Lyra Comes To Visit

Lena's friend Lyra and her mother Sinead came to visit us last week. Mama and Sinead met at pre-natal yoga when both were newly pregnant with the girls, and even shared the same room at the hospital (albeit two weeks apart) when the girls were born last year. The Howlands moved to Toronto after Lyra was born and the girls hadn't seen each other since they were two months old. It was super cute to see the two madams together again, talking, laughing and playing. The pictures say it all.

11 months

Lena has mastered a lot of language skills on her way to turning eleven months. She is now most definitely signing for more and all done, and she is quite precise with her hand movements, so it is very clear to mama and dada when she wants more cheerios (always wants more of these), or when she's all done with her peas (she's mostly all done before she even starts!).

It's wonderful to be able to communicate with Lenabel, and we're so happy to have continued teaching her to sign. There were a few months when we thought, this is stupid, she's not getting it. But she totally gets it now, and it is a blessing for her to be able to express herself and for us to understand her likes and dislikes.

We're still putting Lena on the potty, and she continues to use it regularly, mostly before bedtime bath. She does not sign potty yet, but we're working on that. She seems to enjoy practicing potty most of the time, though there have been times when she just is not in the mood. If she's not up for it, we just take her off, and try again the next day.

Lena has also started saying a few words: mama and ball. We can hold a ball in front of her and say "ball" and she will repeat "baaa baaa". We can also ask her where is the ball and she will either point to the ball or bring the ball to us. Of course her favorite word is mama, which she says quite often.

Yesterday Lena went on her first bike ride, with Uncle Bruno and cousin Ayla. We bought a Burley at a garage sale last week, and Ayla and Bruno came over this morning to watch Lena for us while we ran some errands. The girls had a great time riding in the Burley, despite a few spats over who got to hold the snack cup.

Here are a few pictures and a video of Lenabel lately:

Lena goes to the Zoo

Lena's favorite past time, looking out the windows onto the garden. She sees rabbits, robins, squirrels, and doggies.

Fridays with Cousin Ayla and Uncle Bruno. Grilled cheese for lunch.

Lena Says Ball

More 9 Month Developments - Part II

Lena has accomplished so much in her 9th month, it has been hard to keep track of everything. In addition to crawling, signing, and possibly saying the word "mama", Lena sprouted her two top front teeth (joining the bottom two she got in January), and made it through her first Passover seder (Thank you to the Peskys for hosting such a lovely seder!).

Now starting her tenth month, Lena is really looking and acting like a toddler. There are few traces of her babyhood left, which makes mama sad, but also excited for the new and exciting steps ahead (walking and talking!). We should probably start planning her first birthday party, but that would mean accepting the fact that our baby is turning one, and we just can't believe how fast time has gone by. We want her to stay a baby forever, and at the same time, can't wait to see everything that she becomes.

Photos of passover, we were hoping for more photos to share but these were the few that were taken and came out nice. Thanks Marion for taking the shots!

More Nine Month Developments

Too many milestones this week to fit all in one post. It seems that 9 months is the magic number for our little girl. In addition to crawling, it seems Lena has also developed some language skills!

We believe (though we're not entirely sure) that Lena signed for "more" a couple of days ago, and yesterday said the word "mama". Her "more" sign looked more like she was flailing her arms up and down and together, but she would do this motion while we were feeding her, when she was done with a bite and wanted us to offer her more. Sometimes her hands would even touch... see how to sign for more here.

Yesterday she was babbling with Daddy and when Mama came into the room she immediately started saying mmm, mmmm, mama, mama. It could have just been a coincidence, as she has started saying more consonants like nnn, and ggg, and kkk, and mmm, but Daniel is pretty convinced she was saying "mama". So sweet.

And We've Got a Crawler!

Lena learned to crawl this week! A month ago Lena started getting ready for this huge milestone by learning to get from the sitting position onto all fours and rocking back and forth. We knew then that we'd have a crawler in the not too distant future. The rocking turned into what is called army crawling (basically crawling with her forearms and dragging the rest of her body behind her), and then all of the sudden this week she realized how to move her arms and legs together to crawl. What a difference a month makes!

We now have a mobile baby in the house and mama's job has become a whole lot harder. Keeping track of a crawling baby is definitely a full time deal, and has been a bit exhausting over the past week. And Lena is only going to get faster and faster at this whole crawling thing. In fact, who knows, maybe she'll be walking by next month. She does seem to enjoy standing and wants to practice walking all the time. Hard to believe that her cousin Levi was walking already at 8 months!

Lena continues to grow so fast it seems hard to believe that she is only 9 months old and has gone from being a helpless little mouse to a baby who crawls, sleeps on her own, eats spinach saag, pizza, and eggs, and occasionally uses the potty.

Spring Break 2011 - Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We spent last week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Baba, her friend Victor, Uncle Bruno, Aunt Alicia, and Cousin Ayla. The trip was everything we had hoped it would be; perfectly warm weather, lots of sun, great food, and lovely company. Ayla and Lena spent a great deal of time playing in the pool and on the beach, while Moms and Dads sipped on Margaritas and Baba and Victor walked along the sea shore.

Our resort hotel in Nuevo Vallarta was the perfect place to stay as a family. The Bornszteins and Spirns shared a double suite, which included two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and dining room. Baba and Victor were just down the hallway and visited often. We were able to buy food at the local Wallmart and cooked some relatively authentic Mexican food which saved a lot of money. Everything we could possibly need or want was available at the resort, so there was no need to leave the premises, although we did rent cars and left several times for day trips up and down the coast. Mostly though we hung out at the pool or on the beach, took beautiful long walks around the exquisite resort grounds, and just relaxed as much as possible.

The highlight of our vacation was a quick day trip to San Pancho, a sea side town on the Riviera Nayarit, located just a half hour away from our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to discover one of the best restaurants on the entire Riviera, a place called Bistro Organico, where we lunched on fresh fish and shrimp fajitas, scallop ceviche, spicy guacamole, wonderful tasting black beans, and delicious fruit smoothies. There was even a small pool on the restaurant patio where Lena and Ayla were able to take a quick and refreshing dip. Bistro Organico is located below a boutique hotel called Hotel Cielo Rojo, and Dan and I can't wait to go back and stay there. It would be the perfect romantic getaway.

Lena was a great traveler as always, and even learned quickly to nap on the go. She spent several naps in her car seat, and another handful poolside. She also learned to eat a variety of new foods, including and loving guacamole, black beans, bread, and pasta.

Nobody wanted to return home after such a perfect vacation, but our trip came to a close on Monday and we're now back in Minneapolis, where it is currently snowing, and 27 degrees farenheit, a rude awakening and welcome back to real life.

Thank you Baba Delia for making this trip possible. We wouldn't have been able to go without your help. And thank you Bruno and Alicia and Ayla for being such great housemates. We had so much fun spending the week with all of you.

8 Months!

A week ago, exactly on her 8 month birthday, Lena made a huge development! She got herself from the sitting position to the crawling position! She has finally learned how to get herself on all fours. This is very exciting. This also means we may have a crawler in the house soon and it is time to baby proof. Not sure how we're actually going to be able to do the proofing, as our house is laid out in a way that will make this difficult, especially the open staircase. We'll have to get creative! Here's a video of Lena showing off her new skill!