Elisa in the States

We have been back in the states on our furlough for a couple of weeks now. Elisa started off having a little bit of a difficult time. I mentioned in the last post that I had a dream that she had a mouth full of teeth - well, it is starting to actually happen! It looks like she might have 4 or 5 teeth coming in at about the same time. Two new teeth (they look to be molars - which is a little strange for a 16 month old) broke through the gum yesterday. Needless to say she has been in a lot of pain which makes her very fussy. To top it off she has had a little bit of a cold (possibly due to teething) and we took her to get some vaccines (4 shots). Poor little thing can't catch a break.

Jennifer's mom was able to take off work one day so that we could all take Elisa to the zoo. She had a great time hanging out with all the animals. The giraffes were the best! She had a lot of fun feeding them. She also enjoyed the hippos, the gorillas and the bears (who were especially active). Here is a great clip of Elisa feeding the lovable giraffes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo:

Elisa is getting a lot more exposure to children her own age while in the states. That is a very good thing since she doesn't really play with any kids her age in Brazil. Our friends, James and Jolie, have a little girl, Paige, who is just a few months older than Elisa. Elisa and Paige got together for a play date last week and had a great time. We heard later that Paige cried the whole way home after dropping Jennifer and Elisa off at home. When Jolie (her mommy) asked her who she missed she said, "Elisa". Isn't that sweet!

Elisa and Paige get ready for playtime!

Even though it seems like she has been having a difficult start to her visit to the US, she has been doing pretty well in other areas. Her English is getting a good jump start as she isn't hearing much Portuguese. She has picked up a few new words and has actually started singing! The songs "Baa-baa Black Sheep", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and the "A,B,C song" have the same tune. She just started singing this tune using one of the following words: Dada, Mama or Baba. It is hilarious! We were lucky enough to get it on film, but unfortunately it is too big of a file for me to get uploaded on this post. I will try to get her singing again soon.

We will try to keep you updated on the rest of our travels while in the states, but it may be difficult. You may just take a break and come back and see us at the New Year.

It's been a while

I started the most recent post of my other blog with an apology, so I guess I should do that here too. Actually, this blog gets a lot more attention so I will give a more heart-felt apology to all you frequenters out there.

I am truly sorry for having failed you by not posting more regularly. No excuse I have is good enough for my keeping you from Elisa updates. Again, I apologize.

Okay, now that I have confessed and repented of being a slacker in my blogging let me try to update you a little on the world of Elisa.

She is talking a lot more these days. Actually, her talking starts when she wakes up in the morning and only stops when she falls asleep at night. There is a pause for the occasional daytime nap. Words she uses most these days are: shoe, baby, ball, BALL, bye-bye, dadda, mama, MAMA and the infamous NO! Most of the time, though, she speaks "Elisa" and just babbles. We encourage her to speak freely (whatever the language may be).

She runs non-stop with arms flailing! It is quite the site to see her take off with her hands and arms flapping about like she is preparing to take flight. I love to imitate her on occasion (of course, this is not in front of other people).

We are grateful that all of the stairs in our home have baby gates because Elisa can climb stairs just about as fast as we can. We are still perfecting going down.

She has just 4 teeth still. We expect her to wake up some morning with a mouth full of chompers. I had a dream the other night that she had a mouth FULL of molars! It was really weird.

She loves all sorts of things: birds (she calls them "beee"), being outside in the grass, apple juice, cheese, doggies (she isn't old enough for a pet yet, but we will probably have to get her a dog sometime in the next couple of years), dancing to any kind of music, jumping onto piles of pillows, being tickled, being tossed in the air, reading her books, hugging her stuffed animals and playing with other children.

She is about to take her 2nd international journey. We will leave tomorrow for a 2 month furlough to the states where I expect Elisa will be spoiled rotten by grandparents and uncles and aunts. I think it will be a lot of fun for her to play in the snow of Colorado and to open Christmas presents with her grandparents in Texas. This should be a good trip for her. It is going to take us a little over 24 hours to get from here to there, so please keep us (especially Elisa) in your prayers. I will do my best to keep you up to speed on how she is doing during the trip, but there may be times when we don't have good internet access. Non the less, as I said, I will do my best!

