Good News!

Laney says "YAAAAAYYYYY!"

We had a doctor's appointment today to recheck her ears after her 9 month appointment (she had fluid on them then, but they weren't infected yet). The good news is... NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS!! The doctor said her ears both looked perfect, so that is such an answered prayer!

Just a quick update, because we are so excited!!! And, just FYI, she weighs 18 lbs, 7 oz, although that was with all of her clothes on!

Video Fun

Well, this is just going to be a fun post full of videos! I've been trying to upload these for several days, but Blogger apparently no longer likes our computer, so I'm using my work computer instead. But here we go...

Fun with Grandpa Looten- from this last weekend when they visited. The look on her face is so funny, and, well, this video really needs no introduction... enjoy! :)

Now, for a trip down memory lane, this is Elena when she was about 3 months old, and just beginning to verbalize. So, here was talking at 3 months...

And talking at 10 months... quite a big difference! :) Sometimes cuter, sometimes more annoying!

Amazing to see the difference over the last six months! I remember how excited we were when she started talking around 3 or 4 months... and now she talks so much, and is starting to make sounds that are words and actually make sense. The other day we were walking around Hobby Lobby, and she started saying "Uh oh, uh oh" over and over again. We kind of ignored her, and then, a couple minutes later someone came up to us and handed us the toy she had dropped! Hard to believe that she's starting to actually make sense!! Of course, she also just says it randomly, so it's not a perfect science! :)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the videos!! Pretty fun to watch our little girl grow up! Just when you think she's huge, a couple of months pass, you look back and she seems tiny! They change so fast...

Weeks 44 & 45

As usual, life has been crazy around the Looten house! Although, if it's always crazy, does it count as crazy anymore, or is it just normal? Either way, we're BUSY! :) And Miss Laney is busy right along with us!

Two weekends ago, on July 11th, we got to do another youth event, and one of our favorites- Camp Nowhere. This is a really fun event, where we spend the weekend pretending we're at church camp- we have food, swimming, recreation, chapel- everything that makes a good church camp, only we do it in a weekend. This year we went to the house of a family at church; they have a nice lake, and a great place to play capture the flag, have a bonfire... everything we needed. We had a great time, although Laney and I didn't spend the night (not quite ready for sleeping in a tent yet).

While hanging out in the barn during Camp Nowhere, the family whose house we were at let Laney borrow their walker. She loved it, although she didn't really get the hang of it in the short time we were there! At least it kept her contained, which is getting harder and harder these days.

Hanging out with James... who decided to put stickers on her forehead while we were decorating school boxes for our service project.

Enjoying the sun with Ruth and Jordyn, next to the lake!

This past weekend, Josh and I took off a couple of days and headed to Springfield for a long weekend. We went to SDC on Thursday, and just hung out and relaxed Friday. Saturday, we went to visit Great-Grandma De & Great-Grandpa Don for dinner. We had a great time, and it was lots of fun to see cousin Leila, who is almost 4 months old now! One of the fun things we did was on Friday, we went to lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Looten to a Japanese restaurant that cooks the food right in front of you and the guy does all of the flipping of spatulas and banging and such. It was a neat show, and the food was great. Laney was FASCINATED by the chef!

At Silver Dollar City... Elena spent several hours passed totally out in her stroller... with her horsey close by, of course.

Just a few more inches until she can ride The Lost River!! :)

Blackberry topping on a funnel cake is YUMMY!

Back at Grandma & Grandpa's house, hanging out with Leila!

Grandma let Elena ride on the rocking horse that she got from Silver Dollar City when Uncle Tim was a baby. Still works great, and Elena LOVED it!

Elena was pretty fascinated by Leila... and Grandma was loving having them both together!
And so was Grandpa!
Hanging out with Great-Grandpa Don...
and Great-Grandma De... with the dog, OF COURSE.

While we were visiting Grandma & Grandpa Looten, Elena got to try out the high chair they have. Unfortunately, she decided she didn't want to sit in the high chair while we were eating, and she didn't want anything to do with the pieces of fruit or veggies that we tried to give her. Instead she fussed and cried until we took her out. Well, that told Mommy and Daddy one thing: time to break out the high chair at home!! And the doctor told me to start giving her some little pieces of table food, so we started really trying those, too. On Sunday it looked like this...

That's oatmeal and cantelope strewn about, but NOT eaten!

But, by Tuesday, it looked like that... (and, yes, that's a happy face).

