Super duper travel baby!

We just got back from Vegas; Elianna is becoming quite the little traveler. I think we counted she's flown almost 20 legs so far and she isn't even 18 months. We do a lot to keep her occupied and we pass her back and forth a lot. The leg back we had an extra seat so she dozed a little in her car seat.

We got a fun little routine in the mornings. I'd get dressed, she'd stay in her pjs and we'd go down the the lobby for coffee for me. Sometimes she'd be in her stroller, others she'd push the stroller with a stuffed animal along for the ride. Along the way she'd stop at the fire extinguisher (Dis?), a heating grate (dis? and run her fingers up it) and an electrical outlet (no, Elianna, not for babies) and then we'd go in the elevator. Once in the lobby, she'd cry out, "Ball! BALL!" and run over to the Christmas tree, trying to take off the ornaments. Her latest thing is also spinning so she'd do that while looking up at the mirrored ceiling which got *me* dizzy! One time on the way back to the room, I got ahead of her, noticed and turned around to see her, stopped, looking at me with a big smile on her face...about to put her fingers in the outlet. She knows exactly when she's doing something she's not supposed to, it just blows me away.

Her first night of sleep at the hotel was less than stellar. We couldn't get where she was sleeping dark enough and I think it kept her awake. Then we moved her in our room which seemed to help but she woke up pretty frequently which is very unusual for her. At one point she started yelling, "Unry, UNRY! (hungry) so for the 1st time in probably over 8 months I nursed her and she finally went to sleep and stayed asleep until 630 (normal). I used to worry about doing things like that in case she got used to it as her new normal but she's not a 'give an inch take a mile' kind of kid which is nice.

Last night I nursed her before bed, she seemed sleepy so I took her off. Usually if she's not finished she'll let me know right away but she just looked tired. I laid her down and she went ballistic! I tucked her in, told her I loved her and went out of the room. Five minutes later I went back in and she was sitting up in the crib, yelling and signing 'more' and 'milk' over and over. I could have nursed her a little more but I decided to try something. I picked her up, rubbed her back and talked with her for a minute. I told her it wasn't time for milk anymore but she could have more tomorrow. Then she asked for Baby Signing Time and I did the same thing, we'll do it tomorrow. Then we turned on her star turtle, looked at the flowers on her wall, told her all the things we'd do tomorrow and laid her back down. Not a peep! I was so amazed and impressed by her.

I was kind of impressed by myself too. My biggest problem in being a mom is that I'm such a rule person. I want to do things the 'right' way and there's really no such thing. There's a lot of wrong ways but no right one so to be a success you have to be open to that and I just wasn't before. Last night showed me I could go with the flow, I could pick her up and soothe her without worrying I was creating a monster (which so many of the parenting books will scare you that you will) and I could try something new. If it hadn't worked, we'd have tried something else but it felt right and it worked!

One of my favorite things is listening to Elianna talk to herself early in the morning. You can hear her chatting away and then she'll start listing people who might get her out of bed: "Dada! Mama? Oppa! Nini (Nikki)?" Then, if she doesn't get any response she will get a bit more strident, the tone increases in pitch until she's yelling, "Ah dahn! Ah Dahn! "(all done) and our day begins.

The language is exploding (still). Show her a sign and odds are she knows it. She has started using more signs that she never did and taking it to new levels. In the hallway outside Mike's office there are cartoon sandals on the tile floor. Today, for the first time she got very excited, started banging her fists together saying, "Ooooo". Well, banging fists together is usually how she says 'more' but that wasn't what she was saying this time. Then she banged her fists together again and bent down to touch the sandals on the floor. "Ooooo!" It hit Mike and I at the same time: "SHOES! She's saying shoes!" And she was. Fists banged together is, in fact, the sign for shoes. But she's never signed it before and she did it at a representation of shoes, not actual shoes. This seems crazy intelligent to me but It's probably just par for the course. I'm just her mom and impressed at little things.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Anyone looked at the forecast for Spokane lately? Oy vey, it's cold and wet here; last week the temps barely made it into double digits. Poor Elianna, she wants outside so badly but it's just been too cold. We have gotten her a sled though so now that it's hit 20 degrees and it feels practically balmy, we'll be headed out.

