Elena-isms

It's been a busy month getting back into the swing of things after a long Christmas break!  We had an extended break due to the snow that came at the beginning of the month.  It was really nice to have an extra couple of days at home!  We all cuddled on the couch, made snow ice cream, and just played, played, played!!  Since then, the weather has been fine, just really COLD!!  Now that we are getting towards the end of January, I, for one, am ready to say good-bye to the cold weather.  It's time to get outside without a coat on!!  (I hate wearing coats...my hair is always full of static and sticking to my face when I wear a coat).
Elena has been wonderful, as usual.  Her personality is blossoming and we are learning so much about her everyday.  She is starting to read some words, compliments of mama and papa getting her an easel for Christmas so we can practice letters and words.  Her new Leap Pad, compliments of abuelo and abuela, has really helped her be an independent learner and work on tracing her letters.  It's quite remarkable to watch her concentrate!
Elena is also enjoying just playing with her friends too.  She LOVES her buddies at daycare and talks about them all the time.  We got to spend an evening with cousins a few weeks ago and Elena got to play on the trampoline and slide down the playhouse slide at Peyton and Harper's house.  It was a blast to watch them all play.

We decided it was time to put our list of "Elena-isms" online so we don't forget them over the years...here is our list so far...

• Binkie-snuggle (this means I want a binkie and a quick snuggle because it's time for bed)
• Hol-chu (this means she wants someone to hold her)
• Char-Drown (Charlie Brown...her new FAVORITE Christmas movie)
• Reesy-Nora (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...her other FAVORITE movie)  She loves it when her Aunt "Shell" sings the songs to her.
• Tup (Cup)
• Aredoe Worms (she wants to play Play-dough and make worms)
• Shhhhtttt (the sound she makes when she is pouring coffee into a cup for us to enjoy)
• Georges (these are fruit snacks...the first ones we ever let Elena try were Curious George themed and calling all fruit snacks Georges has just stuck...Juan and I even find ourselves calling them Georges :)
• Pwease (Please)
• Oh, Oh Yeah! (says this when she remembers to do something)
• Wa-Wa, Wa-Wo (abuela, abuelo)
• Tendo (Nintendo)
• Maweeo (Mario)

We are sure there are others, but for now, this is the start of our list   :)

 Snuggles...

 Adding some pink "pretties" to her snow ice cream

 LOTS of them...

Reading some names...