So, Laney LOVES peas (much to her father's dismay, because he HATES them)! I think she mostly likes them because they're easy to pick up and eat. We gave her some green beans, too, and she hoovered those. She's not big on the fruit yet, but I think that's more of a texture thing- fruit tends to be juicier, and harder to get off of the tray. She looks like such a big girl, though, sitting in her high chair and eating regular food! It's hard to believe she's growing up so fast!

In other fun news, this week has been the week of the Boone County Fair, which means that Aunt Ruthie had to show her sheep. So, of course, we went out to watch! And visit the sheep...

Laney even got in the pen to pet them, though the sheep were not very cooperative- they kept moving away from her.

The goats in the next pen, however, were very curious about her, and she got to pet them. They even licked her hand! (After which Mommy whipped out the Purel!)
After the show, Laney even got to RIDE on Daisy, Aunt Ruthie's sheep!

Well, as you can see, it's been an exciting couple of weeks for Miss Lena. In all reality, though, the excitement has been much less about what we've been doing, and much more about how fast Elena is growing and changing. She is already starting to stand on her own for a little while at a time, although she usually tries to stand on her tiptoes and then loses her balance. She is a crawling maniac, says "Uh Oh," which is adorable, and LOVES to shred things (kleenex, paper towels, paper, you name it- not quite as adorable).

She has two teeth now, both of her front bottom ones, but I don't see any sign of the top ones coming in, which is a-ok with me. She's gotten pretty good at not biting me when she's nursing (after several head whacks and screaming sessions), which is a major blessing! And teething hasn't really been that rough on her. She's been a little fussy, and had some trouble sleeping at night (although some ibuprofen usually takes care of that), but overall she's been just a great baby even through teething. We go back next week to have an ear recheck, since there was fluid but no infection at her 9 month appointment.

Anyway, as I get closer to her first birthday (I know, I know, it's still a month and a half away, but it feels really close) I get more and more nostalgic about how quickly she changes. At the sheep show this week I was thinking about last year's show- when I was still pregnant. I remember it was on a Tuesday, and I had gotten an ultrasound that day, because I got one every Tuesday. They had pointed out all of the hair she had again (yeah, what happened to that?!), and I remember showing off all of the black and white pictures. Now it's an actual baby!! Hard to believe that she used to be inside me... now she is so much her own person, with her own (very strong) personality (God help us). We've been working on hitting, because she likes to flail her arms and whack us in the face. She sure doesn't like being told no... but I think she better get used to it!

Parenting really fills me with a whole new kind of joy and fulfillment. I was elated on Tuesday, when she started eating those peas and not fussing in her high chair. I was so excited I called Josh at work, and then my mom, and said "I WON!" I never thought I'd be so thrilled to see someone eat a dozen peas! Being a parent is definitely a perspective & life altering experience!!

Well, that's probably enough rambling... I know you guys just want the pictures anyway! :) Hopefully that was enough for you (though it wasn't the 32 like the last post). And look for another update next week... if the weather's good, we're going to break out Laney's pool on Saturday!!! :)

Week 43

Well, week 43 was certainly a busy week for us! Aunt Jess & Aunt Kate came into town from Colorado, so we spent the week running around with them! And, as always, a visit from Aunt Jess comes complete with a week of "lightning storms." But I certainly appreciate all of the good pictures of Miss Elena! Way better than I could take... however, after this week there were over 900 pictures, and I had to choose just a "few" (I use that term loosely) to put on a post... so here are the best 32 pictures of our adventures!! :)



Our first adventure was another trip to a Cardinals game... you'd think we would have learned from the first game, that this was NOT a good idea! :) But away we went... We decided to make an afternoon of it by going to "The Hill" in St. Louis to check out the shops and have a good Italian dinner. Which it definitely was that! Unfortunately, by the time we were leaving The Hill and headed to the Metro lot, there were some pretty ugly clouds rolling in. And, by the time we got to the Stadium, it was MONSOONING! Poor Laney fell asleep on the Metro, and I hadn't brought a poncho for her (I couldn't find any kid-sized ponchos) so I took a walmart bag, looped it over her feet, and hooked it to the sides of the stroller. I figured the cover on the stroller would keep the top half covered. And it worked really well... until we had to pick up the front of the stroller and carry her up the stairs, laid out with the rain falling right on her face! Poor thing... she woke up then, as you can imagine!! She looked at me like "What just happened?!" Well, you can see the look for yourself...