So that was written last week and we've still not been outside. Elianna had this runny nose which morphed into a hacking cough, complete with post cough puking so we've been indoor people these days. It doesn't help that the snow has kept coming and coming. We got a 2 day respite, but now we're supposed to get up to 8 inches more through the next couple days. Oy vey!

Speaking of oy vey, Elianna can say it and it's pretty understandable! It's so cute to see this little person and hear 'oy vey!' come out her mouth.

Murray (AKA Oppa) came for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time. He bought an iPad and we got to share our Apple knowledge with him and he let us play with it. We decided to get iphone 4s for us and have been Facetiming ever since. That technology is just awesome. I've been too nervous to drive Elianna to see Mike when he's working so we just call each other, turn on the video and she gets to see her daddy. Pretty cool.
So Oppa came during the cold snap (high of 11 degrees anyone?) so we did a lot of indoor stuff. We did drive to Coeur d'Alene for Thanksgiving dinner which was an adventure. The snow turned from a light, dry one to heavy, thick Flagstaff type flakes. Made for some interesting driving back but we made it safe and sound.

Elianna seems none too impressed with the white stuff. First off she can't move very well in the snow suit with parka we got her. Second, she's too small for snowboots so her feet get cold and wet. She liked kicking at in while in the safety of our arms but the first time she fell down into it, there were many tears along with "ah dahn ah dahn!" She does like the sled in the house so I'm sure outside will be much better.

Verbally she's exploding. I get a lot of the things she's saying because she signs along with it but she's definitely getting more understandable even without it. She's still a good eater, eating cauliflower, garbanzo beans (she's my kid for sure!), broccoli, pasta and hummus. She squeals with delight at the dogs outside the window, tries to mimic things we say and overall is a chatterbox.
Picture wise, it's getting harder and harder to take them. She sees the camera and immediately she's headed for it, trying to take her own pictures, not that she knows what she's doing. I need to learn my camera better so I can sneak up on her. Or get a telephoto lens.

Happy Halloween!

Elianna is a bit young for Halloween, I know this. At this stage of her life, it's more about my need to have her look cute in a costume than it is about her desire to try a new persona. However she was, without a doubt, the cutest pig I've ever seen in my entire life.



Right?

So we dressed her up, and took her down the hill to the community welcome center where they had an 'event' for kids. It was supposed to be 4-530 for 1-4 year olds and 530-7 for older kids but there were plenty older kids there. Elianna got knocked around a bit but she took it in stride. She's still of an age where she just watches other kids and doesn't really interact with them. At the party, she watched for awhile, tried to steal the pumpkin pinata (BALL!) and then wandered around the lawn like it was another trip to the park.
She also got her first taste of chocolate and baby liked! Mike had her go get some candy when the pinata broke, more for the experience than any desire for her to have candy, and she carried her Crunch bar around for the duration. At some point it went in her mouth, because everything does (we've got 2 molars coming in!) and once that paper melted and she got some sweet stuff it was all over! We took it away after a bit and massive tantruming ensued. It didn't help that she didn't sleep at all today but I understand. Take away my Reese's Peanut Butter cups and I get cranky too.

Sprechen sie deutsch?

Man, I've fallen down on the job updating here! Sorry to all who check this on the daily (Mom!), I will do better, I promise.
So we've had a massive language explosion here in Elianna-land. Only problem...it appears to be German.



She loves talking like this, does it daily more than once and is so pleased with herself when she does it. She is signing quite a bit as well and thank goodness because "DAH!" sounds quite a bit like, well, "DAH!" and only her signs let us know she's excited about the dog across the street and not the stars in the sky.

I may have made a major mistake though. I've been pretty against Elianna watching any TV at this stage, no Baby Einstein DVDs for her. Which, thank goodness they've set the record straight so I don't have to worry that I'm preventing her from becoming a genius by not watching them. *wipes brow* But I digress. I decided that a few minutes of 'Baby Signing Time' a day, done with me or Mike wouldn't be detrimental and, in fact, would help us on our journey to language. There's so much she wants to tell us and we just don't get it! Anyway, so we've started watching these DVDs and they are very informative, we've learned a ton of new signs and she's started using some of them too. She loves the DVD. LOVES them! It's a rare day when she doesn't wake up and the first sign she makes is asking for the DVDs. Nikki tells us she asks for it at least every hour and she's even thrown a mini tantrum when she doesn't get to watch. Yeah, I could have made a mistake there.

