Happy Mother's Day!

What a wonderful day today was! Elena and Dad let Mom sleep in until 8:00 am (and yes, Mom now considers 8 am "sleeping in"). They woke her up with breakfast in bed and some flowers and a card. We played all morning and went to the park where Dad took some great pictures of Elena and Mom. Mom was just complaining the other day that we have so few pictures with her in them because she's always the one behind the camera!

This afternoon, Dad treated us to brunch and Elena (as always) was the best behaved baby in the restaurant. We also learned that she loves lemon. Mangoes are too sour for her, but she loves lemon. Go figure!

To end the afternoon, we took a nice walk through the harbor and enjoyed the great weather. Thank you to my family for such a nice day- and a happy mother's day to all the other mommies out there!

Summer Summer Summertime

A little preview of summer hit Baltimore in the past few days. Temperatures peaked at 90 degrees so we headed out to get Elena her very first pool. Mom didn't think about the act of inflating the pool when she purchased it, so it was quite a site watching mom and dad blow it up like a balloon. Elena's reaction was worth it in the end. She had a great time splish splashing and chewing on her pool toys and she cried when it was time to get out!

Happy Easter!

Elena was so excited for the Easter Bunny that she couldn't sleep at all last night! (Ok, maybe that was the teething, but she was up all night.) We waited for dad to get up and then explored her Easter Basket... homemade teething biscuits, gerber banana puffs, some bunny books, and Elena's favorite...BUBBLES!

She donned her Easter Sunday ensemble and we headed to St. Thomas More for Easter Mass. Elena was a very good girl through a very long mass.

Although the weather looked fantastic, this shot is a little deceptive...It was actually quite chilly outside. In true "Top Model" fashion, we staged the shot and then brought out our model. With an outfit like that we had to get the perfect shot.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Elena's first visit with the Easter Bunny was a success! She set a great example for all the other kids in line by squealing and screaming with excitement. I have a feeling that in coming years we won't be so lucky...

6 Months Old!

The Skills:
Sitting, Squealing, Giggling, Gabbing and Grabbing
The Sustenance:
Rice Cereal, Sweet Potatoes and Bananas
The Stats:
17 lbs 6.5 oz - 75th Percentile
25.5 inches long - 50th Percentile
43 centimeter head - 50th Percentile

See the Picasa site for the rest of Elena's six month photo shoot.

Throwing Sheep

I've mentioned in previous posts that Elena is a fairly serious little girl. You've got to work really, really hard to get a solitary chuckle out of her. Well yesterday, Elena and I took a day trip to Babi and Pop-Pop's (mom's grandparents) in PA. Cousin Stan was home from Baghdad on his R&R and some family was getting together. We were all hanging out and playing with Elena's new, stuffed sheep from her Great Aunt Lori.

I tossed it towards Elena and she giggled. So I tossed it again, this time it bopped her face. She squealed. The more times I threw this sheep at her face, the more she giggled. This game went on for nearly 5 minutes of giggles. Dad wasn't with us so we shot this video on Aunt Becca's cell phone to send to him. Hope you enjoy!

Sweet Potato!