She's on the move!

Eleanor started crawling on Sunday at my mom's house. I would not say that she has mastered it yet, but she's able to get around now. Over the past few days she has kind of slacked off. She is more interested in the fact that she can sit herself up. I am just as happy about that as I am about her crawling. Brian and I love to watch her crawl over to her piano all by herself now. Eleanor will play a note or two and then applaud for herself, and she expects us to applaud every time, too.

We also had a visit from Grandma, Aunt Cathy, Tyler, and Abby on Friday. I had to wake Eleanor from her nap so that she could visit with them. She was so happy to wake up and see everyone in her room. Right away she wanted Abby to hold her. Eleanor would not let go of Abby, and she just kept smiling. She loves her cousins! It was so cute!

I've been a bad blogger...

Why is it that I always remember to write something just as I'm settling into bed. I'm just going to list random thoughts and updates so that I'll feel caught up.

* I cannot believe that people are interested in reading my blog. It scares me that people read what I write. I struggled with this so much in school.

* Eleanor does a great job getting up on her hands and knees. If only she could figure out that she needs to move her arms and how to do it!

* Brian's dad finally came home from the hospital/Florida. He seems to be doing well, we're happy!

* Sometimes I worry that Eleanor does not "talk" enough. She is very quiet, but I suppose Brian and I are, too.

* I feel like I will never get the house clean and organized. I need to have a garage sale. Brian and I have too much junk.

* I'm going to try and get some pictures and videos up soon. 24 hours are not enough.

8 months old

I cannot believe that Eleanor is 8 months old today! Every single mom that I talk to says that time flies when you have a baby, and of course they are all right. Eleanor is working on crawling right now. She's mastered clapping, which is so cute! Her babbling has ceased for the time being, which is both odd and sad. I liked hearing "dadadada" all the time. I suppose she's just too busy in her attempt to become mobile.

It's been a while since I have written, but since then Brian's dad was in a very serious accident. Luckily, he is doing very well. He has another surgery on Monday, so he will be in our thoughts as always. I wish that we could visit. I know seeing Eleanor would really cheer him up. He is in FL, though, and making the trip just is not possible right now. I think we'll probably visit a lot when he makes it back to St. Louis.

Last night Brian and I managed to get a babysitter so we could go to the law school's Barrister Ball. It was fun. I was not as worried about Eleanor as I thought I would be, but I think that's just because we did not leave the house until she was in bed. It made me wish we could go out more. However, until she starts taking a bottle, we will be staying in for a while. We are just lucky that she is such a good baby; we have no problem taking her places with us.

We've created a monster...

Or at least it sounds like it. Eleanor has been growling nonstop for days now. I'm pretty sure she keeps doing it because Brian and I always act like we're scared. She is also "mean" to her Care Bear. She gives it her own little Care Bear stare / growl. The sound she makes is so inhuman; it's very hard to believe that it's coming from a little girl. Honestly, I hope she outgrows it soon.

Eleanor also started babbling today, which was a nice switch from growling. We were playing in her room and she started saying "da da da da." Very cute!

I sometime feel a little overwhelmed in terms of what Eleanor is learning everyday. I feel like there are so many things that I should be doing for and with her right now, and I'm afraid I'm going to forget about something. I'm sure that it's just me overreacting / over-thinking things. I hope Eleanor is not a worrier like her mom.

Another great day!

I never thought that we would be able to enjoy an entire day outside in early February. Our day began with a walk on the MKT trail with some other moms and babies. I have never been on that trail, but after today I know I'll be going back. It was beautiful. I loved the huge rocks and trees that lined the trail.
From there, we headed over to Flatbranch for lunch with daddy. We managed to beat the crowd and got a great table outside. Eleanor gummed on celery sticks while we enjoyed our lunch. After lunch, we dropped Brian off at school and headed home to take a nap.
In the afternoon, we decided to celebrate Brian's recent summer employment with a trip to Sparky's. Brian and I both got raspberry lime sorbet - yum! Then, we headed over to Stephen's Park. We finally got to take Eleanor down the slide. She liked it, but not as much as she likes the swings. We finished this beautiful day by grilling some pork chops and zucchini for dinner - yum again.
It truly was a great family day!

Free smiles

Finally, Eleanor is beginning to smile at strangers. I'm so excited! It's wonderful to have a baby who doesn't look so unhappy all the time when we're in public. She has always had plenty of smiles for her mommy and daddy, but others have always had to work for even a little grin.

Another huge development in the past few days has been Eleanor's sense of humor. It seems that everything Brian and I do or say is absolutely hilarious. It's the best.

Boop is the word.

Now that she is seven months old, I expect that Eleanor will start babbling soon. For now, the only thing she likes to say is "boop." I don't think that she is associating it with anything, but who knows, maybe she's trying to tell me something.

Super baby!

I just wanted to say that I am so pleased that Eleanor is such an amazingly content and happy child. Brian and I had some friends over to watch the Super Bowl tonight, and Eleanor was no trouble at all. She even went to bed early! What a team player.

Half a year gone...

Just as every parent told Brian and I it would, time has flown by. Eleanor is almost 7 months old now. It's amazing to think that seven months ago she was so tiny and helpless. She still needs her mommy and daddy a lot, but she's becoming so independent. Her favorite thing is to sit up and play with her toys. She likes it so much that she cries when she throws herself back and realizes she's not sitting up anymore.
Now that she's mastered sitting up, Eleanor has decided that it is time to become mobile. She is pushing herself up so high off the floor and rocking back and forth. That means Brian and I have to get in gear and babyproof this house. Soon!
Another great development has been Eleanor's sense of humor. Brian and I have become quite hilarious in the past few weeks. Let's just hope she thinks we are funny when she is 13 and we are trying to joke around with her friends...or boyfriends...yikes! I talked with Joe, the father of the family I used to babysit for, today. His oldest girl, G, is now 13 and has the boys calling all the time. It really puts things into perspective for me. G was just 2 years old when I started babysitting her and her little sister, M. It makes me realize that I really do need to cherish time with Eleanor, because before I know it, she'll be grown. That is one reason why I am so thankful to be a stay at home mom, though. I never miss a moment with my amazing little Scout!

The red piano tour.

Our first Christmas with Eleanor was pure joy, and we know it will only get better as she ages and understands what is going on. As with any baby, wrapping paper was a huge hit this year. In at a close second, though, is the little red piano that Santa left under the tree. Watching her bang on the keys is the ultimate entertainment. We'll see if Brian and I feel the same way after a few weeks. Eleanor was also lucky enough to get a lot of books, a big stuffed dog and a Care Bear, and a cool Radio Flyer wagon for walks when the weather is nicer. She also received a lot of good stuff from her Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and friends. I can't imagine getting this many presents for her every year.