Eleanor's cute report: Elle loves to catch bugs. She learned how to sashay from her favorite librarian. Elle is starting to talk a little. Her more fun words include oval, cream, more, no more, and l'eau. She can't say the 's' sound, so instead of Seb and Sebby, she says "Bop" or "Boppy." Recently she started calling Amber "Mommer." Then, a friend was talking to Amber and when this friend said, "Amber," Elle would echo, "Mommer." So, we think that Mommer is actually Amber. She's also singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" but replaces the words with other sounds. For example, sometimes she sings, (sing Twinkle in your head) "Bop-py, Bop-py, Bop-py Bop..." or "Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma, mom..." Elle is also into changing her doll's diaper about a thousand times a day - and the change must include diaper rash cream.
Sebastien's cute report: Seb is cruising from couch to ottoman to couch. He loves to watch Eleanor and laughs at whatever she's doing. He loves eyebrows and loves to fall asleep while rubbing Amber's eyebrow with his little finger. Seb is a healthy eater and cannot be silent when eating. He acts sort of like Bob in that dinner scene from What About Bob. Lots of strangers comment on how easy going he seems to be. He's such a happy baby with a great smile. The first picture is typical Sebastien:
A big part of Elle and Seb's life is the swings. Her friends, Brendan and Lily.
Looks like neither of our kids like socks.
Stephanie Perger from Gabe's work visiting for dinner.
We went to Bar Beach on MLK day. It was a rainy days and we were the only ones at the beach. Elle absolutely loved the seagulls.
We fed the seagulls bread and animal crackers. They almost ate out of Gabe's hand.
Elle had a fun time finding rocks to skip in a rain puddle.
When they are all bundled up in the stroller, most people think they're twins.
We only had snow for a few days this year, so we tried to make the most of it. Our only chance to sled was after the stores closed, so we couldn't even get a sled. The trash can lid didn't really work out. But we had fun anyway.
A famous French book store at the Rockefeller Center promenade. We bought a few good French books for Elle and Seb there.
More swing time...
Manorhaven beach
Thanks a lot sis. (This happens more than we'd like to admit)
Elle watches the tennis matches after she hits the beach. She gets a free ball almost every day.
Playing in a bucket of rice. It was a hit all winter long and was surprisingly less maintenance than a bucket of water.
The pond by our house.
Gabe's sisters, Leah and Adria, came out to visit for a few days in March. We had tons of fun. The ladies had a ladies-night-out and went to see Wicked on Broadway. We also had fun shopping in SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy. We saw all the sites we could - Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Libery, Empire State Building, Central Park, etc. - it was a great weekend!
The Wicked orchestra pit.
SoHo, NYC playground
A bucket of frogs for sale in Chinatown. Hungry? The really disturbing thing was that these frogs are alive.
We went to IHOP with the Valenzuelas. Seb couldn't wait to order.
Easter Egg Hunt 2008. ("This egg tastes like PAAS egg dye...")
Eleanor had lots of fun convincing Seb to give her all of his eggs.
Easter morning at church.
Our neighbor Debbie Sakalov. One last time at the playground before we moved.
Elle is starting to be insistent about what she wears. Like you, we pick our battles wisely.
Ximena helped out on moving day.
Leaving Port Washington
Elle was in her element - having gone crazy with the stickers on her shirt and chatting it up on the phone with Debby. Debby calls almost every morning to say hello to Elle.
One of our favorite librarians - Karen
A fun carriage ride through Central Park in Manhattan. Elle loved the horses.
More Central Park with the Upper East Side behind us.
Elle was acting silly and cracking up Seb
Roberto and family came to visit us in our new aparment
Elle climbed into Seb's crib to say good morning.
More fashion insistence. This time it was Mr. Potato Head glasses and Mardi Gras beads. One must look one's best before going to the pet store. (Elle's in entranced by the turtles in this shot)
Elle playing hide and seek with Seb in a hotel. We went to Maryland for a weekend to find a new apartment there.
9 months old.
Different day - same Mr. Potato Head glasses. Elle beaded the string almost the whole New Jersey Turnpike home to New York.
Recently, Amber was called to the Young Women's organization president at church. Here's a cooking and kitchen-stocking lesson with the girls.
We were at the park during Seb's naptime. Seb fell asleep while swinging. He slept in the swing for two hours like this (with a blanket added to prop up his head and his hood over his head to shield him from the sun).
One last photo op with our favorite librarians, Fran and Karen! Everyone went out to lunch as a last good-bye.
Amber organized our 2nd annual group birthday party with our neighborhood friends. Seb really enjoyed the cheese bagels. Elle really enjoyed the Dunkin Donuts Munchkins. She held one prized Munchkin in her hand for about 45 minutes.
All the kids got backpacks with a miniature composition book, colored pencils, and flashcards as the party favor.
The main activity was finger painting. Notice that the boy in the blue hat is really getting into it - that is, he's actually in the paint.
Some of Elle and Seb's Port Washington friends, with their backpacks on.
A balanced meal is really important to Elle. That's why she's using an apple slice to eat the frosting off the leftover birthday cake.
Poor Seb couldn't make it to the end. Now that was a good party!
Elle was saying "Weeeeee" to her baby.
Kid Skills: Making each other laugh in the car.
Seb Skill: Here is a blast from the (not too distant) past - Seb learning to crawl at 7 months.
Elle Skill: Learning to Talk
Seb Skill: Being completely adorable
Elle Skill: Chapstick lid trick. We neglected her while we were packing, so she was forced to entertain herself.
Elle Skill: Effective communication. Ever since we moved, Debbie calls every morning. Here's Elle's side of the conversation. Notice that she's been picking up some multi-tasking skill from her mom. In the middle, Elle thinks that Amber is taking a picture and automatically strikes a cheese pose.
She is really good at multi tasking....It takes special talent to talk and read at the same time! 
The other day I asked Lucy to take off her bib when all of a sudden I heard "Mami, Mami" and Lucy was cracking herself up with her new wig.
