What a big girl....

July 13, 2008 - The first week of Elaina being "1" has been a fun one. Not any different then before. We are loving this age - SO much fun. She had her 1 year check up this week and thankfully she checked out healthy and happy. She weighed in at 20 lbs and 13 oz. She is 46th percentile in weight, 49th percentile in height, and her head still a whopping 99th percentile. Brain is still growing :) Over past about 2 months she has:

• started walking - she still doesn't do it 100% of the time but she does it about 70% of the time. Crawling is still quicker
• started signing for "all done" and "eat"
• saying "thank you" or something that sounds very much like it
• saying "ok" (so cute)
• straddling her riding toy by her self and pushing her self around on it

Here are some pics of the past week... fun stuff.... :)

Playing in the backyard with her water table she got for her birthday. She loves that thing.....

Just a cute pic of her in her new dress that her mamaw gave her for her birthday...Elaina in her new chair she got for her birthday - vanilla wafer and her juice just chillin'. Wonder where she learned this from??

I cleaned out this drawer to get rid of some toys she didn't play with anymore. Well, she made herself right at home... so funny.

Elaina's first steps

Okay people... I know I just posted with pics of Elaina's first birthday but today, July 7, 2008, the day after her birthday, she began taking her first steps. She was taking about 3-4 steps last Thursday night (July 3, 2008) but had not tried again since then. Well, tonight just before bed time, we were in her room and she was holding Erik's finger. Well, he let go and she put one foot in front of the other and walked about 5 steps or so.... Anyway, you know the rest. We grabbed the camera and got some footage. She was so excited she was almost running into my arms. In case you are wondering what I keep handing her, it was a puzzle piece. She seemed to walk better with something in her hand. After we got done filming and put the camera away, she walked from her crib all the way across the room to her changing table. We better get ready - here she comes!!

Happy 1st Birthday Elaina

July 6, 2008 - A year has come and gone (and quickly). Erik and I simply can not believe how fast it's gone by. To celebrate Elaina's big day, we had a party for her at her Granny's clubhouse where she lives. Lots of friends and family came to celebrate and give their well wishes. Lots of fun, swimming, and cake.. Oh yeah, the cake was the best part. Our friends Sabrina and Carl made the cake and it turned out unbelievable. Elaina enjoyed it too - she's a pro at eating sweets. Here are some shots of the big day....(I don't have them all from everyone so I may be posting more)

A shot of the cake before the writing was put on it... SO CUTE!! I could not believe how good it turned out. Thanks Sabrina and Carl!

Here is the cake after she wrote "Happy Birthday Elaina". She also did the cute lady bug cup cakes around the edge... Amazing!!

"Do I have to wear this hat??"

"Hey, this isn't so bad"

"Oh yeah! I can eat some cake. What hat??"

Elaina in the pool with friends Tonja and Christine and her cousin McKaylaElaina got a water table for her birthday - she loves itElaina opening up one of her giftsElaina with her Mamaw (Erik's mom) and Granny (my mom)Elaina with her "aunt" Robyn

More of Elaina in the pool with her friends

Elaina pushes her cousins

Elaina's cousins from Nashville, Sadie and Celia, came to visit this weekend. Elaina loves to push her little car around the house and does it all the time. Well, Sadie and Celia both hopped on the car and Elaina pushed them around on it. Pretty funny considering Sadie is almost 6 and Celia is 4. Pretty funny to watch as Elaina really pushes hard to get them moving. Take a look....

Elaina pushing Celia (the 4 year old). Listen to Elaina squeel as she pushes.

Elaina pushing Sadie (the almost 6 year old)

Where have we been??

Nowhere - just busy. So, I've been really bad about updating the blog. We have been enjoying this phase of Elaina's life. Fun - that's the only word to describe it. Here are some pics of the fun we've been having.....

She finally started drinking from a sippy cup, with a straw. She seems so big to me drinking from it....

Just a cute pic.....

A typical moment with her daddy... She's got a great laugh!

Her friend Caitlin had her first birthday party on Sunday. These are some pictures of her and Caitlin in the kiddie pool having a great time. Elaina loves the baby pool as much as the real pool.

Stringfellow first family photos

We had our first family photos taken. Here are a few of them.

Elaina is 11 months old

June 7th - Elaina turned 11 months old yesterday. Just one more month until the BIG birthday. It's incredible how time flies. Elaina has grown so much. Erik and I watched home videos of Elaina tonight of when she was 3 1/2 months old and both forgot how little she was. It really put a good perspective on how much she has changed.


I don't have a recent weight on Elaina because luckily we've been away from the doctors office. My guess is that she weighs about 21 pounds or so. We have almost completely stopped all her baby food and she is eating just about anything we eat (well, you know, what we can make soft enough and chop up enough). So, she looks like she has beefed up to me - the food has helped with that, I am sure.

This weekend has been a fun one for Elaina. Why you ask? Because she went swimming - not once but twice (and she is going again tomorrow, Sunday, with her granny while Erik and I go to the Smokies game). She did not cry but she did not really crack a smile either for the first 10 minutes or so - she is like her daddy and has to take it all in before she can really begin to like anything well. After then, she really started enjoying herself and splashing the water with her hands. She even stuck her face in voluntarily followed by a funny look and some coughing. She is definately going to enjoy the pool - I have been looking forward to this day of being able to take her swimming. Here some photos of the big event (both days)...

