Violet Sandra Santandrea

Little Miss Violet joined our family at 3:01 am on October 14, 2009. She was 7 lbs 11 oz and 19.75 inches long. Eliza adores her "Baby Sister Etta" and although sleep is very little, we are loving our new and complete family.

Eliza and the Alligator

EK got this toy for her birthday from our friends Brian and Maggie. All of a sudden she can't get enough.

Phone expertise

Eliza makes a phone call

16 Months Old Today

And a couple new words to boot!
Yesterday while I was enjoying a glass of wine, instead of her usual insisting "Umm Umm" to get a taste, she said "sip" . I was impressed but not fooled. This morning as I was changing her diaper she said both Butt and Tushie. Then this afternoon at Carissa's I was asking if she needed to go night night because it was about that time and she said and I quote "Ya, nigh nigh a nap." Too Good.

Eliza's First Haircut 9-6-09

My Belly at 34 weeks

August 2009

15 Months Old

Okay so I know it's been ages. It's funny, the last post was "She's walking" and then you don't hear from us for 3 months. Testament to the fact that a walking toddler makes a busy mommy. So the blog has a lot of catching up to do. We were in NH visiting Grammie and Papa Gib in July and August. Krista and Finn came up to stay with us and play in the lake. Eliza and Finn just adore each other. It's awesome to see. EK's talking up a storm, too many to list but I'll try a few of her new ones: horsey, cow, water, baby, buckle, bunny , diaper, ball, and my new favorite, purse. She's also saying small sentences that start with "I see" or "It's a." Like, Mommy, it's a cow. It's freaky actually. Oh or Mommy, Liza Poop. That's priceless. And helpful.
And on Another note, Baby Girl Santandrea is due in 6 weeks and is doing great! She's head down and ready to go. We're not sure how much EK understands about what's about to happen but she does rub my belly and say "mommy baby" and gives it kisses so who knows. Today she said "sister." fun. And the other day while watching "A Baby Story" on TLC she learned the word "push" and proceeded to yell it over and over while running around the house. Hmm, labor coach?
So we may be changing the name of the blog soon to suit the whole family. I'll keep you posted.
So here are some pics from the last few months.

Really Really Walking... For Real.

Okay so I know I said she was walking before and she was. But 6 feet was about her maximum distance. On Monday something clicked and she just started going. This is really nice on one level because I think all of our backs were killing us from holding her hand while she explores everything. On the other hand, this is really scary because it means the chasing has begun.
On another note, Scott starts his new job on Tuesday!!!!! YAY!

WALKING!!!!!

So Eliza's done a few steps here and there between two people but today was the first day she's willingly decided to take off and walk on her own. Scott and I were retardedly proud this morning.

And just a few more...



the beach at Crissy Field



and my favorite

A letter from Grammie Kate to the family

Yesterday was crazy during the party. shannon planned for all the little kids to decorate sunglasses and sun visors with little foam stickers. Today we found stickers on pillows on the fire place, all over the back of the sweater that Eliza was wearing etc. Also somehow the childproof gate to the bathroom was taken apart - I mean we can't find the bolts that hold it together. And .... Shannon found a cocktail glass under their bed ..... at which point Scott remarked ..."and this was a 1 year old's party ??!!! Sometime during the craziness Eliza fell face down into the floor and cried herself to sleep before the cake and presents and the kids decided it was more fun to dive headfirst from the patio into the livingroom ottoman. So that's about normal right?

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ELIZA KATE!!!!!

We had a wonderful day today hanging out with the family, dim sum, swings, slides and ducks. Tomorrow is the big party at our house. Lots of pictures to come but for now. Enjoy this video of EK and Grammie Kate being silly in the car.

Swimming for the first time

This week was freaky hot for San Francisco. We spent most of our time "swimming." These clips are from Monday afternoon at the Musavi's house. Pay close attention to the education we get from Niko in the last clip.

More Teeth

Last week teeth 6 & 7 popped up.

