First Snow Day!

She loved it! Though, it really is hard to find anything that Eleanor doesn't like these days (besides the obvious, Mommy leaving the room and being really tired). She's been ridiculously pleasant and happy of late. I think she is mostly THRILLED that she can walk and is happily anticipating "Woodbridge Christmas" this Sunday and a visit to Raleigh to show off her new skills to her Grandma and Granddaddy.

Christmas Caroling

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

In Which You Can See the Awesome Penguin Decoration

Hip Hop Hurray!

So apparently I just wasn't giving her enough room to roam. I JUST wrote how she is taking up to 8 steps at a time mere hours ago. When we practiced tonight, this is what we got:

(That music is from a holiday penguin "decoration" in the background. It is awesome.)

Um, Hello December. Where Did You Come From?

Um, hello walking baby. Where did you come from?

Eleanor is now regularly taking steps. I don't know if I would say she is "walking," since crawling is still her go-to for getting around. But she's taking between 3-8 steps at a time on her own these days - just in time for a giant needly tree adorned in colorful, easy-to-destroy heirlooms to make its appearance. Eh, who am I kidding - I don't think cut out bits of felt and puzzle pieces glued together with a 2nd grade school photo slapped on is considered an heirloom.

9 Months In, 9 Months Out

Eleanor turned 9 months old today, so she's officially been an outside baby as long as she was in inside baby. She was a lot easier to take care of when she was an inside baby, but I think it's better this way. I mean, she's pretty big, so if she was still inside, well, that would be bad. Very bad.

We just hung around the house today to celebrate the milestone:

She noticed her shadow and thought it was pretty funny.

She watched her puppies wrestle.

She practiced standing on her own and celebrating a touchdown
happening somewhere else in the world.

She tested the durability of my Droid.

She did some light reading.

And she watched her puppies wrestle, again.

Her 9-month check-up is on Monday, so I'll let you know how she's officially faring after the doctor weighs in. In my opinion, she's doing marvelously. She's sleeping well (usually from 6:45-6:30, and 3 hours worth of napping a day), she's eating well (still 4 bottles, 3 jars of baby food, and now, SNACKS!), her motor skills are quickly improving (she can stand on her own, climb the stairs, has taken up to 3 steps at a time, waves hello, and has a wicked pincer grasp), and she doesn't sound more adorable than when she's saying "mama" and "dada" (except when she "says hi" - that's pretty cute). When I look at how well she's doing, it makes me proud. It also makes me feel as if I'm not a miserable failure at this whole mom-thing.

Finger Foods

What? Do I have something on my face?

What do YOU call these things?

Ryan calls these hats "toboggans," and while you very might well wear one of these WHILE tobogganing on your toboggan, it's not the name of the hat. I remember calling them "skullies" in high school, though I think we may have grown up calling them "beanies"...? Either way, Eleanor looks adorable in her new knit hat.

Yikes! Stripes!

Polka Polka Polka Dots

Pigtails

Happy Halloween

London I Hardly Knew Thee

Eleanor and I are going home on Tuesday. I could write 1,000 words explaining why we aren't "sticking it out" for the next month, but all that's really important is that it is the best decision for our family. We've learned from experience, and from the examples of important people in our lives, that there are times to work hard and fight for things, and there are times when you just need to do what is best for your mental and physical well-being, even if that means folding your hand and not playing anymore.

I am excited, and I am sad. Ryan will be staying here to work, and I am terrified of the month ahead without him. But I know that with the help of our family and friends (and Skype!), we will make it through the time apart.

Wish me luck on Tuesday. The flight home is going to be a challenge, but I am thankful there are so many people (and puppies!) who love us waiting on the other side of the ocean.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's getting cold here. Today the high is 10; the low is 3.
I'm using Celsius for effect.

Oh, and Eleanor slept in until 7:45 today!
Oh, and that's because Eleanor was up from 12am-3:30am.

Celebrity Sighting

This past weekend, while in the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, we saw Maggie Gyllenhal, or however you spell her last name. Ryan's quote: "Wow, she really looks like herself."

Pity Party

Over the past couple of weeks, Eleanor's sleeping habits have become worse and worse. Last night, she was up from 10pm - 12am, and then again from 4am until... well, I just had to hold her from then until 6am to help her get some sleep. The worst part is that she is crying about a quarter of that time. The next worst part is that she weighs about 23 lbs, and of course there is no rocking chair or glider in the apartment so we have to walk her around rocking her. The lack of sleep is bad, but the pain in my arms, shoulders and back, is much, much worse - I think Ryan would agree.

And yes, whatever you are thinking, we tried that.

It very hard to determine what is causing her lack of sleep. She has two new teeth, but they broke the gumline long ago and there are no new bumps anywhere. She had a cold, but it seems to be cleared up. She is eating new and different foods, but seems to have no trouble "passing wind" as it were (that is why her new nickname is Thunder Pants); we also give her gas relief medicine. She is sleeping in a pack-and-play in a clearly unfamiliar room, but wouldn't she be getting more used to it, not less? She is 8 month (tomorrow) and I know separation anxiety can set in now, but then wouldn't being with her calm her down, get her to stop crying and fall back asleep? So the mystery persists. Any more ideas?