This little girl loves going outside (Ahdah, Ahdah!) and even if it's cold she usually doesn't complain. Yesterday, my hands were so cold they hurt and she got mad at me when we came inside! She also loves watching the boys across the street throw their football which they do everyday. Sometimes they wave at her and she gets really happy. It's pretty cute to see.

More updates to come, in a much sooner time frame. Hand to God. :)

Elianna with her 'crack' (water)

Family reunion, what?

The Martinez clan is in da house! Kenny and Karen’s house, that is. Approximately 14 adults, young and not so young descended on Chez Platis/Martinez for a whirlwind, impromptu family reunion with our Miss E as the draw.

The weekend began with a solo trip from Spokane with me looking like a Sherpa making her way down the jetway. Elianna was strapped on my front, on my back was a car seat carrier, stuffed with extra contraband that was too much weight for the luggage tucked inside, on my shoulder was a diaper bag stuffed to the gills and I had my largest purse filled with jackets, food and oh yeah, my wallet. Elianna was a champ on the flight with only a few squawks of protest when I wouldn’t let her toddle down the aisle during takeoff but she contented herself with moving back and forth from seat to seat in our row that we had to ourselves (heaven!).

The reunion itself was wonderful. While I know Elianna was the excuse it was fantastic that almost everyone was able to arrange their schedule to get together for a few hours (which is really all it was!). Elianna took to all the new people with her usual aplomb. After a few minutes of sober study of the situation, she allowed herself to be passed from person to person with nary a peep. She learned new words (Nana, Poppa) and tried to learn others (GG for my Grandma Mary), ate new food, and gained several new admirers (Christina, Corinne!).

The trip back was relatively easy. Despite being tired, Elianna was only slightly cranky and she tried to make friends with all around her. After meeting 13 or so new people, she appeared to think everyone was family; all newcomers were greeted with a, “haaaaaaah” (Hi) and a wave. I've also discovered she knows how to flirt; she was doing it all during the trip with the boys in the seat behind us!

So we are back home, getting over a cold that I'm sure we contracted on the airplane but it was totally, totally worth it. Our family isn't the best at keeping in touch, at following each others' lives but we did this time and I'm proud of us.

What we have heah, is a faylyuh to cuhmmunicayte

For sure! Elianna is talking up a storm these days. To the uneducated ear, much of it sounds like 'dada' and some uninformed souls will finish her sentences assuming she's looking for Mike. But if one hears these sounds day in and out there are subtle but distinct differences. 'Dedn' is a popular sound but I have no idea what it's supposed to be. 'Desses' is possibly 'glasses' but could be 'circles'. Dahndahn is another unknown and the list goes on. She's very emphatic about what she's telling us so you know *she* understands what she's saying and thus far, seems content to have merely passed the information on; it seems to be *our* problem that we don't understand.

Another issue is that she will sign words to us and immediately sign the opposite ('all done' and 'more' being notable examples). Kind of makes us wonder if she really does understand what she's signing or if she's just messing with us: Hmmm, how can I make Mommy and Daddy spin around like a top? Heeeee!

Walking is coming along swimmingly; sometimes she even looks like she's trying to break into a run. Stairs are an issue again; she refuses to go down backwards, will instead scoot to the very edge, do a squat until she's sitting on the next one down, and repeat. Alternatively, she'll reach for our hands and just walk down, one giant step at at time. Either way makes Mommy very nervous!

She's always blowing kisses and sometimes drops these wet, open mouthed besos on us...so cute! She's also so sweet; she'll give a kiss and then snuggle her head on my shoulder. Way to turn me into a big puddle of goo, kiddo!

But I still want to know what 'dedn' means.

Yeah, so?

Had to the be title of this post, if only because the picture screamed it. I should get used to this expression because I'm sure it will live on her face when she's a teenager.

So it's all just happening too, too fast. She does something new every. single. day. and it all shows how smart she is. I had a friend and her 9 month old daughter over yesterday, was talking about what signs Elianna did and didn't know and as I was saying them she was doing them. All of them. Even the ones I said she didn't do or know. Maybe it's not showing how smart she is but more that she's been paying attention. Remember last post (a week ago) when she had to crawl over to a wall to stand up? No longer, she stands up on her own. Still a bit tippy but getting more and more stable as the days...no, hours go by.

