These Days

Personal project to take pictures of the kids every week. Week 31 : July 31 - August 6 Pictures taken at the High Museum. Week 32 : August 7 - 13 Neil first day of fourth grade. Week 33 : August 14 - 20 At the Dunwoody Butterfly Festival. Week 34 : August 21 - 27 Apple picking at BJ Reece Orchards. Week 35 : August 28 - September 3 At Callaway Gardens

We hit a big milestone last week. Ela started pre-school! We know she's ready since she does very well at Gymboree and kids church where we leave her for an hour or so. Pre-school would be longer at 4 hours and she will also eat by herself , but she did very well on her first day. Richard is excited to have some solo time, after 2+ years of being tied to Ela.=) On her second day, she gave her teacher a hug as soon as she entered the classroom. I saw it two other times. It's awesome to see that she's comfortable with them and adjusting to classroom setting quite easily. We're excited to see Ela blossom in pre-school. =)

Ela is now 16 months! Her stats from last month's well visit are:      Height: 2'6" (25th percentile)      Weight: 18 lbs 15 oz (20th percentile) She has 8 teeth (4 at the top, and 4 at the bottom). Thanks, Sally for the picture. Mobility . She is walking and almost running. It used to be just one directional but she has learned to pivot and change directions halfway. She can also stand from the floor, no more holding on to things to in order to get up. She wasn't walking at 1 y.o. which worried me for a bit but now I see how unfounded it was. Now I miss her wobbly walk when she was just getting started. She can also turn! I saw her do it for the first time when the Gilmore Girls intro song was playing. Exploring . She likes to open drawers and cabinets AND drop the contents to the floor. She likes to make a mess of her toys and books but when in the mood, she also packs them away. Talking . She can say more words now and copy new ones more ea...

There was a photographer at Ela's dedication who took pictures of the families before the ceremony. We got the printouts in the mail today! First pictures of our family taken professionally.=)

Two Sundays ago, we participated in the parent commissioning service at church.  This is similar to a child dedication service but the focus is more on the parents who make a promise to bring up the child in a Christ-centered home, and then the whole congregation pray for the families. It was a special moment making this commitment for Ela. We invited friends to church to witness and we all headed to a buffet restaurant to celebrate afterwards.

Last week was Ela's 1st year well visit. Her current stats are: Height: 2' 5" (60th percentile) Weight: 18 lbs 5 oz (25th percentile) Head circumference: 18" (75th percentile) For the first time, she was weighed sitting and not lying down. She was tested for anemia and received 3 shots. She's doing well physically. Some other interesting facts about Ela at 1 year old: She has 3 teeth now and she enjoys brushing. She likes to grab my hair and put it in her mouth. :S We have packed away all her bottles because she has transitioned to the cup. She still breastfeeds but I've stopped expressing milk at work because she's drinking less milk during the day. She has learned spit out food. She's not averse to anything really, it's more of when she's full or wants more variety. She's not walking yet but can climb up and down the sofa with ease. She's very alert and social. She cries if she does not see anyone around. We c...

Last week, Ela turned 1 year old. We made it through a year of interrupted sleep, diaper changes, baby feeding and limited mobility. BUT it's really not about those. When I look back on the year, I remember more family time, giggles, scrunchy funny faces and just more joy every single day. Babies are naturally gifted to make us appreciate the important things in life. On her actual birthday, it was just the four of us at home. In the afternoon, the family picked me up at work  and we went to Party City to grab some balloons and decorations. Then Neil went to karate with Rich and they came home with a small cake for smash cake! Ela enjoyed smashing the cake more than eating it. So it was a very simple celebration as far as first birthdays go but we had a birthday lunch with Filipino friends the following Saturday. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for this litte girl's life. She is a bundle of positive energy and has done a great job of rolling with the the...

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...

Ela is 10 months old! She has been a blast this month. She's more interactive and able to express her wants and needs. And the consonants sounds are coming (d, b, l all together). She has figured out how to walk backwards on her walker. So now she's able to adjust her position and keep going if she gets stuck. She does "close/open" with her hands at will.  She waves if we say hi. She did enthusiastically with both hands when we Skyped with family. She likes to hold other people's hands and control them for clapping motion. And she started clapping by herself, too. We let her crawl around the house. We joke that she's a free-range baby. =) She likes going to Neil's book stack and making a mess. We've been giving her table food more and more. She doesn't like some food and makes a face if we give it to her. She's also very interested in what we are eating and shouts/grunts if she wants a taste. She likes playing with Neil. And at this...

Ela turned 9 months old on Monday! I missed posting about her 8th month so this is a 2-in-1. Her doctor's visit was today and current stats are: Height: 2' 2" (25th percentile) Weight: 16 lbs 13 oz (25th percentile) Head Circumference: 50% percentile No shots today, just general developmental assessment. She's doing ok on most milestones except for the talking part. She's not yet saying consonant sounds but we hope it will be soon. Neil talked/read really early and we have to remember that babies develop at their own pace. She was drooling a lot around 8 months and we thought she was teething but so far, no teeth yet. She likes most food we give her. The only thing she was averse to was turkey. She is fascinated by the tags on clothes, pillows, etc. She plays with them and inevitably puts them in her mouth. We got her a walker and she has enjoyed cruising around the living room by herself. She can walk while holding on to the railing on her crib or the...