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Elisa for you to enjoy. Thanks for stopping by.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

For quite a while now Elisa has been singing songs. She kind of hums with an open mouth, not really forming words. However, it is pretty obvious that she is singing. It is one of the really cute and funny things that she does (for her biased parents the list is long).

A couple of weeks ago Jennifer started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider to Elisa. After just the 2nd or 3rd time of singing it Elisa picked it up... somewhat. She does her version when Jennifer finishes (with the hand choreography too!) You will definitely enjoy this video!

Farroupilhia

Tomorrow is a holiday in our state known as Farroupilhia (fa-hoe-peel-ya). The only real way I know how to explain Farroupilhia is to say that it is a celebration of the Gaúcho spirit. Every year at this time the gaúchos of the area have a large camp out near downtown for almost the entire month of September. If you were to go to the gaúcho camp you would see a lot of people walking around in traditional gaúcho attire, lots of horses, good food and some traditional gaúcho products for sell.

Today we took Elisa down to the Farroiupilhia/gaúcho camp. We had a great time walking around and checking out all the cool stuff. I will share with you one really close call that I witnessed. Elisa's favorite song is "Baa, baa black sheep". I looked over as we were walking down a path to see "Baa, baa black sheep" hanging upside down with a crowd gathering around to see him get slaughtered! Yikes! Now that is Farroupilhia! Thankfully, Elisa wasn't exposed to that part of Farroupilhia.

Here are some photos and a video of our family at Farroupilhia. We really think that Elisa had a great time. Check out the video to see her taking her first horse ride!

Daddy and Elisa in traditional Gaúcho clothing.

BEEF!

Mommy helping Elisa on her first horsey ride!

A Gaúcho walking down a path at Farroupilhia.

Mommy and Elisa with the state (Rio Grande do Sul) and Brazilian flags.

A miniature horse ready to pull a buggy.

Yikes! What!? Did she...?

Somehow I think we are in for it. Elisa has turned on a whole new attitude that we aren't quite ready for. I've heard of the "terrible 2s" and maybe even the "terrible 3s", but do the "terrible 15 months" exist? It could be that she isn't feeling well due to teething, but it is hard to say. All I know is that lately, although she is still sweet, she is a little stinker too!

An example: the other day I was feeding her lunch or dinner and she decided to throw some of her food on the floor (this isn't altogether uncommon - happens at every meal). This time, however, when I told her "No, Elisa!" she furrowed her brow, looked at me and said "Na, dada!" with her pudgy finger pointing at me! What!? Did she really just do that!? Oh, man, we are in big trouble!

My mom likes to think that us kids will get the trouble that we caused through our own children. The problem is, I really don't think I was this ornery!

Smarty pants!

Elisa has really gotten good at pointing out whatever we ask her to. She is a pro at pointing out eyes and saying "eyes" (although it isn't perfect pronunciation it is close enough for me to not change it phonetically). She has some t-shirts that have animals on them like chicks, puppies, turtles, etc. If you ask her where her chick, puppy or turtle is she will point it out on her shirt. She has gotten exceptionally good at doing this with the puppies because, as an added bonus, she will point the puppy out and give a little bark. It is too cute. I hope you enjoy this little video of her demonstrating how much of a smarty pants she is.

Out and about

This week we have seen huge temperature changes. The south part of Brazil has experienced its coldest winter in something like 45 years (give or take). Finally, after consistent temperatures in the 40s and low 50s (with rain) we have had some nice days in the 70s and 80s [note the difference in temperature change by viewing the picture of Elisa helping me make a fire in the previous post]. We are able to get out and take walks more comfortably now (wearing shorts and sun dresses). We open up the back doors of our main floor to allow Elisa to play in and out of the house as she pleases. And let me tell you, she pleases! She loves playing in the grass of our little back yard. And she loves looking over the fence to see the neighbor's dog - which she yells at and makes an attempt to bark at! We love seeing her eat up the outdoors. It is a lot of fun now that she is so mobile and able to get herself "out and about" so well. Our family invites Spring to stay in Porto Alegre as long as it likes!

Elisa yelling/barking at the neighbor's dog!

Running wild in the back yard...

Elisa loves to play with her ball!

