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.

Sitting on a bench.

Bowls are tons of fun!

Great-granny giving Ela her rice cereal. They had a fun time.

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.

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: