She walks!

In the presence of her grandparents and great-granddad, Ena went from a stagger to a genuine walk. Each attempt, a step or two more. Now she's a walker - but only when she must, there's no willy-nilly walking for no reason! It's still a special event, and what hugs, kisses, and claps she earns each time. Lovely.

"Hot" she's saying now. As in, the oven, when she tries to put her hands on the front, but also maybe other things she shouldn't touch. They're "hot".

"Hat" (often sounds exactly like "hot") when she takes mine off while we're walking, her in the front carrier.

"Mama" is getting a good run these past few days, a sort of mantra when she's looking around for M. Last night she had been doing this, and when M returned to the room and I left (we now take turns at nearly everthing - breakfast, bathroom, dressing, etc.) I heard Ena switch to "Dada" over and over. :) I think she's right, we should both get to stay home with her all the time.

Here's a two photos of Ena with her Nanny and her Granddad on the way to Powell River last week.

Granddad's influence

During Ena's recent visit to her Nanny and Granddad's she learned a couple of new things. She learned, for example, the very useful skill of waving hello. We were in the airport the first time she waved to someone. A woman on our plane came over to say hi to Ena and fuss over her. And surprise! Ena waved hello. She also learned a less useful but more amusing action from her Granddad - how to press your face against a glass window.

Granddad took us to the airport terminal. As we waited in the security area before boarding our flight he made a bunch of funny faces for Ena, including pressing his face up against the glass wall dividing us from him. A week later when I was at home with Ena I took her over to our patio door to look outside. I happened to be holding her in front of me at the time. She immediately pressed her face against the window - just like Granddad.

Nanny & Granddad visited

We were very lucky to have E's parents here for a few days this past weekend. They haven't seen Ena since she was born and it was great to have her spend time with them. She took to them right away - she seemed to love listening to Granddad talk and smiled easily for both of them. Having them here also meant a break for E & I. We tried to get some work done around the house but we also took a couple evenings to ourselves for dinner out. What a treat! I wish that they lived closer to us (or we closer to them) so that they could be a bigger part of Ena's life. I don't want them to miss out on her growing up.
One of the negatives of Nanny and Granddad's visit was that our schedule was disrupted. A small price to pay, I know, but all the change meant that Ena was sleeping less. She spent very little time sleeping during her naps and became increasingly stubborn about resisting them (tears, yelling and all). At night she woke more often - one night she fed three or four times! - and slept for shorter periods. They left this morning and I am hoping that we can get ourselves back on track tonight. I really was enjoying those 7 to 9 hour stretches of sleep at night!