I promise, she has other pajamas.

Live Smiles

Here is the video from the same day as the previous two. It's just Eleanor being super-duper cute and showing me her new big "smile". She does it three times, once at the very end so it's worth waiting for. Well, for me it is.

Mending Hearts

Sorry about yesterday. Update: We are still sick here today at stupid-sick house. Shout out to my awesome neighbors for taking such good care of us! I hope that we are better by Sunday, but I'm thinking I might be a tad optimistic here. The good news of being sick is, of course, say it with me ladies: "Losing weight without trying!" Yay! Um, no. I stepped on the scale expecting pre-wedding numbers only to see that I have lost two pounds. Two pounds? TWO POUNDS!?!? I have two pounds of kleenex in every trash in every room of this house! How is that possible? Ugh! I should have abs of steal from all the coughing alone, but alas. Durr. Enough of my ranting. Lets talk blogs. P.S. I want an invite to yours. Moving on.

The super-sad shots of Eleanor from yesterday's post were breaking my heart so I took some more last night. She was being super adorable around 11 PM after sleeping for most of the day. As seen here. I was trying to catch a shot of her bouffant hairdo from her coma-nap. It was classic.

Yes, she and I have been living in our pajamas. I'm cool with it, I hope you are too.

Something is sure keeping her distracted, must be the constant showing of zoo/baby shows that we find for free on the OnDemand section of Comcast. Eleanor crack.

TV off, she starts to focus on me and warm up. Then she decides...

...that this is her brand new "smile" when I take her picture. What the what? Where did this come from? Why is she so funny?

Just giant, opened mouth glee for the camera. Ok then. I'll take it.

Super pretty baby girl. Man I want to hug this picture.

And more of this. Seriously. She has more personality in her little toe than half of Hollywood combined. Love her!

I'll post the video tomorrow.

Trying to Break the Grandparents' Hearts

Sorry mom and dad, but I finally had to take a picture of this today. Little miss sick moppet.

I know I'm not supposed to find this adorable, and trust me, in stereo it isn't half as charming, but I love how her lower lip forms a kind of "w".

This has been our week. Tylenol, Lysol, blankets and Kleenex. Yesterday and today have been a bit better, but it has still been one long crying jag. Since last Monday night Eleanor has been nice and sick. Since last Friday I've been sick too. Ugh. She went to the (freak of a) doctor on Thursday and got some meds but hasn't seen much improvement. He said she had bronchiolitis and that it was non-contagious. He acted like it was no big deal but then again, he was a big freaking freak. Now don't get me wrong. I appreciate doctors, normally I adore them! They bring an end to pain and answers to questions and I love them for training for so many years to be able to do that for us.

That said, here is my "Holy crap that doctor was awful" story.

This guy. He was the dr assigned to us by our insurance, so we just went assuming he would be ok. First of all, his office was icky gross, like old stained pictures of Porches and dusty models of tracheas from drug reps. (exam room 1- go see for yourself) How does a frame get stained dark black on half of the frame? Why doesn't someone change it or take it down once that happens? Second, he didn't have a baby scale! They weighed me holding E, then I handed her to the nurse and they weighed me again. Then the nurse did the subtraction in ink on the back of her hand. The back of her hand people! Am I crazy here? Or is that a little low rent? After the nurse took her vitals we waited for over a half an hour (the yellowed Claritin clock kept us well informed) before the doctor showed up. Now that's pretty standard, but it was a tiny room and it was hard to keep a sick baby happy even with her books, toys and bottles and what have you. So this guy shows up and he has another guy with him that writes down everything he says. The doctor tries to look in Eleanor's ears but gives up and says he can't see anything anyway. Um, what? He doesn't look at her again, doesn't listen to her breath, ask me any questions... just starts barking at his assistant by saying something then spelling it. He then asked the guy for some of the earlier vitals stuff which the guy can't find so I offer it (as I heard the nurse say it) but he scolds me saying "I was asking him!" Um, ok, freak. It was impossible to know when he was talking to his assistant or me as he never looked at either of us, but instead two feet to your right. I started to wonder if he was blind, but then remembered that he did pretend to look in her ears... So odd. He was talking loudly to his assistant and also into his tape recorder but of course Eleanor is crying now so I am desperately trying to keep her distracted, only to be scolded again at "touching" stuff. Good mother folks! Come on! Heaven forbid I hurt one of your free drug rep freebies from the 80's that are piled up to the rafters. He mentions that her abdomen was soft, um, he never touched her tummy, but whatev. We were in that room for over an hour at that point and I hear him say into his recorder "child is very agitated." Ya think? I'll show you agitated. I asked him if she was contagious and he waves his hand at me like you would dismiss a servant, all flick, flick. No. Um, ok then. Until you look at bronchiolitis online. Ya it's not contagious, but the infections that cause it are. Like RSfreakingV! Could you maybe give me just a touch of information here? Nope, apparently not. Then the cherry on top of this disaster was the pharmacist questioning the dosage on the meds. As the doctor prescribed the antibiotic for twice the amount of time that is normal. Ya, call me risky, but I think I will go with the pharmacist (and the subsequent internet searches) on this one. Freak. We are suppose to be going back in about ten more days, but I think I will be finding a new doctor in the meantime. Like not one who specializes in "medical weight loss" and perhaps has a baby scale. My mom asked if she got a lollipop at the end of her visit and I almost cried.

