Monday

We ran a few errands this morning and then napped - not much happening. 

El has started two new fun things...  El is fascinated by Mommy's eyelashes.  She wants to touch them and flip them back and forth, not very comfortable for Mommy, those little fingers are great eye-pokers and El is VERY persistent.  The other trick is to get the left middle finger twisted over her pointer, only with the left hand.  This, I can only assume, comes from her Daddy.  She is quite obviously practicing how to cross her fingers as she comes up with ridiculous, plausible answers to questions about topics she has no experience or knowledge of... exactly like Daddy!

It's All About Her

Today El turned 9 months!  She is weighing in at a little below average, 17lbs, we will get an official count for height and weight on Wednesday.  El stood for the first time (2 full seconds!!!) without holding onto anything last night before bed.  She wasn't doing it on purpose, but when you are recording... what does that matter?!  Actually, she was standing at the baby gate and wanted to get on the floor.  She reached with the right hand, but could not touch the ground without letting the left hand go, (this kind of thing happens when you do not bend your knees.) so she let go with her left hand, stood - sort of wavering on how to proceed from there (that is where the 2 seconds came in) and then KERPLOP! sat down.  Daddy was standing on the other side of the gate and only got the top-of-the-head view.  Mommy was flabbergasted and stuttering, "Did you see that?!?!"  Another milestone, check.

This morning, we went to mass, El made it through to the Gospel reading and then was whisked to the narthax because Mommy could no longer control the limb spasms.  El was not actually noisy, just... busy flailing.  She sang during all appropriate times and even stopped singing when the rest of the congregation stopped, but that was not enough to keep her in the front row, so Mommy and El left.  Some point during our hiatus, Mommy discovered (felt)... wait for it... EL'S FIRST TOOTH!!!  Bottom, front, left side!  I could not actually see it until she fell asleep and I could pry open mouth, pull aside tongue and view - almost translucent, ridgy little tooth, barely above the gums.  You can't view it when she is awake, don't bother trying.  She knows it is there and that tongue is impenetrable.  This explains a lot of the night issues we have been experiencing and will continue to do so, but... YAY!

This evening, El was ready for bed and did not want to play, read or have any distraction other than lean on Mommy's shoulder.  So, we sat in the rocker and read a story while El nursed.  For the first time, ever; El stopped nursing, sat up and then snuggled into me, resting her eyes.  With Daddy snapping pictures, she fell asleep, just snuggling!  We love this little girl!  OK, we will keep her.

Target & King Cake!!!

In preparation of Read Across America on Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2, Target had a story time from 9-11am.  To get out of the house and let El see other children, we went to Target.  El received a little bag of treats and she sat for a total of 4 Dr. Seuss books, we wondered off and returned, visiting the reading group three times, not bad.  Of course, El lost her focus and crawled around, but she always came back, sat down and looked at the book or the lady reading.  It was fun to watch.  We overheard several people commenting on how focused she was (and how adorable!)

Target was also doing a promotion where you get a free reusable freezer tote when you purchased 6 freezer items, so we bought a frozen ravioli dinner for two and 5 pint-sized tubs of ice cream!  Without any one's knowledge, I conducted an experiment.  I have always read that babies know when they have had enough food and will stop eating, so I tested this on our whole family... could any of us tell when we had had enough ice cream?  Turns out, we all could tell when we were done... except for the baby!  Daddy was done after eating  half a pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, he said the container could go back into the freezer.  Mommy was done with her pint of Brownie Chew Gooder, a flavor sold exclusively at Target, and she rinsed the container and recycled it.  El, on the other hand, looked confused and disappointed when Mommy's ice cream was gone.  She was doing the open-mouthed, hungry bird thing very determinedly a long time after my ice cream was consumed.  BTW, El REALLY approves of Brownie Do Gooder, not a B&J flavor to be missed!

El passed out for a few hours when we returned home and I got a ton of work done at the barn and outside. Then we had lunch and played in the living room with the tunnel that El has figured out, but will only crawl in the direction that Mommy is sitting.

