We met up with Alison, Emily & Mark at Appleseeds , a great play space in Manhattan for a play date. Last time we saw little Alison, it was August and she was almost a year old and wasn't walking yet...today she barely stopped running:
(I took a few other pictures but mainly of the back or side of her head as she ran past me...)
Meanwhile Eliana explored everything; the slides,
the tunnels,
the pineapples!
And the blocks and play food and plates and balls and other building stuff and...let's just say she was busy, so busy that she was hardly interested in lunch, even dining with Alison:
It was fun to get out and see Appleseeds, which I'd read about and was interested in experiencing since it was voted one of the best play spaces around. And it was a drizzly day so we wouldn't have been able to go to the playground...most of all we enjoyed catching up with our friends..it's amazing how these little girls are growing and changing.
On Valentine's Day we went out to an early dinner as a family:
We had dinner at the Chip Shop, an English style restaurant known for their fish and chips. Eliana asked for a beer like Abba, but we told her she had to be at least 3. (When she's 3, we'll tell her at least 5.) She liked the french fries, anyway.
A few weeks ago, our friend Nico and his mom Francesca came over for a playdate:
The funny thing is that with all the toys we have around here, he was most interested in the door to Eliana's room:
Sometimes it seems like we should just toss all the toys and let them use their imagination! Hide and go seek is very popular at this age, they can play for hours...
Eliana was happy to have her friend come over...Note that Nico is still behind the door.
We met Francesca and her husband Jason in our birthing class, so Eliana and Nico have been friends since before they were born. I tried to get a picture of the two of them in the big chair. Again it was pretty challenging to get two toddlers to sit in one place and look at the camera for more than a moment:
Not to mention that Nico had some drilling to do.
And the snow has melted now, but we had a number of days at the end of January and beginning of February with snow or ice on the ground. Eliana had a great time "skating" in her snow boots. I find it kind of scary to slide on the ice, but she loved it:
She was also fascinated stepping on big chunks of ice, and seeing what happened:
But if I'm going to share pictures, this one is the essence of life these days with Eliana:
First, she's wearing her polka dot shirt, which she loves. Every day she asks if she can wear polka dots. (Good thing we have some polka dot socks in addition to the shirt, which goes to the laundry after its weekly wearing.) But more important, Eliana is obsessed with her baby dolls: putting their clothes on, taking the clothes off, strolling them around, putting them to sleep...on and on, for hours. I am somewhat amazed that this captures her attention for so long, but it does...absolutely.
Guess it's a good thing she's interested in taking care of these babies. For those who haven't yet heard, Eliana is going to a big sister to a little sister, arriving in late July. We are thrilled. And we'll keep you posted on the adventures of our growing family....
