She's a walkin'!

Okay... I am now coming out of blogging hibernation (and just in time for winter...). These last few months have been filled to the brim, and I chose sleep and sanity over posting. Sorry! But I'm not sure if it helped the sanity anyway... :)

For a quick recap of recent events:

• We lived on a boat! Luckily, Elena was only crawling but she still kept me pretty busy. We had a lot of fun, though! Definitely an experience worth living, despite obvious difficulties. I am very grateful for previously unappreciated things: unloading a groceries from my car now only takes a minute, and I will not get a phone call from anyone if Elena is finishing her nap in the car while I'm unloading these groceries, showers are in the same building as my bedroom, and doggy potty trips do not require a leash. Ah, pure luxury.
• In September we bought a house! Our very first home, all our own. Adam teases me that I've been nesting for the past two years, but I did what I could with some very un-nestable locations (an apartment after our furniture had been moved, a hotel, a boat). So. I think I deserve to build a good strong nest that's not going to move in a few months. :)
• In September we also celebrated Elena's 1st birthday! (And Charlemagne's second!) September 25 marked one year since our little girl joined our family, and I still can't believe it's gone by so fast. We had great weather for a little bbq birthday party down at the park, and thanks for everyone who could be there. We know many more were there in spirit.
• A few weeks ago Elena got to go trick-or-treating for the first time! She dressed up for Halloween as Tinkerbell, and so of course Adam was Peter Pan, and I went as Wendy. She definitely tied it all together.

Not such a brief recap after all. I never was good at summarizing.

But in terms of Elena news, she is as adventurous and joyful as ever. Big people toys are much more interesting to her (i.e. cellphones, pens, forks), but that may also have to do with having many more of those around than toys until recently. She really enjoys water in all forms. Poor Charlemagne, he can't have his water bowl most of the time because she thinks its the greatest thing ever to stick her hands in it and then tip it all out. High-fiving and waving to people are good clean fun, though.

She's pretty steady on her feet now, and much cruising has been going on for a little over a month now. She started taking single steps a few weeks ago, and last Saturday she took four or five in a row! She did it again yesterday, so I guess this is it. I am now preparing for baby adventures in high speed.

I'm just so glad that Adam got to see these first few steps. We feel very lucky. He's leaving again soon, and didn't want to count on anything but I knew how much he wanted to be here for this milestone. Way to go, baby. That's the best early Christmas present ever.

Here are some pictures of our little Tink. :)

Grumpy McGrumpykins just woke up from a nap, but Daddy's compensating.

Just kidding! We're happy now!


Trick or treat!

Mmmm... candy.

A little fuzzy, but here's the whole ensemble.

My favorite. :)

Pumpkin carving! We were a little late, but the day before Halloween

our friend Laura and my brother Kyle joined us for a little gourdy fun.

Can you match the person with the pumpkin?

Clockwise from top:

The happy toothy smile is Laura's, clover is Adam (duh),

nautical seascape is Kyle (quite the artiste),

itty bitty punkin is Elena's (inspired by her giant grin, with some help from Mom),

and the hat is mine (dates are helpful...)