These Days

Ela is 11 months old! We have started planning for her first birthday celebration next month. I'm starting to feel mild panic that this baby stage is getting away from us too fast. She will be a toddler soon. We can't stop time so the best we can do is focus on enjoying each stage, take lots of pictures/videos and try to remember as much as we can about this period. At 11 months: Ela is an expert at crawling and gets into all the nooks and crannies of the house. We have baby-proofed the house as best we can to make it safe for her to explore. She can balance unassisted for 2 seconds before falling. I think walking unassisted is in the very near future. Her vocabulary is still limited but engagement is high. She can say and answer back if you say 'baba' or 'dada'. We're still working on 'mama'. :) She still has two teeth and is a drool monster. She drinks from a cup independently. We got her this Munchkin spill-proof cup and she has adjusted t...

*2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week. Today is special because it's Easter Sunday and Daddy's birthday! We took family pictures outside the apartment after lunch.

Last Saturday, Neil and I participated in a 1 mile fun run (there's a 5k, too), a fundraising activity at his school. Richard ran with Neil last year so it's my turn this time. We finished in 13 minutes, with water, walk and conversation breaks in between. He showed me the 2nd grade playground. Flowering trees!

*2016 project to take and post photos of the kids every week. He needs a haircut!

The blossoming trees have been beautiful the past couple of weeks, signaling the coming of spring. We've seen warm, beautiful days but the last few ones have been close to freezing again. Looking forward to real spring weather and doing more outdoor activities with the family. Photos below are from a visit to the Brook Run Park two Saturdays ago.

*2016 project to take and post photos of the kids every week.

We are back to being just the four of us at home. After more than a year with us, my mother-in-law is back in California. She will be helping out Rich's sister who had a baby three months ago. So we enter into a new season and have to change our routines. The biggest adjustment is not having anyone to stay with the kids if Richard has to do a quick errand outside the house, including the drive to and from work. The kids have to be with at least one of us all the time again. It's great that the weather is now warmer, one less thing to worry about when taking the kids outside. One week in and I think we did pretty well. We are thankful to Mama for spending time with us and helping in so many ways.

More pictures from the Abernathy Greenway Park last Sunday, March 6.

Neil had his karate testing last month. He was selected to do one of the drills solo and was asked several questions afterwards. It was precious. You can see the exchange in the video below. It's my favorite karate moment so far.=)

*2016 project to take and post pictures of the kids every week. These pictures were taken at the park yesterday. And a couple more at home.

We spent Sunday afternoon at the zoo. It was warm that day and also the last weekend of Rich's mom in Atlanta before she goes back to California, so we ventured out. So many others had the same idea. The zoo parking lot was full so we had to drive around for a few minutes before finding a spot on one of the side streets. We decided to get an annual membership so there wasn't a real rush to see everything this time. We watched two shows, checked out the pandas, and let Neil enjoy the playground. Before we get to the pictures, here's a before an after at Zoo Atlanta. The old picture was from our first visit in  2010 . This gopher turtle has been in this zoo since 1979.  This macaw is 24 years old. They can live up to 80! Two teeth!