Hornear

It's getting harder to interest Joaquin in baking with me.  Sad for mommy, but he will still occasionally oblige me.  He's a great stirrer as he will tell you.  And it's kind of amazing of much batter can get mixed under Joaquin power.  He really likes to stir bread with me, because it gets so stiff and he likes to talk about how strong he is.  Whatever it takes to keep my buddy hanging out with me. 

Papa loco

So here's a technique for soothing a baby with the evening crabbies and some gas.  Daniel started doing this and totally scared me, but Eliana calmed right down and appeared to thoroughly appreciate the help getting all the gas out.  Go figure.

Jugar

Eliana is starting to play!  We got her this cute little silver rattle, which is the perfect size for her to grab.  She won't grab for it yet, but if I put it into her hand, she'll clutch it and wave it around.  Then she brings it up to her face to watch it.  Funnily enough she always looks very serious when she's playing with it.  Apparently it's hard work to figure this stuff out.

Ropa

 So, another fashion blog.  This first photo is a cute hand-me-down outfit from a friend of Eliana's who is only a few months older.  It's a cute little jumpsuit, but I'm really mostly impressed that we still fit into it.  It's a 3 month outfit and Eliana is almost actually 3 months.  Even though she's pretty tall and big, she's still not the pudge Joaquin was, and so wears her clothes for considerably longer.  It's kind of exciting to have made it almost to 3 months and still be able to wear some 3 month clothes!  Joaquin grew out of these cute little clothes so fast.  The stripey outfit is also a 3 monther and totally cute. It's also a real find because the pants and skirt were a gift and the onesie was a lucky find on the clearance aisle.  This sweet little rosebud dress is actually a dress I wore when I was a baby.  Then the little shawl is actually also mine, knitted by my great-grandma.  They're still chic!  And finally, check her little Dr. Seuss onesie.  Yeah for Truffula trees!

Pijamas

 When you spend a lot of time in your pajamas, it's important that they be pretty.  Fortunately Eliana has a lot of really cute sleepers.  Here's a few of our favorites.  We're styling... even while we're sleeping.

Dos meses

Yay! Eliana is two months old and cuter than ever.  She actually turned two months while we were in Las Vegas, but we didn't forget to document!  So a few things about Eliana..... She's hit her first milestone; smiling!  She likes to watch Joaquin and to lean against my or Daniel's chest while watching the world.  She makes little aah or ooh noises and tries to kiss back.  That is she turns toward you and tries to slobber on you with an open mouth.  So cute!  Joaquin likes to grab her face in his hands and lean into her face.  She usually responds by making little oooo sounds at him.  She also loves to be sung to.  We each have our own little Eliana song that we sing to her.  Joaquin even made his up himself.

Vegas 2012

We went to Las Vegas for Spring Break, an odd place for a family vacation, especially with a 2 month old.  However some friends of ours were renewing their vows for their 10 year anniversary and invited us to come.  We arrived a day before everyone else so we spent the afternoon playing on the midway at Circus Circus (our hotel).  Joaquin became quite the fan of skeeball, although his technique still needs work.  Then we walked over to the Mirage for their dolphin  and wild cat habitat.  Joaquin loved the dolphins.  You could see them from below and watch them swim or sit next to their pools on the top and watch them do tricks while their trainers fed them.  It was very entertaining.  They didn't have formal shows, but the dolphins were basically like dogs, doing their tricks for treats.  And dolphin tricks are pretty impressive!  The cats were thrilling as well since they were only five feet and a heavy chain link fence away from you.  Eeek!

We did not rent a car which, while feasible on the Strip, ended up being quite a lot of walking.  Eliana spent a lot of time in the sling, bonding with Daddy and Joaquin clocked up an impressive number of miles for such a little guy.  According to Daniel's pedometer we did 30,000 steps one day.  Obviously that's more for Joaquin, but it's about 12 miles anyway you look it.  When our friends arrived the next day, we did some more sight-seeing, including the M&M store!  It was really cute, fortunately Daniel stopped my shopping urges because I wanted to buy lots of stuff.  We did buy Eliana a cute little M&M onesie as a costume and lots of cool colored M&Ms for fun.

The next day was the vow renewal, time to dress up!  Since this was a costumed event, Daniel rented a dancing taco costume.  He, along with the groom and several others actually went to a costume shop there in Vegas (fortunately since who wants to schlep a Dancing Taco costume through airport security).  However Eliana wore her new M&M onesie and I had a Carnival mask.  Joaquin refused to dress up, don't really know why, but after he saw everyone else having fun, he did try on Daddy's hat!  The ceremony was performed at "The White Chapel" which was about as fabulously Vegas kitschy as you'd expect.  Notice our beautiful family shot surrounded by the heart-shaped wrought iron.  Very romantic except for the Tuxedo rental sign on the door behind!

After the ceremony we had a reception at a local restaurant rented out for the occasion.  Very nice, since it let the kids run around and be crazy.  Daniel had fun dancing with Eliana, which was very sweet, even with the taco costume.  Joaquin played with the child's menu, discovering he can do word searches if they have a word list to guide him.  He didn't know what the words said, but he could find them in the puzzle.  I was very impressed.  Even with all the excitement, we managed some quiet family time in the hotel room.  Travelling with friends who also have small children is very convenient sometimes!  Daniel and Joaquin had a great time 'kindling' (Joaquin has a bit of a Kindle problem), even with Eliana's occasional contribution.  That's the danger of touch screens, anyone can work them!  Despite the fun we had, it was definitely an exhausting vacation (don't worry after taking that last picture, Daniel rescued Eliana from my sleeping grasp).  I'm glad we went, but I'm also glad it's over!  We needed a vacation from our vacation!