Elisa and Daddy kicking the ball.

Great tackle Elisa!

Elisa loves her Mommy!

Funny Little Girl

Cuddling with Daddy

NNNOOOOOSSSE!

Elisa is helping Daddy make a fire on a cold and blustery night.

Elisa is entertaining a few members of our house church (she is dancing to "Row, row, row your boat"!)

What is going on?

It is always fun to post pictures and videos of Elisa. But, this time I will just let you all in on recent happenings - all the stuff that is going on.

Elisa is having a great time being able to go where she wants, when she wants. She is into everything! I am so thankful that the stairs in our house have baby gates installed already. They have really come in handy!

In addition to her feet being non-stop, so is her cute little mouth. She can talk it up! Most of the time her speech is just baby jabber, but she has really been working on a few words. Some examples of her favorites include: bai, bai - bye, bye; mmmike - milk; eeears - ears; da da - daddy (although I think she calls several things "da da"). I am pretty sure there are a few others, I just can't recall them at the moment.

We have been practicing the parts of the face with her this week. She is getting pretty good at identifying where her ears, nose, tongue and eyes are... well, she really has the ears down good. All the other parts of the face are where the ears are too ;).

She has always been real playful and cuddly, but I think that she is becoming more so. It is a lot of fun when I am laying on the floor and she tries to tackle me - she raises her hands in the air and then falls on me. I love that. Speaking of raising her hands: she started raising both hands in the air this week just playing around. When she did Jennifer and I started to shout out "touchdown". She loved it. Now, every time she wants us to yell out "touchdown" she lifts her hands into the air. She's a natural football fan - I'm so proud!

She now has 4 teeth - 2 on the bottom and 2 on top. She loves to crunch on Cheerios and she LOVES to brush her teeth. Her facial expressions are priceless when we are brushing her teeth. She just thinks it is the greatest thing. I am going to have to get some pictures of that on here pretty soon. It is good stuff.

She loves dogs. We know that sometime in the text couple of years we are going to have to get her one. When we go to the mall we take her by the pet shop so she can check out the doggies and the fish. Jennifer suggested that we buy a couple of fish when we get back to Brazil from furlough at the beginning of January (we leave for the states on November 1st and return to Brazil on January 3rd). I think that Elisa will enjoy have fish to look at - if she can sit still long enough!

She has started this singing thing (look out American Idol). She will ramble on in this high pitched voice for a couple of minutes. It is unmistakable that she is singing - again, unbelievably cute and something to post on this blog.

I know that there are a ton more things that I could write. Elisa is such a great child. We love being her mommy and daddy. I don't think either one of us could be prouder. She brings us joy each and every day... and a little bit of craziness.

Elisa on the go!

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post on this blog. It could be that I have needed a little break from blogging or that I have been too busy trying to keep up with Elisa. She took off walking a couple of weeks ago and there has been no slowing her down. She is all over the place! All she wants to do is walk, run and dance. She is a little ball of fun! Seriously, she is so funny to watch and play with - all we do is laugh (I assure you that we are laughing with her, not at her).

This video is of Elisa playing with a balloon that a woman gave her. We were at the mall a couple of days ago and she got her hands on this balloon and just had a great time. You would have thought it was pure gold! I love how easily entertained she is at this age. Enjoy!



This next video is of Elisa dancing to the nursery rhyme "Baa, Baa Black Sheep". I don't know what it is about that song, but she loves it (and the little book we have too). The funny thing about this video to me is how bad the singing is. It is horrible, but Elisa thinks it is the greatest!

Book Worm

One of Elisa's favorite activities is reading her books. She absolutely loves books. She will take a beat-up, 1970s book called "Kittens" over the newest toy on the market! It is really something. One of her most read books is "Baa Baa Black Sheep" from the nursery rhyme. She will pick it up and say "Baa baa" over and over again. She is super sweet!

Every now and then we will ask her "Elisa, have you read your books? Go and get your books." She will look over to the book shelf where they are put away, walk or crawl over to them, pull all of them off the shelf and sit down to read. Jennifer and I are really proud of her desire to stretch her little mind with wonderful writings on kittens, bunnies, ducks, and all other sorts of animals (those tend to be her favorites).