P.S. Um, so much for this post.

Our Little Rock Star

Little Eleanor seems to like Muse as much as her parents do. This had us cracking up. Dancing is still a new thing for Eleanor, but she is starting to really enjoy all kinds of music now. It's so cute to watch her dance! I was only able to get the last few seconds of her performance.

Eleanor's First Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Eleanor got to celebrate Valentine's Day a bit early at playgroup. She stayed up late making little candy filled hearts to give out to her friends. That baby is awesome with a glue gun.

Tear it open to find the treats! I was going to sew them closed with a cute red zig-zag stitch around the outside, but my machine was acting all wonky that night. Just as well, it would've taken forever. Gluing took long enough as it was. The ones we saw on the blog were stapled. If I could remember where I saw them I would add a link. Oh well. Sorry blogworld.

Playgroup is for anyone that wants to come. It's at the church building every Thursday at 10:30, which sadly, is a challenge for us to get to. The Firths are still not early birds. However, I make a point to try and go as Eleanor LOVES to play with the other kids. Even if it is just watching them run amok in the gym.
This week Aubrey had all kinds of things planned for the kids. Like decorating cupcakes. I'm not sure what had made E cry in this picture, but it was too cute to not include. Can you see the streaks? It's killing me.

Luckily she cheers up quickly.

Here she is trying to taste one of her Valentines.

And here we see her flirting with Cohen. Cohen and his brother Eli are some of the many hottie toddlers in our ward. Seriously. I have her betrothed in my mind to about 17 little boys. But don't you kind of secretly dream of them meeting again at BYU in about 20 years and finding out they were in Michigan at the same time? And then getting married a year or two later and then we'd get to be in-laws with super-fun friends from way back? Are you with me? Or am I as psycho as this is sounding?

Lollipops, her new-found love.

Which brings us to actual Valentine's Day. It was a low-key Sunday for us. I had to teach that day in RS and we don't eat out on the Sabbath so... Luckily our neighbors invited us over for dinner, as I hadn't really thought that far. Oversons rule! I had only thought about treats. Like the box of Sees that my dad gives me every year. He sent it special this time and included a chocolate pop for Eleanor. We put her in a bib and let her go at it.

I think she likes it.
Thanks Grandpa!

The other Valentine that Eleanor sent was to her grandparents. I almost didn't include this because I am stealing an insanely cute idea from a friend and didn't want to blog all about it and have her have to see everyone and their dog doing it next year. So, thanks and sorry Shauna. I couldn't resist trying it. Ours is a pale imitation of hers. Hers was a confectionery delight of dreamy happiness and sweet. Ours is cute. My photography skills are embarrassing. Anyhow, give credit where credit is so due!

And here it is made into a Valentine for the Grandparents.

This Week!

Just a few shots of our cutie being cute. New exciting topic, I know. And an update on what E has been up to this week. Valentine's will be the next post.

