one grand aunt

Grand Aunt Sister Mary came to Watertown to visit Grandma Eileen and Grandpa Gino. It was her first visit to their new house and she couldn't wait to see just how big Elena has gotten. Elena wasn't giving anyone any smiles and we tried everything we knew to coax one out of her. Not until we got out Sister Mary's bright pink hat did she brighten up. With that on her head she managed to give all of us some pretty big smiles.
Although it wasn't a very long visit, it was wonderful to see Elena's grand aunt.

baths in the tub

Elena has finally graduated to baths in the tub. She's sitting so well now we don't have to worry about her tipping over. She really likes playing in the water and chewing on her rubby ducky. Of course she loves to chew on it, everything goes in her mouth. I wanted everyone to see her naked cuteness, so here she is. She has also started making more sounds. "Bababa", "lalala", "nanana" are some of the most recent. She is spending more time on her tummy without getting upset, but still not doing anything remotely like crawling. She seems to be pretty content just being where she is, sitting and playing. I'm definitely okay with her not being mobile yet, but I guess it is inevitable.

more cousins

Elena's other favorite cousin, Vaughn

cousins

Elena with one of her favorite cousins, Carl

finding her voice

Last month, much to our dismay, Elena learned how to squeal. Really, really loud. I just happened to catch her on camera mid-squeal. I love that face she makes. She often makes this noise when she's getting bored or tired and is trying to keep herself awake. Even though it can be really irritating, we know it's her first step in finding her voice and learning to talk. She recently added "dadada" and "yayaya" to her repertoire of sounds. On Saturday Elena and I went to the Watertown pool with Aunt Lisa, Carl and Vaughn. The boys had tons of fun, and even Lisa had fun going down the huge water slide. I didn't get a chance to get Elena wet in the pool because she was so tired and crabby. But she did get to wear her swimming suit for the very first time and looked so chubby and cute. Hopefully we'll get back to the pool this summer to see if she likes the water as much as her cousins do. Hopefully, since she can sit without falling, she'll be able to splash and play in the shallow end.

teeth

Look at those teeth - and all of that drool!

swinging

Elena got a big suprise when we visited Grandma and Grandpa's house last weekend. Grandma got her a swing and Grandpa put it in the big black walnut tree in the yard. Mark and Mary were there too, and we all got a big kick out of watching her in the swing for the first time. Daddy, Mary and Grandpa all helped to get her in her swing which she loved. Elena loved it so much that I'm thinking of getting one for our yard, except we don't have a big tree branch to hang it from. We had a good time visiting and cooking out, and spending the evening under the tree.