Real short update...

Eleanora was not a fan of the rainy days earlier this week, she wanted to go outside!





She has learned to clap! If you say "YAY!" or start pattycake this is what you'll see,



Just a cute photo of Nora doing what she does, gnaw on her thumb and smile :)


The Petersons came for dinner and changed Carsten into his jammies before they left, and I gave Eleanora a bath and changed her into her jammies, thus these super cute photos had to be taken,





Sorry short post, I thought I had escaped getting Bryce's cold, but it got me...not feeling so hot so that's all for now.

It is Spring because I say so

Wow, it's been a busy week. Lots of photos coming your way!

I am over the moon about the weather lately! I get to actually leave the house during the weekdays, woo hoo!

Monday Eleanora and I went on a walk around the hood. I am so happy I have a sitting baby now. It makes things MUCH easier. For example, while holding her in one arm, I was able to successfully opening the garage door with the other, and pull out the stroller. BUT, the lever to open the stroller was stuck making it impossible to open one handed. "Oh crap, what do I do now?" I thought to myself- still in the mind set that my baby has to be in my arms and cannot be put down outside. "Oh wait...she can SIT!" So I sat her down on the driveway while I opened the stroller,



She grabbed my phone that I had put down near her,



She loves walks!





Tuesday: Happy St. Patrick's Day!





Carsten came over in the afternoon. He was very generous with this trucks,



I asked, "Where's Eleanora's nose?"



"Where's her head?"



Carsten was very generous with his trucks...until Eleanora started grabbing for them,



Then he decided his trucks would be safer out of her reach,



Carsten putting her pacifier back in. He's getting a lot better, he used to just jam it at her face, now he knows which way is up and to wait til she opens her mouth,



Tuesday night Chris & Amy were nice enough to hook us up with tickets to the Wild game. It was an exciting game and we won! Didn't bring my camera in, but took a picture of Bryce showing off the complimentary mugs being passed out at the game,



Wednesday, Bryce took the day off. We took a very long family walk in the afternoon and Kirby was excited to get to come along. I don't take her on walks with Eleanora by myself. Can you imagine the above stroller scenario with a walk-crazy dog to hold onto also? No thanks.



And I decided it was time to break out the flip flops. My theory is if I wish it hard enough to be spring, and act as though no more snow is coming, then it won't. So now that the flip flops are out, they can't be put away. You'll see me wearing flip flops from now until Thanksgiving.


Wednesday evening Bryce's dad and step-mom took us out to dinner for my brother-in-law's b-day. Here she is most likely spitting/raspberry-ing to Grandma Joann,


(yes Joann I still have the photo of you spitting back, I am saving for future blackmail purposes!)

Entertaining the birthday boy,



Showing off her cheeks,



In her new coat ready to go,



Whew, I told you...lots of photos this post. Finally, tonight after her bath I gave her a faux-hawk. I giggle everytime I look at her!

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood

Friday night we went on a family date to Applebee's:



Eleanora tried to eat the steak right off the menu,





Placing her order,


Most of the evening was spent picking up menus off the floor. It's her new favorite game!

Daddy playing her game,



After dinner we walked over to Kohl's. Eleanora perused their selection of baby pants,



But we ended up leaving with a new duckie. We had a $5 off coupon, and we ran into a display of $5 spring stuffed animals! Eleanora picked this guy,



Today Eleanora decided she was sick of the whole sitting thing, she's over it. Boring. She wants to stand.

(how adorable is this face??)





She can't pull herself to this position all by herself quite yet, needs a little help to get up, but once she is she can stand up for a long time. She's growing so fast!

Hmmm...

Not much exciting to report. Eleanora and I enjoyed the string of warmer days last week, as you can see much less bundling was required:



Bryce's co-worker Kathy gave us a toy storage bin organizer that we put together a few days ago. Already Eleanora's got a ton of little toys that seem to take over any room, so we were very much in need of toy storage. Thanks Kathy!

Eleanora watching me put it together:



A couple shots showing off her new toy bins:







And just because she's cute,



She has a new found love of remotes. Full-on cries when we take it from her. So she has taken control of our TV...



And here she is composing a symphony on her piano, (this is one of her many Christmas gifts that she wasn't quite ready for at 4.5 months, but now we're taking them out one by one and she is loving it!)



That's really it for now. I will try for a more exciting post soon!

Rubber Duckie, you're the one...

This week has gone by quickly! A recap:

Sunday evening Bryce had a fantasy baseball draft,



Eleanora looked over his picks,



And made a few changes,



Eleanora has started pulling down the bumper in her crib when she wakes up, like "Hello? Anyone out there? I'm awake!"






Monday afternoon Bryce came home for lunch, so Eleanora and I drove him back to work and took the car for the rest of the day. First we visited the girls I used to nanny for,



Anna loved trying to make her laugh.



Then we hit up Burnsville Center (mallrats we are!)



Eleanora decided to chew off the cute little bunnies on her socks,



And laughed at me when I told her the bunny was too cute to be eaten,



We ran a few more errands, and bought this new toy for her:
(if you're not sure what it is...keep reading)



Tues and Wednesday were nothing out of the ordinary, lots of cleaning/organizing of our place to get it ready for a crawling baby. Lots of storing of clothes that she's grown out of, blankets, burp clothes, her swing, etc. She'll be crawling in no time and we need to get ready for that new stage.

Today Carsten came over while his mom went to her doctor's appt. Thankfully, Uncle Bryce came home while he was here. Every noise Carsten hears he says "Bryce!" to, hoping it's Bryce coming home. He cannot get enough of Uncle Bryce. If he's not home, Carsten goes and picks up the phone, brings it to me and says "Bryce". So we call him.

Carsten entertained Nora while she bounced, (he's sporting a handsome new haircut)



They tried sharing the Pooh book,



And wanted to play in Eleanora's new toy (no, this is not the purpose of the toy, keep reading...)



This evening I asked Bryce to feed Eleanora her sweet potatoes. Mistake.

Here is the aftermath of daddy feeding her:



And ALL in her hair,



So, we broke out her new toy as she desperately needed a bath (yes, it is a bathtub!)



How cute is she playing with her rubber duckie, IN her duckie tub?



She absolutely loves it! It is so perfect for her. She too big for her infant tub, but not big/strong enough to sit in the tub by herself without slipping. This tub as "no-slip" bottom, and it inflated all the way around if she were to tip over. Such a great new bathtub!