See this nice, new big-girl car seat? Eleanor got to use it for the first time yesterday when we went to pick up Clayton from school. On the trip home she made sure we can't return it. Little Eleanor exploded all over. Vomit like she has never produced before (and hopefully not for a long time again) all over her brand new chair, the back seat, the floor and even Clayton. Everywhere. And not cute baby spit up. No. Big kid bleeeechhgh. So. Very. Gross. Clayton took her straight up to the bath while I started cleaning it up in the car. It was a bigger job than I anticipated. Every time I picked something up I found new puddles of sick. It took the blanket that was already in the car and four towels to get it all. Ugghhh! Leather seats? Of course not. Nice soft cushy fabric to soak it all up. This picture is after everything got "clean". I don't think it will ever be really clean again. Yuck. I still need to clean it again. Durr.

In other cleaning news, Eleanor's new favorite pastime is helping mom with the dishes. She's always been a permanent fixture in the kitchen whenever I am doing anything, constantly underfoot. So I brought in a chair and put her next to me thinking it might be easier on me and more fun for her. Please ignore my hair, my sweats and the mess, and focus instead on HOW SMALL MY KITCHEN IS! I want sympathy on this one folks. No dishwasher, ok. But NO DISPOSAL EITHER! Boo hoo hoo.

But look at how happy she is to be "helping". And by helping I mean getting completely soaked and dropping every third item on the ground.

And a few tongue shots for the road.

You can see her top teeth in this picture. She has eight total now, all in various stages of growth. Six on the top and her two on the bottom. We thought that was what was making her a bit cranky this week, but now she has a full-fledged cold/flu. Good times.

This is promising to be a week where we need a grandma. And it's only Tuesday. Heaven help us.

Modern Baby

"Texting, Facebooking, Tweeting, you know it goes."

"It's just all so boring some times, huh Mr. Bear."

Snow Day for Eleanor!

This is what happened before the video.
Look at this over-bundled package of cute.

East Lansing got a goodly amount of snow this week. While I shoveled, Eleanor explored for the first time. And tasted for the first time.

She kept squealing and trying to go further into the fluff. It was over her head.

The side walk was too tame. Off to the backyard!

Still going...

She just swam on and on.

Tasting as she goes.

Hard work for a baby, (as you can see by her tongue) but she kept at it.

I rescued her soon after this. The snow got in her jacket and that was the end of that.

We will have to try some more on the next sunny day!

Snow Baby!

Eleanor's first time playing in the snow. And in the snow she was! Just a quick clip of her swimming/plowing ahead with all her might.

Best Dollar I Didn't Even Spend

Who loves the dollar store? Poor Eleanor usually isn't so keen on the place as I try not to let her grab stuff off the shelves or rip/drop/break things in general. This week I stopped by to get some items for the party bags for her upcoming birthday. (A month in advance? Yes, I am that disorganized and manic. It will take me a month to plan a one year-old's party.) I put on this silly, crown-head-band and E thought it was hilarious. Then she let me put it on her and it became hysterical. I didn't buy it, (It was quite ugly up close, and I don't know why it has to say "Princess". Isn't that what the crown implies?) but I will be
making her a cute crown for the big day.

Cute...

Cuter...

Oh my freaking heck! I mean COME-ON people! Does it get any cuter?!?! Or maybe Pirate-esque. Arrrr!

As a matter of fact, it does. But you will just have to wait for the next post.

Is Eleanor cute in the mornings?

Why, yes! As a matter of fact, she's adorable. Thanks for asking!
But don't take my word for it. Here is some video of her after she finished her breakfast.
P.S. I really need to stop talking when I film her.

Who Wants More Eleanor? Trick Question!

Trick question. Everyone wants more! Ok, so maybe only grandparents, me and C need the almost daily viewing of some of the 8000 shots we've taken of Eleanor. But that is what the blog is for, so if you're here, then this is what you are getting.

Just a few quick shots of Eleanor after her bath. She's so cuddly and sweet for about 90 seconds and then she is off like a shot. You can enjoy the cuddling and then chase the naked baby, or try to get a diaper on during your window of opportunity. Here are some shots of the cuddly girl.

Why is it so funny to me that she looks progressively stoned in these shots?

"Heeeyyyy maaaannn."

Pretty baby.

And then you get this, which is also good in its own way.
GOOD CHUB, she is pinchable!


I've tried repeatedly to catch Eleanor outside when it is raining or snowing. She loves it. She opens her moth really wide and or sticks out her tongue to taste what's happening in the air. It's so funny to watch. Here she is the other day as we loaded up to go inside.

Sorry for all the gushing, but I can't help it. She is still the center of the universe.