I changed the title on our blog recently to reflect the fact that 90% of everything I write about includes the adventures of our little girl, and will also be including the next baby more and more as time goes on. It's still our adventures, just there's too many names to include everyone. :-)
Anyway, Ela is getting more and more talkative lately, and more of what she says is actually English. She narrates nearly everything that goes on around her, and it's great to finally start to understand some of it. I've been enjoying listening to her growing vocabulary, and she's reaching a point where she says some really funny stuff.
Lately, Ela's two favorite words have been "happy" and "sad." When we're driving around, she'll be babbling in the back of the car and I'll hear "Happy!" pause "Oh, sad." pause "Happy!" pause... you get the idea. When I can hold back the giggles no longer, I join in, repeating whatever emotion she's just named in my most dramatic happy or sad voice. I have been wondering for awhile, though, whether she really has any idea what these things mean, or if she's just quoting from one of her favorite books, which has lots of baby faces in it and emotions.
So one morning, Ela pulls her door open and comes toodling down the hall. We've been working on the idea that she sleeps in her own bed, not Mommy and Daddy's, but in the morning when she gets up, I often let her crawl in with me for a few minutes. She wandered up, and waited for permission to crawl in. I held out my arms, and when she'd gotten snuggled in, she turned, grinned at me, and said "Happy!" It was precious!
Then, a few days ago, I was changing a wet diaper. Ela was not enjoying this process, as she was suffering from a little bit of diaper rash, so she was making lots of displeased noises, and wiggling around to avoid the wipes and what not. When I finally told her that she was "All clean!" (another favorite phrase), she settled down a bit, and when the crying had ceased, she announced, "Oh Sad." I had to laugh a little. Then I gave her a hug and all was forgiven.
Clearly, she's got the meanings down.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
A Thanksgiving post with No Food Pictures
Over Thanksgiving, we took a trip out to Illinois to visit Zack's family.
Ela, who has taken a special interest in boxes lately, enjoyed the packing process.
She did really well in the car for the 13ish hours it took to get there. (We did it in two days, not one.) Then she got to play with her second cousins!
She also met her great grandpa, and some aunts and uncles. I didn't get the big family picture we took, but I'm sure someone will e-mail me a copy eventually... right? :-)
And when no one else was looking, she even managed to find a book to read and comfy place to read it.
We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, but I was too busy enjoying the fact that I can eat a little again to take any pictures of it. We had a great time catching up with everyone and visiting in general. I'm really glad we could make the trip.
Ela, who has taken a special interest in boxes lately, enjoyed the packing process.
She did really well in the car for the 13ish hours it took to get there. (We did it in two days, not one.) Then she got to play with her second cousins!
She also met her great grandpa, and some aunts and uncles. I didn't get the big family picture we took, but I'm sure someone will e-mail me a copy eventually... right? :-)
And when no one else was looking, she even managed to find a book to read and comfy place to read it.
We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, but I was too busy enjoying the fact that I can eat a little again to take any pictures of it. We had a great time catching up with everyone and visiting in general. I'm really glad we could make the trip.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Halloween
November is nanowrimo, so I'll be mostly pretending the blog doesn't exist, but here are a few pictures of our Halloween fun.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Horsie!
Ela had a fantastic weekend this weekend. Saturday, we headed down to the mall and her Daddy took her on the carousel. This is one of her new favorite things. I'm told she's spent most of the ride saying "neigh!" After it was over, she talked about the horsie all the way home.
Sunday, we went to the fall festival out at Mount Vernon. They had lots of role playing dressed up people, who told us how the farm was run in General Washington's day, including Washington himself. Ela liked the people who played the music, and sat very attentively through their performance. Her favorite part, though, were the animals. There were sheep...
...cows...
...and a horsie!
Ela was fascinated, if a little nervous (a horse is awfully big after all). She wandered from one to the other making all the noises and talking up a storm. She had a great time, and so did we.
Sunday, we went to the fall festival out at Mount Vernon. They had lots of role playing dressed up people, who told us how the farm was run in General Washington's day, including Washington himself. Ela liked the people who played the music, and sat very attentively through their performance. Her favorite part, though, were the animals. There were sheep...
...cows...
...and a horsie!
Ela was fascinated, if a little nervous (a horse is awfully big after all). She wandered from one to the other making all the noises and talking up a storm. She had a great time, and so did we.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Civil War Battle Fields
Two weekends ago, it was Zack's turn to choose what we'd do for our weekend outing, and he chose a place he's been hoping to visit pretty much since we got to DC: Manassas Battlefield. Two Civil War battles were actually fought there, and now it's a national park.
It was a beautiful day, so we set off in the early afternoon with the hope of getting Ela a nap in the car. Traffic was pretty terrible, but we found it easily enough. We arrived just in time to catch a guided tour of the fields, so we split up for a bit. Zack listened to the guide, while Ela and I did our own tour. First, we checked out the super tall grass behind the house where a family actually lived during the first battle.
Then we discovered a statue of Stonewall Jackson (so nicknamed during the first battle), which Ela loved because it had a horse. Horses are her new obsession. She spent most of Zack's tour trying to figure out how to get up to this one.
When Zack's tour was over, he joined us, and we walked a little further up the field to check out some artillery. As we walked, Zack gave us the historical background he'd gathered from the tour.
