The Thumb Sucks

Well, Elena is officially a thumb sucker. Those that have recently seen her have witnessed this. Since she has been a newborn, she has not been fond of the pacifier, and that was ok with us.... That is until she stuck that thumb in her mouth! Don't get me wrong, it is cute as can be, and it is nice that she can soothe herself when she starts crying, however now that she is start to grab and touch everything I already see the thumb becoming a petri dish of nasty germs, not to mention I get flashes of the future... getting her diploma at HS graduation sucking her thumb and having mangled teeth from all those years of not being able to "kick the habit"! (I put those words in quotes because that is something my dad always said growing up about anything Rob and I did consistently wrong - HA HA Rob and I say this to each other all the time while imitating my dad's accent. It's funny.) Or what if she is at a sleepover party and starts sucking her in the middle of the night! How embarassing! My good friend that is a kindergarten teacher said that a kid in her class had to get a retainer type thing installed in the roof of his mouth with 2 prongs that poke his thumb when he tries to suck it (OUCH!). I figure if I can nip it in the bud now, then I will try, so we have been practicing the pacifier more often now. She definately prefers the thumb though, so if she is really really upset and won't take the pacifier, then I let her. It's a hard decision though. If I knew she could stop before kindergarten, then I would be fine, but what if she is one of those kids that get obsessed with it? So in the meantime, we will practice the pacifier, which is just as cute to me.

PARTY TIME...EXCELLENT!!

Grandma and Grandpa Vizmeg hosted a "welcome to the world" party for Elena in Hudson, OH.

Many friends and family gathered to meet Elena.  Everyone had a wonderful time.

THANKS BABA AND GRANDPA!!    See you soon!

4 Generations - Great Grandma, Grandma, Ma and Elena

Uncle Rob and Elena... both looking darn cute in pink

O my gosh....we're moms!  New BFF's Elena and  Mary Cate meeting for the first time.

Aunt Sonja and Elena having a good laugh.

My parents have most of the pictures on their camera. Rob, please upload them to flickr and I will post the link!  

Random non-Elena Blog post

As you can see I am catching up on the blog. It's just been pretty hard since Leni has been sick. Most the readers pretty much know that my sister in law Laura is expecting a baby cousin for Elena. Well, at her shower this past weekend they had M&Ms with their faces on them!!

We are all coming to Hudson next weekend for the first time to see everyone, so we expect M&Ms with our faces on them too.   Preferably Peanut. (jason has a big forehead)

--- So MAKE IT HAPPEN ROB! Jk

Some bunny loves you!

Hoppy Easter everyone!  (Jason and I have been getting a kick out of saying that today).  

We had big plans for Elena's first Easter. We planned on dressing her up all fancy and showing her off at church for the first time. Unfortunately about a week ago Elena caught her first cold. This is something I haven't mentioned on the blog yet.  Poor little girl was MISERABLE! It was/is so sad... you could see it in her watery little eyes. She was not happy, nor were we. We have no idea where she got it from, noone has been sick around us and she hasn't been in daycare in a long time. We just don't want it to happen again or at least until she knows how to blow her nose (suctioning out snot with that mini turkey baster thingie was not fun). The good news is that she was starting to feel a bit better. The bad news is that she now has an ear infection.  Poor Leni.

So... Elena and I stayed home for Easter while Jason went to church for some Jesus time with his family. It really was a bummer though. I really wanted to get her gussied up in this fancy Gap dress that my aunt brought for her on Friday. I decided to get her in the dress and do a little photo shoot anyways, but the pics didn't turn out that great. For obvious reasons Leni was not in the best of moods, but here is the best one I got, which is still pretty cute.  Don't forget to take notice of those gorgeously dyed eggs that I slaved over... they were personalized for each family member! Elena and I stopped by Grandma Jenny's house for brunch and we played the "egg game" to see who's egg was the strongest. Laura's egg remained undefeated at the end of it all!  Everyone will be eating egg salad this week... well, everyone except Adam  ;o) 

O Canada....

The Trifunovski clan from Toronto came for a quick visit this weekend while en route to Ohio - Uncle Risto, Aunt Donka, Zok, Zlat and baba Milanka. We missed Renata, Milana and Christopher who were livin' it up at the beach in Australia.   It was a beautiful day to BBQ Shish Kabobs, so that is what we did.  

The trip was a special one, not only did the whole fam get to meet Elena, but so did Mary's grandma, Elena's last living great grandparent.  We all had a good time, talked, ate, took photos,opened up beautiful baby gifts, smoked cigars (not the ladies of course) and go go ga ga-ed at the baby.  It was a good day.

Thank you all so much for the lovely baby gifts... next time... don't forget the Carmel Crunch Cake, eh?

Here are some photos from the day:

   

Hang'n with the boys

Back to work, but only for a short time

The automotive industry here is Detroit is going down the tubes. My company had already had a layoff while I was on maternity leave, but luckily I was protected under the family medical leave act.  I was back at work for only a short time before there were rumblings of another bigger layoff. Everyone was getting mentally prepared for what is to come, including myself. The day arrived and I was one of the many chosen ones. Luckily I was prepared for possible bad news. My time back at work was short, but sweet (less then 1 month back), but at least I got some severance out of it! Now I can spend more time with baby Elena while I look for something new.  I am sure she will miss her new friends at the daycare, but she will be back if I find something new. 

Taking care of Elena these past few days has been easier then when she was a newborn. The ladies at the daycare have put her on a schedule, which makes her much more predictable.  She is holding her head up strong now and can't stop looking at her hands.  She is babbling constantly!! She will definitely be a talkative little girl, I already see it!! 

Today we practiced how to sit in the bumbo chair.  She is doing very well as you can see! She is becoming a "big girl", and always gets a kick out of someone telling her that!!! She laughs her little bootie off!! It is so cute!

Here is a video that took this morning of a conversation I had with Leni about Koney...