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.
Here are some pictures from Thom's phone and from mine:
Rides at the mall
At the park today
She climbed into this thing by herself and then spun round and round
Went pretty high on the swings!
She cold climb on these old-style horses by herself!
Story behind this picture: We walked down the street from the theater to a little shop to buy ice cream cones. Ela was excited as we ordered her single scoop vanilla cone. She couldn't wait! But then....she saw the bubble gum machine just as her order was coming up. So then she wanted a ball, not her ice cream. So Thom got her the 25 cent gumball ... and she put it in her pocket. But she had no interest in the ice cream. It was melting. Fast. So I did her a favor and licked it for a while. About halfway back to the theater she decided she wanted her "ball" on the ice cream. Then she ate them both until she dropped them. The End.
I know it has been a while since I posted on here but I promise to make a better effort. Here are some photos from our recent trip to Hanover this past week. We had a great time, and Thom, Lily and I caught a Bob Dylan concert. The cousins had so much fun together!
BeeGee, Poppy, Ela, Robert & Dogberry
BeeGee, Ela & Poppy
Ela & Lily
Swing fun!
Beautiful Lily
Handsome Robert
Mini-golf with BeeGee, Poppy, Lily, Robert, Mama & Dada
Today is Ela's Nanna's birthday. So here is the blog post dedicated to her on her day. Dear Nanna, We love you very much and we are very thankful for you in our lives. We hope you're able to celebrate a very special day and have extra fun for us since we can't be there. We thought of many things we could send you, but there's probably nothing better than a message from Ela, so go ahead and scroll down to watch the video and recieve your birthday message from Ela. Love, Thom, Erica and Ela
Ela and I (not Thom, he had to work) went to the ESR student retreat on Friday and Saturday. It was a lot of fun but we were both exhausted when we got back home. My camera's batteries were dying so I didn't get many pictures. It was beautiful, though, and Ela loved the water. We even got to feed some ducks!
She was entertaining us during lunch one day. She was really tired by this point, you can see it in her eyes. But she did her best to behave.
Today was Ela's abuelito's (my dad's) birthday. So, in honor of him, here are some random cute pictures of Ela and at the end a birthday video just for Abuelito (but you can all watch it if you want)!
She decided to take her diaper off. Sometimes she'll take it off during her nap and we'll bring her downstairs before we notice her bare little bottom hanging out from under her dress.
Ok, so I'm a bit behind on my posting. We've been busy. School started this week for Thom and me, so we've been tied up with preparations, orientation, etc. We made it through the first week and I feel like I can take a few minutes and catch up on some much needed blogging. Here's what Ela has been up to:
Getting into things
Being fussy (I think she was teething because in the couple of
weeks after this picture she has sprung up two teeth and a molar)
Agan with the attitude
Showing off the scenery we get from our back window. In the
evenings there is often a herd of cows grazing in the field behind Ela.
The playground just down the hill from us. Unfortunately it doesn't have any swings, which is the only thing she's not too scared of right now.
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.
I was just looking through some old childhood pictures of Thom and me. I started trying to figure out who she looked like most. Well, what do you think? I tried to find pictures of her making similar expressions as Thom and I are making in our pictures.
Ela and I went over to my parents house this afternoon. My dad found a little basketball in his drawer for Ela to play with. It's her favorite toy now. This is just a cute video of Ela playing with the ball.
Here's a fun video I think everyone will enjoy. One of Ela's latest things is shaking her head "no", although I don't think she knows it means no. She also can bob her head, "yes". Other new things she does are talk (at least she thinks so) and dance--well, more like keeps beat with her body. She also seems to be teething really bad. She already has one tooth completely in and a second one half way in. Lately, though she hasn't seemed quite herself and she has refused to eat anything but her milk during the last couple of days, which makes me believe she's got a bad case of teething. At least I hope that's what it is and not something serious. We've all been through a round of a couple of different viruses. Anyway, enjoy the video. It's great. Ela is great.