This pic is after she got warmed up to the pool - she really was enjoying herself.
This picture is after she planted her face into the float and realized that was not very fun..

Splashing in the water.... I even got her to lay back on her back and float (with me holding her, of course). She didn't seem to mind.

Post pool snack....a vanilla wafer (her favorite).

Just a sweet video of Elaina....

Elaina's extra hand

Elaina has figured out how to crawl around and take what ever it is she is playing with with her - in her mouth. It's pretty funny to watch. She carries all kinds of toys, clothes, objects, and whatever fits around in her mouth. This particular day, she was carrying this purple block in her mouth. I found it kind of funny so I took a picture. Hope you enjoy!

What's Elaina been up to....????

May 21st - It's been a while since I've posted anything. Sorry about that - it's been a busy couple of weeks. Here are some recent pics of Elaina to show you what she's been getting into lately...

Elaina has a riding toy that she can push around. She doesn't really push it around too much but I put her on it and was surprised at how well she stayed balanced. So, I took her outside and I pushed her up and down the driveway and sidewalk. She loved it. We did it for a while - mom's back hurt after that. Guess I better get used to it :)

At dinner time tonight, I fed Elaina spaghetti. I intended on feeding it to her, but she had other plans. After a battle with her, I remembered that it was bath night and said "what the heck!" When I saw these pictures, all I could think of was "Wow, she looks like a blue eyed Oompaloompa"

I couldn't post the picture above without including some cute ones of her too :)

Elaina is 10 months old

May 6th - Elaina is 10 months old today. She continues to grow and develop into a little girl. Everyday I am amazed at how much of a baby she is NOT anymore. It's exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time. She was at the doctor the other day and weighed in at 18 lbs, 5 oz. She is healthy and happy and her eyes and smile light up our life. Here are a few shots.. Enjoy!

Gimme that camera, mommy

Don't I look great in mommy's sunglasses???
I love it outside!!

Fairy Pictures and Play Date

April 26th - Today, Elaina and her friend Caitlin went and had their pictures made together again. The photo studio was having a fairy event so the girls got to put wings on and pose as fairies - it was very cute. Below are some shots:

Then after the pictures we went to Caitlin's house for a play date. Caitlin has a kiddie pool with balls in it - here are some shots of the girls playing. They both really loved it.

The highlight of the day was when the girls were standing in front of the window. Caitlin was knocking on the window and making noises and it was cracking Elaina up which was in turn making Caitlin laugh. Also, if you look closely, a man jogged by and this cracked the girls up too. We could hardly keep from laughing while shooting the video. You can only see the backs of their heads in the video - Caitlin in on the left and Elaina is on the right - but I hope it makes you smile! :)

Inside Out/Backwards Day...

April 17th... This week at Elaina's day care they had spirit week. On Tuesday it was "Pajama Day" and all the kids wore their pajamas to day care. I did not know about this since Elaina does not go to day care on Monday but since I always send her in her pajamas, she was dressed for the festivities. Today was "In-side Out/Backwards Day" at Elaina's day care. That means that the kids and teachers wore their clothes either in-side out or backwards. Well, the outfit I put Elaina in had feet so she couldn't wear the pants backwards. So, she wore her pants in-side out and her shirt backwards. Just thought I'd share a photo of her in her garb (from behind so you can get the full affect)...

Also, Elaina had her 9 month check up yesterday. All is well and she's growing and developing well. She weighed in at 18 pounds, and measured 27 1/4 inches tall. She is in the 31st percentile for weight, the 33rd percentile on height and her head... well, it continues to be a monstrosity. It registered in the 99th percentile. Geniuses need a lot of room for their brains :)... we still think she's adorable - big head and all.

Elaina is 9 months old

April 6th - Elaina is 9 months old today. Elaina continues to grow. She doesn't have her 9 month check up until the 16th so I don't know how much her percentiles have changed since her 6 month check up. I'll post those after her appointment. She did have a doctors appointment last week and weighed in at 17 pounds, 5 oz. This is actually 5 oz less then the last weigh in but the doctor said more then likely it was a mis-read since she supposedly gained over 2 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks at that visit. Anyway, he wasn't concerned and said she is growing fine. Some milestones over the past month are:

• First ear infection
• Crawling (as you know from the previous post)
• Pulling up on everything - she doesn't know how to sit back down (unless she falls) so when she is done standing or can't move anywhere else, she'll cry until you help her. Hopefully she'll figure out sitting down soon.
• Taking steps and moving herself along the couch, table, or whatever she can

Here is a recent pic.... Enjoy!

Elaina crawls

Let the fun begin, boys and girls, because Elaina figured it out today. She has been getting gradually closer over the past few weeks. She first figured out how to get from her stomach to a sitting up position. Then, she would do this lean forward from a sitting up position until she got almost all the way to her stomach and realized she couldn't get her legs to move. She got around this way pretty good for a while by leaning from a sitting up position and scooting her legs underneath her (kind of hard to explain). Well, today, after she got up from her nap, she leaned forward and her knees moved with her. One knee in front of the other, one hand in front of the other and she was off. And in a hurry too - she wasted no time getting used to it :) take a look - this was taken during the first 30 minutes of her crawling....

Now we need to baby proof - not so smart putting that off :)