1st Year Photos

Yesterday we took Elisa to get her 1st year pictures done! Here are a few that we have to choose from. Remember, these are just proofs. Once we make our decisions they will sharpen things up and take out what shouldn't be there. Anyway, enjoy!

Personality Check

Here are some new videos of Elisa that show her personality pretty well. This first one is of a laughing contest that we had last night. If you provoke her at the right moment she will laugh back and forth with you for quite a while. This one is also pretty good because it shows how much she likes to hit the same button on a toy over and over again - little annoying but it is really cute.


This second video is of Elisa saying "ba-ba" which is bye-bye and waving to anyone who will pay attention. Again, cute stuff!

Birthday Party

Yesterday we had a little birthday party for Elisa. We invited 5 of her little girlfriends to come over and play and eat cake. Jennifer rented a little plastic fence and some plastic balls for the girls to play in. I think some of the adults ended up playing too!









Unfortunately, I missed Elisa's party because I was in bed with the flu. Even though I couldn't be there (which was definitely for the best) her laughter and screams (literally) of glee brought me a lot of joy.

Elisa, I am very proud to be your Daddy. Every day I want to love you more and protect you better. Just the thought of your precious ways brings a broad smile across my face. Your laughter keeps your Mommy and me in stitches! Your sweet cuddles bring us warmth. You make me love your Mommy more and more. Thank you for blessing me with so much joy and love. God is already using you. We pray that you will choose one day to allow Him to work in you always. Happy birthday, baby girl. I love you.

Birthday Girl!

Tuesday was Elisa's 1st birthday! We took it easy throughout the day, opening presents every couple of hours. It seems like we sang "happy birthday" a couple of dozen times in English and Portuguese throughout the day too! By the time we were ready to have cake (after supper) Elisa wasn't interested in the least bit. She ended up eating some of it for breakfast on Wednesday. All in all, Tuesday was a good day.

We plan on having a birthday party for her on Saturday. The 1st birthday is a pretty big deal in Brazil, but we are just going to have a small party with 5 of her little friends. I will post an update on the party as soon as I can.

Elisa checking out her mountain of gifts...

Elisa and Daddy playing with the "Leap Frog" caterpillar her Grandparents gave her.

Elisa's birthday cake with surrounding cupcakes for the adults.

"Make a wish, Elisa!"

Elisa and Granddaddy play with her puppy.

Mommy and Elisa read a new book.

"See 'n Say"

It is hard to believe that Elisa will be one year old tomorrow! I can't figure out where all the time has gone. Her grandparents (Jennifer's parents) arrived this last Saturday to help celebrate her birthday with us.

Here is a video clip of Elisa playing with her new "See 'n Say". I don't think she knew whether to hit it or eat it! Pretty cute stuff...

Walking with Elisa: Live!

Check out this video clip of Elisa walking! We are all over the place! Good times!

She's a Walker!

The following is from an email that Jennifer sent our family last night:

Hi Family,
I just wanted to let you know about a major milestone in Elisa's little life. Tonight she officially started walking unsupported! We were at the birthday party of her little friend, Ana Luisa, and she would not let us pick her up - she just wanted us to walk all over creation with her while she held one of our fingers (one-handed). Then, right as we were leaving, I put her down on the floor because she was crying as I tried to say goodbye to everyone, and I let go of her hand. She just took off walking all over the place. Ana Luisa's dad (Alexandre) got out his video camera, and she just kept on walking all around the room. She can turn and everything. It was all very exciting for us and for all of Ana Luisa's family who stood around watching her accomplishment. Even the waiters at the birthday party stopped to watch. Hopefully Alexandre will give us a copy of the video he took and we can try to post it. We just wanted to share the excitement - 16 days before her first birthday!!
Love,
Jennifer

Family Picture: Winter 2007

Silly Little Girl!

Elisa is such a silly little girl! She has us laughing a good part of the time. Here are some of the cute things that she has done lately that we have caught on film.

Spreading avocado in her hair!

Realizing that avocado in the hair isn't a good idea.

Talking to her Grandparents' pictures.

Hiding in the laundry basket!

Kicking rocks with glee as she walks down a path.

Staying bundled on a cold day.