Growing and Growing

Elena's able to do more on her own now, and she's so much fun to be around. I'm also able to leave Samuel with a toy sometimes without him crying in protest. The boy loves to be in my arms. I look at both of them and I'm just amazed by the little people they're becoming. Elena has such a great sense of humor, she learns quickly, and she loves to help others. She's really sensitive and always tells us that she loves us. Samuel starts smiling and squirming when he sees us and wants to be picked up. He wakes up next to me in the mornings and starts babbling and playing with his feet. He is so responsive to our eye contact; as soon as we look at him, he's smiling and interacting with us. 

And look at this little guy on his elbow. Even though he hasn't been a huge fan of tummy time, he's getting stronger and will stay there a few minutes, which means I can get more things done. 

We're still always trying to dodge his spit-up, so he usually has a bib on. That way I don't have to change his clothes 5 times a day.

 Elena is always loving on him and trying to take care of him.

Here she is hanging out with him. 

He likes his reflection, it's the cutest thing. 

We love ice cream. We make regular trips to Golden Spoon for frozen yogurt. Elena loves it. Here, though, she's eating an ice cream bar. Yum!

She still loves to hang out with her daddy. Here they're winding down for bedtime. Well, Elena's winding down and Jorge is passed out on the couch. He's been working so hard and doesn't get much rest. He had about 2 minutes here, but then he got up to put Elena to bed. We both go into her room at bedtime. Sometimes Jorge just says goodnight to her and I put her to bed, but I hurt my back a few weeks ago and couldn't lift her, so he had to get up (I couldn't do a lot of things). 

I discovered Nuudles! They're just little puff things made from cornstarch, and when you touch the pieces on a damp sponge, they stick to each other. You can make anything with them. Here's what Elena built (a house), then painted.

My little artist.

Then she painted this little white piece and said, "Look, Mama, I made a heart for you!" And it did look like a heart.

She loves nail polish now. She wanted green, but when I showed her that there was also blue, she wanted the blue instead. This is my favorite color on her so far. 

I love pictures taken right after doing her hair, before the wind, napping, playing, etc.

See how big she is? 

And this little guy . . . always growing and getting chubbier. I could eat him up, he's so delicious. Especially when I blow on his thighs and he starts laughing. I just can't get enough.