Pool Time at Santee Lakes

After spending time at the beach, the boys and Donna went swimming at the Santee Lakes Campground pool. Donna and Pat stayed at the campground. It is about a mile away from our house. Pat, the dogs, Elena and I stayed at the house and relaxed. Here are a few pictures that were snapped. Looks like everyone had a good time.

Dog Beach

After a relaxing morning at the house, we loaded up the cars and took off to Ocean Beach so the dogs could run and play. The crew consisted of Donna, Pat, Christian, Jason, Henry, Carl, Rachel and Elena. And of course the dogs: Cassie, Cory and Cooper.

To the left is Donna and her boys (plus Cassie). Pat, Elena and I are snapping pictures :)

Here are the boys from left to right:
Carl
Christian
Jason
and Henry down in front

Elena and I traveled together in the Ergo pack. I love how comfortable this pack is. And best of all, Elena will be able to use it until she is 4o pounds. We can wear her like shown to the left, on our back or on the side.

Elena still doesn't like the bright sun, but she was alert and interested in all the activity at the beach.

Henry loved playing in the ocean. Funny how he is wet from the waist down, he only went into the ocean up to his knees.

One last walk along the beach.

Just Hanging Out at Home

Here are a few pictures of us hanging out at the house. Donna and Pat drove over from Arizona to see Christian, Jason and Henry while they were in town. You can see Elena really enjoys hanging out with everyone.

Another Padres Game

A visit to San Diego is never complete without a Padres game. We all joined Chris and Lorraine in the shadey seats for an afternoon game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Padres lost, but we all had a great time. This was Elena's second Padre's game and she was decked out in her Padres onesie. The pictures don't show how cute the outfit is, there is a baseball on her bottom. Henry sported Red Sox gear supporting his local Boston team, of course.

Meeting the Uncles

Carl's brothers flew into town to meet Elena. Christian (in the grey t-shirt) came in from San Francisco. Jason (in navy Red Sox shirt) and his son, Henry, flew in from Boston. We had a nice time visiting and Elena loved all the extra attention.

In this last photo, the boys are playing with i-phones. The i-phones were all the rage; it is unbelievable what these devices can do. You can talk on the phone, take pictures, surf the web, play games, download and read books, and even play the recorder by blowing into the mic or listen to other i-phone musicians playing around the world.

4 Months and Growing

Elena has reached her 4 month birthday today. It is so hard to believe she is already 4 months. She is growing by leaps and bounds. Today she weighs 16 pounds, 13 ounces and is 26 inches in length. She in the 95th percentile for both height and weight, oh my! When she was born everyone talked about how big her feet were, but now everyone comments on how expressive her eye brows are. And her pout lip is so adorable but hard to capture on camera. Elena didn't stay in photo shoot mode very long, but here are a few pictures of our smiley little girl.

Story Time with Daddy

Today, Elena decided she would read us a book. Look at that concentration. And she is even a natural holding the book. She took the book all on her own, these are not posed pictures. One day shy of 4 months, I am impressed. Now if we can get through tummy time and start rolling over!

Round in Circles She Goes

Elena has learned to use her legs and hips to scoot herself around in a circle. She finally made it all the way around this morning, then she crashed. I thought she was too cute, I had to share. She was playing without clothes or a diaper, so as she started crashing I cuddled her up in a blanket. You can tell in the last picture Elena is out cold because she took out the pacifier. Look closely, the purple pacifier is still in her hand. She generally only likes the pacifier when she is falling asleep. She also gnaws and licks her fists, and occasionally sucks on fingers and thumbs.

Swim Time!

Last week Elena and I went swimming for the first time. I forgot my camera, so this morning we snapped a few pictures in the living room. She loves playing with the ruffles down her front. Even Cooper joined in the photo shoot :) Elena loves to sit up and watch everything. She can't quite sit on her own yet, but with a little assistance from the furniture she can sit for quite awhile. She only started to fall over once but I caught her before her head hit the ground.

Laughs Abound

Last night Elena surprised me with a laugh, not a giggle, but a full belly laugh. Her laugh is so cute I couldn't help but laugh too. Elena paused and laughed again; we spent a couple of minutes laughing together. It is the sweetest noise she makes, only second to telling us stories. It is completely amazing how quickly she is becoming her own person.

This morning we met a lady who provides day care in her home. When she spoke to Elena, Elena talked back and then rolled into a big belly laugh. When the lady laughed too, Elena responded with more laughing. She laughs so hard she gets the hiccups. It is too cute. So far Elena seems to be a very content little girl, relaxed and goes with the flow. She isn't upset when strangers hold her and she loves checking out new environments and objects. Not only has she figured out the TV, but she loves looking at trees during our walks. I try to carry her in a pack so we can talk and walk.

Another activity Elena seemed to master yesterday was movement. And it isn't the ordinary type of movement like rolling or scooting, nope. Elena moves in circles counter clockwise. You can put her at 12:30 and before you know it she has moved her body to 12. Her head stays in about the same spot, she just scoots her body around. She has dabbled in rolling onto her side from her back and sometimes she will scoot in a straight line. During tummy time, Elena does not like to use her arms--she uses her back to pull her head up. She is such a silly little thing, so adorable and lovable. :)

Snugly Sunday

After a long week of work, well I only worked 9 hours but kept busy with child care inquiries, play dates, shopping for a new dining set and cleaning the house, we all needed a lazy day. Like they say, a family that snuggles together stays together. Isn't that the saying?? Anyway, Elena loves to snuggle as much as she likes her independence to watch the world around her. You can see she is still our baby, but she is growing up quickly. Today she weighed 15 pounds 13 ounces and can sit with us on the couch. She has started paying attention to the TV and her surroundings. We (Cooper too) went for a family walk in the evening and Elena loved staring at the trees. I carried her in the Ergo pack so we could talk (yes she is conversationally cooing). At the end of our walk we stopped to talk to a neighbor, and Elena giggled. She has giggled a couple times since then too. Her giggles girlie, she is such a cutie!!!

BBQ with Cousins

It had been about a year since we saw a couple of Carl's cousins who live just north of us in Orange County and Los Angeles. So we invited George, Brenda, Miranda, Shelly, Chris and Lorraine over and had a BBQ. We had a great time! Miranda (6) gave Elena some of her baby toys and books, tripling Elena's current collection. Elena already loves her new toys!

Our New Dining Room Set

After shopping around for a dining table, we finally found one that fit our criteria:

• Shape of table needed to be round or boat, not square or oval
• Expandable so our space is not overwhelmed by the set, but we can can sit 6-8 people when needed
  
• Chairs needed to be low profile, not high back formals (difficult to find)
• Size needed to fit our space (another difficult criteria)
• And of course the price needed to fit our budget
  

I know, it is a lot of criteria, but when space is at a premium, finding the right furniture is crucial. I am pleased that no new trees were logged for our dining set, we bought it used. The dining set is Danish so it has a modern flare and is made out of solid teak. It has a butterfly leaf (so I don't have to find closet space to store the leaf, big plus). We have 6 matching chairs, but can fit 8 around the table. So far, I am really happy with the table, it makes our space much more finished. The wood color ties to the current kitchen cabinets and the fence outside the window. The table definitely softens the age of our cabinets (original 1972). The pictures below show the table without the leaf; with the leaf, the table extends an additional 18".