A little like Mom

We thought with Alena's sweet disposition that she must take after her dad. But Alena is showing a new side, and it is more like her mom. She is insistent: feed me now! She loves food: her favorite picture in her toddler book is the kid eating ice cream. She isn't a big shopper: she would rather sleep than pick out a new outfit. She loves to hear herself talk: even when no one is listening she works on her squeals and razzes. She is competitive: when Dad teases her with her burp cloth, she grabs it every time, even when she is no longer having fun. She picks on people who are bigger than her: the picture below is Vanessa putting her head down so Alena could kick it. Hopefully some of her dad's traits will remain with her (not that being like Mom is such a bad thing)!

Pillow pile, revisited

That's right, Alena has been hanging out in the pillow pile again! Why do we have such a big pile of pillows? To play in, of course!

Smile for Dad!

Celebrating Dad's birthday!

We celebrated for two days, nonstop for Dad's 30th birthday! On Saturday we invited the Horak side over to celebrate all of the people who had birthdays in January and February. Nine out of the 14 people attending fell into that category. We had a big meal with a Superman cake to finish it off. Alena made the best of the situation by napping on various people's laps. On Sunday, we went to visit Grandma Dee, Grandpa Ed and Auntie K. There we had another big meal with a mandarin orange cake for dessert. Dad definitely got his fair share of food this weekend.

Grandma Diane giving Alena a hand in standing.

What treasures are inside this box?

28 candles? Close enough.

Dad's favorite birthday present!

In memory of Luanne

This morning we were sad to find that our bird friend Luanne died overnight. She was 8 years old. She was an excellent flier, and could often be found in different windows around the house. She would always come back to the cage for a millet spray, though! Even on her last day she was alive, she managed to fly over to Ben's shoulder to sit for awhile and tell him goodbye. We will miss her cheerful tweeting and crazy antics but are happy that she can now be with her best friend Wally, who died over two years before her.

Alena's big weekend!

Alena had a lot of fun this weekend. The big news is she got a new high chair last week. She likes to sit in it and watch Mom and Dad in the kitchen. She is like a queen on her throne! On Saturday she brought her old snowsuit to her cousin Tillie so they could go for a walk together. (Notice Alena's new polka dot snowsuit.) Then on Sunday, we made cookies. We made hearts for Valentine's Day, and maple leaves for Canada Flag Day. Dad tried to sing a rousing rendition of "O Canada," but the only words he knew were "O Canada." It was a short song, but a good attempt.

Celebrating a job well done!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Alena and Dad surprised Mom at work yesterday with this fun video. Alena said it would be alright if Mom shared it with everyone.

Blowing raspberries

Today is Alena's 4 month birthday! To celebrate, she is going to hang out around the house and play with toys. Yesterday she stayed with Grandma Diane all day. She had a fun time watching the cat walk by and visiting with people who stopped by to say hello. There are a lot of things to see at Grandma's house! Alena's new skill is blowing raspberries. Here she is doing just that. Listen closely for the surprise ending.

Visiting Dad at the studio

Today was Mom's day off, so we packed a lunch and brought it to Dad. He was working on making mugs at Mt. Mercy. Alena has no recollection of the lunch visit as she fell asleep on the way there and didn't wake up until afterward when we were in the checkout line at the grocery store.

Alena hanging out in the Bumbo, planning her day's events

Nice mugs, Dad!

Alena is a good girl

Alena was a very good girl yesterday! She sat in her bouncer chair and watched Mom put away clean clothes and sort dirty ones for washing without a complaint. In the afternoon after a fun walk outside, Alena laid on the floor of the bathroom and played with a washcloth while Mom took a very long shower. She carried the washcloth with her downstairs and played with it for hours. We are lucky to have such a sweet baby! And she seems to be back on track for sleeping. The superbowl party she attended was so exciting that she had to wake up the following two nights to talk about it. The previous two nights she was back to sleeping her normal 11 hours.

Alena still likes to be swaddled for sleeping. Unfortunately, she is getting too big for her swaddler. She is getting too big for all of her clothes, and is officially moving out of 0-3 month size.

A big stretch is always required after a long night's sleep

Look how much she's grown--this is a picture from her first week. She is almost 4 months now!

Superbowl

Alena went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to watch the Superbowl. The game didn't interest her too much, but Grandma was fun to play with!

Alena in her kerchief.

Alena and Great-Grandpa Harold