Email: 8 month update

September 21, 2007

Happy September!

This month has been strange so far for me because it is the first year in the past 21, that my life didn't revolve around the start of school.  Everyone went back to school and I got to stay home. I have to say that I loved my major, my job, my coworkers, and each class of kindergarteners that I had, but I don't feel like I am missing out on anything.  I am so grateful to be able to spend this time with Elena. 

She and I went to Virginia earlier this month, and we were able to spend time with my family and also with friends that I had grown up with at home.  It is so cool to see how we are all growing up. 

For those of you out west:  We have our tickets to Utah for this Christmas.  We are going to be flying there on the 23rd and returning on Jan 6th.  We are psyched to be able to go for two weeks.  We are nervous about flying with Elena and keeping her entertained, but at least we were able to get non-stop flights both ways. 

Elena now has 6 teeth.  Four on top, two on bottom.  I just saw the sixth one today for the first time.  She had been more fussy than usual the past couple of days and I am glad that it was not without reason.  She is still army crawling her little heart out.  Maybe someday she will feel the need to lift her belly off the ground, but not yet.  She has learned some new sounds though.  She gargles, she makes a "kuh" and a "buh" sound.  She has started to wave, but only if we help her out and get her started.  She now eats Saltine crackers (the sound of her biting off pieces is adorable) and she had her first table food today.  I let her eat some of the carrots that were part of a roast (cut up very small); she loved them.  She also loves to "read" and will occupy herself with a book for several minutes.  What a smartie!  She'll just sit and turn the pages over and over.
Elena's new hobby is going on runs with me.  Dan bought me a jogging stroller as an early Christmas present. :)

An update on our anniversary:  Dan and I bought a beautiful Trident Maple that will turn orange/red in the fall and we planted it in the front yard about 2 weeks ago.  It's about 10 feet tall.  I've already pulled out a blanket and enjoyed the small spot of shade on our very sunny yard.  It was a big purchase for us.

**I signed up for a family website/blog.  I'm going to be sending out invitations to you all.  I don't want it to be a public blog, so you'll have to wait for your invite and then sign in to see it.  There's already a great family picture on there of all three of us.  I'm sure that I won't be updating it more than once a week at the most, so feel free to check it out sporadically.  I am very excited about it because I want all of you that live far away to be able to watch videos of the little one (if you want). I may even put some videos on the site from when she was smaller.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous weekend!!!