It did eventually dry out, and the rest of the game was enjoyable (even if we lost by a lot). We meant to get Elena a Cards hat and forgot, so she had to borrow Daddy's...
This was the FUNNIEST thing! I was feeding her, and every time I gave her a bite she would raise her hand up in the air. No reason, just straight up in the air. Sometimes she would wave her fingers, too! Babies do the funniest things...

All in all, the Cards game was fun, even if we didn't win. The next day was the 4th of July, and we mostly hung out at home, until it was time for the church party. Then we got all dolled up (well, Elena did) and headed out! It was pretty cool because Jess & Kate were there, but so were Great Grnadma & Grandpa Price. So we got to hang out with the whole family... including Grandpa Price! :)
Isn't the dress adorable? Thank you WalMart... and check out the striped headband... from Christmas! :)

Hanging out with Aunt Ruthie! :)
Elena didn't seem to mind the fireworks... as long as she had her binky in her mouth. This is what happened when we tried to take it away from her! But she didn't seem scared of the noise or the light- she just blinked real big when they went off. As long as she had the binky! :)

Saturday, the girls decided to go on a little road trip to the outlet mall in Warrenton- mostly so we could go to the Carter's outlet! To gather our strength, we started out at Rondezvous for B&G and lattes. Check out the cute shorts Miss Elena was wearing!

Shopping, shopping, shopping! It was very bright out there!
After shopping, we had everyone over to our house for bbq chicken and Wii! Here's Elena hanging out with Grandpa... and the new little horse toy Aunt Jess got her at Carters. Jess picked it up to show her, and she just grabbed it and wouldn't let it go!
One tired baby on Sunday afternoon... having company is hard work!
Stylin' and profilin' in her new overalls from Aunt Ruthie!

Monday was our biggest (and last) real adventure-- we went to Rolla to visit Ella and April!! Ella is about 6 months older than Elena, so it's always fun to visit them, talk with April about being a mom, and look at Ella and see where Elena will be in six months! They were pretty cute together!

One of our goals for the week was to get a picture of the tooth! One of our techniques was to hold her spoon above her mouth so she would hold her mouth open. She got tired of that pretty quick...
This is what we call the "old man smile" It's something new she's been doing, and it's hilarious!
Elena does not like grass... she always pulls up one foot, sometimes she tries to balance on her diaper so neither leg touches... but that doesn't usually work well for her!
She has started "giving kisses," although it's more like gnawing... but it's still awful cute...

Ella and Elena playing the piano... Elena LOVED this Fisher-Price piano. She loves all kinds of music, though, so this toy was right up her alley! Definitely a birthday idea! :) Ella was so funny, though, because April said she hadn't played with these toys in forever, and all of a sudden she was totally into them again. For the most part they played together really well, though.
Lovin' on her dog... this dog was the bane of our existence on this trip, but she LOVES it. We brought it with us, and just tossed it in the trunk when we left my house. Yeah, definitely could hear it going off all the way down I-70. So we had to pull over when we got to Hwy 63, get it out of the trunk, and put it in its own seat!!

We even got a bow to stay in her hair! I mean, it has to be stuck right there on the top where the head is thickest, but it stayed!! :)
Elena got to meet April's dog, Cooper... and loved him!

Another little Fisher-Price toy they played with... Elena looked so big standing up and playing with them!
All that playing was hard work... so she took a little nap on Aunt Jessica!

Elena is getting so big! She's getting really good at drinking out of her sippy cup! Tuesday night was Jess & Kate's last night in town, so we went out to Grandma & Grandpa Price's house to hang out. Of course, Uncle Charlie wanted to play with Elena!
And, since she is a country girl, Miss Elena had to do a photo shoot on the John Deere tractor!

Another new trick... high-five!
Sitting in her "big girl" rocking chair.
She was definitely interested in the puppies! And they were interested in her! Even Joy, who is usually pretty wary of Elena.
Riding in her new wagon... with the ever-present puppy dog!

The whole week was a great time! We loved spending all of this time with Aunt Jess & Aunt Kate, just hanging out! Can't wait to see you guys again!