We were heading outside to try out the automatic bubble blower we bought at Target when Jeff noticed the King Cake box on the front porch.  Yay! Yay! Yay!  Jeff said it was coming on Monday, I somehow had Tuesday stuck in my mind and it arrived TODAY!  It was all we could do to keep from opening it until after dinner!  As required, we wore our Mardi Gras hats!  It is more than half gone, now and no one has found the tiny baby baked into the cake - and no one can eat a bite more... tomorrow is another day!

Diet Restrictions and Martinsburg, WV

I forgot to mention that yesterday, while going through the office, I found a form that needed to be completed and received by March 2 for VA benefits received by Jeff's Mom.  I was very angry with myself because I had forgotten it and let it go to the last minute, I would have NEVER done that (pre-El).  Another thing pre-El... with this diet we are doing, in 3 days, I lost 7lbs.  I know it is not good to lose weight too fast, but that puts me lower than my pre-El weight.  Since, my goal is pre-El - 10, I only have 8 pounds left to go!  Another, another thing... Jeff and I decided to discontinue the diet for a week.  Mainly, because we have an awesome friend in New Orleans who is sending us a King Cake next Tuesday a week before (Shrove Tuesday or "Mardi Gras" French for "Fat Tuesday") , but it won't last a week to eat...

Several years ago, she sent up Mardi Gras hats to wear, so we will get a picture of us enjoying the cake, while wearing the hats.  Anyway, we were both feeling a little on the STARVING side and missing those wonderful grains and carbs, so... I made a deal with him.  Our Lenten sacrifice will be to follow the diet all the way through Lent to Easter... 6 weeks.  There are 2 stages, we will do stage one (the most restrictive) for 2 weeks and then stage two (a tiny, itty-bit more lenient) for 4 weeks.  Trust me, the King Cake is worth it, so was the pizza, mashed potatoes, stuffed green peppers and ginger cookies we had for dinner this evening!  Will we survive?!?!  That is actually the good part for our readers... a Lenten sacrifice is private, between you and God, God knows the suffering you are going through on the inside, on the outside, we are to show a happy face (that is the sacrifice part), so I will not be able to expound on the miseries and challenges.  To conclude using a song from Monty Python's Life of Brian, "Always look on the bright side of life...."  You all will thank God for small Blessings and I will scour my brain for something nice to say about the miserable days ahead!

This morning, Jeff had his appointment at the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, WV.  So, we were on the road, again.  Thankfully, it is only about an hour drive.  Unfortunately, El had enough driving and was cranky (in a very loud way) all the way back home.  Good thing we are thinking about visiting Jeff's Mom this coming week... a 4 hour drive!!!

Last... El is actually (knock on wood) getting onto a sleep schedule... AGAIN!  She wakes up right around 11pm, fusses for a moment, then falls back to sleep.  I still have to go to her around 3am, for an hour, then she wakes up at 5am, but she is back to sleep for another 2 hours after that.  Doesn't affect Jeff too much, but I am wild with joy and wakefulness (during the day!)  Enjoy your weekend!

Swim Day 8

Today was the last swim class for El.  We have decided to sign up again every other month, so that we can do the Books and Babies at the library on Thursdays on alternate months.  Swimming went great!  About 15 minutes before class ended, the instructor helped El swim underwater and then we were to swim back and forth across the pool, showing the babies that it is OK to swim underwater and keep going (as opposed to swimming underwater at the end of class and immediately jumping out of the water and into a warm towel.)  El did great!  She seemed more relaxed in the water than all other times, combined.  So, we are definitely signing up again in April.  Besides, she received a certificate (her first for actually doing something, except for being born, of course! )   :)

This morning, before swimming, Daddy was sitting with El at the breakfast table.  He took a drink of water, she wanted her cup, so I helped her get a drink of water, then Daddy took another drink, El watches him and drinks again, herself.  Finally, Daddy takes a drink and says "Ahh!" afterwards.  El follows, takes a drink and said, "AA!"  She looked so proud of herself, and of course, Daddy and I were grinning from ear to ear!

