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)