Weeks 40, 41 & 42

I know I have been a horrible blogger: I haven't updated in 3 weeks, besides the Father's Day post! But it's been a busy few weeks, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to blog with Elena around- she's into EVERYTHING, and especially loves the computer. Since I'm with her the majority of the time I'm not at work, it's hard to find time to update. But, I will try really hard to keep updating every week... this time it's just been a couple of weeks! :)

Well, the biggest change in the last few weeks has been Elena's activeness... she is changing everyday, and she is EVERYWHERE now. She has gotten very good at crawling, and covers ground pretty quickly. We had to clear off our coffee table, or she would clear it off for us. Then we had to move it to block off the living room from the kitchen because she went straight for the kitchen every time we set her down, and straight for the cat food once she got there! So our livign room resembles a corral, until I can get a gate ordered!

Elena has also really started talking- instead of just being repeated syllables, she actually sounds like she's saying something- just in some language none of us understand! And, true to both her Price and Looten heritage, she rarely shuts up! :)

We had a doctor's appointment on the 30th for her 9 month check up, even though she was more 9 1/2 months. She weighed 17 pounds 10.5 ounces, was 27 3/8 inches long, and her head was 17 7/8 inches around. So, still petite with a big head, but following her curves, so that's good. They checked her ears, and said that there was fluid on them, but it wasn't infected yet... so now we're basically just waiting for it to get infected again. :( We have a recheck appointment at the end of this month, so maybe she'll make it until then. I'm awful tired of fighting her ears! I can't wait until she outgrows ear infections, though that's going to be awhile, since she started so young with them! The doctor said she looked really good, though, besides the ears, and we didn't have to get any shots, so it was a pretty easy doctor's appointment, all things considered!

The other REALLY exciting news of the last couple weeks is that on July 1, Elena got her first tooth!! I don't have any pictures, because you can't see it yet- only feel it, but it's definitely there! I was giving her a taste of some raspberry pie filling at my parents' house, and scraped my finger on it! Pretty cool!

Anyway... here are some pictures, and a few more stories, from the past couple of weeks...

Elena has discovered the cat toys...

Mom! Did you know there were all these cool toys in this box?! I know I can fit these in my mouth...
"Let me in, let me in, let me in!" "Let me out, let me out, let me out!" Timon & Pumba, The Lion King
Headed out to eat... looking adorable, as usual!
Great-Grandpa Price was driving through town on his way home (to Illinois) from Nebraska, so we went out to dinner with him. Elena thinks he's awful funny!
Can I go play with my puppy? Pleeeease???
Sweet and sleeping before church!
While everyone was out of town on the Mission Trip, Laney and I got to go feed Aunt Ruthie's sheep! Elena LOVED them, like she loves all animals!
And Mommy learned why it's ALWAYS important to strap the baby in the stroller...
Like her friend, Charlotte, Elena has discovered the joy of kleenex! She likes to shred them into tiny pieces, then, obviously, eat them. I've fished several chunks out of her mouth already! So now the kleenex box has to be shoved against the wall, where she can barely reach it. But the look on her face when she turned around this time was so funny, I couldn't resist taking a picture before yanking the kleenex away!

I noticed that Elena was tipping her bottle up when I gave her a bottle of water to drink, so I figured it must be time to start with a sippy cup! She's not great at it, but she definitely gets some water out. What a big girl!!

Daddy, why you do these things to me?
Great-Grandma & Grandpa Price came for a visit for the this week (they're actually still here) so we went to hang out with them and watch Sam's baseball game on Monday night.
And we all went to regular Grandma & Grandpa Price's house for dinner on Tuesday night. Where Grandma Price gave Laney the best present ever! This is a dog that they had in the church nursery, and she absolutely LOVES it. So Grandma Price got her one of her very own! The question is, who is more entertained- Elena, or Ruth & Charlie? :)
Hanging out with Daddy...and the dog!
Great-Grandpa Price is so funny!

Since we were out there, we had to go see the sheep again! And Aunt Ruthie even fed them sassafras leaves so they stood right over by the fence... and even tried to nibble on Laney's toes!
Laney loves sheep... but she does NOT love grass! She tries to balance on her butt so her feet won't touch and she doesn't have to put her hands down... it typically doesn't work, and she falls over and gets cranky about it! If you hold her standing up and put her feet in the grass, she pulls one leg up like a flamingo. It's pretty funny!
Look at me in my big girl chair! This is the little rocking chair Grandma Price got for her last summer, before she was even born! Really, it's for all of the future grandkids, but since she's first, it's all her's for now! :)
Grandpa Price even picked her a daisy out of his flower bed... he must love her an awful lot!

Well, I hope the pictures make up for the long absence of a post! I will try really hard to post again next week, and should have cute pictures from the Cardinals game (round two) and the 4th of July party!