(Yes, this is nearly a month late being posted. When you have a toddler, it's hard to find the time to sit down and write!)
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Playing peek-a-boo during our 12 month photo shoot! She didn't want to smile for us at all. And yes, this is how she plays peek-a-boo - we're working on actually covering eyes :)
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| Out take - chair surfing :) |
Yes, you read that right. A toddler. Because now that Eleanor is one (!) and walking all over the place, my baby is no longer a baby. The night of January 2 I kept looking at the clock and remembering where we were a year ago - in labor, in the hospital, knowing we would soon find out if we had a son or a daughter and that we would finally get to meet the little tiny person who would forever change our family. It was fun to think back to where we were a year ago, with all the anticipation, excitement, and uncertainty, and equally as fun to think about where we are now, just a short year later. It's so amazing to think about everything that has happened in the past year. Everyone kept telling me that time flies by when babies are small, but I didn't start to understand that until Eleanor was born and didn't really get it until she turned one and I thought about everything that has happened this year. I mean, a year ago she was this tiny cute little peanut who loved to curl up against you and sleep. Now she's a walking talking little girl with a personality and mind of her own who hardly ever lets us rock her to sleep anymore. This is such a fun age, but there are days I miss the little peanut days.
On Eleanor's actual birthday we took her to a local gourmet cupcake shop and got her a cupcake. We set up a little mini photo shoot in our dining room and Matt got to play with his camera a bit. Eleanor absolutely loved her cupcake! She took one bite at first, then looked at us like she was saying, "This stuff is awesome!" And then she proceeded to shovel it all in her mouth as quickly as possible, watching us the whole time like we might swoop in and take it away from her. It was pretty hilarious.
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| See that chunk of cupcake in her right hand? She held on to it tightly while feeding herself every other bit of cupcake with her left hand, and then finally ate that last bit at the end. Also, the diaper she's wearing? The print is called "Eleanor." :) |
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| That was delicious! |
On January 5 we had Eleanor's party. It was a lot of fun and we were lucky to have lots of family and friends who were able to make it to our house to celebrate Eleanor. We had a "Winter One-derland" theme, which really just meant there were a few wintery accents and lots of pink and grey :) There was, however, a hot chocolate bar...mmmm! Eleanor had a blast playing with all the other kids who were able to come, and she was lucky get a ton of great books and some really awesome toys and cute outfits as well.
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| Cupcakes, made by me. I ordered the toppers (along with invitations and a banner) from a seller on et.sy. |
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| Birthday girl! |
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| Enjoying her cupcake |
So what is Miss Eleanor up to these days? Pretty much everything :)
-She is talking up a storm. Seriously. Here are the words Eleanor knows so far:
cat
kitty (and also kitty cat all together)
puppy
mama
dada
hi
bye bye
duck
Lola (our cat's name, which Eleanor pronounces "Ro-ra")
ball
mmmm (while signing "more")
book
peek-a-boo
pony
-She signs "more," "all done," and just started signing "milk." We are also working on "thank you."
-Walking everywhere. All the time. It's so cute to just see her toddling around everywhere. The three of us went to the mall last weekend and we let Eleanor out of the stroller just before we left. Girlfriend insisted on walking by herself around the store, refusing to hold either of our hands most of the time. Miss Independent in the making :)
-She still loves reading books! Now it's even more fun because she's starting to label pictures. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is a favorite of hers, and she lets out this joyful "Kitty!" every time we get to the page with the cat. But she often sits in her chair or on the floor with a book and wants to read through it on her own. My heart melts when she gets a book and walks over to plop herself down in my lap so I can read it to her though. Eleanor really likes touch and feel books, but pretty much enjoys reading any book she can get her hands on.
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| Look at that focus! I'm one happy mommy that she loves books so much. |
-Eleanor has been on only table foods, water, and milk since just before Christmas. The Friday before Christmas was her last bottle, and it's honestly been a pretty smooth transition. For about a week and a half she got a bottle in the morning and a bottle at night, then milk at daycare. Then we just cut out those last two bottles the first day of winter break. She does great with table food and eats a ton! Eleanor isn't very picky and will eat most anything, though she does have some favorites (pasta).
-She is such a ham! She loves to be silly, make goofy faces, and imitate just about anything. She also loves looking at herself in the mirror or on one of our phone screens when we're FaceTiming with family.
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| Being goofy before church |
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| Daddy's belt makes a great scarf, don't you think? |
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| Toilet paper! She's discovered it and remembers where to find it. Luckily, she only realizes it's in our master bathroom so hasn't tried to play with it in our other bathrooms...yet. |
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| Being silly with Mommy |
-Eleanor is becoming quite the problem solver too. She loves to look at and play with things, trying to figure them out. The velcro on her shoes held her attention for over 10 minutes the other night! And she gets this adorable look of intense concentration on her face - her mouth is open and her tongue sticks out just a little bit.
We can't wait to see what the next year holds for us as a family! We are excited to see Eleanor continue to grow and develop even more.