So this is supposed to be slightly food related as well so I'll talk about what we had for dinner. Now Mike and I are hardly vegetarian; we will eff up a steak in good fashion like nobody's business. One of our favorite restaurants in Vegas is Cut and although their pretzel bread *is* to die for we do actually go for the beef. That being said, we have been embracing our inner vegetarian and tonight's Ethiopian lentil stew was one of our forays. Red onions, red lentils, garlic, ginger all served over brown rice with cilantro and Greek yogurt....you're all jealous aren't you? It was really good though. The merlot we had with it was awfully decent as well.

Okay, who am I kidding, you all just want more Elianna, right? Now that she's a year old there's a whole shelf of books I get to pack away until the next (theoretical) one. What to expect the first year, Baby 411...all those are no longer applicable. We've got ourselves a toddler We are also having quite the Martinez family reunion coming up and we can't wait to see you all. Hasta next post!

Crawling is so last week...

Yup, Elianna has decided walking is where it's at. She still can't stand up on her own (which strikes me as curious) so she'll crawl over to something that she can use as a prop but then it's all walking, all the time. She's so proud of herself, too. She'll yell out, pump her little fists up and down and smile, smile smile.
She's definitely talking a lot more and some of her words are actually comprehensible...to us at least. A list: one (said in response to, "Elianna, how old are you?" and with one finger held up), teeth, water, hot....yeah, that's it. You can tell she's trying to say a lot more: quack, dog, eyes but it all sounds the same. She understands way more than I originally thought too. I'll say something and realize she's signing the word I just said, or recognize something in a book I've mentioned just a few times. Still no signing 'mama' or 'dada' but 'bath', 'eat' and 'dog' are on the most played list. It's so cool to know she's putting it all together in her little, but growing brain.

We all survived a trip with Mommy being away. I managed with the help of frequent texts with pictures and videos and Mike survived with some help from the nanny. Elianna managed because that's how she rolls. This baby is pretty dang chill; she takes what's in front of her and just deals. This is a quality which will serve you well in life, sweetpea, I'd keep it around.

What a difference a week makes.

It's true. It really seems like since her birthday, Elianna has started to come into her own as a person. She's been developing this personality (I should say showing us the personality, I think she always had it) over the last few months but now she's shown us she is a person with her own wants, needs and desires. Know how I know this? We've had our first tantrum. I'm pretty sure that on the scale of tantrums this was mild compared to what's to come but it was impressive. We were outside, not doing much (at least in my mind but she must have thought differently) and she was headed to the door anyway so I picked her up and brought her inside. At first she just cried so I realized I'd misinterpreted her inclination and brought her back outside. She immediately stopped the tears (and we're talking theoretical...there's still no water coming out of her eyes) and resumed playing. When it really was time to come in, I again, waited until she was headed indoors and finished the job. Oh. My. God. The rage was spectacular. She cried, screamed, banged her fists together (more!more!), started the hitching crying that to the untrained observer sounds like someone just kicked her puppy and she is completely and utterly bereft. About 15 minutes passed before she was relatively calm but even then she had this wounded look on her face as if someone just told her Santa Claus doesn't exist. Thank God we're raising her Jewish.

Her evolving personality isn't limited to tantrums, thankfully. She's discovered there's a whole world out there and she wants to know what EVERYTHING is. She's always pointing at something, asking what it is and she'll try and repeat it. Her words don't sound like words yet but there are subtle differences. Flower sounds a lot like Da, stars sounds like ders, dog sounds like dat....get the picture? You can tell that *she* thinks they sound different which is, I guess, the first step.
Speaking of steps...but that's for another post.

Happy Day Day, pretty girl!

Elianna's cousin coined this phrase for a birthday and it's too cute not to use. So, 372 days ago, little Miss came into our world with a bang and the cliche rings true; our lives have not been the same since. Of course, some of that has to do with a move 1200 miles up north (did yoo know it stays light until 1030 in the summer?) but most is due to her. Looking back, we really were in a fog until about 3 months ago which is just funny because I thought I was so on top of things when she was 4 months old, ha!

