Week 33

Well, I didn't have my new camera until the end of this week with Elena, so I still don't have gobs of pictures, but I do have a few! And some pretty cute ones!


It's been a pretty exciting week for the Looten household... or at least a pretty busy one! Last weekend was the Digital Camera Scavenger Hunt with the youth group. We usually do it downtown, but this year we decided to mix things up and moved it to Rock Bridge State Park. Which was a really cool place to do it. But it involved a solid 2 1/2 hours of hiking, most of it with Elena strapped to my chest! I did pass her off to Josh after about an hour and a half, so he got her for the rest of the time. She did really well, though. She loved facing outwards in the carrier, watching everything go by and talking to everyone (and everything). But by the time Josh got back to the shelter for dinner, Elena was passed out in the carrier, hanging there like a rag doll! She took a good nap while we grilled, and then was happy as a clam. Such a good baby! And an adorable one, see...

With Daddy before we left for RB... notice the matching Superman shirts! She finally fits in her's!

After the hike... she was dead meat!

Finally out of the carrier, passed out in Grandma's arms.

After a little nap, happy to be hanging out with Jordyn!

After the hike, Josh and I went out to eat at HuHot with Elena, because we didn't eat much there (when you're feeding a bunch of youth, it's hard to have time to eat). While we were there, Elena got fussy, so we calmed her down with her new favorite treat- A LEMON! She LOVES to suck on lemons. She sucked this one darn near dry- it looked like a little lemon skeleton! She doesn't wince or anything, just grabs it and sucks away. At least it keeps her quiet! :)

Sunday morning she wore a new outfit. But not just any outfit, this is the 3 month outfit that Josh and I bought to bring her home in!!! So it finally fits, 7 months later! Despite the wait, it was still cute on her!

The rest of the week was spent just hanging out with Mommy and Daddy. Elena is so much more active, and she does so much more everyday! She really reaches and grabs things now, and she's still trying desperately to crawl. She hasn't made it up on all fours for very long yet, but she gets up on her toes and her hadns or her forehead pretty often. And she can definitely cover ground just by thrashing around. And it's pretty funny to watch her turn around- she gets high-centered on her stomach, and spins until she can reach whatever it is she's going after. She loves to grab her feet, and talks constantly. Her newest trick is saying "No." She will just start shaking her head back and forth. Someday we'll regret encouraging it, but right now it's really cute and funny! Anyway, it's a joy to watch her grow and change... enjoy the pictures!

It's never too early for a girl to start planning!

Truman is SO not a fan of the new-found mobility. He moves a little, and she just follows him because she is FASCINATED by him. I think we're going to have to look into that cat door pretty soon.

What a big girl riding on Daddy's shoulders! Such a sweet smile...

Stay tuned for a video of the new "monkey trick" later this week...

Week 32

Well, this will be a pretty boring post as far as posts go, because we've suffered a loss-- my camera died! So I'm down to my HP, which doesn't take great pictures. So... here are the only pictures I have from this week...

Elena is definitely related to me-- a morning person she is NOT! This is what she typically looks like in the mornings, waiting for me to get dressed.

The rest are from just this evening, while we were hanging out. She doesn't have clothes on because she's already been through 3 outfits today, and I didn't feel like putting her in another one for an hour! So diaper it was!

All of her toys, and she's chewing on my sock! At least it was clean...

She's trying really hard to crawl. She's actually managed to get her stomach off of the floor a few times, though that's only been in the last couple of days.

But mostly she looks like this!

So, it hasn't been a well-documented week, but it's been a good one! This past weekend, we got to introduce Elena to our friends Bob and Robyn from Texas because they were up here for a wedding. We hung out at Flat Branch, actually until like midnight. Josh was out of town until 9pm, so we didn't even get there until 9:30. I totally expected Elena to stay awake for like an hour, then pass out in her seat. But she stayed awake (and adorable) for the whole time! In a crowded restaurant like that, she watched EVERYTHING! Robyn and Bob thought she was cute, of course. And we had a great time hanging out with them, like we always do!

Other than that, it's been a pretty normal week. The weather's been beautiful, so we went on a couple of walks and enjoyed it. The last couple of days Elena has been a voracious eater. She's eating just gobs, and the daycare is asking me what to do. I don't know! The weird thing is, she doesn't eat like that when she's at home. At the daycare she may have pears and cereal and 3 oz of milk in one sitting. And she'll want to eat again in 1 1/2 or 2 hrs! But at home she goes 3 or 4 hours sometimes! Although even at home she sometimes wants to eat all of the time. I guess she's just going through a growth spurt. And I think at the daycare, if they cry, feeding them is the first thing they try. And, well, she's a Price and a Looten, she's not going to turn down food! :)

Well, hopefully, next week I'll hopefully have my new camera and lots more pictures!