The first week of January Megan, Ela and I drove up to Decatur, IL to visit Amanda. She wasn't able to make it home for Christmas because of work and money so we had to take her gifts to her. We had a really good time. Here are just a few pictures:
Ela and I got to meet the Breezes. The grownups had good talks and the babies had fun too. Ela tried to take Torah's sock off!
Two cuties
Ela and me with one of my oldest and best friends, Amy. Thanks for meeting up with us Amy!
We went to a museum in Champagne and Ela got to sit on Australia.
Tia Amanda and Ela just loungin.
One of Ela's new favorite buddies, Alex. She and Alex played and played and played and had a great time.
At Starbucks where Ela's Auntie Amanda works. We had fun there!
On our way home we drove through some tornado weather in Springfield so we had to stop and take shelter at Kmart. We were there for three hours but Ela behaved well the whole time. Here are Megan and Ela making the best of a dull situation.
It's been a long time since I updated Ela's blog. Much has happened. Ela is now trying a new food every 4-6 days or so. So far she's had avocado, squash and her new one since yesterday is banana. She's not had quite as big of an appetite since fighting off this cold but hopefully she'll get back to normal soon. Ela's Christmas was simple, but she still got a few nice gifts. I made her a stuffed frog, her grandma got her a few fun toys and her great-grandma got her a jumperoo. Sounds fun, right? It is. She loves it.
Ela and I are getting ready to head out on a roadtrip with her aunt Megan soon. We leave Thursday and area headed to Decatur, IL where Ela's Aunt Amanda lives. Hopefully Ela will do great in the car as she has before and we'll have a great time. We also hope to meet up with a few different friends that live near or around that same area. I'll be posting pictures from that trip soon.
For now here's a video of Ela jumping gleefully away. I love the way her little feet look like she's tap dancing when she jumps. It's cute!
Ela was looking mighty good on thanksgiving. Other than that I don't have much news except that we are having family portraits taken tomorrow (family being my mom, dad, grandma, sisters & us three). We will also do Ela's six month portraits and I will post a few samples once I have them.
Great-granny giving Ela her rice cereal. They had a fun time.
Ela in the new hat I crocheted for her and her girlie jeans. They're both a bit big on her but I couldn't help myself.
Ready for an afternoon at the park with old friends.
Old friends, Luis & Katie Almonacid are visiting from Chile. Funny thing, Thom met Luis about six years ago when he spent a summer in Chile and I knew Katie from Dennis Hall at OCC. Katie moved to Chile, met Luis and now they're married. We each knew them independently before they even met so now we have a great time together. Alisa lives 8 blocks away but we see her about as often as we see Luis & Katie. Sad, isn't it? But we had a great time at the park and the weather was perfect.
Well...semi solid. Today, for the first time, Ela ate cereal. Really soupy rice cereal. I could tell you about it but I'll just show you. The order these appear in is chronological so it's best to watch them that way:
Her first solid feeding she started blowing bubbles in her cereal. At least she seemed to know exactly what to do with it and even noticed that Dad needed help getting it in her mouth. I can only imagine what fun lies ahead. I'm sure we'll be posting more interesting videos of Ela's table manners.
Last weekend Ela and I were supposed to fly down to Florida to Ashley's wedding and Ela was also going to meet her Poppy (Thom's dad) for the first time ever. Well, that trip didn't turn out because Ela got sick. So Poppy sent her a package with gifts he had intended to give her in Florida. It was packed full of all kinds of goodies like clothes and some bowls, spoons & sippy cups. All very practical things. Ela's favorite thing was this teether shaped like an ear of corn.
As you watch the video notice the corn toy caught between her feet. In a little bit it will fall on the table, making a loud sound. When this happens look at her surprised eyebrows. It's so funny how expressive she is:
Another thank you goes out to Aunt Meg who made Ela this cute beanie:
Look at the first picture and notice what side of her head the purple bow is on. Now scroll down to the next picture...
I turned away for a minute to put new batteries in the camera and when I turned back the bow was on the other side! I think possibly it rotated from her wiggling so much. Or maybe she just likes the bow better on the right. Who knows.