After El's 3pm nap, she and I went to the library and played with the new educational toy sets they have, really cool!  We read a couple of books, played with a little girl who's own Mom is having another girl in May (the little girl played semi-well with El, her Mom said she was in for a rude awakening with gentleness and sharing issues,) and El stared at a 10 year-old boy who had flopped himself down on the carpet near us to flip through comics (El could not get enough of him... I was trying to read her a book, but she kept turning around to look at the boy and then crawled near him, he looked up a little wearily, but she came back to me before messing with him, all the time looking back at him.  The only thin I could think of that could fascinate her so much was that his skin tome was darker than ours, maybe he reminded her of her cousin than she met in December, thinking he might know her...?)

Finally, Jeff and I had a pretty nice dinner following the restrictions from the diet we are on and I got a bunch of organizing done in the office.

Virginia Tech & Alex

We are EXHAUSTED!

Woke up at 4:30am to get on the road by 5:15.  Drove to Virginia Tech (close to 3 hours) for Alex's cardiology appointment because his pre-anesthesia EKG showed heart issues.  For some idiotic reason, probably because I am a little idiotic... I assumed we would have the appointment and be headed home an hour (at the very most) later.  Guess again!  Six and a half (yes, 6.5) hours later, we start the drive home.  Oh yeah, $300+ and Alex is just fine, they could not duplicate the EKG from the 14th.  We are all happy about this, but extremely tired... and ready to quit this silly diet... which, as you can imagine, you can hardly find any food to eat while on the road.  Good thing I packed blueberries, walnuts and carrots!  Ellie had plenty of good food.  Jeff and I starved!  Of course, my comedian husband (after sharing the cupful of blueberries and eating 3 walnuts) shuts the walnut container stating that he is just too stuffed! - I wasn't that amused.

Ellie took some pictures with Mommy at her alma mater, we toured the Duck Pond some and Mommy pointed out the large pipe over the waterfall that she sat on, way back when, and decided that she would never smoke after purchasing her first pack of cigarettes.  Mommy told a few college stories, no one really seemed interested or maybe they had heard the stories too many times.  We took some pictures of Daddy with Alex at the Animal Hospital before getting on the road.  Finally, we were back at our Vet at home to pick up Katy from the kennel (6:40pm).  Made a big dinner that fit the meal plan and now I am going to bed!

Swim Day 7

No swim today.  Just snow and ice.  So, we caught up on the television series we like to watch, "House".    Mommy also caught up on a little sleep because our sweet angel decided she wasn't really into sleeping last night.  Awake every hour for an hour, a nice motto for the insomniac, not so nice for me!  Daddy and Ellie played in the Living Room.  And that is about it.

OK, so we also took Katy to the kennel for the night because we are headed down to Virginia Tech to see the dog cardiologist for Alex.  Katy still has medicine 3 times a day, so the kennel people will do that.  Meanwhile, we will be out the door tomorrow by 5am, so I am going to bed.  The things we do for our adored pets!!!

President'sDay

El woke up this morning at 5am!  Yeah!!! Mommy got 6 hours of straight sleep... not a record, but definitely great since the New Year.  BTW, tonight, she went down at 7:30 and woke up at 10.  I offered her water and she took a little bit and went right back to sleep... let's see if it holds.

She is such an angel as she sleeps.  Her face softens to an even sweeter look and she cuddles right up into your arms.  I Love You, El!

Today was a good day.  El and Mommy wore pajamas all day.  Daddy and El chatted away during lunch and I video taped it.  OK, they were really growling and rolling R's at each other.  We had a much needed 2 1/2 hour nap (the three of us) in the big bed and I even got some computer and office work done!

It is supposed to snow tonight, we already have sleet, so I hope we can make it to swim lessons tomorrow (second to last class).

A note on the diet:  Jeff is doing great, complains... but he is just fine.  I, on the other hand, am already missing my carbs.  We had a great dinner, I was completely filled up.  Two hours later and I am feeling like I am missing something, lik a piece or two of chocolate cake and a big glass of milk; also, a bag of microwave popcorn, you know the stuff... super duper theatre butter flavored.