So her day was pretty uneventful. We were more into the day than she was. We put a pretty outfit on her, smothered her with kisses a lot and high fived each other that we made it. But the party? It was off da hook! Well, as much as a one year old's party can be with a bunch of middle aged chaperones.

Mike's mom, Marilyn aka Nammy, arrived on Wednesday and she was immediately put to work. With her help we bought dishes and silverware for the party, figuring it was really more of an adult's party that happened to have a couple kids there, shopped out the local grocery stores, decorated and cooked. Man did we cook. Here's the final menu:

Pulled pork sliders with curry mayo and green chile mayo and mustard as condiments
potato salad with smoky bleu cheese
red pepper/sour cream dip with vegies
guacamole with tortilla and pita chips
spanish tortilla, regular and with soyrizo
smoked salmon with rye bread, creme fraiche, capers and red onion
mac n cheese
chinese chicken salad
pigs in a blanket
cookies wrapped around Reese's peanut butter cups
CAKE!!!!! (which I totally forgot to get a picture of and it came out so good! )

It looked like an army was coming to store up before heading out on a week long patrol; there was so. much. food. We could probably eat the leftovers for 2 weeks if it wouldn't go bad. People seemed to like it though. We also had lemonade made from lemons from Marilyn's tree, sparkling and still water, beer and wine. I think 3 people drank wine, everyone else did the water/lemonade thing. I've never met so many people who don't drink wine as here in Spokane. Doesn't strike me as a particularly tee-totaling community but I guess it is. But I digress.

Elianna was a champion. She was a little shy but had no stranger meltdowns, even let a couple people hold her although she kept a close eye on Mike or me. She showed off a few of her steps (next post!) and waved a lot. When it was birthday song time she had this wary look on her face and then realized, ' this is for ME!' and a huge smile broke out. Our little diva.

Overall, a huge success I'd say and now we can start planning for next year. Kidding, kind of.

Almost here...

Her 1st birthday, that is. Craziness, I tell you!
Today was a rough day for some reason. Morning and early afternoon were all smiles and giggles. She woke up from her afternoon nap and she was a different baby. She didn't want to be put down, she'd cry and cry at the slightest frustration and it wasn't just crying. It was the hitching, sobbing, my heart is breaking and you don't care, crying. Poor baby! I ended up wearing her for awhile, just getting some things done (her dinner, packing up to go see Mike at work) and that seemed to help.

So, words she knows: cow, dog, flower, book, daddy, water, more. Words she'll sign to us: more, dog. Words she knows but acts like she doesn't: No, stop, mama.

Oh, swimming! Yesterday was just amazing. She hadn't passed her test the day before because she couldn't make the flip from being pushed off face down to a face up float. Everything else was easy breezy but the one she couldn't do is the most likely scenario for a pool/lake drowning so we're in it for one more week. But yesterday she did it! She was underwater, we could see her trying to flip one way and not get it...I was getting anxious because she'd been under a long time (3 seconds, heehee!) and all of a sudden she flipped the other way and got into her float!!!!! I was jumping up and down on the side of the pool screaming, 'Go Elianna!' Mike was laughing and clapping. It was so awesome to see her problem solve and get herself saved.

Of course, now I understand the whole soccer mom phenomenon but that's for another post.

Our daredevil girl

She really is. At any moment you can find her climbing on her chair, standing up and rocking for all she's worth. When that becomes boring she'll try and stand on the arm rails and up any piece of furniture within reach. One of her favorite games is launching herself backwards when we're holding. She just assumes we'll catch her and fortunately thus far she's been right; she doesn't usually give us any notice. One second I'm holding her and whoop! Launched backwards!

She's talking a ton but it all sounds like dada, hmph. There is a bit of variation, sometimes I think she's saying that (dat? dat?) as she points (she points!) to something. She knows many things: toes, hair, her cow, ball, her bear, etc. It's cool to see the wheels turning as you ask her to show you the (insert object here) and she looks around and motors towards it.

Speaking of motoring! She has started standing in long stretches and is taking steps. She has to be in the mood for it but when she is it's hard to stop her. She'll stand up, go up and down on her toes and start walking! The most I've seen is 5 steps but they're pretty solid. No video yet but when we get some I'll be sure and post it.

