Hi-Ho Silver! Away!

And the birthday presents have started coming! Eleanor received this AWESOME rocking horse from Miss Brooke and LOVES it. She can't quite make it rock on her own yet, so it's hard to get a picture of the huge grin she sports when I make it rock for her. She is such a lucky girl to have people who want to celebrate her birthday in such a big way. THANK YOU BROOKE!

Mooooooooooooo

Eleanor's afternoon bottle has now been replaced with a sippy cup of whole milk! While she's not taking to it the same way she did to, say, strawberries, she is getting more and more used to it. Today, she drank almost 4 oz!

New Routine

Eleanor has something new that she absolutely HAS to do every morning now. As soon as I put her on our bed, she makes a bee-line for the pillows, climbs up on top of them, and stands on her tippy toes to look out the window. Augie usually joins her.

Happy Monday

Cue the Waterworks

Today, Eleanor is 11 months old. It seems like just yesterday...

So of course I'm already getting a bit riled up over the fact that my baby is soon to be a ONE YEAR OLD. Like, in a month. She's not even a baby anymore! She walks! She's a toddler already for goodness sakes. I'm really not quite sure when this happened. If you would've told me in April, when I was still HOLDING MY BABY EVERY SECOND THAT SHE SLEPT IN ORDER THAT SHE WOULD SLEEP, that the year would go by this fast, I would've called someone to have you committed. But she's a big girl now!
And so we have to celebrate! I'm throwing a couple of family birthday parties, in Raleigh and in Woodbridge, and the invitations went out yesterday! If you ask nicely though, I'll give you a sneak preview of some of my on-a-budget-homemade invites:
The Raleigh party is bunny themed and the Woodbridge party, being held on Feb. 13th, is Valentine's themed. Obviously there will be many pictures to come, but please know that every nap time for the next month will be spent making decorations, planning menus, and practicing decorating a cake to look like a bunny. Wish me luck! Wish me sanity!

A Night at the Avent's

Ring, Ring

Eleanor has a new "trick." If you say, "Hello? Eleanor? Is that you? Can I please speak with Eleanor?" she holds her hand up to her ear like she's talking on the phone. Or she holds up whatever she is holding in her hand at the time as if IT is a phone; it can be a spoon, a toy car, or a book, whatever. Another weird part is that you have to do it in a British accent. Explanation? Ok. We bought her toy phone when we were in London, so the voice is British. But it's always fun to speak in accents, so we are embracing it. We just hope she doesn't grow up thinking that is just the way you have to talk when you are on the phone.

Weekend Review

Eleanor had a great weekend this past weekend. I know for some people, it isn't over. Typically MLK Day means a 3-day weekend, but not when your Daddy works for a British publication. So, while it is a typical Monday around here, we did cram as much fun as we could into two days. Ellie has become very good at playing nearly by herself. Having Augie right next to her helps:
But if she's playing and suddenly catches your eye, she's on her way to make you join in the fun:

She is, very much, her father's daughter.

Look at how mesmerized she is by Mario!

Uncle Andrew, encourages this bad habit:

But at least she's good about cleaning up after herself. We don't know if she's vacuuming or mowing the lawn. Considering she watches Mommy vacuum constantly (note: cockapoos, while hypoallergenic, do shed! It's completely false advertising to say otherwise), and considering that there are people that come and mow our 3x3 square of grass in front so she's never seen either of us mow, I think she's vacuuming.

The lights are off, the tree is dead, Christmas is over

We are a little behind in organizing in the New Year. Eleanor helped put away ornaments this morning, and with Ryan out of town until Sunday night, we have time to spend cleaning. That's not to say we aren't having any fun playing:

Ellie got these Singamajigs for Christmas, one from Mommy and Daddy and one from Santa. She very much prefers the purple one ; and because she can't push the tummy hard enough to make it sing, she usually looks like this, heading toward me, frustrated it isn't making noise:

First Christmas

We had an amazing first Christmas with Eleanor, surrounded by all of our family, in Raleigh and in Woodbridge. Eleanor was, of course, spoiled rotten by her grandparents, aunts and uncles; and while she really didn't understand it was Christmas (and that she was getting massive amounts of presents), she did understand that she was loved. She spent a lot of time laughing, dancing, and almost running from one person to another (though mostly to her Granddaddy). I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked; I was too busy having fun. But I did get a few shots: