Seven Months

So, sorry for the lack of posts lately. Life is crazy. However, Eric, I think, is going to be the little posting fairy for a few months (until I GRADUATE in August!!) and help to keep our blog from drying up.

Also, sorry for the pretty much exclusively Elena centered posts lately. But, just because I am apologizing doesn't mean I am going to stop. :) Bwah ha ha. Elena is just so cute. And our lives pretty much revolve around her. And she is growing so fast, we can hardly keep up and we want to document it somehow.

So, in anticipation of Elena's seven month birthday on Sunday, I thought I would post some pictures/ videos that capture some of what she has been up to over the last two months. She has hit a period of rapid growth and development. Its like she turned five months and just exploded! Its hard to believe how much she has grown and how fast it has gone by. Its funny... when Elena was born everyone was saying, "Treasure these moments - they fly by so fast." I believed them, but I just had no concept of what they really meant. But now I am starting to get a little bit of an idea. (I know I am just beginning and that as she gets older, things will really start to seem like they have been flying by.) Its just interesting. Today, I was looking at pictures from when she was just born and it is crazy how much she has changed! And it has only been seven months! At the time it was hard to notice the differences and some stages felt interminable. But now, looking back, it seems like I didn't have hardly any time with her when she was so little. She changes so fast. Hmmmm... *heavy sigh*. Well, so much for reminiscing and being sentimental. Here are some funny pictures of our cute girl:

So, this is what we started with. Here's Elena at 3 days old, just for comparison's sake, so you can really see what I mean. Look how she is swimming in that onesie. She was so tiny!

So now, back to the present:

A couple of months ago she learned to roll over.

Then she learned to sit up and started to play (well, ok, at least interact) with her cousins.

She started to become a little more camera friendly. Look at that little face.

She celebrated her first Easter!

She has been working on eating new foods. Mainly rice cereal, pureed fruits and vegetables, and water. Boy, does she love water! In this video, she is drinking it from a waterbottle lid, but now she can drink from a cup if we hold it for her. As for the other foods.... well, we're working on those. She just really likes to nurse. (I'm open for suggestions as to how to get her to eat and what to feed her and how to get her to keep it down.)

Right before her sixth month birthday, Elena accomplished the best feat of them all (in mom's opinion) - SLEEPING IN HER OWN BED! It is amazing. Every_single_night I marvel at the miracle of a bedtime and place that is separate from mom and dad's! Love it! One night, Eric and I went in to check on her and we found her like this. She was out!

Elena got her first sunburn. :( Whoops! Look really closely and you can see extra rosy cheeks, nose, and forehead. This is Elena modeling the hat that she should have been wearing when she got sunburned.

"Its okay Mom! I forgive you."

Elena got a visit from her great-grandma and great-grandpa on their way home from Mexico. You can see where she gets her photogenic genes from. :) (Look closely at that big grin and you can see her teeth.)

The past few months afforded plenty of cuddle time with Dad because we were always so tired from a busy semester of school and work. There's nothing like napping with Daddy!

What a cutie! The past couple of months brought lots of other things as well: new teeth, a bout of vomiting, crawling, learning to respond to her name, Eczema, lots of new babbles like ma-ma, da-da-da, bluh-bluh, more hair, and lots of smiles and laughs. Happy Seven Months Elena-cita! We sure love you!