Words

Eleanora's new love, her pool floatie in the bath,

From hanging with the Ketchum's,

Helping each other take care of their babies,

Eleanora wanted out of her booster seat at the table while we were coloring to sit on CJ's chair,

Adorable.

Lots of new words/phrases over here these days, some common ones:

"What's that, mama?"
"Mama, I need help!"
"Hmmmm, lemme see...." (when she's looking for something)
"What the heck?" (oops)
"Pooh!!!! Pooh!!!!"
"in my roo" (in my room)
"Outside"
"Let's go!"
"Inside" (this never means to go inside after being outside, that's always a fight...usually saying "inside" and pointing to the bath tub)
"Teez, mama" (please)
"Oh, tank you" (thank you)
"Mo slide" (more slide)
"I love mama"
"I love dada"
"I love cookies"
"Bye! See you! Muah!"
"Elmo"
"Stinky" (poopy diaper)
wags her finger at Ernie and "No No NO!"
"Stop!"

She also has a cute version of the alphabet, and can count to 10! She loves counting things.

She's also all about helping me clean. She wants me to spray cleaner so she can wipe up the table with a paper towel. Like 100 times. She loves taking her baby doll on walks in her baby stroller. Lots of passerby chuckles from that one. Loves changing her baby's "stinky" diapers. Loves baths, hates getting her hair/body washed. Loves naptime. Hates being inside. Loving Pooh and Tigger these days. We drop Bryce off at work a lot and as soon as we pull off on the exit to his office she starts with the "Bye! See you! Muah!" routine, even though we've got at least a mile left to drive until we can actually kick him out. Hates sitting in the shopping cart, prefers to roam free and touch everything she can see. Getting much better at dining out, thankfully! Loves Ernie, she's the only one left that does. That cat is driving me nuts. Has been acting super shy at first, clinging to me for the first 5 minutes at a new place with new people, then loosening up slowly.

That's all I got for now. Eleanora will be up soon and I've got phone calls to make!

Zoo

So we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to the MN Zoo this afternoon. Their Farm Babies was what drew us in, we figured Eleanora would love them. Not so much. She pretty much hated all the animals. She was terrified. Bears? Scary. Dolphins? Freaky how they swim so close to you. Cows? Terrifying. One week old Billy Goat that was smaller than Ernie? Screamed and clawed me to get away.

 Her highlights included running along the paths, the tractor ride to get to the farm babies, picking dandelions, and lunch. Lowlights were skinning her knee running too fast on the cement trail and those pesky animals someone gathered together and put in one place to torture her.

Some pics, (not anywhere near the animals)

Birthday Palooza

Been a long time! We had a serious bout of the stomach flu around here, but we are all feeling much better.

So here are some pics:

Have you ever known a cat that jumps into the bathtub while the water is running? What a weirdo. He loves to hop in the bath with Eleanora.

During her bedtime routine. Blankie ("key" as she says), pup pups, paci and watching Tigger & Pooh.  

The beginning of birthday party weekend! CJ and Lana's pool party.

Swimming with Lily and Mary,

Eleanora has no fear. She was supposed to be sitting on the edge of this while we spun it around in a circle singing Ring Around the Rosie, but instead she wanted to stand up in the middle and dance!

Literally walking right into the pool...no fear I tell you.

With the birthday boy.

Here she is cracking up at CJ's "I'm a lady...doodle-y doodle-y do" dance. She did her real, hearty, little girl laugh for about 5 minutes straight. She loves CJ. Bryce said he's lucky if he gets her real hearty laugh once a week, and she basically just has to see CJ and she's all giggles. Ever since the party she's been asking to see pics of CJ. She comes to the computer and says "CJ! CJ!"

Here she is cracking up. I thought she was going to stop breathing she was laughing so hard.

We had a great time celebrating with Lana, CJ and Lily. After over an hour in the pool, Nora still was upset when I took her out.

The second party of the weekend, Keaton's 1st bday!

Nora eyeing the presents.

Keaton gearing up for the opening,

Nora being the boss of the presents,

She decided he was taking too long, she'd lend him a hand,

Eleanora had a lot of fun with all the birthday fesitivies, it was a beautiful weekend for parties!