life according to the diaz's: Four Day Weekend!

I have never been so ready for a four day weekend! It feels so wonderful sitting here on a Sunday night knowing we don't have to be anywhere in the morning. I am enjoying some quiet time tonight on the couch watching pointless TV...and loving every second! We have had a fabulous weekend so far. I was able to get some cleaning accomplished on Friday while Elena took a long nap before Parents As Teachers that afternoon. Elena's development is right on track and she has a strong "leader-like" temperament. In other words, she is THE BOSS in all she does...not surprising at all. We made a bean bag and practiced throwing it into a bowl. She is getting better at this skill each day. Elena is still working on using crayons and not putting them in her mouth. She still thinks it's funny to put the crayons in her mouth and quickly pull them away when we tell her no. I have to sternly tell her no and put the crayons and paper away. This seems to be a bit of a trend for Elena...thinking it's funny to be naughty. If I give her the evil eye or tell her to stop what she is doing, she just looks at me (or whoever is telling her to stop being naughty) and says "Hi," in her sweet little Elena voice. It is hard not to smile when she does this. We all just continue to love her to pieces!! On Saturday, we went up to visit family for my birthday and my day's birthday. We enjoyed some awesome Chinese food and had a blast watching everyone play with Elena. It was a great way to spend the evening.
Elena just continues to grow up too fast before our very eyes. She is running around everywhere and talking up a storm. She is saying words like "thank you, hi, here you go, more..." and others too...Elena definitely understands more words than she can say. I can tell her to get my shoes and she can go to the closet and get my tennis shoes...it cracks us up! She is doing so great at the babysitter's house and enjoys her days at home with Abuela and grandma. Juan and I are so thankful week after week that Elena gets the care that she gets...both out of the house and time with her grandmas at home. We are loving every single second with our baby girl...she is the sunshine in our lives everyday. Even when she is looking at us yelling and stomping her feet about something, it almost makes us love her even more because she is so dang smart about what she needs and wants and is able to communicate with us. Life is good and we count our blessings everyday!!

Pictures and videos from the last few weeks that tells more of what Elena is up to...I can't seem to keep up with all that she is doing!! :)