9 Months!

Yup, 9 months and everyday comes with a new discovery!

Elianna is.....

*Pulling to stand

*Crawling.....with some scooting.

*Eating most things, especially what's on mom's plate.

*Using constant-vowel sounds/babbling (i.e., da-da-da)

*Holding her bottle, when she wants.

*Cruising furniture

*Forgets she cannot walk and has had a few bumps along the way to remember.

*Has a sense of humor

*Will sign, MORE, ALL DONE, MILK, and BRAVO!

*....and is testing the boundaries of the word "no."

Harness, Leg Warmers and then some....

So it has been quite a month. Last month we went for a follow up visit at CHLA for Eli's hip and we were given the option to put her back in the harness, only for nighttime sleeping {12 hours a day}. There is no dislocation of any sort and her left hip looks (x-rays) perfect; it's her right hip that looks a bit off.....ugh!! More specifically, it does not look like it is forming deep enough. As Dr. Skaggs explained, it could have been there since birth or it's nothing. The cartilage is still forming around the hip area and x-rays do not pick it up cartilage. He did not seem too concerned, but he thought it would be best to be cautious and have Eli use the harness at night.

The good news is that we are still in time to make things right, if there is a need to make it right. Also, it makes me feel a bit better that we were given the option of putting back in the harness, it was not anything crucial, like when she was a newborn. She has to wear it for 2 months and we are already one month into it. The first couple of nights with it were sleepless.... The first night after midnight, she woke up every hour, the next night every 2 to 3 hours. What was really frustrating for her was that she wanted to turn around and experiment with her newly found gross motor skills, but the kicker was that she also began teething that same week...

The teeth have not broken yet, but Miss Eli has learned to turn over in her harness, sit up, stand, walk (with her hands held), and crawl. She still wakes up at night about twice, but that may be due to eczema. We just found out yesterday that she has a case of that....poor thing.

Here are some pics with her harness.

Leg Warmers:

As previously mentioned Eli is quite mobil now a days and enjoying her new found freedom. So since she wants to move about the leg warmers go on those chubby legs.

Sunday Afternoon at Park

This weekend was pretty non-eventful, which was a nice change. We had a few errands to run here and there but no "events" to attend. Mark got to put up our new chandelier in the dining room....and he is very proud.

Sunday afternoon we decided to go to the park. Mom and dad got to rest and Elianna got to play. I even got to read my book....huge treat! Here are some pics:

Eli is ready for her snack with daddy.

Elianna's first swing ride....yipeeee!

Cheese!

The Sewing Club

This past Saturday was our first Sewing Club "meeting." The club consists of Lorena Villegas (and daughter Lala), Eunice Castendada and myself. Eli and Mark are honorary members. Mark is in charge of Eli at that time, but she seems to enjoy being part of the group.

We will be meeting at my house on the first Saturday of the month and each one of us will rotate on bring a dessert. I am working on a blanket for Elianna. It's my first major project. Here are a couple of pictures of the event.

Lorena and Lala

Here I am starting on the blanket project.

A pair of shoes and earrings

So our little one is in full swing....climbing, standing up, taking steps and "rocking" on all fours. Since she wants to be doing everything, but sitting, it was time to buy her some shoes. A few months ago I bought her some shoes (see below), because were they on clearance at Nordstroms and I bought a size 4. A pair for the near future.

The pair (size 2) that were recently bought are the following:

These are Eli's "training" shoes. Somehow she always finds away to take them off, but I usually find the missing shoe.

Earrings:

I just had to blog about this. Mark and I have chosen not to pierce Eli's ears. We have decided to wait until she wants them. I personally cannot give her that pain to have her look cute. I know it's just a few seconds or maybe minutes of pain. I understand that she will not remember anything and most likely, it will be painful when she is older. I still can't do it; even if someone else takes her. When the time comes, I will explain what it entails. if she still wants them, I will then take her to get them. It is VERY surprising to me when people are shocked that Eli does not have her ears pierced. Sometimes it is seen as an automatic to have a baby girl's ears pierce. Don't get me wrong, if others want to pierce their daughter's ears more power to you....it's just not a "biggie" to me.

San Diego

Last week, the three of us headed out to San Diego for a mini vacation. We stayed with our friends the Fosters and planned to visit the the Wild Park and the Zoo (annual passes). We were there from Friday to Sunday and the weather was great!

We headed out to the Wild Park on Friday.

Eli got to hang out with some birds and really enjoyed it. I on the other hand did not fare so well. Each time a bird flew by I would scream. Not the best example for Eli.

Who knew the map would have been one of the highlights in Eli's day.

On Saturday, we headed out to the Zoo/Balboa park. The zoo was pretty popular that day, so we did not stay too long, but we got our fill.

Before entering the zoo, we went on a train ride in Balboa Park.

We took in a show of acrobats. As you can see it was a big hit with us.

We had Eli's caricature done.

Took time to take some pictures.

Our friends the Fosters, Todd and Aceneth with their three adorable girls. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and watching UFC on Saturday night ;)

The Fosters treated us to some BBQ after church on Sunday. Phil's BBQ has the best BBQ in San Diego. Actually, it's the best I've ever tasted. Thank you again Todd and Aceneth!

Disneyland Part 1 & 2

Mark got free passes to Disneyland. A VERY generous co-worker had purchased 4-day passes to Disney, but her and her family decided two days were enough, so they handed them over to Mark....YAY! On July 30th, Mark and I went by ourselves. Arrangements were made for Eli to stay with the grandparents that afternoon/night. Mark and I headed out to Disney at about 2PM and were there until they closed. It was a Mommy and Daddy Disney-day (Part 1). It actually was my mom's idea for us to head out in the afternoon and to stay until they closed and she also offered to keep Elianna until we got back...thanks mom! It was really a good day for it. Our longest wait was 45 minutes for Space Mountain, all the other rides were a 5-20 minute wait. Also, we got to see the firework show and Fantastic.

Part 2: On July 31st, the next day, it was Eli's day. I really thought we would be leaving around 2-3PM; I really didn't think she would take much more of it. I was sooo surprised that we stayed until about 7PM, we got there about 11:30AM. She was people watching, she enjoyed the train and carousel ride. I believe we went on 3 rides with her, did a bit of tours and window shopping. She even had her first taste of ice cream! Here are some pictures of the day.

In the parking lot at Disney; in the Mickey level.

The carousel ride. Eli really enjoyed it....I was hanging in there.

The Baby Center is the best! You are able to sit and relax, pump, breast-feed, use a microwave, feed and change your baby. It is a very peaceful and calm setting.

At California Adventure, towards the end of the day. We were both a bit tired.

As a thank you to Mark's co-worker I baked her some blueberry muffins. Thanks again Elba!