Our little baby is one year old. Oh, Happy Day! Elaine's first birthday was such an exciting event for all of us. More details soon! In the meantime, here are a few videos and pictures of the big day!
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Moving... one more time!
Apparently moving across the country twice in two years wasn't enough. 2 months after we return to Colorado, Jeremy and I decide we really wanted to pack a moving van just one more time. We found a beautiful home for our growing family just a mile away from our canyon home and we decided 'this is it!' You'll be seeing little video clips of the inside in the following posts.
We're very blessed and very grateful to FINALLY be settled in our family home for the next 20+ years. It's been a long time coming!
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
11 Months! Toddler in Training
I'm gonna be honest, Elaine's 11th month of life was not fun. Yes, it included Christmas, which was great. But the antics following New Years were not fun at all. A horrible illness knocked both Jeremy and Elaine down for the count. Jeremy ended up having a sinus infection after 10 days of cold/flu symptoms and Elaine had her first trip to the ER with a high fever. They concluded she had croup and gave her some steroids. Two days later we went to her pediatrician and she found Elaine's lungs sounded very bad and her oxygen levels were low. So we ended up staying the night at a hospital so they could monitor her. Elaine ended up having to sleep with oxygen for a week. I had just gotten home from a trip to NYC by myself that was supposed to have been with Winnie and Picky but Picky was sick and Winnie was in CA because of Pop's condition. Pops passed away in the midst of all the illness hullabaloo. Oh, Brother... what a month!
Luckily, everyone has recovered beautifully and today, on Elaine's 11th month birthday, we've had the added bonus of a snow-day! A couple days ago the weather reported this system might carry 1 - 3 inches of snow. Well, that turned into 8 and we had a lot of fun bundling up and introducing Elaine to the fun of playing in the snow! She didn't quite know what to make of it while she was out IN it but watching through the window, she whispered lots of "wows!"
Snow Bunny
Which brings me to her first developmental update, talking. E's babbling had turned into distinguishable words. "Mama, Dada, up, uh-h, wow, all done" are all in her verbal vocabulary. She also signs 'more' and 'milk' occasionally. She mimics what we say a lot as well in terms of repeating our syllables and using our same inflection. For example, I say, "You want the bottle?" She says, "Baba?" I say, "Bottle?" She repeats, "Baba?" Its pretty amazing to watch a person develop linguistically!
As for her gross motor skills, she is officially cruising all over the place! She has no trouble crawling across the house on her own to meet me in another room or explore something she finds intriguing. She pulls herself up very easily and has actually started to practice free standing. Her record is 7 seconds without holding on to anything. She also uses her little walker to walk all over the place. It really is going to be only a few weeks before she's walking around. Very exciting!
First Steps With the Walker
Some of her favorite activities these days are 'taking things out, putting things in' and goofing off with Daddy. Its hard to catch her working independently because once she sees the camera, she wants to see what's on the screen. Example:
Lemme See!
Laughing & Flailing with Daddy (has its consequences)
As for eating, her favorite foods include frozen Indian wraps (chicken vindaloo, veggie samosas, chicken tikka masala), blueberries, bananas, cereals, cheese, mac n cheese, and pretty much any 'suck pack' that has some kind of fruit in it. I don't know what the formal name is for these products, but they're basically baby food in suckable pouches that enable the child to feed themselves. Wonderful!
Sleeping has been a moving target. She's still a great sleeper in general. My biggest complaint is her naps continue to be on the short side, 45 - 60 minutes. And she's getting more attached to the boob lately... which will be interesting since I'm planning on weening her from breastfeeding in a few months. We'll see how that goes!
Of course overall she is still a model child, so full of smiles and silliness. She makes Jeremy and I laugh everyday and squeeze her with love. She is just SO fun and adorable. She's really exploring the world now and its just making me be in awe of her all the more!
We DID have a great New Years! We went to the Millibo Art Theater family show with my friend Jim Jackson's "Mr. Guffaw" show then had a few drinks with friends before heading home to get E in bed. We were tuckered out by 9pm. Ahhh, the high life!
Great-Grandpa Ross, We Love You
Elaine was fortunate enough to have met Pops once last summer when the Weidmann family went to the Del Coronado in San Diego, CA. Pops and Auntie Jane came down from Bakersfield for a few days during the trip and Elaine was able to have a few moments with Pops.
Anyway, I ended up going to Pop's funeral as the Facknitz representative. It was a beautiful service and burial. He had a lovely military tribute at the burial since Pops was a veteran of WWII. I am very grateful to have been there to honor him. And I am very blessed to have been able to call him Pops.
I want to include this little video I shot at Pop's house. Its of my Mom and I doing a little bit of straightening around his house the morning of the funeral. I just wanted to have an online archive of his house. A house I've known all my life that carries so many cherished memories.
Pops & Granny's House
We love you, Pops. We miss you.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Christmas in Belleville
We spent Elaine's first Christmas in Belleville, IL and had a lovely time with the Weidmann side of the family. We were also lucky to have a few days with Gram and Chooch Facknitz who drove down for a few days after Christmas.
A Tree, A Baby & Bells... What's More Christmas-y Than That!
An Encounter with Millie
Elaine had a wonderful time with her Sustar cousins, of course. Her biggest fan was definitely Margaret, who seemed to adopt her as a her new best friend whenever they were in the room together.
Presents!
My favorite part of Elaine's first Christmas was dressing her in Aunt Kara's Christmas dress and Grammy Facknitz's beautiful coat. Oh! She was quite adorable! I couldn't stop taking her picture!
We were able to get together with some of my cousins as well, the Farquars. My cousin Mack was visiting from York, PA and cousin Lissa from NYC. We had a lovely dinner at my aunt and uncle's house with my grandfather, Daddio and Elaine was able to have some quality play time with her second cousin, Liam, Mack's son. They were quite adorable together. Mack and I were very good pals growing up so it was especially fun to see the next generation together!
Liam, The Baby Chiropractor
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Family Christmas
Dec 21st is technically not Christmas. But it was at the Facknitz house this year! Santa came early to our house because we'll be boarding a plane for St Louis tomorrow and he figured we wouldn't be able to take all the toys home in our suitcases. We were SO excited to help Santa set up all the toys and goodies. And although Elaine is too young to understand this holiday or its traditions, we didn't hold back on any details! Waiting at the top of the stairs, filming the descent, playing 'Canadian Brass' Christmas record, taking turns opening a gift at a time, having a big buckwheat & blueberry pancake breakfast, we did it all. Elaine had a wonderful time. Just see for yourself!
The Big Event!
Opening Present with Mommy
Opening Present with Daddy
The Big Event!
Opening Present with Mommy
Opening Present with Daddy
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