My little bookworm

"But how does Big Bird's tricycle go?"

"Mommy, WHAT?? Can't you see I'm reading?"

So, yet another trait she gets from her daddy...she loves her books. I, on the other hand, never read for pleasure because I have the attention span of a gnat. The last piece of literature I read was this month's issue of Parents magazine.

Seriously, Jared (and his mom and brother- you guys know it's true) thinks that an outing to a bookstore is entertainment. I don't know how many hours I've spent standing around pretending I'm really interested in looking at books, so as not to give myself away to the hordes of book-lovers in the store. I don't even want to think about what would happen to a non-reader, such as myself, who dared tread on the sacred ground at Barnes & Noble. I just don't get it...why do we have to go to the bookstore every time we go to the mall? One week isn't enough to time to write a new book- the books will be the same!

Recently, I have discovered that I can disguise myself much more easily at the magazine rack. That's where you can find the people who want to look smart by being at the bookstore, but don't actually care about perusing the shelves for hours. I can entertain myself for a good 15-20 minutes with a People magazine. I sometimes resort to going to Starbucks (even though I hate coffee) to kill a little more time. One extended trip to the bathroom, a couple of times up and down in the elevator, and there you have it, another fun day at the book store.

I should probably let Jared take Eleanor to the book store. He sets a much better example.

Say Aaaaaaahhh!

So, here are the photos from my latest attempt to capture the new teeth...I can't put these in the baby book, now can I?! In the last one, I think she was rubbing her eyes, so I would put her to bed, and stop putting my finger in her mouth.

Hmmm...how will grandmas see the teeth??

Standing on her own two feet (sort of)

Eleanor has always loved to be in a standing position. And nowadays, she's getting pretty good at it. She doesn't pull herself up to standing, but if you place her next to something she can hold onto, she'll stand there forever. Also, she has learned that falling down onto her little bottom isn't going to kill her, and has stopped turning on the waterworks with every minor fall. She's getting very brave! The other day, she took one step while holding onto the couch to grab the remote control.

Here are some pictures of her showing off her skills. She even did a fancy one-handed move as a special treat. As you can see in the second picture, she is quite proud of her new big-girl moves!

And then there were two...

...teeth.

Just as I suspected, Eleanor is now cutting her first tooth's twin brother. It looks just like the other one looked a couple of days ago. The first one is now a full-fledged tooth with the entire top part through the gums. Still no luck on the picture...

I really think Eleanor is being quite the little trooper. As long as I keep her distracted with fun things (books, toys, Jordan, etc.), she isn't terribly fussy. She has slept so well the past two nights. I didn't hear a peep out of her either night. The only downside to this teething thing the past couple of days is that she's been incredibly clingy. (Which I'm not totally convinced is a downside at all!) She wants a ton of hugs, and to sit in my lap all the time. If I sit down with her on the floor to play, she reaches her little arms over and tries to pull herself into my lap. How could I possibly resist such sweetness? I even have to take her to the bathroom with me to avoid a meltdown.

In other news, she's drinking milk from a cup now, and I'm thinking about trying to wean her off all bottles except at bedtime. It's going very well today. She hasn't fussed about not getting a bottle at all. Meals and snacks are really a whole different ball game when you can hand your baby a cup in the carseat or stroller, and watch as they take responsibility for their own hydration. I can actually use both hands to do whatever I want! (Although, that seems rather inefficient now that I've become so productive with just one hand.)

That's pretty much it for us, and since I have no picture of Eleanor to post today, I'm posting these pictures I took of my Mother's Day flowers. Man, God is good!!

Miss fussypants and the teething extravaganza

So, Eleanor is officially teething. No, really, this time. (Incase you missed it, here's why I have to include the 'really.') She woke up Sunday morning with a special Mother's Day surprise for her mommy...split gums with a tiny bit of white poking through.

And it stinks. How bad does she really need teeth? I'm willing to puree her food for the rest of her life if we don't have to do this. Okay, that's a little dramatic...

I tried to take a picture of her "tooth", but I ended up with about twenty blurry pictures of her tongue. She also slimed my camera in the process, so I had to settle for these sad, little pictures. They do pretty much sum up both of our feelings about teething...

Happy Mother's Day!

My beautiful Mother's Day flowers...Thank you, Daddy and Eleanor.

Ode to Wendy

I met this chic through her awesome blog,
She rocks, her name is Wendy.
She's super sweet and generous,
And a present she did send me.

Two boxes filled with little girl clothes
Just right for Eleanor.
Even the fancy-schmancy brands
That I could not buy in the store.

I will have so much more fun
Getting Eleanor dressed.
So, dear Wendy, I hope you know
By your gift, we're truly blessed!

Seriously, thank you so much, Wendy! These beautiful clothes are such a blessing!

The boxes arrived around noon. I was so excited all morning because Wendy gave me the heads-up that they were coming today. I'm pretty sure the UPS man hates me because I run to the door to meet him whenever I see his big, brown truck outside my window. I say things like, "I've been expecting you," with a huge smile on my face, and he just stares at me. It's okay...I love him anyway. He brings packages of fun to my door.

Here are SOME of the clothes! I couldn't fit them all in the pictures! Let's play a game...how many pairs of super sassy shoes can you find?

Here are some pictures of Eleanor modeling the clothes. I couldn't get many good pictures because she was so busy digging through the clothes. (She really was). In particular, she loved the precious Halloween ghost overalls, and I must say they (and their turkey counterpart) were one of my favorites too!