Daily life...

Eliana is overall a pretty good eater. She loves milk and some of her favorite foods are steak (with A1 sauce), white rice, watermelon, cheese, and frozen fruit such as berries or peach slices. She also loves butter and would eat it by itself if we let her. Here she is picking the butter off a slice of bread.

A couple weekends ago, we went to a Chinese restaurant that specializes in noodles. Eliana LOVES noodles. But the aftermath can be quite astounding. For every spoonful that makes it to her mouth, another spoonful falls onto the ground.

Eliana has noticed that there are infant diapers around the house now, in preparation for the baby coming. So one night, she decided that all her stuffed animals needed to wear diapers as well.

After putting on pajamas, we always brush her teeth. Her dolly came with us and needed her teeth brushed as well.

And the dolly's hat is always fun to play with. Except that when Eliana puts it on, she unwittingly blindfolds the doll.

2 years old!

Eliana turned two on July 14th! It seems like time has flown by. She had quite a special week, that started with a trip to Cold Stone. Emily signed her up at the Cold Stone website and she got a free ice cream for her birthday. Eliana got sweet cream with sprinkles mixed in, or "candy" as she calls it.

We then had a mini-party on Wednesday, which was her actual birthday. Emily's parents came over for the evening and we opened presents. She still doesn't fully understand the concept of presents, and is most interested in taking the bows off. She started the get the hang of it, though. We had cupcakes--she requested these because she thinks that's what you're supposed to have at a birthday. Later in the week, we had a full party on Sunday with her aunts, uncles, and cousins coming over. We had pizza (again at her request) and more cupcakes.

Finally summertime...

After one of the wettest and coldest springs in the past 10 years, it's finally summertime for good. So Eliana is enjoying all the summertime-type activities, including...

Picking raspberries in the backyard (but she doesn't eat them. She only likes them frozen.)


She went to the zoo again this past week, and enjoyed a snow cone.

Last week, she went to a park that had a merry-go-round. She liked that the horses went "up and down."

Eliana's cousins Millie and Abby slept over last weekend. Besides running around, pretending to cook things with the toy stove, and playing ball, they also read quietly.

And, as you'll see in the video, Eliana has become more and more independent. She picks out books to read to her animals in the backyard. She also likes playing "futebol" and chess with Elvin.

Happy 4th and Visit to the Zoo

We celebrated "July 4th" on Saturday the 3rd at Emily's parent's house. Eliana's cousins came over as well and they all played together in the backyard.

She ate an ice cream sandwich for dessert. The only problem was that 1/4 of it ended up on her shirt.

The neighborhood dog, Noodle, came over to visit. Noodle loves kids and likes the attention from Eliana. Eliana is getting over her apprehension of dogs...
On July 5th, we visited the Oregon Zoo. This is Eliana's second time to the zoo. The first time, when she was just barely one year old, she was a little too young and didn't really get much out of it. This time, she knew all the animals and requested them by name.

Here she is trying to hug the huge fish.

This zoo has a great petting area. Eliana loved petting the "nice goat" and his soft wool. Elvin, however, didn't like the goats--one of them tried to eat the corner of his jacket.

At the seal exhibit, a huge 6-foot long seal approached the glass.... Eliana thought this was a bit scary. We don't know where she learned this, but when she is scared, Eliana covers up her mouth.

All in all it was a fun trip to the zoo. We bought a 12-month pass--so we'll be going back!