Prepping for Our Experiment

We all woke up late this morning and almost didn't make it to the second mass (10:30am, we usually go to the 8am mass).  After mass, El had a nap and Jeff and I made plans for the experiment we will be conducting for two weeks, Terry will join us.  Jeff isn't very excited, but Terry and I are... we will be eating a strict, anti-fungal diet.  This means, for two weeks we are not allowed any sugars, processed foods, COFFEE, breads, starches, grains, and anything yummy.  :)  We are, however, allowed to eat almost any type of meat, almost all vegetables and a bunch of fruits, so we will not starve.  The thought process is to starve the fungus among us, clearing our systems of toxins.  Will this help any of us? Probably not.  Will it kill us?  Let's hope not.  Will we survive 2 full, long weeks?  That is to be determined.
Jeff, EL and I went to Costco to purchase all the needed items for this week.  Terry came over for a "clean-out-the-fridge" dinner.  We had a support group meeting of sorts and I think we are ready to start - tomorrow morning.  Jeff is still not happy with the whole thing, but I suspect that has something to do with the removal of coffee from his diet.  All that being said, I will probably be the first to crack.  :)  El will not be involved in this experiment.  She will have access to all food groups and has already started to cut down on breastfeeding, so she should be OK.

Before bed, El, Daddy and Mommy (because El wanted her) took a bath, there were way too many arms and legs (body parts in general) in the tub, but El was happy and that is the only thing that matters when the baby took only one of the two naps she is supposed to have every day!!!

PS.  El wore the cutest shoes today, given to her a while ago by Jeff's Aunt and Uncle.

Grandma gave us her strategy to get El to sleep through the night... when she wakes up, offer her water, then rub her back and tell her goodnight.  At 10:45, I had the opportunity to try this... 11pm, just as Jeff was saying that I should go in there and relieve El from her screeching, I look at the monitor and El, who has been standing the entire 15 minutes, lets go with her right hand, looks behind her and reaches for the crib mattress.  She then lets go with the other hand and drops to the mattress, moves onto her belly, curls up and is out.  A few minutes later, I go in and cover her up.  What an angel... very LOUD angel, but still, an angel!

Virginia Aquarium

Saturday morning, we headed down to the Virginia Aquarium.  As opposed to Thursday, we had a full day available.  El recognized the Harbor Seal exhibit from Thursday and looked at the Plexiglas, underwater area for the seals.  It was too windy, so we opted to go inside the building.  Grandma, Mommy and El - 3 generations! - enjoyed; touching sting rays (OK, El just splashed in the water, scaring the sting rays away - but Grandma and Mommy touched the rays), El did touch a horseshoe crab, mermaid's purse crab and a starfish (she liked the horseshoe crab best).   We viewed sea turtles and sharks, went into an underwater reef, saw snapping turtles, the Gila monsters were not moving, so we skipped over them, then we walked outside to the marsh building and attempted to view the otters, but it was too cold and windy, they were all snuggled together out of the water.  El fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the aquarium (This is a first, she has never even liked being in the stroller, until yesterday at the zoo where she saw all the children in strollers.)  I am sure I am missing a bunch of things, but we had a great time!

Afterward, we went to the mall with Grandma and helped her choose a new outfit!  We also tried to find sunglasses that would stay on El.  I believe we went into every baby store in the mall, zig-zagging and logging in 4.6 miles!!, but we could not find strap-on sunglasses.  So, we drove to BabiesRUs.  They were having a great sale on Christmas dresses, so El now has a Christmas dress for next year... AND, they had the glasses we were looking for!  YEA!

By this time, it was getting late, so we went to dinner and El and I hit the road to come back home.  10:30pm, we were home, but El was too revved up to sleep, so we played for an hour and then everyone hit the sack!  You should have seen the smiles El gave Daddy and Alex!  We missed them!  (Katy is still at the kennel until tomorrow.)

