It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas

Carl and I didn't grow up in San Diego but slowly over the years as we have made this our home, we have made wonderful memories here.  This will be our first Christmas at home with Elena.  Today marks the day for me that "it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas."  Last weekend we put up the tree and decorated with Elena.  She is doing great leaving the ornaments on the tree and the presents under the tree.  Yesterday Carl hung lights outside.  This morning Elena met Santa and we listened to Christmas music during our drive.  We walked around the neighborhood this afternoon looking at lights and decorations.  And to warm up (54 degrees at 4:30pm), we finished our wonderful day with a special hot cocoa, Elena's first hot cocoa.

 

She's checking out this special beverage.

 After tasting she made sure I was not going to take it away :)

 Making sure she slurped up every last drop!

"I love it!  More please!"

I know I am tremendously behind on the blog.  We have been quite busy since returning from Hawai'i in September.  Our last few weeks have slowed down but unfortunately we have all been sick.  My hope is to have the blog up-to-date by the New Year.

Happy Halloween!

 For the past month, Elena has repeatedly said she does not want to wear a costume. We had a costume birthday party over the weekend and she went as the defiant two year old. She didn't seem to mind that all the other kids were dressed up. Tonight, as much as Lorraine tried to coax her into the Tinkerbell costume (a wonderful hand-me down from cousin Maggie), Elena refused. Finally, Lorraine was able to talk her into a Good Little Witch. Five minutes before Trick-or-Treating, we threw together an "outfit" (since clearly costume is not a good connotation for Elena) with her black pants, a black long sleeved shirt and with Carl's quick thinking, his black shirt tied into a cape.  And she was off and running!

 Surprise photo attack.  I think Carl was super excited Elena finally was dressed up :)

 Happy Halloween from the Stiehl Family!  Can you guess our costumes?  Carl--Mr. Mom/House Husband, Pop--Ted Williams circa 1936, Lorraine--witch, Elena--the good little witch.

The witches of Halloween!

Elena has been enjoying all the decorations leading up to Halloween.  She likes to go around telling me what is "spooky".  Here she is checking out the neighbor's spookiness :)

We hope you had a wonderful Halloween!

Pumpkins!

 This year we were a little distracted and completely forgot to get pumpkins and treats for Halloween.  Carl went out the day before and pumpkins had been cleared out so he brought home a few of these cute ones.

 I'm not sure why Elena thought she'd lick it but I had a difficult time keeping a straight face.  She was cracking herself up and continued to lick and laugh until we took it away.

 So proud of herself for licking the pumpkin.

 Carving the pumpkins was a bust, they were too hard.  Instead we used markers to decorate them.  This turned out a bit better for Elena and her "I do it" stage.

 She had quite a lot of fun creating pumpkin faces and coloring over them.

Then she helped prepare the porch.  She loves to help with everything!

Just Like Daddy

Elena's hair was getting a bit out of hand and it doesn't help that she fights brushing it out, refuses barrettes and ponies.  So today we went and had her hairs cut.  She pluralized it herself, it was cute.  This is a post haircut picture....short hair and a matching jerseys...just like Daddy.

An interesting tid bid about Elena...she refers to herself as a big boy.  And she would like a big boy bed.  We're working on the word girl but it usually comes out something like "gouwl".  Regardless she is the cutest big boy girl I know :)

Oma's Pumpkin Farm

Today we ventured off to Oma's Pumpkin Farm!

Walking to the entrance with Daddy.

 Elena enjoyed the petting zoo but preferred to swat the flies away from the calf than to actually pet the animals.

 Elena and I ran around the hale bale maize.

 She really enjoyed the maize.  She was running around with other kids and even saw a classmate while we were in there.

 I think she loved "driving" a bit too much!

It seemed to get a bit hotter than predicted.  We should have been in shorts, tanks and brought a ton more water because it was hot!  Elena was hot and tired by this point but the old green truck with the logo panted on it was too cute to pass up.  Overall Elena had a great time.