On another note. I was looking through some old posts and ran across this post on Thom's blog. It's from when Ela was sick in the hospital. If you scroll down to the very last comment on the page you'll find a comment by someone else named Ela. This person googled "Ela" and thus ran across the post. I had never read it (or any of the other comments) since I was kind of preoccupied at the time. I was reminded of everything we went through and how fortunate we are to have this precious child with us today. Thanks everyone for your prayers back then. They made a difference, I know it.
This past week was hectic. First Ela's great grandma (Thom's Grandma) fell and broke her hip and had to have surgery. We drove to Springfield on Monday and Tuesday to visit her in the hospital. She's doing better now. Has been moved to a different hospital for physical therapy.
On Friday Ceri, Ela and I were supposed to fly to Florida for Cole & Ashley's wedding. On Thursday night at 11 Ela ran a fever of 102. I didn't know what to do. I didn't just want to take off to Florida without knowing if Ela was ok. So we took her to urgent care first thing to see if we could figure out if it was ok for her to travel. It wasn't. So I had Ceri stop by on her way to the airport to pick up the gift and we have been home all weekend fighting hand, foot & mouth. She's had a fever all weekend but she is finally starting to look and act better. She still has the fever but not quite as high. I just hope we're on the road to recovery.
It kind of looks like I'm helping her but I'm not touching her. She's been working on this for awhile now. We would help her sit and hold her, when we let go she would stay there for about two seconds before she tipped. Well, today I was playing that very game with her when suddenly she didn't tip. She figured out she can use her hands to hold herself up. I think this takes her one step closer to crawling. If she can incorporate using her arms like this into the moves you saw below then she might just get somewhere. We'll really have to keep or eyes open after that. Yikes.
Later on tonight Megan and Ashley came over and helped give Ela a bath. After her bath Ela was up to some more sitting. Here's what happened:
No, Ashley didn't push her down. She tumbled on her own and I didn't catch her quite in time. No damage was done.
As promised, here are the pictures of Ela's new crib. We've actually had it for awhile but we were waiting to put it up since we had planned to move in just a couple of months. Now we'll be here at least 'till she's a year old so we decided she'd be needing her crib. Don't mind the computer monitor, we're still in the process of deofficing the room.
Doesn't she look tiny in that thing?
I think she likes it. She has spent two nights there (she's working on her third night as we speak) and has woken up happy and ready to start the day. I've heard of parents having to go through all kinds of acrobatics to get their kids to sleep in their own room but not Ela, she's just happy she gets to sleep. Sweet dreams!
Tonight is Ela's first night in her big girl crib. So far we've had her in our room in a little bassinet. It has been great. The setup was ideal when we first brought her home and she demanded so much attention overnight. But she's been sleeping through the night for at least three months now and since we have postponed our move to Virginia we decided it's time to pull out and assemble the crib. So Thom's office is now Ela's room/Thom's office. Mostly Ela's room.
I was beginning to think my little baby girl wasn't so little anymore. And, well, for what she used to be she's not. But as I told my mom today, she's tiny for what she's not yet become. Putting her in that huge crib made me see how little she still is-- she looks so small and cute whereas she was beginning to outgrow the bassinet. I do think Ela will do fine by herself. I, however, might not do so well. I'm a little saddened by the thought of my tiny tot moving on to her own room. We'll see if I get any sleep tonight or if I'm up checking on her every ten minutes. The third option, I suppose, is that I'll wake up to every whimper I hear over her monitor.
I'll be posting pictures of her in her big girl crib soon. Thanks to Ela's Grandma & Grandpa (Golden & Phil) for the crib and to her Tia Amy for the oh-so-cute bedding. You'll see what I'm talking about soon. I promise.
This twirly skirt. I'd also like to make one for me someday. Maybe before my trip to Florida--it would make a great beach skirt. I could even wear it to Ashley and Cole's beach wedding.
For the upcoming winter months I'd like to make Ela a sweater, scarf and hat. Here's the adult hat pattern. Now I just need to find the baby sized one. My sister, Megan, has the link to the sweater on her blog and the scarf doesn't need a pattern. Oh yes, and I need to find the time. I suppose I will one of these days.