Virginia Beach Zoo

So much to see and do!!! Grandma had an appointment to get her hair cut, so El and Mommy walked around the shops while waiting for her. Then, we joined Grandma on base to get blood work done. Finally, the fun began! First, the zoo. El was fascinated with any critter that moved, she paid no attention to the ones that did not. Hence, the random Canadian goose that just happened to be taking a break from flying and was paddling through water that was not even part of an exhibit... SUPER COOL!!!! However, the ferocious lion taking a nap in the warm sun, yellow fur glinting in the light... Nah. (Later, we saw a trail of ants - Botanical Gardens - they were, of course... SUPER COOL!!!!)

We saw some tall giraffes, prairie dags and cool meerkats that made El cry because they went out of view. El pet a goat's ear as Mommy rubbed it's neck. She talked to the little monkey that ran back and forth along his enclosure. And at the emu habitat, El was totally fascinated with the wooden divider pole. The emu wasn't moving, either. Before leaving, we went to the gift shop, where we found Daddy the coolest giraffe walking stick.

Grandpa is working nights this week, so he sleeps during the day and after we were done with the zoo, we did not want to go back home to wake Grandpa up, so we went to Botanical Gardens. We walked around their Children's area; playing in sand, hugging a beautiful giraffe statue and observing and trying to pick up ants.

Next, we went to the Commissary, the Exchange and had dinner at the Food Court, got back home, Skyped Daddy, bathed and went to bed. BUSY day!

Heading home to see Daddy tomorrow, so we will have another busy day!

Swim Day 6

El just amazes me in the pool. She wore a life jacket to learn to float and she actually relaxed in it... as opposed to the last time on swim day 3 where she, how do you say it... FLIPPED OUT!!! Anyway, today was good. El was the first to swim underwater. When the instructor took her from me, she had not been warned and didn't realize what was going on, except that Mommy was not holding her anymore and some guy was. She scrunched up her face and let out a loud ARGRUBBLEUBBLEUBLLEUBBLEARGH!! I know you read that is if she began her cry just before the instructor put her underwater (the ubble parts) and then passed her to me where I pulled her back out of the water. If you did not read it that way, reread it. Of course, when she came back out of the water, I was holding her and with Mommy holding her and not a stranger, she was OK and immediately stopped her cry. She did give me a wonderful, snuggly hug! I always love to get El back when someone else is holding her, the welcome back hugs are the BEST!

After swimming, we headed to Virginia Beach. Daddy stayed home to keep Alex company. El and I arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's condo around 2pm. El was great in the car, slept most of the way and then played quietly with her pacifier. In fact, the only sounds I ever heard from the back seat was the squicka, squicka, squicka as she chewed the silicone paci. What a pleasant, non-screech-like sound it is!

We will be in Virginia Beach until Saturday, but today we went for a walk, visited the Harbor Seals at the Aquarium (we got there too late to actually go in), shopped at the organic grocery store and had dinner at the cafeteria. El had her first jello (lime green). She loved it, had a hard time picking it up... OK, it was impossible to pick up, but I scooped up squares with a spoon and she quickly learned to suck the jello off the spoon with a very satisfying slurp! Also, we practiced using a straw again and El is SOOOOOOO close, so very close... Grandma and I were mentally pushing her and cheering her on that it almost physically hurt me. :)

Riding a Jelly Fish At the Aquarium.

Wednesday

We are preparing to go to Virginia Beach to visit El's Grandparents (Mommy's side).

We scheduled Alex's cardiologist appointment for next week and are trying to mentally prepare for the worst, while expecting the best possible outcome... more next week.

Didn't mention the problem that was discovered with Katy during her vet visit on Monday. We were given some cream to put on her privates because they were swollen and infected, something that happens often in dogs that have been spayed (so often that Jeff and I had never heard of it, but I guess that is life.) In any case, she is in terrible pain and we can not get the cream in the right spot due to her reaction to us fishing around down there. So, while I am in VA Beach, Katy will be at the local kennel, engoying a spa-like existence where professionals apply creams to your privates. Not a place I would enjoy and Katy will undoubtedly hate it, too, but she needs to get better.

