Elena turned 3

Elena turned 3 on July 15th. I can't believe my little girl is 3 years old! She seems so big to me now. 

We had her party at Chuck E. Cheese since there are still a few things we want to finish in the house to make it better for entertaining a group of people. I'm really looking forward to having small birthday parties at home, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to have Samuel's birthday party here. But Elena had a blast at Chuck E. Cheese.

I went in the ticket blaster with her to catch some tickets.

 

She exchanged her tickets for a necklace and a purse.

She had fun on the rides. 

She got a crown for being the birthday girl. Samuel was amused by it.

 

I had only been to the Chuck E. Cheese in Santa Maria, and the last time I was there was over a decade ago, so it was different than I remember it. But we had fun. It was loud and a little chaotic. Still managed to nurse Samuel, though.

 Elena kept waiting for the robot characters in the front to perform; they stalled for a long time.

She made a wish.

 

And she only eats the icing; she has no interest in the actual cake. 

 

 

She had fun dancing.

 

She was the birthday girl. Then two days later was her actual birthday, so we celebrated again.

We went out to eat and the server brought her a muffin with a candle.

 

 

She was excited about this little car we got her. She's wanted one for a long time, and she loved going to Buy Buy Baby because she could play with the one they keep out.

 

I also got this little squirrel game for her, and I was excited to find a game for kids as little as 3. She really likes it, and it's fun to play together.

 

 

 

She also got some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse books from Jorge's uncle Gustavo that read out loud to her. There's a gadget that came with them and she pushes the button with symbol that matches one on the page, and it reads it. She's been reading those books constantly.

I can't believe this little thing is 3. 

She's creative.

 

And talkative

And caring

She likes to get some baby treatment every once in a while.

And she still looks so angelic when she sleeps.

So strange to think about when I first met her.

Right after her birthday passed we stopped giving her the pacifier. She was only getting it when she napped and went to bed, but she loved the thing dearly, and she still misses it. When she's getting ready for sleep and she has her blanket I look at her and wonder what's missing, and then I realize it's her pacifier. But it was time, and I never thought she would even have it that long.

She's one special little girl.

9 Months

I'm 9 months old today!

I'm 29.25 inches long and I weigh 18 pounds, 4.6 ounces.

I like to crawl all over the place and I'm always on the move, so this makes it hard for Mommy to get good pictures of me on the bed. She did the best she could.

I love eating solid food, and I eat a lot. Besides fruits and veggies I've had chicken and yogurt.

I'm always watching my sister and I laugh at almost everything she does.

I still like to be with my mama a lot.

I have two teeth on the bottom, but more will come in soon. I'm always chewing on my fingers, which makes me sound like a squeaky toy.

I talk a lot, directly to people. I call out to get my daddy's attention.

I'm starting to play in my crib when I wake up in the morning, so Mommy and Daddy can rest a little bit more. But I don't sleep through the night.

The Moments that Matter Most

Sometimes it seems like I'm doing the same things every day . . . dressing the kids, wiping up spit-up, changing diapers, feeding them, helping them fall asleep, running errands, etc. But then I step back and just look at the moment, and try to cherish it. I'm trying to notice the little things . . . all these little things they do will soon be gone because they grow so quickly. On Elena's birthday we watched videos of her as a newborn and infant, and also the video of her meeting Samuel for the first time. It was amazing. People tell me that Samuel looks like her, but I didn't see it until I watched videos of her around his age. Then when I watched her in the hospital bed with me after having Samuel, I couldn't believe how much she's grown, and how different she is now.

And Samuel is just so big. His hair is growing out, and he's eating all kinds of foods.

I see how much they love each other.

I laugh at how much Samuel is amused by touching the top of Jorge's head.

I notice how much care Elena puts into the care of her baby doll. This is the same baby doll she started playing with when she was just 6 months old. My grandma got it for her, and she sleeps with it every night. When she wakes up in the early morning hours she'll come to our bed. I wake up to her standing right next to me and she'll say something like, "I'm here to cuddle with you." Then I'll help her climb up in our bed and she'll lay between us. She always brings her pink blanket and her baby. 

I notice Samuel's eyelashes. They are so long; he has beautiful eyes. At Jorge's family reunion one of the ladies thought he was a girl, even though he was in a boyish onesie. When Jorge told her he's a boy, she apologized and said that his eyelashes are so long and he's just so beautiful that she thought he was a girl. This has happened a couple of times since then, and people always say it's his eyes or eyelashes, and they're always embarrassed when they learn he's a boy. When it happens, I think it's funny, because babies are not supposed to be hyper-masculine or feminine; they're babies! And they're beautiful, and Samuel's beautiful. So, after this happened a couple of times, we talked about how to us it looks like he's all boy, but maybe that's just because since I was pregnant we've thought about him as a boy. I see other babies and I can't tell the sex until I see the clothes, but I look at mine and it's so obvious. We did a little experiment: when Samuel was undressed down to the diaper, Jorge put a pink bow in his hair, and do you know what we saw? A baby that could make a beautiful girl. It was pretty funny. When my grandma met Samuel she said he was the most beautiful baby she'd ever seen. I think she was right. 

Then we have moments like this, where both kids are just being silly and enjoying each other, and it takes away all the stress of the day.

 

 

Samuel has a funny way of sitting on one foot and sticking out his other heel to balance. And he still crawls on one knee and one foot. I thought that after awhile he would crawl on both knees, but this is how he likes to do it. Jorge says it's like watching a frog walk.

And even though it can be tiring listening to a baby cry, he makes the cutest sad face I've ever seen. And I love it.

And for some reason whenever Elena gets dressed she's curious about where the outfit came from. As I got her dressed this morning she asked about the clothes and I told her she got them for her birthday, but I couldn't remember who had gotten them for her. She said, "Probably Grandma Barbara." Even though she didn't see my grandma a lot, she thinks about her and mentions her pretty frequently. Because she's so young I didn't even try to tell Elena about her passing away. So when she said this I said, "Yeah, maybe." And she responded with "Is Grandma Barbara sick?" (The last couple of times she saw her, she was in the hospital.) I said, "No, she's not sick anymore." Then she asked, "Is she at home?" I said, "Yeah, she's home now." Then I got her dressed and thought about how much I miss my grandma, and how important it is to cherish the moments we have with people we love.

Gymboree and Frozen Yogurt!

We like to go to Golden Spoon . . . a lot.

Elena likes to eat her frozen yogurt at a fountain, because she likes to throw coins into it afterward.

Gummy bears and sprinkles . . . 

Samuel wants some . . . 

I love her face in this picture. She's jumping. 

We went to Gymboree the same day. Samuel likes to go there. I finally started him in a class; the challenge is keeping him from putting everything in his mouth. 

I'm so glad they enjoy each other.

 

Big boy

Samuel tries to devour my face. Jorge tells me to enjoy it because he only does it to me. When he really wants me he'll jump into my arms with his mouth wide open, and he goes straight for my face.

I wish they could keep these memories because we have a lot of fun. We'll just have to make a lot more for the times they'll actually remember.