On Friday my sister Megan (Ela's Tía Meg) had a movie & bonfire party. The movie featured was Hook. To make it more interesting everyone was invited to dress up as one of the characters and the winner was to receive a prize. Here's Ela's costume, custom made by Tia Meg:
Ela's competition:
Rufio! He obviously won. But Ela would have won for cutest costume.
Then on Saturday was my dad's (Ela's Abuelito) birthday party. Since it was September 15th (the Eve of Mexico's Independence Day), Ela wore the little Mexican dress from Carrie. Here's Ela admiring the birthday cake:
Last but not least, here's a video of Baby Tinkerbell giving her Abuelito a kiss, her very first:
The last weekend of August, Ela and I traveled to St. Louis to meet up with Amy Ramirez. We had a ton of fun at the Zoo and the Gateway Arch. Here are some pictures and a video:
Amy & Ela in our hotel room. Ela posing with the Elephants.
Me and Ela with the Elephants. Ela being a monkey baby.
Amy & Ela in the arch elevator. Amy, Ela and me at the top of the arch.
Amy got some of the best videos of Ela. Here's one of her talking to Amy while getting her diaper changed:
I was browsing through some of Ela's pictures and I ran across her ultrasound photo. I hadn't looked at it since she was born and it is amazing to me how you can actually see the shape of her profile. I decided to look through and find a picture of her profile to compare it to. Do you see the resemblance?
The original Gabriela went away. My youngest sister, Amanda Gabriela, moved to Illinois last Saturday. We're sure going to miss her but we got a few pictures to remember her by while she's gone:
Amanda imitating Ela, "Mmm, this hand is yummy."
Amanda: "Ela, I think you can borrow my shoes if you want."
Ela: "Tia Amanda, I want to eat a cherry pie too."
Amanda wasn't laughing at Ela. It's just, what else do you do when an infant is screaming uncontrollably for no apparent reason? I guess you laugh, maybe it will be contagious.
Here are Ela's top ten needs according to a google search:
1. Gabriela needs it, as do all kids. 2. Gabriela needs no makeup. 3. Gabriela needs to put on clothes. 4. Gabriela needs to get her eyebrows fixed. 5. Gabriela needs the DREAM act to pass in order to put her skills and talents to work for this country. 6. Gabriela needs to survive.
I can't finish this little game. It quit being a game at #6. Please follow the link and read the story that made me cry and cry hard. What can we do about this? I wish I could give some of my milk to her or do something for her. God help us if his judgment isn't already on us--we're here over consuming and this little Gabriela doesn't even have milk.
This past weekend Ela took her second trip to Iowa:
Our first stop was in Grinnell to see good friends Logan & Aanna Greer. Ela had a lot of fun with them. We got to visit a local coffee shop and see the art gallery there. We also visited their family soy mill where they make all kinds of soy products. Fun!
Then it was on to Burlington to see James & Lacey Bell and six month old Norah. Ela and Norah became quick friends. They liked looking at each other in amazement. I think Ela was a little bit jealous that Norah got to eat things like rice cereal, oat cereal, and, for the first time, a banana.
Last but not least, good old Uncle Frank. Yep, Frank and Ela bonded immediately and spent quite a bit of time together. These are just two of the many pictures they had taken together. First, Ela cuddling up next to Frank. Second, making mouth bubbles--they're the best.
Ela smiled for the first time the day she turned one month. Since then she has been all about the smiles and giggles. She is now two months and two weeks old and she has learned excitement and is beginning to anticipate. Peek-a-boo is a game she has recently begun to get and love. She also likes any other games that include talking and movement. One thing, though, is that she can go from all smiles to all frowns in a matter of seconds. Here are a couple pictures of Thom and Ela playing:
Ela in her Tinkerbell costume from last halloween- just to show how much she's grown!
She decided to take her diaper off. Sometimes she'll take it off during her nap and we'll bring her downstairs before we notice her bare little bottom hanging out from under her dress. 
