Per your request

Here, mother, are some recent videos of Eila:



Hope you like them!

Hands

There isn't much to see or do when you're slightly reclined and facing backwards in the backseat of a car. And that's not a big deal when you're little, but it's probably more annoying the older you get (although I know they are now recommending that you keep your child rear-facing as long as possible). Eila's weight, or more specifically her lack thereof, kept us from turning her around.

From Mar/Apr2012

But luckily Annikka was in the backseat with her, a benefit to being the second child. We would smile to hear Eila's nearly daily request, "hold my finger." And fortunately big sister would usually comply.

From Mar/Apr2012

But Eila is finally over 21 lbs, so this past weekend we turned her seat around. It's opened up a whole new world for her (she keeps commenting on how fast we're going) and she clearly feels more a part of the group. I just hope that it doesn't completely bring an end to her requests to "hold my finger."

Happy Easter

From Mar/Apr2012

Our Easter started, as you might imagine, with baskets. Annikka was very excited, but Eila was a little put out by me wanting to take pictures.

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

After this initial sugar injection, we spent the day in Eugene. The girls had a egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house, complete with age-appropriate labels and hiding spots.

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

A visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house could never be complete without story time.

From Mar/Apr2012

Hope you had a very happy Easter too.

Sisters weekend

From Mar/Apr2012

For spring break, we spent the weekend in Sisters with the Howe clan. As you saw in the previous post, it was still skiing season and we were very proud of the progress Annikka has made. But skiing wasn't all we did. Annikka and Eila introduced little Ruthie to the joys of swimming in the hot tub:

From Mar/Apr2012

And we had lots of time for playing and hanging out together.

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

And, of course, a few family photos.

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

First Time Down the Mountain ... ALONE!!!

It's been a fun few days in Central Oregon, where we've been staying in Sisters with my parents and my sister's family. Yesterday, Annikka and I went up to Mt. Bachelor. I skied in the concrete soup, and Annikka took a lesson. At the end of the lesson, the instructor implied that Annikka might be ready to go down a real hill without riding under my arms.

So today Annikka and I trekked back over to the mountain to take some runs on the free chair lift. (You'll recall our last trip to this lift.) Annikka was adamant the entire car ride up to the mountain that she would not be going down the without my help. But I held out hope.

We took four runs down the hill with her under my arms. By the fourth run, Annikka had somehow realized that she could actually get down at least part of the hill on her own. So on the next two runs I took her down the steep part of the run under my arms, but then we stopped in the middle (the flatter part of the hill), and from there she got down the hill on her own (with me following closely).

On the way up the chair lift Annikka announced that she was ready to go down the ENTIRE hill (even the steep part) on her own. Here's how it went:



All in all, we went down the hill four times assisted, and probably another five to seven times unassisted. Several times, Annikka said, "Isn't skiing fun, daddy? It's SO much fun!"

I am so proud of her; I'm proud that she has learned so much on the mountain this year, and I'm proud that she took a leap and went down the hill. What a fun day!

Toddler room

On Friday Eila moved from the wobbler room to the toddler room - our little one is growing up so quickly. It shouldn't be a tough transition because the two rooms are actually within the same room, it's just split down the middle.

From Mar/Apr2012

The toddler room is a fun place. It offers the excitement of circle time, hopefully an expansion in vocabulary, an introduction to potty-training, and lots of ponytails. :)

From Mar/Apr2012

Eila's been accompanying everyone to the bathroom at our house for a while, so she was really happy to finally be in a room at school with a potty. If we're lucky Eila will be potty-trained in this room like Annikka was (work your magic Miss Annette).

Port removal

Today was Eila's third and final (we pray) surgery to remove her port. We all went up to Portland last night and stayed over in a hotel to go swimming, Eila's favorite activity. Grandma and Grandpa joined us, and then spent the day with Annikka for more swimming and manicures while we were at the hospital with Eila.

Although she was a little tired and hungry, Eila had fun in surgery's waiting area.

From Mar/Apr2012

Her enthusiastic toddler spirit has definitely been the upside to her being so young for all of this - she's made it easier on all of us.

From Mar/Apr2012

And more fun while waiting for her meds to kick in.

From Mar/Apr2012

From Mar/Apr2012

Surgery was a success, and very quick. The doctor came out to see us after only ~20 minutes and brought us a memento, Eila's port!

From Mar/Apr2012

Not exactly something every kid has in their memory box, luckily.

Unfortunately Eila had a much harder time coming out of anesthesia after this surgery, something we were told is not uncommon with the drug she received. This lasted ~35 minutes, and nothing we did made it better, although there were things that made it worse.



But an hour later, she was back to herself and snacking happily. We drove home without incident this time (they gave her anti-nausea medicine) and she had a normal evening without any pain. Now that her "bump" is gone, it feels like we've really completed this chapter. And we're all very happy to be moving on.