El and I ran errands and went to the library. El likes her books and is read atleast 10 a day. She chooses books over toys and even over videos/movies. Daddy is already talking about wanting her to read A History or Knowledge and some of his other favorite books. Mommy is still working on the Baby Books.. Touch and Feel books are a favorite.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from All of Us at J & L Acres!!!! May God's LOVE shine upon you today and every day!

Today Alex and Katy were to get their teeth cleaned at the Vet's. They get them done once a year (they have a better dental plan than we do... Jeff and I have not had our teeth cleaned for over 5 years!) before putting them under, the docs do a screening on the pups. Katy passed with flying colors and now her teeth sparkle. Alex is going to have to see a Dog Cardiologist, he did not pass his EKG, so they would not put him under. We will schedule a visit to the cardiologist as soon as possible and then update everyone, i the meantime, Alex seems to be fine and very happy.

The humans in our household had a great day! El took the appropriate naps. (I have to tell you, we failed the do-not-pick-her-up last night... so she woke up in our bed very happy this morning! Someday, El will actually wake up in the morning and be in her own bed... when she is 35.) El, of course, wore her Valentine's tutu outfit, today. We even got a tiara on her head, ever so briefly. Jeff and I worked on scanning photos so that we can get rid of some. We are in the reduce, reuse, recycle plan this year. We are trying to downsize... good luck?! We need it! Hugs and Kisses for All this St. Valentine's Day!

Sunday

We woke up early this morning to get to 8am mass. El made it through the second reading before JOY compelled her to speak loudly in tongues, so she and Mommy went out to stand in the narthex. Afterwards, we went out to eat for breakfast, where El flirted her way through the small restaurant making everyone smile. She doesn't even have to do anything, people just gravitate to El and smile. Daddy and I have to act really silly and make potty jokes to make people smile, and then... I don't think they are smiling in a "oh, they are cute" way, but more of a "wow, they are pathetic" sort of way. Oh well, I guess we are truly Blessed to have a family member who makes people smile by simply entering a room!

At 11:30, everyone took a nap. Daddy worked on the computer, but he was in bed with El and Mommy who were both fast and sound asleep. We didn't get up until the Jehovah Witnesses came to our door or 1:30, so it was a good long 2 hour nap! El woke up smiling and rubbing Daddy's arm. He didn't realize she was even awake. He felt her touching his arm, looked down and El grinned back up at him. Made Daddy's day! Even Mommy was more pleasant when she woke up! That, of course, was after the pleasant ladies at the door told her the World's suffering was going to end soon because the World was going to end soon. Heck, as long as all the suffering ends, I'm happy.

Mommy was playing in El's room with El, when Mommy had to step out to go to the bathroom. With the gate up, El's room is pretty safe. Had to grab the camera when I got back. El looked like she was at or IN the zoo. Of course, she has to get everything into her mouth, which is very hard to do with vertical objects!

We are going to attempt the sleep-through-the-night trick. Tonight, El was pt into her crib before she was fully asleep (supposed to help her learn how to put herself to and back to sleep). Took 10 minutes of high pitched screeching, but El di fall asleep. It is almost 11pm and she is coming up on her 11pm wake up that a few weeks ago had all but disappeared, it reappeared a couple of weeks ago. No matter how long she cries and how sad it sounds... we will not, I repeat, we will not pick her up. We will start saving for therapy now, unless the World does end, then we will just save our money for a nice vacation...

Costco Day

Yeah! Mommy is happy again! Everyone is happy!