Elena is 2-1/2

Today marks Elena's halfway point between 2 and 3.  She is growing up so fast, it always catches me off guard when I stop and think about it.  Elena is still at the top of the charts for height and weight.  She weighed in at 36 pounds and 38.5 inches tall.  This means in the past 6 months she has grown 2.5 inches and nearly 3 pounds!  She is taller than most of her peers at school.  There are a couple of boys that are the same height but much slimmer builds.  She is the weight of her 4 year old friends and maybe 2 inches shorter.  She's going to catch them soon :)  Current clothing size: 4T, shoe size: 10.5 toddler.

Elena very interested in life around her, she is very observant and learns quickly.  Here are a few tid bits about Elena:

• she knows how to count to 13 (then she skips 14 & 15 to pick up at 16-19)
• she understands the numbers refer to quantities: 2 dogs, 6 books, etc.
• she sings her abc's and is starting to learn letters.  She loves to pick out the letter 'e' when she sees it.
• she understands mixing colors makes more colors and specifically red + blue = purple
• a frequent sing-song phrase we hear is "....where are you?"  This could be anything, the moon, an animal, bugs, etc.
• 2-1/2 is the exact moment she became insistent on "I do it" especially on buttons, zippers and shoes.  Preparation time to get out the door just increased by 20 minutes.
• she prefers to eat standing up and is only a fan of silverware when eating soup
• she's been working on her balance--on one foot and on various uneven surfaces
• she loves building castles, celebrating her birthday (everyday) and reading books
• she talks in complete thoughts; shares but is also insistent on "mine" and what she wants to do
• she thinks it is funny to make trouble and will tell us "I'm making trouble" and then laugh
• she remembers plans and knows we are near Pop's house when we're about 4 blocks away.
• and the most exciting news...last week she became paci free!  I had intentionally been hiding the paci but of course she would ask for it.  So every night after she asked, we talked about the paci and I would tell her paci's don't go in big boy beds (that's what she calls it; we've started the talk about transitioning to a big bed).  The next night she asked for it but I told her it was all gone.  There were a few nights of tears but now after a week she doesn't ask for it anymore.  We are so excited!

 Happy Half Birthday, Elena!

 Day at Hapuna Beach!  This is one of our favorite beaches on the big island.

 Snorkeling was awesome.  Mom and I even saw an octopus.  The blue fish above was taunting it.

 I purchased an underwater bag for my camera and it worked out great to keep my camera dry and sand free.  I think I could snorkel all afternoon.

 Sea turtle munching some lunch. 

Up on the beach, Elena was having a grand time making sand castles and jumping in the tide pool Carl dug out for her.

Kīlauea Volcano

Today we drove 3 hours South of Kona, down to Kīlauea Volcano.  Above is the Halemaʻumaʻu Caldera spewing volcanic gases.

 The steam vents (smoke on the horizon) were very active thanks to the recent rain. 

Elena loved exploring.  Here she is pointing out a lava bubble.

 Walking through the lava tube!!

 A short break for a family photo :)

 Elena loved stretching her legs and running on the pathway through the jungle.

I think Carl enjoyed the run too :)

Waipi'o Valley

Akaka Falls

 We drove over to east side to see some waterfalls.  This is the Akaka Fall.

 Elena loved the waterfalls and the tropical rain forest that surrounded us peaked her curiosity. 

A' Bay Beach

 One of our favorite Big Island beaches is A' Bay Beach.

 Elena and Papa creating a volcano before we even went to see the volcano.  Elena enjoyed pouring water in the center.

Elena enjoyed her "boat" and giggled when Carl rocked the boat :)

From A' Bay one can see Maui'i and the beach is known for having sea turtles.  We were fortunate to see two turtles swimming over the course of our visit.  Both were enjoying the leaves washing ashore.

Old Kona Airport Beach

We spent this morning at the Old Kona Airport Beach.  Just as the name implies, this beach is just off the old runway.  The beach has a shallow, protected area great for relaxing, watching the surf crash and observing the marine life.

 I loved having an underwater bag for my camera.  In this picture you can't really tell, but this is an underwater picture.  Thanks to the sheltered area, shallow waters and heavier sand--the water was crystal clear.

 Elena swimming to me.  She only uses her legs but she really motors around!

 Scouting for marine life!

For the past month or so, Elena has been intensely interested in facial expressions while reading books.  During our vacation, she tried out her happy and sad faces.  Above Elena is being goofy with her happy face and it looks a bit more of a frown, maybe a happy frown--but so cute!