The swimming is going wonderfully. It is so hard to watch her when it takes a long time for her to finish a roll but she is floating like a rock star. Her instructor thinks she'll be finished next week; she'll work on it all week and Friday she'll do everything she's learned in full clothes and a diaper (which, alone, can add 7 pounds to her weight!). The organization Infant Swim Resource does some wonderful work. You never think it'll be you in that situation but stuff happens, people get distracted, abilities are underestimated (she'll never get out that door, she's too short to climb over that fence, etc.). I feel the slightest bit more secure knowing she has this training.

New names

Elianna has a new Indian name (yes it's politically incorrect, I know) and it's Elianna Many Steps. Today she took at least 4 and maybe 5 steps before losing it and falling down and conking her head on a chair rung. Many tears ensued but it wasn't long before she was trying again and made it the same 4 or 5 steps. It's so funny to see this baby that is the size of a 5 month old doing 11 month old things. She's not going to be 11 months much longer; her birthday is around the corner which is just crazy.

Dinner last night was at Sante and was quite lovely. This place makes all their own charcuterie including most of the cheeses. They also make their pasta and their gnocchi was the lightest I've ever had and was to die for. My family will know what a big deal this is: the dish was in a mushroom sauce and I still ate every single bite. Them are some good gnocchi! Dinner was a parpardelle pasta with a beef bolognese sauce and dessert was a to die for bread pudding. Note to self, need a good recipe for this! Mike brought one of our favorite Pinot Noir wines, Kosta Browne. It's so good I almost hate sharing it; one glass just isn't enough. Sante is one of about 4 restaurants we've tried since coming to Spokane. It's not a foodie town by any means but it blows doors on the options we had in Flagstaff. I'm looking forward to trying new places.

Our little conniver...

She's learned how to get our attention if she wants it. She can go up the stairs no problem but since she could get hurt if she were to misstep, we don't let her go up by herself and apparently she knows this. If I'm doing something other than playing with her and she wants me (or Mike) she goes up 3 or 4 stairs and stops and waits. When we start looking for her (because it's quiet and that's never good) we find her staring at us. She then giggles and takes off up the stairs like a bat out of hell, knowing we'll be right behind!

We have friends from Flagstaff in town who are thinking about moving to Bend, Oregon. It's nice to see people who know us and like us; we haven't made any friends here yet. I'm okay with it, I've got my internet friends, yo! and Mike doesn't seem to care but it would be nice to meet other people with kids around Elianna's age. I know she doesn't truly play 'with' them but she loves looking at them at the park; it'd be nice if she had a regular playmate.

There's alway so much to talk about with Elianna but it's more difficult to not make it a litany of her latest and greatest accomplishments. This is especially true because *every* mother goes through the same wonder and amazement about the things their child is learning; even though it's amazingly special to me, it's not that special. Every kid goes through the same basic things.

That being said, Elianna really is starting to just explode with new things. The biggest thing is how she's communicating. We've been signing to her since she was about 4 months old, just a few here and there: Mama, Daddy, milk, and once she started eating food: more. She started signing 'more' back to us a few weeks ago but she's not at all consistent with it. Yesterday she woke up much earlier than usual. I stumbled into her room, not sure what I was going to do, try and get her to go back to sleep (ha!) or feed her. She looked at me, smiled and very distinctly signed; 'milk'! `She somehow makes (some) of her wishes known without talking at all. She's taken to walking, holding onto our hands but if she doesn't want to do that and wants to be held instead she makes it very clear and won't give us her hands, pulls them away.

Mobility has increased too; she's standing alone a few seconds at a time and has mastered going down stairs as well as up. I could see her starting to walk tomorrow or it could be a few months. We'll see!

New home!

So, Elianna has a new home on the web. iWeb just wasn't doing it for us so we'll try this place out. Hopefully it'll be easier to post pics and videos so I'll be more inclined to keep you all in the loop that is Elianna.
Speaking of, she is almost one year and is on the move! She's cruising on everything, walking holding onto our hands and is in week 2 of swimming lessons. They're actually more like 'not drowning lessons' then swimming because she's just going to learn how to float in this sequence. Better than not floating though!
Here's a recent pic for all who need their fix. :)