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".

A Padres Fan Already

Sunday, August 2nd, Pop (Chris) and Carl went to the Padres vs. Brewers game. We won't talk about the score, but it gave us a great opportunity to show these three generations of Padres fans. The guys went to the game while the girls (and Cooper) hung out at Pop and Lorraine's house. Below are pictures of Pop and Lorraine with Elena.

Cooper and Elena fell asleep cudding with Carl. Both were exhausted from a long day of relaxing, eating and chatting.

Daddy Time, July 30th

Here are a few pictures of Carl and Elena hanging out and playing on July 30th. Elena is just over 3 months old.

Baby "All Clean" Photo Shoot

Elena has taken to the camera. She is very interested in it and will follow it around. I had to use toys to get her to look in different directions. These pictures were taken on July 30th, Elena is just over 3 months old. So adorable!

Check out the rolls on Elena's legs! In person there are even more!!!

In addition to finding the camera, Elena likes to suck on her hands as well as the pacifier. When she sucks on her hands, she licks and slurps at it like you would with an ice cream cone. It is so cute to watch.

New Windows!

The past few weeks have been busy for us. So why not add one more thing: new windows! Our old windows were original to the house, circa 1972, single pain windows framed in aluminum. Our new windows are low E3 and will block out the sun heat and reflect the inside temperature back inside. The guys were quick to remove all the windows, so I don't have a clean before picture. If you go through the blog, I'm sure you could see this window in the background.

Viola! New window. Crisp and clean. And best of all, this south facing window no longer bakes the house!!! We are so excited!











I thought I would throw in a view of the mountain (very small mountains, more like big hills) from our dining room.

Hanging Out with Uncle Carl

Cyrus (5-3/4 years old) and Kailah (4-1/2 years old) love hanging out and playing with Uncle Carl. They rode bikes around the neighborhood, played basketball and baseball. These pictures are from the last morning we spent with them, Carl gave them trading cards.

While the big kids were having fun with Uncle Carl, Elena laughed and played with Grandma.

Good Morning Snuggles

Elena is so cute in the morning. Some days she zonks out and needs extra naps, other days she is very interactive and energetic. Here is a compilation of how Elena spent her mornings while we were in Illinois.

Kids, Kids and More Kids

Another day of our Illinois trip was spent with my college girl friends. Together we have four babies from 5 weeks to 19 months old. We had a lot of talking and checking out all the kids. The years to come are going to be so much fun!

Here we are in baby age order from the top:
Laurel & Bram (~19 months)
Adrienne & June (~5 months)
Rachel & Elena (~3 months)
Jeanine & Linaya (~5 weeks)

Here is Bram with daddy, Sam. Bram is such a cutie! I loved watching him run around the house with his lawn mower.












Here is June with Laurel, Bram's mom. June is about 7 weeks older than Elena and is the daughter of Adrienne and Gene. What a doll!

All the babies!!!

From left to right:
Linaya
Elena
June
Bram

Meeting Great Grandparents

During our trip to Illinois, an open house was held in Elena's honor. Family and friends were invited, and we had quite the turn out. I have a lot of pictures of the day, but thought I would post a some of the great grandparents admiring Elena.

Great Grandma Herr and Elena

Elena began the day in a cute dress, bloomers and matching socks. And then came a storm front. We were not rained on, but the air temperature cooled off dramatically. Elena did a wardrobe change into jammies made by Great Grandma Herr.

Great Grandma Ruth with Elena

Great Grandpa Jim opted out of photos with Elena. He was busy chatting with everyone :)

You can see Elena's new jammies in this picture.

And then the weather became even cooler. Good thing I packed her sweater for the plane ride (made by Grandma Grossi). Who would think cold weather at the end of July in Illinois? Isn't typical weather hot and muggy??

In this picture Great Grandpa Herr is holding Elena. She slept a lot this day and had a record sleep that night. I'm still not sure if she was tired or just over stimulated. But she was such a good girl for the entire trip.