Further along the trail, we found the remains of a house that, at the time of the battles, had belonged to an African American family. There's not much left to it now, but Ela enjoyed climbing the walls.
It was a beautiful day, so we set off in the early afternoon with the hope of getting Ela a nap in the car. Traffic was pretty terrible, but we found it easily enough. We arrived just in time to catch a guided tour of the fields, so we split up for a bit. Zack listened to the guide, while Ela and I did our own tour. First, we checked out the super tall grass behind the house where a family actually lived during the first battle.
Then we discovered a statue of Stonewall Jackson (so nicknamed during the first battle), which Ela loved because it had a horse. Horses are her new obsession. She spent most of Zack's tour trying to figure out how to get up to this one.
When Zack's tour was over, he joined us, and we walked a little further up the field to check out some artillery. As we walked, Zack gave us the historical background he'd gathered from the tour.
Further along the trail, we found the remains of a house that, at the time of the battles, had belonged to an African American family. There's not much left to it now, but Ela enjoyed climbing the walls.
After that, we decided it was time to brave the traffic to get back into town. It was a great trip, though. We got lots of fresh air, a little history lesson, and a good time was had by all.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Good News
I've been trying for several days now to talk the ultrasound I scanned into a format that would post on the blog. No luck. I've scanned it twice, and still can't change it into anything workable. Instead, you'll just have to take my word for it that I'm pregnant and delighted! :-)
I'm about 11 weeks along now, and while I really am thrilled, it's been tough to be possitive lately because the morning sickness, which started around 7 or 8 weeks, has been terrible. I'm nauseous pretty much all the time. The ultrasound and clean bill of health from the last doctor appointment helped keep things in perspective. Baby is healthy, growing, and actually looks like a baby in the pictures, which is nice. All the same, the not being able to eat can get stressful. I worry because I'm losing weight still, and I really should start gaining sometime soon, but then the stress of it just makes it that much harder to eat.
Yesterday was a particularly bad day. Most days, I wake up feeling okay and get to feeling yucky around noon, then just get worse all evening. Yesterday, I woke up feeling terrible and had trouble eating breakfast, much less lunch or dinner. I struggled through a much-needed trip to the grocery store, and that was pretty much all I could handle all day. Zack had a long day, too, and was not exactly thrilled to come home to groceries still in the bags (don't worry, I put away the cold stuff), and nothing set up for dinner but rice (I knew he had leftovers available). He's very supportive, though, and we muddled through the evening.
As we got into bed, Zack suggested that may be I'd feel better tomorrow if I took Ela on a little outing to a park or something. This is a very good suggestion because 1) I get crabby really fast if I stay in the house too many days in a row and 2) exercise and fresh air have been helping with the morning sickness. I agreed with the suggestion and then pointed out that I had gotten out of the house that day.
Me: Granted, the grocery store isn't exactly a stress-free environment for me these days.
Zack: You talk about it like it's the sixth circle of hell or something.
I laughed.
Zack (imitating me): Oh Zack, it was so horrible! There was FOOD everywhere!
This got both of us going in a giggle fit (quietly so we wouldn't wake up Ela). It also reminded me that if the worst thing I have to complain about is that I have to buy food, I really have it pretty good. So having enjoyed a good laugh and a session of blessing counting, I went to bed in a much better mood.
Still not feeling great this morning, but it's so worth it!
I'm about 11 weeks along now, and while I really am thrilled, it's been tough to be possitive lately because the morning sickness, which started around 7 or 8 weeks, has been terrible. I'm nauseous pretty much all the time. The ultrasound and clean bill of health from the last doctor appointment helped keep things in perspective. Baby is healthy, growing, and actually looks like a baby in the pictures, which is nice. All the same, the not being able to eat can get stressful. I worry because I'm losing weight still, and I really should start gaining sometime soon, but then the stress of it just makes it that much harder to eat.
Yesterday was a particularly bad day. Most days, I wake up feeling okay and get to feeling yucky around noon, then just get worse all evening. Yesterday, I woke up feeling terrible and had trouble eating breakfast, much less lunch or dinner. I struggled through a much-needed trip to the grocery store, and that was pretty much all I could handle all day. Zack had a long day, too, and was not exactly thrilled to come home to groceries still in the bags (don't worry, I put away the cold stuff), and nothing set up for dinner but rice (I knew he had leftovers available). He's very supportive, though, and we muddled through the evening.
As we got into bed, Zack suggested that may be I'd feel better tomorrow if I took Ela on a little outing to a park or something. This is a very good suggestion because 1) I get crabby really fast if I stay in the house too many days in a row and 2) exercise and fresh air have been helping with the morning sickness. I agreed with the suggestion and then pointed out that I had gotten out of the house that day.
Me: Granted, the grocery store isn't exactly a stress-free environment for me these days.
Zack: You talk about it like it's the sixth circle of hell or something.
I laughed.
Zack (imitating me): Oh Zack, it was so horrible! There was FOOD everywhere!
This got both of us going in a giggle fit (quietly so we wouldn't wake up Ela). It also reminded me that if the worst thing I have to complain about is that I have to buy food, I really have it pretty good. So having enjoyed a good laugh and a session of blessing counting, I went to bed in a much better mood.
Still not feeling great this morning, but it's so worth it!
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