Week 31

Week 31 was a pretty normal & boring week for Miss Elena, which was just fine with her (and us)! Last Friday we had a movie night: we bought candy and all 3 camped out on the bed and watched a movie on the TV in our room. Saturday Josh and I left Elena with Grandma Price and went to see a Kutlass concert in Meramec Caverns. Then this week has been pretty normal... days at work and daycare, evenings hanging out at home! Some of my favorite pictures...

Being a 7 month old is so exhausting!

Vegetables are an important part of a baby's diet... now if I could just get through this plastic bag!
This is our new favorite baby item- a tray for the Bumbo! We can put her toys on it and she stays in it a lot better. And it'll be perfect for taking with us: a really handy travel high chair!
On movie night-- Elena decided she likes strawberry milkshake whoppers! The funny thing is she did that all on her own: she picked up the box and started chewing on it. It was pretty hilarious.
Trying her first solid food- those little dissolving puffs. She was not to enthused about eating them. So we'll wait awhile.
Thought this was awful cute! We laid her down for a nap Sunday afternoon, and then we started hearing some talking over the monitor. When I went in to get her, this is what I found! She rolls all of the time now!

Well, like I said, a pretty normal week for Miss Elena. She is pretty amazing, though. She grows up so fast! She's learned how to play with everything now. She is a maniac with her little car toy and she is becoming very mobile. She's really steady sitting up now, she hardly ever falls. And, probably the funniest thing she does now: she'll have actual conversations with us. Not that she actually says words, but she'll make a sound, then you make it back, she'll "talk" back. It's pretty fun!

Just for FUN!

Well, neither of us will win any posture awards! But this was a game that Elena loved for some reason. I just put her rings on our heads, and made a funny noise when they fell off (which didn't take very long!). For some reason, she thought it was hilarious!

I love how she squints her eyes together before they even fall. It still amazes me what idiots we'll make of ourselves just to get a giggle! And then I post it on the internet! Go figure! :)

7 Months

Hello, everyone, I'm 7 months old now! Can you believe it?!

The doctor told us on our last visit that when she was really steady sitting up, we could try giving her some finger food- specifically, the little Gerber puffs that melt in your mouth. So we did. The results were... mixed, to say the least! :)

She doesn't have the dexterity to actually pick them up, so I had to feed them to her. Mostly she gummed them a little, looked at me like, "Mom, what is this??" and then gagged on them. Soooo, guess we'll be waiting a little bit longer for those!

A few other things that I realized I forgot to add into the last weekly post I did... Elena has developed a charming fake cry that she uses when she's not getting what she wants. She sticks her tongue all the way out and coughs. Sometimes, if she works hard enough, it turns into a real cry. But, typically, a toy will distract her. I will try to get it on video, because it's pretty hilarious. The other thing, is I'm amazed at how curious and reachy (if that's a word) she has become. Just this morning at church I was sitting with her in the nursery, and she was playing with this toy that is a spinning ball. Last time we were in the nursery together, she just stared at it while I spun it to make it light up. This week she sat and spun it over and over again. Pretty amazing how fast she's changing!

Weeks 29 & 30

Well, I didn't write a post last week because, honestly, I had VERY few pictures! The weekend of the 28th-30th we went to Silver Dollar City for Young Christians' Weekend. Usually a really good time. But this year it was 42 degrees and raining all day. So, not the best weekend! We ended up leaving the park early and hanging out at the hotel. For, the entire weekend, these are the only pictures I have.

Elena, passed out in a chicken nest while I packed.

Elena hanging out with the boys during the saloon show. We saw a group called The Skinny Improv from Springfield. Mostly we wanted to be inside! Check out how soaking wet the boys all are!

Anyway, since I only had a few pictures, I decided to wait until now to post, because I have TONS after last weekend! We went to Springfield to visit Josh's family, and meet Elena's new cousin, Leila. We also stopped by to see Grandma De & Grandpa Don. We spent the weekend just hanging out and relaxing.

Elena read (or chewed on) a good book with Grandpa Looten.