11 Months Old

Eliza turned 11 months last week and as we gear up for her one ear celebration, I'm amazed at all of the things she's learned this month. Vocally she's killing us. She says mama, daddy, papa, doggie, cat, bob, earl, baby, got it, done, did it, ta da and then there are her jibberish faves like, "ta guy ta guy ta guy" and "bweta bweta bweta." She's crawling up a storm and almost walking on her own. She's loving to boogie lately. Whenever I say the word dance she busts out into this shoulder shimmy, but shake thing. Too cute.


Baby's First Easter

Officially Mobile

Our little girl is officially getting around. She crawls pretty well on the rugs and does this silly crawl scoot thing on the hard wood. We spent the weekend locking cabinet doors and putting gates up. She's gearing up to walk on her own real soon. Yesterday she stood by herself and a couple of times she took a step. One step. Does that count as walking? Stay tuned for a walking video real soon I'm sure.

I got my 5th tooth last night!

Dancing, screaming, cruising and even primping. Something new every day.

Dancing at Gramma's in NH


Poking fun at her buddy Finn


She's so fast on her feet


Smarty pants knew just what to do. What a girly girl.


Our new favorite Eliza noise

10 Months Old!!!

Okay so I've been a blog posting slacker. We've been all over the place this month. NH, NY, NJ, PA, and back to NH. Eliza turned 10 months this week and she's really been making some major strides, but if you read this regularly, you've most likely seen her in person this month. But I'll specify anyway. She's real steady on her feet and wants to "walk" all the time. About 2 weeks ago she got her 3rd tooth on the top and the 4th one came in a couple days ago. She's saying a lot of words like mamma, daddy, papa, oh oh, bye bye, wow and whoa and of course, Bob. She talks non stop all the time. It's pretty funny. She's also making animal noises. Her faves are the monkey, duck and chicken. Most of the time she can come up with the noise just by looking at a picture, which I of course think is genius. She's waving and this week she started kicking a ball on the ground. Scott's so proud! She eats EVERYTHING and loves it. We had an exhausting but fantastic time in NY seeing everyone. We had several play dates with Finn. www.robbinsbaby.blogspot.com Krista posted some great pics. She also really loved playing with Lily who's gotten so grown up I can't stand it. We spent lots of time with my girls which of course was wonderful! We went a little west of the city to Newark where we saw Lisa and Dave and played with Baby Benjamin and then Pennsylvania where we saw Aunt Linda, Amanda, Adam and Lauren. Mom flew out to Newark to drive us back home and she was thrilled to meet little Ben.
Since we've been home our little noodle has been all over the place. She pulls herself up on furniture and in her crib. She's cruising around between the couch and the ottoman and yesterday she pushed her little music table all the way across the living room. But the biggest thing she's mastered this week is the commando crawl. Against what everyone thought (even her Dr) this kid may actually crawl before she walks. Time to child proof for real.

Hanging out in New York

Our old Subway Stop

Loving Krista and Finn

Having Breakfast with Auntie Stace and Auntie Sarah

Looks Like Todd's Holding Mini Scott

Auntie Monkey

Uncle Moose

At the Brooklyn Childrens' Museum with Krista, Todd and Finn


Hanging out with Lily and Michael

Uncle Dave

Aunt Dee

Auntie Am

Playing Peek a Boo with Colin and Rach

Auntie Grandmere and Lauren

Oops I dropped all my peas!

Hanging out with Baby Benjamin Cutie Pie

Mom and Benjamin meet. This kid's smiling already. Whoa!

Morning Babble with Ed Grimley Hair Style

9 Months Old

I can't believe she's 9 months already! We went to the doctor today and she's gained 3 inches and 3 pounds in the last 3 months. She weighed in at almost 19 lbs and 28 inches. And then when we got home she pulled herself up onto her feet for the first time. All by her little self! As you can see she was very proud of herself.




Sleepy girl in the morning

Giving Bob a Kiss

Uncle and Auntie in San Francisco!!!

First Word?

Eliza's First Word. January 2009. She sort of says Mama and she sort of says Dada, but not necessarily at the appropriate time. But when she sees Bob, she definitely says Bob.

Eddie, Feeding Daddy, and the playground