El Espejo, El Espejo

 My mom has a very cute picture of me admiring myself in the mirror propped on my changing table.  So watching Eliana flirt with her reflection, inspired me to continue the tradition.  Eliana's favorite place to be on her tummy (and really the only place she enjoys it) is her changing table.  It's so much fun to talk to that other baby!  The other plus of these pictures is you can admire the cute flower on her bottom.  She's getting too big for this outfit, so it's good that it gets it's share of camera time!  And she did manage her first rolling over today!  She rolled from her back onto her tummy and then cried hysterically since she didn't want to be there (and she had rolled under the swing, which is a supremly uninteresting place).  But still, she made it!

Merendar

This summer we somehow managed to sign for two picnic life groups.  Don't know how it happened, but we are picnicking with church friends every Friday and Saturday through July.  While I think this is going to stretch my picnic lunch packing skills, it's great fun.  This is Joaquin and his buddy Ben playing soccer.  Notice in the second photo Joaquin has hijacked the ball and is throwing it.  He's not playing goalie, he's just unclear on the rules.  :)  Hey, he got some wiggles out!  Maybe by July he'll get it.

Bebe Hermosa

Tia Lina was in town for about five minutes and managed in her one photo shoot with Eliana to get tons and tons of beautiful shots.  Especially some cute smiley faces!   Yes, she really is this beautiful - and apparently really likes Tia Lina.

Arrollando

The next big milestone for Miss Eliana is rolling over - except she can't quite seem to get there.  Part of it may be motivation, she doesn't get put on her tummy that often because she's so content and playful while on her back.   Mommy can't resist letting her play happily with her toys instead of trying to convince her tummy time is fun.  Besides, she usually spends her time on her stomach attempting to get her knees under her and scooch.  I've tried explaining that she's nowhere near that kind of mobility and she should focus on what she can accomplish, but it's almost like she doesn't understand what I'm saying.  And really, who would roll over on to their tummy?  However, she does love to be on her side.  She actually sleeps on her side most of the time. (Yes I place her on her back, she rolls to the side, if she can roll there on her own, she can roll back if necessary.)  And she will roll onto her side, then even roll her little bottom almost completely over before being stymied by the 'stupid arm'.  (This is a term coined by Daniel for the arm that has nowhere to go when you're lying in bed snuggling with your spouse.  Someone gets to put their arm around the other and that person has nothing to do with their arm.  In Eliana's case the stupid arm is the one underneath her that has to somehow move to allow her to roll over.)  Anyway she does manage to move around quite a bit while attempting to roll.  In this last picture she had been placed in the middle of her blanket, and you can see where she was a few minutes later.  She managed to get her whole self off by the time Daddy got home.  (I was having too much fun seeing what she could do to put her back on it.)

Pájaros Enojados

This is Joaquin's interpretation of Angry Birds, in Duplos.  The yellow triangle is the Yellow Bird sitting on the slingshot, with the blue bird, the red bird, and the black bomb bird ready to take their turn.  And of course the structure on the right hand side is a pig inside a house of wood, stone and glass.  Notice one of the blocks fortuitously has a picture of eggs on it, representing the Angry Bird eggs stolen by the pigs.  There's also a movie that goes along with this, but as it's quite long it is unavailable for viewing.  Joaquin is somewhat obsessed with Angry Birds as you can see, but it's been quite amusing actually because he's basically using it as a theme for various mediums.  He draws (both manually and on the computer) complicated and numerous Angry Bird pictures, writes about Angry Birds and now builds Angry Bird models!  He makes up Angry Bird games of tag and gets excited over Angry Bird shirts and stuffed animals.  He's actually experiencing a sort of renaissance - enjoying so many different activites - as long as he can relate it to Angry Birds.  He spends more time inventing new Angry Birds then he does actually playing the game.  Since we've never been obsessed with Cars or Spiderman or anything, I guess this is the Joaquin equivalent!

Traje de Bañar

So a bathing suit for a baby is quite the most useless garmet ever!  While I'm sure Eliana would enjoy splashing in the pool, I don't trust her not to poo while in.  And I don't want to share a pool with a poopy baby!  No diaper is that good.  So when Joaquin and I go and swim in Great-Grandma's pool, Eliana hangs with Grandma.  But she received a bathing suit as a present and it's super cute, so...... Here she is watching us swim while dressed to kill.  That concentrated stare is because she is very interested in watching us swim.  I don't know if she's nervous about what we're doing, or the water is just interesting to look at, but she's always very intent while we're in there.  Oh cutie-patootie, she's rocking this suit.

Sonreir

This is a slightly crazy picture of Eliana, but the best I have of her smiling big.  She's not the friendliest baby in the world (although she's willing to flirt with anyone from the safety of Mommy's arms), but she has a big happy grin.  I see it every morning when I go in to get her.  She's very excited to see that I'm still around, even after a long night of not seeing me!  And it is a long night, she regularly sleeps 10 to 12 hours.  Pretty impressive for a baby that can be a real stinker about naps.  I guess she just likes to put all her sleep in at once.  Anyway, she's discovered that a huge smile usually receives a smile in return and frequently induces folks to talk to her and play with her.  Now she wields that cute expression like a weapon - you think you can ignore me, just try it!  The one exception is Joaquin.  If he's into something he hardly even notices a little baby smiling at him, frantic for his attention.  I'm constantly saying, "Joaquin, smile at your sister, she's smiling at you." At which point he gives her a cheesy photo grimace and returns to his previous task.  Brothers.  Don't worry Eliana, when you're mobile you can go get him.