And met Leila for the first time. Elena was VERY interested in her. She actually acted much the same way she does when she sees her glow worm- gets all tense, grunts, then grabs! :) It was pretty sweet to watch!

We got to hang out with Great-grandma De & Grandpa Don, too! Grandpa Don wouldn't hold Elena because he was sick, but Grandma sure enjoyed it!

Then she showed Grandma & Grandpa how good she sits up and grabs for things.

And showed them how she became an expert in carpet tasting! This is actually her starting to learn to crawl. She hasn't quite figured out how to get her knees up and keep her head off of the ground. So she mostly thrashes around with her face in the carpet, usually talking to the floor.

Shortly after I took this picture, she threw a screaming fit! And I mean, SCREAMING! She wouldn't calm down for anything. We tried all of our tricks... all of the 5 "S"s that the guy on the video during childbirth class (swaddle, swing, suck, shush AND side). Since none of those worked- we added our own "S"-- SUGAR! I took a few grains and put them on her binky, then stuffed it back in her mouth. It eventually got her attention enough for Josh to calm her down, and she took a nap. She was just too tired to eat and to hungry to sleep, and she got MAD! She did finally go to sleep, and Josh and I had a nice lunch with Grandma & Grandpa.

Afterwards, we went back to hang out with Jess, Luke, and Leila some more. Hard to believe Elena used to be that small!

During dinner Elena & Leila hung out while the grown ups ate!

And, afterwards, Elena let Leila borrow her swing. The first of many toys they will share, I'm sure.

Elena tried her first sippy cup. Grandma Looten had one that she got in a "Grandma Shower" and it had a soft top, like a bottle, so we thought we'd try it. She was pretty good except that she couldn't figure out that she had to hold the cup tilted up. So she mostly just sucked in air.

This was an entirely different technique!

Sunday morning she wore a new dress to church. Josh and I bought it for her last weekend at The Landing because it was on sale and we thought it was pretty cute. And we were right, she was ADORABLE! :) And she even wore her Easter shoes again! Which is 2 times more than she's worn most of her shoes!

Dress or not, she hasn't really gotten the lady-like thing down yet, though!

So that was our fun weekend with the Lootens, includign the newest addition to the fam! for the rest of this week, not much interesting has happened. Elena just continues to grow like crazy! Cool things that have happened to her in the last few weeks- she has gotten really good at sitting up. She hardly ever falls, and when she does it's kind of like she means to. Or at least she's trying to lean over so she can crawl. She's trying to crawl, too, and moves a lot. But she hasn't really learned to actually crawl. She mostly just sticks her butt in the air, and scoots along with her face in the carpet! She's definitely mobile and active, though, which has changed our lives again! I get the feeling everytime we get settled, she's going to start doing something new again! But that's the fun of being a parent!

She doesn't have any teeth yet. She's also gotten very vocal! She makes all kinds of new noises now. Can't wait until she starts actually talking, but I get the feeling once she starts she won't stop!

Showing Mommy how good she is at sitting up! And playing with her new favorite toy- the pretend car Tim got her for Christmas.

All those toys to play with, and she's sucking on a sock!

I love getting to watch her grow up, it's the most amazing thing to see how she changes every day. My tagline is so right... We're on the ride of our lives!

The Stats! :)

Well, we had a doctor's appointment yesterday. It was the 6 month check up for Elena, and it went ok. The bad news first... when they checked her ears, she still had fluid in one of her ears. It was the same ear that she had the ear infection in a couple of weeks ago. SOOOO, they gave her some augmentin (stronger antibiotic) to get rid of the infection completely.

The good news is, she is a healthy, happy, normal 6 month old. She talked so loudly during the appointment that I couldn't hear what the doctor was saying, and I had to give her a binky so we could talk! The doctor said she looks good and was impressed by how well she sits up and talks!

Now for the numbers...

Length: 25 3/8 inches (25th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs 3 oz (30th percentile)
Head circumference: 17 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

So, in case you can't do that math... Elena is a little girl with a big head! :)

Truthfully, I'm a little bummed by the ear infection. I really don't want our little girl to be sick all the time. But I guess that's life in a day care. And she's a c-section baby. I just wish there was something we could do to keep her from getting ear infections.

But I am thankful for her health. Of all the problems to worry about, ear infections are not the worst. And she's still a beautiful, happy baby, even when she's sick! Stay tuned for pictures of Elena with her new cousin after this weekend! Next to 6.5 pound Leila, Elena is going to look like a giant! :)