This weekend we'll be taking Eila on a little trip to Ohio. That'll be Eila's third state visited so far. That's a rate of over one per month. Let's see if she can keep her average up.

Plus, I'll have to remember to stock up the pictures of the day, or y'all will be without until we get back.

UPDATE: I was mistaken. Eila has visited Ohio previously -- Toledo, actually. But since Toledo is pretty much Michigan anyways it must have slipped my mind.

Eila has recently discovered her hand. She is happily kicking and cooing and then suddenly stops transfixed by this thing that she seems to have some control over. She looks at it amazed moving it slowly - mesmerized. Then just as suddenly she returns to her previous activities, until again her gazes happens upon her wonderful hand.

She had no idea what was coming in about 5 minutes. Worst part about all of this is the pediatrician was out of one of the immunizations, so we're going to have to go through all of this again -- and this time she'll be wise to our ploys.

(Picture taken March 21st, 2005 on my new Nokia 6230 cameraphone. shrn).

If you haven't noticed from the Pictures of the Day, Eila is all smiles, all the time recently. It's quite a pleasant phenomenon. Previously it was all crying all the time, or all pooping all the time.

Last week, I had returned home from work to find Eila a little upset to be having her diaper changed -- but when I came in, she turned and smiled at me. I don't know that I'll ever forget that.

Eila now weighs a whopping 11 pounds, 3 oz. and is 25 inches long. The doc says that she is in perfect health.

A visit to the doctor's office was a little troubling for the girl. She has her first round of immunizations while Dad held her legs down and the nurse poked her. She screamed the silent, tortured kind of cry that breaks your heart until she was fully dressed, and then promptly fell asleep.

Last night, Eila and I returned very late from her first plane ride and vacation. We went to Florida for a week. I must admit I was feeling more than a little terrified at the idea of a week away from the beloved swing and bouncy seat, but all worked well with Grandma Kathy and Aunt Amber acting as human swings (& Grandpa Bill too).

Eila did exceptionally well on the plane both flights and seemed to love the warm weather. She didn't like having to be covered in the sun, but she really enjoyed lots of walks in the warm air. She seemed to enjoy the beach as well, because everytime we left she cried the entire way back to our place.

Look for "classic" Eila pictures every day next week!

In case you aren't aware, Eila is currently learning two languages. She is very ambitious and, of course, exceptionally bright. I am speaking exclusively in French and everyone else (except for Julie, Laurent, and a few other francophone friends) speak English with and around her. While she hasn't started speaking just yet, she has a few cute nicknames that she really seems to like (she gets called them a lot and sometimes quiets down after one of these is said) from both languages.

French: la fille (the girl), ma puce (my little bug), ma mignonette (my cutie), and mon ninange (my little angel)

English: the girl, babies, my little noodle (not as much now as at the very beginning), nina (that's actually Spanish, but used by her father...)