updates and pictures. I guess life has been busy, but we're still having a blast.
Let's see, what has Ela been up to? She just turned 10 months last Wednesday. Time has gone by so fast and I find myself fantasizing about her birthday party. I know she won't know or care but I will and I want to have the story to tell and pictures to show her when she's older.
She seems to have skipped right over the crawling stage and into the walking. The drive to get up and walk seems to be irresistible. There are times when she will simply insist that someone come help her walk around. This stage has been demanding on us parents since she requires our help all the time, although she's gaining more and more independence every day. She now holds on to furniture and tries to move from the coffee table to the couch and back (they're only about a foot apart). For a week or so she has stood on her own for intervals of about 10-60 second or longer. Today, for the first time, she stood and clapped her hands at the same time--this requires quite a bit of balance! She was giving herself a round of applause for having put her toy in the toy box.
We've been to the playground on the few days when the weather has been nice. She loves the swing. She hangs on tight and doesn't mind going high. We tried the slide but she doesn't get the fun in that yet so we pretty much head straight for the baby swings.
Ela walking the drive way with her abuelita.
I think this is the second or third time she stood solo.
Still loves bath time! She'll stand at the tub and dance around and try to climb in the tub while I'm preparing her water.
She had a blast pulling out all the books. I think she was also proud of herself.
Playing in Abuelita's back yard on a beautiful spring day.
Saturday morning was a lazy morning. In an attempt to sleep a little longer I brought Ela into bed with us and fed her there. I thought she might fall back asleep but she didn't. It ended up with Thom and me lying there half asleep and Ela sitting in between the two trying real hard to entertain herself. She discovered one of Thom's tattoos and tried to pick it off with her. That task lasted a while until she figured out it couldn't be done. Thom is sticking to the story that there are two races of humans: the tattoosians, who are born that way, and the non-tattoosians. He claims this is how he will teach our kids not to get tattoos. Good luck Thom.
Yesterday Ela went to the church nursery for the first time. I know, I know, it's about time. I was so nervous when I dropped her off I was literally shaking. I managed to sit through the whole sermon and I made myself stay through one song before I went to check on her. She was fine, playing on the floor with one of the teenagers that works there. She had a great time. I'm beginning to experience what my mom, to this day, still experiences when any one of us girls is staying with them but is out late at night. It's not pleasant.
Yesterday I also discovered she sprouted a new tooth and today, as I was trying to show the new tooth to Thom, he discovered that the one next to it is just about ready to push through which will give her a total of four teeth. Somehow having upper teeth makes her seem so much older than just bottom ones. She's also getting better at her walking with help from Mom or Dad's fingers. She used to call out to me when she wanted to be picked up. Now she calls out to me when she wants me to come over and lend a friendly finger or two. She grabs on to one finger, then the other and pulls herself up. Pretty soon we're across the room.
Finding things for her to eat has become a challenge. She doesn't want to be spoon fed the mushy stuff anymore. That stage came and went real quickly. So I've been forced to find soft foods that I can cut up small enough for her to gum and swallow. Some foods, like banana, are to slimy to pick up with two little pinchy fingers so I set out to find a solution. One thing I tried was coating the little banana pieces with crushed cheerios. She didn't like that so much but I'm keeping that idea storead away for future use. You never know. She did love the banana pancakes I made for her. I dipped banana slices in pancake batter (made with formula, not milk) and then cooked them on the skillet. Another thing that has worked is banana toast. I just make her a piece of toast, smear some mushed banana on there and fold the toast in half like a sandwich so she doesn't notice the slimy banana on there. I know, sounds kind of gross but she loves it. Today I tried the same thing with prunes and she like it too. I just squished the inside out of the prune skin and spread it on the toast. This is my attempt to get some fiber in her diet.
Lastly, here's a video of Thom playing with Ela. Well, it's more like a video of Thom being Ela.
Despite the rain and ice, Ela and I went to her Dr. appointment today. Thom and I were both off on her height and weight. Her weight is 15 lbs 8 oz. Her height is 26 in. I was surprised to hear that she had only gained about 1.6 lbs since last time, three months ago. The doctor told me not to worry right now because she is proportionate. In other words, her weight is right for her height. She's not fat, nor skinny. We'll just keep an eye on her. She has begun eating more actual foods so maybe that will add some pounds to her.
It seemed boring to post without having at least a video or something so here it is, enjoy.
Hello all. I don't have much time but I wanted to post some pictures and a quick update on what Ela is doing. She has started waving bye bye and drinking out of her sippy cup by herself (although sometimes I have to help tip it back far enough to get anything).
She is eating more and more foods, she won't allow me to spoon feed her anymore so I've gone to cutting everything up and letting her pick it up with her two little fingers. She's also eating larger quantities. This morning she ate almost a whole piece of toast and 1/4 banana for breakfast and for supper she ate almost a whole tortilla with beans and rice. That's a lot for a little tummy!
She loves to play all kinds of games. Her newest favorite game is one we invented tonight. It's called "Ela catch." The premise of the game is that we "toss" Ela back and forth between the two of us and she thinks she's actually being tossed and caught. We all laughed real hard.
She loves reading books, all the more when Daddy reads them with his funny voices. The ones with the lift flaps are the best. She has a couple of them memorized so she knows exactly where to lift from. She's always sure to put the flap back in place before moving on to the next page.
I know only a handful of people care about this but tomorrow his her 9 month checkup. At her last appointment on Nov 27th she weighted 14 lbs, 2 oz. and was 25 1/4 inches tall. Thom's guess for tomorrow: 16.5 lbs and 27 in. tall. My guess for tomorrow: 17 lbs 3 oz and 27.5 in. tall.
Our days have been busier. It's been hard to find time to post on blogs these days. Thom got a new job so now he's working two jobs. I've also been working more. This is good, since we need the money. But we're crunched for time-- time together and time to get miscellaneous things done.
Ela, as always, is wonderful. Today she waved bye bye to Thom for the first time. She's been saying Dada for a few weeks now. She likes to sing loudly and she now eats big person foods. Her newest food is little pieces of green beans. She loves them. She's been refusing to crawl for a long time. She finally looks like she's on the verge of that milestone, but not quite yet. I hope I can get some video of her when it happens. She likes to stand up and sit down, over and over. She also can now stand while holding on to a chair or the sofa and she can take little steps while holding on to mom or dad's fingers.
Next Thursday is her 9 month checkup at the Dr. I'm eager to find out her weight and height. I'll be sure to let you know how her growth is once I know. It's been three months since her last appointment and I'm proud to announce that for the first time we didn't have to go in to see the Dr. in between checkups for some nagging illness, which means a healthy baby.
Well, that's enough of that. Here are some recent pictures:
Zebra shirt from Aunt Amanda!
Practicing use of sippy cup.
Eating something (Cheerio, I think).
Eating tortilla-- yum!
"Dada"
Oh yes, Ela's new little friend, Ava Rose entered this world on Feb 12th around 5:40pm. Ela, Megan and I went to visit her and her mommy today. They're doing great and Ava is beautiful. I can't wait to spend some more time with her and I'll be sure to get some pictures up here of Ela interacting with Ava. She was definitely intrigued by the little crying baby and wanted to touch her so bad--which just serves to remind me all the more that Ela is no longer a little baby. It also gets me thinking "big sister", but I should probably put that thought away for now.
