Your honest opinion

So, today we tried out a new hairstyle for Eleanor. Her dad and I have differing opinions on whether or not it works for her.

Before I tell you what I think, tell me what you think. Is the Pebbles 'do too cute or too silly on Eleanor? Let's try to use those two phrases only, please, as I would hate to have to un-invite anyone (or kick them in the kneecaps) for a rude comment about my adorable little girl. Thanks for your input!

Give me a litte smile...

And now your serious look...

And a random picture of Little Missy trying so hard to be big...

Eleanor is 13 months old!

Here's what she's up to:

• Making us laugh outloud with all of her cute, new words. She knows she's funny too. We'll be totally crackin' up, and she just keeps the straightest, little face the whole time, and keeps making us laugh.


• Still crawling everywhere, but getting faster and faster everyday. In the past couple of days, she has moved to a bear crawl (on her hands and toes).


• Still being very choosy about what and how she'll eat. If she doesn't want what I give her, she shakes her head, says "Uh-uh", and places the food in the cup holder of her high chair tray. (It's SO hard not to laugh about that!) She has also apparently inherited my food texture issues, as she sometimes gags when she just touches slimy food with one finger.


• Learning to obey when we tell her no. If she's about to do something she knows she's not supposed to, she turns around, looks at me, and says, "Uh-uh." (Which doesn't always mean she won't do it.)


• Having 2AM parties in her crib at which she runs laps around the inside of the crib, plays "Toss the Pacie" ('uh-oh'), and talks to her stuffed animals. (Hilarious to watch on the video monitor!) Then, after as long as an hour, she lies back down and goes to sleep.

We are so in love that baby girl! God is SO good!

Another new word

I know, I know. I keep telling myself that I'm not going to post a video every time Eleanor says a new word. And then I do. I just think it's so darn cute and amazing when she surprises me by knowing what things are called. It's not like I'm sitting around trying to make her say words all day. She just does it, and it's funny. At the very least, Eleanor's relatives are getting a kick out of the abundance of videos. It's been a while since I mailed out DVDs. Sorry guys!

A few notes about this video...

1. Her room is messy.
2. The boxes in the background are in her closet, which has no doors at this time. We bought new doors, but haven't put them up yet. (See previous post concerning month-long toilet saga.)
3. I didn't mean to hit her in the head with the shoe. It's sort of hard to hold the camera, and pick up other objects at the same time. Well, it is for me anyway.

More pictures of my house

So, the big around-the-clock-working-like-maniacs-push-to-get-our-house-redone has been over for some time. We got tired after six weeks or so. And we went broke. But we have been doing little projects here and there on the weekends whenever Eleanor will cooperate and watch her Baby Einstein videos like a good little girl. (We sound like awesome parents, huh?) Seriously, though, home improvement was much easier before she became so proficient at crawling/standing/getting into everything that looks like it could possibly be dangerous.

Anyway, after much sweat and many tears (no, really), we have finally finished one bathroom. (One down, two to go.) The toilet in this bathroom has caused us more heartache and trips to Lowe's/Home Depot than any other single project in the whole house. Here's the short version of the toilet saga...took the toilet out to tile the floor (which hubbie did an AMAZING job on), tried to put it back, bolts wouldn't work/kept getting lost down the stinky hole that is hiding under everyone's toilet that I hope you never get to see, bought forty-five of these wax ring thingies that go under the toilet, got the toilet in- wouldn't flush, (cried), poured every kind of chemical that is made to go in or around a toilet in the toilet, still didn't work, went to Home Depot for the forty-seven thousandth time, bought a new toilet, put it in, FLUSH!!! (cried again, but happy tears this time)

And here is the finished bathroom. Jared gets most of the credit. I was just the designer and apprentice on this one. He did most of the hard stuff. He's so stinkin' handy (and cute)! I think I'll keep him.

Before

After

It cracks me up when I label these pictures...like you would get them confused.

How to take away a pacifier

Or not. I tried. And failed. I totally caved at bedtime, and I'm pretty sure anyone would have if they'd heard the screaming coming from that precious baby's room. She has never screamed like that before, and I hope she never does again. It didn't even sound like her. It sounded like, well, it sounded like if someone stepped on ten cats' tails at once while wearing a dog costume and squirting them with a waterhose. Not pretty.

My first strategy was the ol' cut-the-tip-off plan. That really ticked her off. She threw her pacies at me (quite an arm for a twelve-month-old) more than once. She also went the whole day with no nap. So, by bedtime we were both very tired and very grouchy. This time, I took the pacies out of her crib. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong-o. She launched into that whole screaming thing again. This is a kid who usually lies right down without a peep. Even if she's not tired, she'll play in her bed for up to an hour. So, you can imagine my dismay at this evening's events. After a quick phone call to my friend Laura (who told me exactly what I wanted to hear) for a little reassurance, I marched right into her room and gave her a pacie. Good thing I saved one, and only one, for an emergency such as this. If I hadn't, I'd be at the store right now toting a screaming baby in her puppy dog PJ's under one arm while searching frantically for a Gerber Nuk Size 2 with a latex nipple. Instead, I am typing this little post as my baby sleeps oh-so peacefully away in her comfy crib.

My new strategy- wait until she's two. Or three. Or seven. Or eighteen. Wait...there's no way she'd use it at college, right?

And to deter you from making any unkind comment about my kid still using a pacie to go to sleep, I went looking for pictures of Eleanor looking super cute with one in her mouth. All I could find were these...the first one is the day after she came home from the hospital (that's a preemie hat and a preemie pacie) and the second one is her with my dad (her Pop) when she was two and a half months old.

Itty bitty butterfly

Today, I put some pieces of Eleanor's Halloween costume on her and took a few (ha!) pictures. I wanted to take some now so that she wouldn't be wearing the sweatshirt, tights, boots, and parka that she's sure to need here by Halloween. I thought she looked totally adorable (as is quite obvious by the plethora of photos I am about to impose upon you.) She is supposed to be a butterfly, but we all know little hands have to have something to keep them busy, so she had a wand. I guess that makes her a fairy. Whatever. Now, on with the show...

Duckies and kitties and cars, oh my!

I know I've been posting a lot of videos lately, but I just can't get over all the new things Eleanor is learning! Isn't it amazing how God made little baby brains like sponges that soak up everything they see and hear?!



Oops...I cut off the end where she waves. Oh, well. We've already covered waving anyway. Boy, does it seem like that was only yesterday. Where is that chubby, little baby?!