Swing Vids

Followers

Eleanor has 10 followers now! Double digits - WOOHOO.
What a popular baby.

A Day at the Playground

Eleanor LOVES the swings. She was squealing in delight!

She also loved being spun on this silver saucer.

I REALLY want her to start standing alone and walking around
so she can burn off some of her energy.

Do you see the awesome pirate ship behind her?!
I wish she could climb all over it.

Eleanor seemed very confused that she
couldn't hold onto the sand.

Once Upon a Time...

...there was a baby who didn't require 2 hours of attention
in the middle of each night.

Ladies Who Lunch

Eleanor and I set out this afternoon to have lunch and a tour of the Chelsea Physic Gardens. I packed us each a lunch and a snack (it is a 30 minute walk just to get there, so I thought it would be a long afternoon) and we were on our way. Except that on Mondays and Tuesdays, they are only open to "Friends of the Gardens" (meaning you have to give them a lot of $$ to get into the Garden on a Monday).

So, we had our lunch in front of a local church:

Eleanor didn't seem to mind the change in plans:

When we got home, she even indulged in a little dessert:

British Food

British food has a reputation for being, um, what is the nice way to say this? Simple? Hearty? The kind of cuisine that makes it easy to buy "meaty pies" with stomach in them at the local Sainsbury? Ryan and I actually quite like typically British food; there is nothing not to like about a lot of pastry wrapped sausage. But Eleanor has NOT been enjoying the British baby foods. You can't simply buy "green beans" or "sweet potatoes." The baby food is stuff like "venison with parsnips and cilantro jelly." That is a lot of new flavor for a baby to try at once, and she just can't do it; we've tried. So now I have to buy the fancy schmancy organic baby food that is simply "sweet potatoes with squash and quinoa." Quinoa though. Seriously. We don't even eat that super healthy grain and our baby does. But she likes the expensive food, which is the simplest food I can find, and we want to make her happy don't we? Oh, and they also don't sell any good "biter biscuits" - the little dissolve-in-your-mouth things that she's snacking on below (brought from home). They also don't sell PLAIN CHEERIOS. WHO DOESN'T HAVE PLAIN CHEERIOS? I mean, "pip pip cheerio" and all that and they don't sell PLAIN CHEERIOS - just honey nut, and babies aren't supposed to eat honey, right? Well, we are out of biter biscuits and can't find plain cheerios. Any good 7+month snack suggestions?

I tried to get a picture of her two little teeth coming in on the bottom - IMPOSSIBLE.

Funny Face

Daily Constitutional

Eleanor and I took a walk over to and around Hyde Park today.

The weather was nice - cool, but sunny and a bit breeeeeeezy:

She spent the walk dog and bird watching. The swans were pretty:

and the pigeons were close. Very close.

And she got a puppy kiss from a miniature airedale named Linus. It made her miss her puppies (and Sammy for that matter) very, very much.

Where To Begin?

So, we are here, though there was initially a big question around IF we'd able to stay. I'll get to that in a minute.

First, the flight. We were sooooo excited when, approximately 5 minutes after finishing her bottle and 10 minutes before take-off, Eleanor fell right asleep with no fussing whatsoever. The adventure of getting to and through the airport was enough to exhaust anyone. (Oh, and for anyone traveling with a 7-month old soon, baby food is considered a liquid, so if you don't put it in a baggie, they have to test it to make sure you aren't going to make a sweet potato bomb.) So Ellie's asleep, we take off, she stays fast asleep, they set up our baby cot, and we lie her in it. Within 5 minutes, she was awake. Any time we tried to put her in the cot, she'd wake up. I spent 7 hours holding that baby to keep her asleep. Needless to say I did not sleep for longer than 10 seconds at a time and am still struggling to fully straighten my left arm.

Once we arrived in London, Eleanor was in a good mood, even though she only slept for about 6 hours compared with her usual 11 1/2, and we even got to skip the 2 hour immigration line as a reward for traveling with a small baby and head straight toward the biggest English jerk one has ever encountered. Our immigration officer must have been on some sort of power trip that day because he decided that Ryan surely needed a work visa in order to travel for business. Um? Ryan does this ALL THE TIME. His office has people come over and work for a few days to a few months ALL THE TIME. NO ONE EVER HAS A WORK VISA. He told us he wouldn't have let us into the country if it weren't for the fact that we were traveling with a baby, put some stamp in all of our passports to warn future immigration officials that we are all suspect and clearly trying to pull a fast one, and said we could enter the country but that Ryan was not allowed to work at all. Oh, and he was going to sent immigration down to the Economist to see who else is working here illegally. Ryan's office was shocked and appalled, and they are all working with an immigration lawyer to make sure Ryan is able to start working, though they did say the worse case scenario is that we'd have to "do this another time" and figure out a day to go back home. No one thinks that is really going to happen, but let's just say I still haven't unpacked my suitcase.

But the place we are staying is nice, looks very much like the pictures, though it is extremely LOUD. It is a charming old English rowhouse with all the charming squeaky doors and floors and those fabulously thin walls. As for Eleanor, let's just say she is "taking her time to adjust."

The following photo series is called In Pursuit of Plant.