Fun Times

So much catching up to do! We've been so busy over here with swimming, mom group meet-ups, play classes, and some art and music classes (all for Elena, not me). And lately it's been really hot . . . ugh, summer is coming. But it's been going so well, and Elena's having a blast lately. She's so used to going places and having a good time that when we get home she doesn't want to get out of the car. Sometimes that part isn't so fun for me, but usually there's something I can use to lure her out of there.

Mother's Day was nice. We went to the park and flew a kite and blew bubbles. It was super hot that day, too.

 

 

 

Then we went to visit my mother-in-law and have dinner. Elena had so much fun.

 

 

 

 
It was a nice, relaxing day with a lot of quality time.


Elena is using so many words now, I can't keep up. Sometimes she uses a new word that I don't know she can say yet, but I know it's not babble because she says the same thing repeatedly, so I sit with her and try to figure out what she's saying, and usually I can. It's fun because I can have conversations with her now. She usually says just one word and makes gestures, but we can go back and forth like that for awhile.


She's so helpful. Whenever I'm cooking dinner and using the oven, she gets the oven mitt out of the cupboard for me because she knows I'll need it. And the other day I told her that I was going to wash my face, and she went in my drawer, got out my make-up bags, and set them on the living room floor, where I always put my make-up on.


Today she was playing in bed with me and Jorge (lately she wants to get on the bed a lot and play, and she does this every night before bedtime, too) and she put her hand over her mouth because she was going to sneeze. Then the sneeze went away . . . and she was a little confused. So she sat there a couple of seconds with her hand over her mouth. Then she said "ah-choo!" I think she thought it might come if she did that because she still looked a little confused. Jorge and I were cracking up. 

Whenever she hears a baby whine or cry she says "Oooooooohhhhh" . . . . and it sounds kind of like a cross between "awe" and "oh." Sometimes she'll drop her doll and say "Oooohhh," then pick her up, kiss her, and rock her. So last week at the grocery store there was a very young baby that cried pretty much the entire time he was in there, and no matter what I did I could not distract Elena. She kept saying "Oooooooohhhhhhh" and looking at him. Then she reached out to him like she wanted to pick him up and hold him. I kept telling her that he was with his mommy and that she would help him feel all better, but she wanted to comfort him so bad. 

A couple nights ago Jorge was saying goodnight to her and she took out her pacifier and said "kiss" and leaned forward to kiss him. Then she wrapped her arms around him and gave a huge hug. I thought it was the cutest thing in the world and I told her that she was so sweet, so she said "kiss" again, kissed me, then hugged me. Who said that parenting is not a rewarding job? She does things everyday that make all of the work seem worthwhile and rewarding, and it leaves me very grateful.