Another week...

Another week has gone by.  We are done preparing the nursery and organizing the house; we are ready for the baby to come!

And so is Eliana.  She keeps asking when he will arrive and we tell her that we don't know...  But she does talk to him (or rather Emily's belly) every day and kisses him goodnight in the evenings.  Karina has since picked up the same habit, and every night kisses Emily's tummy and says "Bye, baby".  Eliana announced that she also has a baby and took her baby out with us when we when out for dinner last friday.

A while ago, Eliana got special sandals from Brazil called "Havaianas."  They were her favorite footwear even though they would sometimes make her trip when she ran and tan bark would get in on the play ground.  No matter--style over comfort of course.  But her old pair kept breaking and broke one too many times to be super glued back together.  So we ordered another pair for her...

Of course, she picked out the pink, flowery ones...

There's a preschool educational website called ABCMouse.com.  Eliana absolutely loves it.  As you do activities, you earn points, which you can spend buying pretend things.  For example, there is a virtual fish tank and Eliana has bought extra fish and decorations for the tank.  It has been interesting watching her hand-eye coordination develop.  She still does not understand that if you are trying to get the cursor to a certain spot on the screen, but that the mouse is bumping against something on the table, you can pick up the mouse and move it over.

Eliana's preschool recently took a field trip to the local fire department and Elvin accompanied as the helping parent that day.  Elvin had never been to a fire station before (that he can remember) and so thoroughly enjoyed the trip, probably  more than the kids.

He especially thought all the equipment on the fire truck was amazing.

Eliana has really, really enjoyed her preschool class.  The last day of school was this past week and there was a small performance for the parents to watch.

The kids dressed up as insects and sang insect songs...

We've had some hot days mixed in with our rainy days.  Also, the girl's room faces the west and gets the setting sun.  As a result, the room can get a little warm.  Being a Pacific Northwest kid, Eliana is not used to that and here she is trying to cope...

We moved Karina into Eliana's room about a month ago.  Karina was VERY excited to get her own bed.  The transition has been smoother than we expected and amazingly enough, Karina tends to sleep better and more soundly sharing a room with Eliana compared to in the crib in the nursery.

And when putting her down to sleep, especially if she is already pretty sleepy, she will crawl to her pillow, lay down her head and fall asleep without any protest!  This is a big change from Ellie...

Here is Karina one morning with crazy hair.

She continues to be a voracious eater.  She will eat most things and anything within reach.  Karina will be eating constantly for 30 minutes straight even while the rest of the family is done.  And she is not opposed to trying new things, such as the artichoke leaves she is munching on in the picture below.

Karina is also learning how to cut with scissors.  She can make single cuts now, with a special pair that's easier to use.

She is definetely expressing more independence.  In the mornings, Karina picks out her own clothes now, which leads to some pretty interesting combinations.  She also wants to push her tricycle herself sometimes, instead of being pushed all the time. 

And she likes putting on chapstick.  This, she picked up from her big sister.  She will put it on her lips, and cheeks, and also chin before putting the cap back on.  Here, if you look closely, you will see she actually has TWO tubes of chapstick open in her hand at once. 

Karina is still not using a whole lot of consonant sounds but we can usually understand what she is saying if she signs along with her words.  She is definetely becoming a little person!