We just got back from a nice long trek to California. Jeremy had to go for work, so since his ticket was already paid for we decided to have Eliza and I join him and extend the trip. We spent a week visiting with my friends Kali and Sadie from my study abroad in Italy. We spent a few nights at Sadie's beach house outside of Santa Cruz and the rest of the time at Kali's in San Luis Obispo. After that much-needed rest, we headed to Arcadia outside of LA where Jeremy worked for a week and Eliza and I hung out at the hotel and nearby parks.
E hit two big milestones during the trip - she got to where she is solidly walking on her own and she *finally* learned how to roll over from her back to her stomach. Combine those two new talents and you get a girl who flips over in her crib, stands up and runs laps instead of sleeping. She will sleep someday . . . . right???
It was great to have some time to recharge, but we're happy to be home just in time to welcome the Basharas for their annual summer visit!
Pooped after a long plane ride
(I have to clarify - the pink carseat was significantly cheaper - don't judge!) :-p
Meet our awesome rental car, "Slimer!"
First wagon ride. She LOVED it!
Mike the pack mule
Aunt Kali helping me give E her first "do." She was a sad sad baby.
This little girl LOVES the beach. She could have watched the ocean all day every day if we let her.
Playing with Kali's baby Lucy. She is such a sweet girl and learned how to crawl while we were visiting!
Little diva
Beach fun
Splash time!
Family pic
Kali's son Mason showing E how to enjoy the beach
Kali and Mike had tons of stairs which made E very happy
Chillin and reading at the hotel
If it was up to E we would have ridden the glass elevators at the hotel ALL day every day!
Once again I'm way behind on blog updates. My computer has been finicky lately and the act of uploading pictures takes foreeeever so I've been using that as an excuse. However the complaints are rolling in, so I'm sucking it up and gettin 'er done!
Things have been going good here, though the last few days we've been tensely watching the Waldo Canyon Fire which is uncomfortably close to the city. We are across the highway from it so it poses no real threat to us, but the threat it poses to the Springs and nearby towns is very scary.
This was about 2 hours after it sparked
We are getting prepped to leave for California next week. Jeremy has to do some work in LA and we found Eliza and I a cheap ticket so we can join him. While there we are going to go visit some of my best friends from my Italian study abroad trip in San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz. We are really excited to see them, and for Jeremy to have some down time. We also can't wait for some cooler temps :)
Eliza is growing and changing fast. She can walk pretty solidly but still doesn't have the confidence to replace crawling. For the most part she just likes to walk between two people in the living room as more of a game than a functional method of transport. She has picked up a lot of new signs which is fun and she's cutting some molars which isn't so fun. Eliza is also showing the telltale signs of toddlerhood - whining, stealing toys from other kids, etc. She is a very passionate very fun child, but we are in for a crazy couple of years, no question! Her favorite things to do right now are play outside, go swimming and climb. She loves to climb onto the back of the couch and watch the dogs out the window. If it were up to her she would just eat strawberries, spaghetti and graham crackers all day. We are in the process of night weaning which means I'm usually up with her a couple of hours each night soothing her. I'm hoping to be done by the time we leave for California so cross your fingers for us!
Of course it's been two months since I blogged so here's another jillion pictures and a few videos :) The first ones are from Eliza's birthday - Erin did a photoshoot for us and as usual they turned out fantastic. She is awesome!
On her actual birthday - celebrating with an Oreo :)
Little hood rat
Jeremy and I went to the LegoFest in Denver. E was sick so it was just us but we still had a blast :)
Eliza spent about a week quarantined in the house with hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Then Jeremy and I got it. Yuck! It was a rough couple of weeks but she got some good daddy snuggles in :)
Gandalf the Gray
Yoga baby!
Fun in the sun
Troublemaker
Muahahaha
This is how she sleeps in her crib 90% of the time. Silly kid :p
Fun at the zoo
Chillaxin
Walkin with Daddy
Shhhhhh!
I was lucky enough to catch the first steps on camera :)
One year ago today I was debating when to wake Jeremy up to tell him I had been in labor all night. Six hours later I was having to convince myself that the wailing baby on my chest was, in fact, the creature that had been living in my belly for almost ten months. I can't believe it's been a year. It's a bittersweet day for me. Every day is more fun with Eliza, she's learning so much so fast but good gracious it's going too fast!
The changes over the past month have been astounding. Eliza started signing, which is stinking adorable. She can wave hi and bye, sign "doggie" (which she also uses for cats), "more", "eat" and - her favorite - "all done!" She will walk if you hold her hands - I'm sure she could do it on her own if she wanted, but she finds crawling to be much more efficient. Her favorite place to crawl is up and down the stairs which is more than a little nerve-wracking. She babbles constantly, and mimics anyone who coughs, sneezes or yawns. She sniffs flowers and plays "night night" by laying down if you say it. She gives huge slobbery open-mouthed kisses and sweet hugs. She loves her pets and gets SUPER excited when she hears the dogs coming. We go swimming once a week and she really digs it - recently she's started kicking on her own and no longer screams bloody murder when I put her under the water. She absolutely LOVES books. If it were up to her I think I would spend all day reading to her. Her favorite pastime is to pull ALL her books off the shelves and systematically bring them to me one-by-one to read.
Sleeping has improved somewhat - she can now put herself to sleep and doesn't have to be rocked, however in the past week or so she has gone from waking up twice to three or four times. I'm hoping it's a tooth and we'll be back to normal soon. When I start to get sad about her turning one already, I just remind myself - I'm one year closer to a full night's sleep!
We are having a big old birthday bash at the Inn this weekend and cousin Erin is going to do a cake smash photoshoot, so I promise I will get pictures up soon.
And now, as per usual, a zillion pictures from the past month!
Bathtime!
First haircut! She was pretty upset at first, then calmed down and by the end was having a blast!
When the Basharas visited we went to the Ice Castle in Silverthorne. Beautiful!
Zoo Day!
I love the way she sleeps, arms sprawled
She does this "crazy" smile when she gets super excited
Puppy Love
Looks so big sitting in her chair!
Boxes are awesome!
Cruisin!
Always wants to go outside
Playtime with cousin Malcolm. I love the look they both have like - "Whadduyu want?"
Mastering the stairs
Family shot
Auditioning for KISS
Sunday morning hike, princess on her litter
Happy girl
Favorite pastime
A few weeks ago, E learned how to stack rings on a stick. For the first few days, she decided there was only one good way to remove them. So weird!
Bouncy fun!
She looooves to give herself kisses in the mirror :)
(For some reason sometimes this video plays sideways, but YouTube is making my brain hurt - I give up, sorry!)
