Daddy's girl

If there was ever any doubt about it, we can safely say now that Elisa is most definitely a daddy's girl. Here she is with Nacho loving every minute of her ticklefest and managing to catch a bit of the Colbert Report too.

Spring swings in

Thankfully, Nacho has had a great schedule this month and we've been trading off childcare duties with ease. As we've observed for some time now, it's amazing how easy she can be when you are dealing with her one-on-one.  Though she seems to be a very social little girl, I think the extra stimulation of mommy and daddy around at the same time, or extra house guests seems to hype her up a bit.  But the days when she is happy to play in her crib for a bit between feedings or takes 2 hour long naps and sings herself to sleep are the best.

Of course, Elisa continues to impress us with her many expressions and shrieks of joy.  She does some pretty funny dancing as well when she stands on your lap and moves her hips and shoulders. We're nearing the 8 month mark next week and it's cool to feel little tooth buds working their way to the surface on her bottom gums. No actual teeth yet, but we're close...so close! She's also been moving her bedtime up a little bit and now goes down most nights between 8:30 and 9:30pm. This is a welcome change since even a month ago, we had many nights where she was eating her last bottle at those times. Somehow just regaining a few hours in the evening to eat dinner, watch tv, or clean up without her is like gold. It feels like I've done something right.

We haven't had too many warm spring days yet, though there have been plenty with sunshine. Here are a few pics Nacho snapped at the park behind our apartment. Enjoy and more soon!

Soft voices

Elisa is becoming quite the talker these days...or at least a very good babbler. She really loves watching us talk and interact and will sometimes interject a thing or two if we stop paying enough attention to her. In the mornings when I pick her up from her crib, she usually has some nice, soft things to tell me. Like she's been waiting there thinking of things that I would want to hear. It's so sweet. Here's a sample.

March madness

On top of having a computer that's about to crash with so many pictures and videos on it, I have been delaying my return to the blog for several weeks because of the chaos that is known as the H-1B cap in immigration-land. This month is one of the busiest times of the year for my office and it's no wonder that I was going a bit crazy trying to figure out how to manage work and Elisa around Nacho's schedule. Not helping matters is that we have been searching for a part-time babysitter for a while now without much success. I didn't think it would be so hard to find someone who wanted to pick up the odd day here and there, but I guess finding someone and finding the right someone are two different things. Luckily, we got a good referral from our friend Dan Riley, so that's helped quite a bit. And of course, grandma is always there in a pinch when you need her. My mom flew back this month for a visit just in time to experience Elisa's first cold--and what an introduction that was! Having the fitful nights with a cranky baby brought back so many bad memories of Elisa's terrible 2nd and 3rd months. It felt like post-traumatic stress, I swear! But with that now thankfully behind us, and the hope that April will bring some balmy temps, I am looking forward to what's next. We're also in the midst of an apartment search (2 bedroom, elevator building, pre-war details, if possible!) so who knows what that will bring. But I'm optimistic. Having someone who smiles at you for absolutely no reason will do that to you.

Naked time

Like all babies, Elisa loves any chance to shed some clothing. Usually if there's been a poop explosion, I need time to regroup and clean up the mess so I put her in her crib for a bit with just the new diaper on. She adores this. It helps that our apartment is 80 degrees in the winter thanks to over-active radiators we can't control. So, here she is in all her naked-baby glory. I walked back in to find her up on her knees, but as you can see she clearly lost her momentum towards crawling. Oh well. In time...in time.

Chillin' in her crib

Lucky for us, Elisa likes her crib--and not just for sleeping. Lately, she has been spending a little extra time in it in the mornings while she babbles to herself. And sometimes, I put her in it while I am running around the apartment just to give her some down time before a nap or bedtime. Here she is relaxing after a late nap.

Chewbacca

Elisa just had her 6 month check-up and all went well. She now measures 27 1/2 inches long (95th percentile) and weighs exactly 17 lbs. (50-75th percentile). The doctor felt around for some teeth, but as I suspected, there weren't any yet. Of course the signs of teething are all there. She drools incessantly, bites on everything within reach and simultaneously laughs and cries when chewing on her favorite toys. But so far, there's nothing to clank her metal spoon on.

Growing up fast

Half a year down, half to go. At this rate, I feel like Elisa is going to be ready for school by fall! She's just learning and doing so much these days--and all of it new. Of course, Nacho and I are also both learning and becoming real, live parents and some days that means trying to figure out how we can enjoy ourselves and not let everything in our life revolve around this little girl (as wonderful as she is).

I think one of the biggest changes in our lives since Elisa's birth has been the fact that we don't get out as much or see some of our friends as much as we'd like to. Living in the city is such a blessing when you consider how immediate everything is--there are people to see and talk to right outside our door, the park is a block away, the grocery store 2 blocks, and some of the country's finest museums and cultural offerings are a mere 30 minutes away. But right now, we are taking our baby steps by learning how to incorporate Elisa into all of that. And she is showing us with each month that the future holds much more in store.

So in the spirit of socializing a bit more, I invited a group of friends over to the apartment last night to hang out and play games. Elisa is quite the night owl so I didn't think it would be a problem to have them over late, and I was right. She got a little over-excited about half way through, but after a quick nap, she was back to the living room for her night cap. Although she wasn't much help with Trivial Pursuit, she did provide some much needed singing and entertainment. As you can see above, she does love attention and knows how to work a camera like nobody's business.

The blah, blah, blahs

If the books are right and the appearance of "personality" seems to begin around this time, we are in for quite an entertainer. Elisa has a killer deadpan expression as we've already discovered last month with her grandma game. And so far this month, she seems to be honing in on the noises we all make talking and imitating them to the hilt. The blah, blah, blahs as I like to call them are pretty funny to watch. She started this one night when I was walking around with her trying to get her to sleep. I'm sure my uncontrollable laughing wasn't helping calm her down and the wicked little grin she gave me was a clue that she got it--she was MAKING me laugh. This only egged her on and I found myself crying and shaking with waves of laughter until I had to bring her out into the living room and show Nacho. She hasn't reproduced the same string of blah, blah, blahs, but this snippet is close. Of course it was early morning and she wasn't in true form but she still steals the show.

Fun and games

Elisa has shown us her love of games time and again. Here she is hiding and smiling and pretending she's nowhere to be found.