All Things Elise & Alina: March 2012

Monday, March 26, 2012

Happy St. Patricks Day 2012 - From Our Two Little Irish Gals!

Our Irish gals making each other smile

Cute giggling sisters

Baby's first St. Patrick's Day

Elise and her sweet smile

Happy St Patrick's Day 2012! Our two little Irish gals were on their best behavior for this impromptu photo session. I like the fact that they are both able to entertain each other. They play together more and more each day, and let me tell you, it is adorable! They make each other laugh and giggle with just one look, and already have their non-verbal communication down pat. Elise basically just mimics all Alina's baby noises, and is met with endless laughter and smiles from her. Their little back-and-forth banter had me rolling on the ground laughing. The two of them are so cute together!

So cute; momma loves watching them play together

Adorable laughter

Super sweet

The littlest doll and her green parasol

Elise under her pretty parasol

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Rainy Sundays

Elise with her Disney figurine collection

The colorful medley of characters

Kisses, muah

Happy baby Alina enjoying the rainy Sunday

We had such gorgeous weather in January and February, that I thought it may just continue on until spring, but thankfully we finally received some much needed rain mid-March. Rainy Sundays indoors, have become fun times for the girls. Elise likes to bring all her toys out to the front room and play. She especially enjoys playing with her myriad of Disney figurines. Alina likes to chew on anything she can get her hands on, and (much to Elise's dismay) has a craving for those very same Disney figurines. Mom and Dad are grateful for the rainy days as well. Watching the babies play together has become an enjoyable new past time. Plus, we stayed extremely busy during January and February, and did quite a bit of traveling, so it has been nice to just relax at home and enjoy a weekend with no plans, as it rarely ever happens anymore.

In baby Alina news, she is quickly mastering the art of mobility. She started sitting up on her own at 7 months old. One week later and she can now sit up for extended periods of time very well. Alina is sooo close to fully crawling! She is creeping all over the place. This mainly consists of rolling, army crawling and inch-worming to get where she wants to go. When I put her down she moves immediately and can pretty much span an entire room using her patented roll, pull, inch-worm technique. She is getting better each day and as of now, I predict she will be officially crawling within another 3-4 weeks! She is also a baby chatterbox. Her vocabulary primarily consists of ma, da, ba, wa and ga. She has been saying "ga-ga" for about a week now, and I think she is very close to saying "ma-ma". Trust me, I'm working all the angles to ensure that "ma-ma" is her first word.

Little doll sitting up on her own

Tiny feet and butterfly baby shoes

Hair swirl :) I'm gonna miss these cute short baby locks

Flashing the cheese smile just for mommy

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Plum Tree in Bloom

Our blossoming plum tree

Coated in beautiful white flowers

Elise dancing happily under the plum tree

I love walking out to our backyard during late February and early March, because our huge plum tree is in bloom and it really is a gorgeous sight. The white blossoms coat the entire tree and when the wind blows, white petals fall like dancing snowflakes through the air. I enjoyed watching Elise twirl and spin under the plum tree, with her arms extended to the sky while the "snow plum petals" (as she named them) danced all around her. Simply beautiful!

Dainty white blossoms

Shoes on backwards and not a care in the world :)

Spring in in the air

Looking forward to sweet summer plums

Saturday, March 3, 2012

2012 Chinese New Year Parade, San Francisco - Year of the Dragon

The girls enjoying the SF Chinese New Year parade

Chinese New Year 2012 - Year of the Dragon

Vibrant dragons - SF Chinese New Year parade

Fantastic displays; the parade went on for 2+ hours

One of many cool Year of the Dragon 2012 floats

The 2012 San Francisco Chinese New Year parade was a first for us, and we had a fantastic time! Grandma, grandpa, Uncle Colin and Devin were there, and of course, we brought along our little ox, Elise, and rabbit, Alina, to ring in 2012 and the Year of the Dragon. The parade was excellent. It was over two hours long and filled with vibrant floats, colorful lights, festive music, and hundreds of dancing dragons, in every shape, size and color imaginable. The girls enjoyed watching the show. At first, Elise was a little hesitant to get close to the dragons, but by the end of the parade, she was doing her best to reach out and touch them. Alina was awake for most of the parade and enjoyed just chilling in the baby carrier and fixating on all the colorful lights. After the parade we all had dinner at an excellent restaurant in Chinatown. It was some of the best Chinese food ever.

I find the Chinese zodiac signs rather interesting, especially when it comes to the girls. Elise is an ox, and she can be as stubborn as ever when it comes to getting her way. The upside of that is her determination and drive; I can already see her being assertive and highly motivated, which are positive attributes to carry into adulthood. Alina is a rabbit, and while it really is far too early to analyze her personality traits, rabbit's are known for their calm and peaceful demeanor (hooray). They are highly compassionate and diplomatic; and do their best to avoid confrontation. Right now, Alina really is the most peaceful and content little baby. I'm sure she will enter the toddler terror years just like any other kid, but here's hoping that she will remain relatively calm and non-confrontational throughout adulthood (I can wish right?). Happy Chinese New Year 2012!