El wore a handmade sweater that Grandma bought her for her baby shower. It is so cute! Matching booties that actually tie on (OK, they still came off in the car, but only because El was playing with them). We are really frustrated with shoes... El has a pair or two, but they do not stay on. They look adorable, but are not very useful. When El crawls, when she is put into the car and when you are holding her and she is trying to get away from you... they come off. Does El have misshapen feet? Are kids even supposed to be wearing shoes at 8 1/2 months? Do babies ever truly "sleep through the night" ? Will we ever get the chance to clean the house again? And what about the hair... El's head was washed last night, now the clips won't stay in. :)

So, today was great. We went to Costco to shop for a TV for Terry. Daddy and Terry looked at TVs for an hour. El and Mommy perused the aisles. We sampled David's Cookies!!!! I wonder if the guy noticed that the woman with a baby strapped to her back made several loops, again and again for samples. El and I are so sneaky. We would come up for a sample and then fade off into the crowd. It was all working very well, until El grabbed Mommy's sample spoon (the one that still had the sample on it!) and would not return it. Not a pretty picture... trying to grab a spoon out of the mouth of a baby who is on your back, arms are not made long enough.

Afterwards, we all went to Cracker Barrel where El was complimented for her eating skills. She was on my lap eating biscuits, corn and trout. No bath tonight, so the hair clip will stay in on Sunday! :)

Wrong Side of the Bed

Mommy woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning... or would have had she gotten any sleep at all! The last straw was when at 5 in the morning, El finally fell asleep (in Mommy's bed) and Katy the dog started to whine asking to get up onto the bed. Mommy tried to say "paws up" very quietly, but Katy wasn't listening and whined several more times, waking El. So, Mommy had a very bad, no good, horrible, rotten day. Which meant everyone (except El) had the same kind of day.

Mommy felt a little guilty, so to make up for it, El got her first hot dog for lunch. She LOVED it! Mommy also found the hair clips and put El's hair in a clip so that it would not fall into her eyes. She could have cared less, but we were fortunate that she left the clip alone. Then we napped, did random things and took a long bath and went to bed. Mommy got better on Saturday!

Swim Day 4

This morning, El and Mommy went to swimming class. Daddy stayed home to see Keith off.

El is becoming more comfortable in the water. She watched Mommy blow bubbles as they moved across the pool. El was so engrossed with Mommy that she didn't even realize she was moving her legs like a frog. When the babies floated on their backs, cheek-to-cheek with their parent, El started to relax her legs instead of keeping them straight up in the air. She was still shivering by the time class was over as seen by her blue lips in the picture, but she is enjoying swimming class.

After a nap, all three of us went to the library where El read some books with Mommy and then did a puzzle with Daddy.

We watched a movie about Tea upon our return home and El officially pulled her body up to standing for the first time using the low cabinet in front of the movie screen. After that first time, she was pulling herself up on everything; our legs, dogs, chairs... She attempted to balance herself and let go to stand on her own several times, but she is not quite ready for that, yet.

Way to Go, El!!!

Questions for El

Before I go into what we did today, I have a couple of questions for El. You don't have to answer them now, just think about it.

1. Why is it, that you will ONLY sleep on your belly in your crib (going totally against the "Back-to-Sleep" rule) and when you sleep with Mommy and Daddy you will ONLY sleep on your back almost perpendicular to Daddy and Mommy ??

2. Why is it that everyone (Alex, Katy, Daddy & El) fit on the bed, but not really Mommy??

3. Why is it, that you can wear a diaper all day long and then, the only time the diaper is off for an extended amount of time, you will deposit sinker-stinkers into the bathtub??

4. Why does Daddy, while sitting outside the tub, think sinker-stinkers are the cutest, funniest things, while Mommy, sitting in the tub with you, thinks they are terribly yucky and worthy of ruining a perfectly good bath session??

Just a few of the mysteries in life.

On to today...

Our friend Keith has to leave tomorrow morning :(

But, today, he helped us clean up the basement...a little history - last week, Mommy had taken the shop vac down to clean up the wood stove and surrounding hearth. She shoveled out most of the soot in the stove and then used the vacuum to suck out the rest. While her concentration (and head) was in the stove, she failed to notice that the vacuum was having filter issues and instead of containing all the ashes nice and neat, it was spewing them into the air, the basement, really throughout the house. It wasn't until the job was almost complete that Mommy realized she could no longer see what she was doing or for that matter anything in the basement. By today, the soot had settled.

