Girlfriends!

This past month we've had a number of opportunities to meet with family and friends who also have baby girls! Here are my favorite pictures of Elliana with her family and friends to show you how big she is now!

2nd counsin Layla (one year) and Elliana in Pollock Pines. It looks like Layla is telling Elli "Come on, let's play!"

Elliana and friend Abby (3 months old) in Davis

Friend Faye (8 days younger than Elli) and Elliana in Santa Rosa

2nd cousin Emily (one year) and Elliana in Sebastopol

Food!

I have been working on this food blog for the last month...That's the way life goes during harvest. It's a time to focus on the most important things and everything else gets put off for awhile. Thankfully, Elli and I easily filled our days while Brandon was hard at work with lots of play and outings, introducing foods, and watching her grow!

We introduced food right after labor day and today was the first day I gave her food twice in one day. We are very proud that she has caught on to the concept quickly and loves everything we have given her so far - cereal, bananas, squash, sweet potato, peas, carrots, apples and pears. Here is the adventure in pictues and videos.

First night of oat cereal - she sure does look satisfied!

Sweet Potato!

When Dad feeds Elli...

Food gets all over her!

Her first night trying banana, which was her second food. First funny reaction!

Last night, she had pears from our backyard and you can see her sounds & smiles for "more"

Final Days of Summer

As we approach the 2010 grape harvest this week - most likely starting this Saturday, September 11th for Brandon's winery, we take a few days to wind down from our busy August. Each year we easily fill up each weekend of August with fun ways to spend our final days of summer. This year, our activities even carried into labor day weekend since grapes are ripening a little late.


It's just not summer, if we don't make it to the ballpark! Elli was three and a half months old for her first baseball game. She wasn't at the stage where she was ready to sit on our laps for much of the game, so I walked her around the park in the carrier and she fell asleep on both dad and mom for a little bit.









We took our first vacation as a family of three to Mendocino. We stayed at Howard Creek Ranch Inn, north of Fort Bragg. You have to stay there to experience the feel of this unique B&B. They were nice enough to let us bring a four month old and she behaved beautifully. The Inn has access to a beautiful secluded beach, which we enjoyed by ourselves most of the time. Besides enjoy the ambiance of the Inn, we packed our three day vacation with fun things. We stopped at a few of our favorite wineries in Anderson Valley on the way there, had a great dinner out at the Westport Inn, walked the beach at low tide both evenings and both mornings, drove inland and hiked in to the Eel river, and stopped by our favorite coastal towns of Fort Bragg and Mendocino.

For labor day weekend, we went to see our alum, UC Davis play at Cal. The football game was only three weeks after the Giants game, but Elli being four months old was now happy to sit up on our laps and watch the activity more than the Giants game. Her favorite part was listening to the half-time marching bands. She loved the music!


So that ends our first summer with Elliana. We'll spend the next few months really treasuring the moments we get to spend as a family here at home. We will be visiting dad at the winery (and posting harvest updates) so we can still flash him that winning smile. We are sure that will pick up his harvest spirits!

While she sleeps, I look at her pictures!

It makes me laugh that when our baby goes down for the night or for a nap, I end up looking at the pictures we have taken of her. Here is some favorites from the last week.

Caught a big smile when I asked her to smile!

She grabbed the wine glass handle on her own! Truly a winemaker's daughter.

Happy birthday Grandpa!

Now that she has good head control, she can sit in her Bumbo seat. We got her a new rattle that has skinny handles so it is easier for her to grasp and practice those new found fingers.

Too cute!

What a Difference!

When I started this blog, I knew there would be great stories to share about Elliana but I didn't have any on the tip of my tongue that night. All of a sudden, she's showing us big signs that she's growing and learning.

Last week she started doing more vocal coo's and this week it's more frequently. I love seeing her on the changing table and "talking" to her floppy bunny who is sitting on the shelf above her. I made the head of the bunny look down at her so she looks right at it and yaps away.



Of course, she loves looking at her mom and dad and cooing for awhile. You can see how she forms her lips as she coos in the picture above.

Yesterday was a big day. She rolled over onto her right side from her back! With no help from mom, she did it a few times. She also really enjoyed her bath for the first time. She was studying her legs as she kicked and stretched in the water.

Today she went in the swimming pool with absolutely no complaints. She just studied the water and looked around. We just got back from her riding in the carrier facing the front (instead of facing towards my chest). She loved looking all around. It's no surprise that she loved looking all around as she has always been the baby to watch and observe. When I first put her in the carrier facing forward, we were watching ourselves in the bathroom mirror, and she gave a look and sound that told me "Oh this is cool. I'm going to like this new position!"

And with that, mom feels accomplished posting a blog while Elli takes a nap!

first blog post

First blog. First baby now three months old, which is a time full of firsts for baby and parents!

Hang with me as I sort out the purpose of this blog.

1. To share pictures and stories of our life as a Lapides family of three.
2. Allow me to have a creative outlet - a way to wind down after a day of being a mom.
3. I'd like to bring up topics for my fellow mom's to comment on so we can share our ideas with each other.

Pics and stories coming soon!