Eléa: January fun!

Eléa has become a dancing machine this past month (as you can see from the video). She wants the music on all time, though is very particular about the songs, and dances with a face of serious concentration. She sways back and forth, sometimes with her dolls and other stuffed animal friends, and neither eating nor drinking can stop her from boogieing to the groove. She often waves her finger in the air, leading us to believe she may have prematurely discovered her calling as a conductor.

This month Eléa has also gotten to spend loads of time with her bestie, Shion, as Shion's mother was in the hospital for nearly two weeks with bad morning sickness. Taking care of two kids at 18 months is no easy task, but luckily Luke was able to stay home in the mornings to help out.

We had some nice weather last weekend and made a trip to the beautiful Fushimi Inari Shrine. There are many fox statues there, representing the g-d of rice, and there is a long walk up the mountain through a series of tori (the orange arches that you can see in the picture below). When we were leaving the temple we bought Eléa a small stuffed-fox and she proceeded to march down the street, stopping at every stall to proudly show off her new fox to the vendors, which usually involved holding it up in the air and then giving it multiple hugs and kisses. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever. She has become very attached to all her stuffed animals and friends, and she waves at each one in her crib, especially just before going to sleep for the night. She also insists on gathering them all up to take with her when we leave the room, which is quite a task since she's still too small to hold them all in her little arms. She uses her chin as an extra arm, and it is pretty funny to watch.

Video:
Eléa's dancing style