Keith and one of our young neighbor friends helped to pick up tons of black walnuts from the pasture that we will burn in the (now clean) wood stove and then Terry joined us to empty the manure spreader. We got a lot accomplished today, sure it sounds like only 3 things, but they all took a whole lot of time! We wish Keith could stay for a week! :)This evening is when we had the third incident of sinker-stinkers in the bathtub. Maybe this means that El will be easy to potty train. She doesn't seem to like to use her diaper, maybe I can set her on the pot before we get into the tub every night. But, why use a potty when you have a perfectly good tub?

Swim Day 3

Tuesday. Our third day of swimming lessons. Daddy opted to stay home to get a little rest that he didn't get last night. Mommy and El had another great time in the pool. Today, she tried on a life preserver and floated on her back... sort of comfortably. El is doing great in the water. She seems to enjoy trying to blow bubbles / drink the water (who knows at this point, but she has a grand old time, coughing and sputtering when water goes down the wrong tube.)

Mommy planned to get a ton of work done while El slept when they got home; but instead, Mommy and El slept for 2 hours. The house wasn't that messed up. Then, we all went shopping for dinner. Our friend Keith was coming over and we have gotten into a German food kick, so we needed a few items to complete the menu. The supermarket has rows of Valentine's treats and gifts, so we ended up spending over an hour choosing chocolates, a bright-red bear, 2 cards and a Valentine's Day mylar balloon - just for our El. Way too much junk, but fun none-the-less.

We had schnitzels, sauerkraut and potatoes for dinner and two dinner guests joined us. A delicious raspberry sauce on top of vanille ice cream finished the meal.

El is now in bed... HER bed, Jeff is watching a movie with Keith and Terry, I am finishing this off and then heading to bed, too... MY bed! :)

Headed Home

Monday. Aunt Sue had to go to work, Uncle Steve had appointments and Daddy, Mommy and El had to get back to Virginia.

After lunch, we got into the car for the drive back. We stopped in Pennsylvania and bought Mommy a faux sheep-skin coat and little moccasins for El. By 7pm, we were back home and El was giggling and grinning at Alex and Katy. She really has a connection with those two pups (considering that she sticks her tongue out like them and growls like them!). They were excited to see us, too.

El and Mommy had a warm bath and everyone went to bed. El started out in her own room, but managed to finagle her way into bed with Alex, Katy, Mommy and Daddy by 4am. El, Alex and Katy slept great! Mommy and Daddy, not so much.

Super Bowl Sunday

El did not stay up to watch the second half of the game. She and Mommy went to bed right after the very non-impressive Half Time festivities. But, El did have a great time entertaining us during the first half of the game. Uncle Steve put his Steelers' cap on her head and she pulled it off, then put it back on.

Then, she found the mylar balloon that one of the other guests brought (a large football shaped balloon). She thought this was the coolest thing! She looked up at the balloon, followed the string down with her eyes and then grabbed the string and pulled the balloon down, hand-over-hand (of course, this is another milestone that she seems to know how to do without practice... the skill was never needed until now...) She proceeded to punch the balloon while holding on, so that it bopped about hitting her and Mommy in the face, didn't bother her one bit. Mommy, on the other hand, got tired of the balloon in the face routine and set El on the ground.

Again, El managed to stay up well past her bedtime and amaze all the naive guests with her great temperment and wonderful countenance. None even suspected that night, after they had all left, that El would not sleep unless she was securely situated on Mommy's chest and even in that mode, she would wake up every 2 hours to make sure Mommy had not moved.

Robert Burns Dinner

Saturday, Steve and Sue had a Robert Burns Party at their home. Of course, we all celebrated the Scottish traditions of Robbie Burns by wearing appropriate attire. Daddy wore a borrowed kilt, Mommy wore the Napier Tartan scarf that Daddy bought for Grandma many years ago and we found a Christmas Tartan for El to wear. We listened to a bagpiper and tried haggis, neither were too bad.

El lasted until 8:30 with a usual bedtime at 7, she did really well! There were over 40 people celebrating, but once El fell asleep, not even the multiple verses of ALL the Scottish Ballads that everyone belted out after 10pm woke her. It was a wonderful evening!