Eleven Month Eliana

It is cliche, but I find it quite remarkable how quickly this beautiful little babe is growing up.  I am starting to miss the baby phase as Ellie rushes about the house chasing and practically chastising her elder sisters for their antics.  Two days ago her fourth tooth came in, nearly a full month after her last.  It seems as though she was teething the whole time, but miraculously this feels as though the best month sleep-wise we have experienced in a long long time.

I just went through another "round" of sleep training with her to teach her to put herself down to sleep rather than be dependent on my rocking her.  Retraining seems the way of things after the upsets of teething or illness or whatnot... Perhaps I am starting to figure this whole baby thing out?  Probably not!  

Ellie is starting to mimic sounds, dotes on her Daddy and even mimes calling him on the phone while he is off to work during the day.  She calls him "Da" and also likes to shake her head jokingly and say "No no no," especially when sneaking off to go climb the stairs.  When she hears us coming whilst doing something "naughty," the cute stinker makes a run for it.  She craves being carried about during the day and just started walking with my help or while pushing an object along the floor, such as our big blanket basket.  She is getting into everything and wants to be a part of everything.  She is "one of the girls" and we are continuously falling deeper in love with this precious and oh, so beautiful child.

Eliana's personality is starting to become more clear to us, and appears to be a mix between Gigi's vivacity and Camelia's snuggliness.  She is a joker, a darling little flirt, a joyful delight.  I am so excited to see her personality's contribution to our family.  God has truly fashioned a masterpiece in this lovely girl.

You can see her teeth coming in on top!

Lovely Hooligans

You can tell they are up to something!

Camelia's Nightly Vigil

At some point within the last couple months, Camelia got into the habit of climbing out of her bed at night and sleeping on the floor next to her door.  We could tell when she was in "position" by the calls, moans, and other odd sounds issuing out from underneath it.  It was apparent when she had at last fallen asleep once an infrequent thud would sound out against the door.  I assume her head, arm, foot, or other whatnot would hit it in her sleep.  Of course sleeping on the floor and ofttimes wailing for attention is not preferable and often results in an uneasy night of rest for her (and us), so we strongly encourage she stay in her bed.

Tonight our tactics changed as, exhausted after putting all three rambunctious munchkins to bed, we suddenly heard the familiar moan, this time of "Mommy where are you?"  Byron and I conspired together to make monster noises back at her under the hall side of the door.  A moment passed when Camelia burst into tears, now a few steps back from the door.  Byron changed his tactic and began clucking like a chicken this time.  You see, we don't want to traumatize our child into thinking there is a monster outside her door, the common misconception of the closet monster is bad enough. Byron and I were suppressing giggles at this point waiting in suspense to see what would happen next. 

The door creaked open several inches and a disapproving toddler glared out at us suspiciously, then closed the door once more in our faces.  We were found out and by this point practically rolling on the floor with unsupressed laughter after Camelia's countenance told us in no uncertain terms that this time we were the naughty ones.   We opened the door to give her some kisses and call a truce.  She told Daddy he was silly, and obligingly was tucked into bed.  This time for good.

Life Today

My little architect constructing a masterpiece for her sisters to destroy.

Our Betta Fish.  Formerly known as "Joey" after the girl's beloved Uncle, now renamed "Bobby" after another Uncle.  Byron and I will henceforth refer to said fish as "Joe-Bob."

Crafting some cute catapillers with some even cuter little girls.

Sweet 10 Month Ellie

Ellie turned ten months recently and sprouted a tooth on the same day! I took Ellie to the doctor two weeks ago, and found she has gone down to 22.5 lbs, 30" tall, and maintains a 95% head circumference.  You can tell from the shots she is an obvious joy and such a darling little stinker.  We are constantly delighted by her antics and desire to be in the mix with her sisters.

 I managed to finally pull the bulk of the 18 month clothes down from the attic and am in the (never-ending) process of rearranging the girls closets to make everything fit.  It seems as though the girls are always growing! :)

Hot Date

Byron and I actually got to go out (of town!!) for a date.  Thanks to the babysitting talents of the most beloved and magnanimous Mopsie, my Love and I spent several hours aboard a smallish fishing vessel cruising about Santa Cruz Island. Dolphins, sea lions, rare birds, and other wildlife were all about, but I enjoyed the pure gift of my Sweetheart most of all!  Of course the girls got in on the spirit of the day when we got home.  Sprinklers and buckets!

Snort and Yawns

Gilana has some sweet little idiosyncrasies I would like to reveal.  The first is her Snort. 

Most lovely little girls of story-book imaginings snuggle with a stuffed teddy or a bunny rabbit for their dream time meanderings.  Not our Gigi.  Gilana prefers to nestle down with an Eel she endearingly named Snort.  Snort has the honor of being the first tucked in and properly situated in bed.  There have even been occasions when we have been coerced into kissing said eel prior to our evening departure from her room.  Gigi does have other stuffed toys and a doll whom she enjoys having within reach, but oddly enough, Snort has become the "Lovie" of choice.

Another interesting side note on our precious Gigi is her battle with yawns.  Like many young children, Gilana does not have a great fondness for naps or even bedtime in general.  This is why a case of the yawns is met with such blatant hostility.  We were driving home one day when Gigi repeated shouted, "Stop it!  No yawns!  Stop doing that, I don't like it! Mommy make it stop!"  Naturally I assumed she was issuing these orders to Camelia who was sitting next to her (and whom often delights in irritating her older sister).  Such was not the case.  Upon further questioning I discovered Gilana was quite put out that the yawns were coming from her own exhausted self and did not want to admit, even to herself, the inevitable need for sleep.  Thus, our sleepy child had resorted to yelling at herself!  Despite her pleas, I had no power to "make them stop!"