Kirsten and I however, got a little bored and passed the time choosing our least favorite names from the program ("Utah" names like Jaxtopher), and taking "MySpace" pictures of ourselves. Sessy.
Antics at which Eleanor rolled her eyes. She will have to get used to her immature mother.
Megan had a nice turnout of family to cheer her on.
Eleanor still hates tummy time. I think it is beneath her (no pun intended), as she seems a bit bored of it. And when she cries I swear she is telling us, "I can already lift my head up! Why do I have to do this?" Because the books tell us to, that's why. A good tummy day...
And a not so good tummy day...
She got some darling tights from her cousin Allie, who insists that they don't fit Eleanor. She says that they are too big for her. Allie is two, so there are bound to be some issues of possessions. Mostly though, Allie is her biggest fan and loves to talk to her, bring her things, imitate her and especially watch her diaper being changed. Allie has just been potty trained, so all things in that field are fascinating.
She loves to laugh now. Not everyone can get her to do it. Like mom a lot of the time. Megan however, is a riot to Eleanor. She can always get her laughing.
She loves reading time! A girl after her mother's heart.
She also really loves her cousin Abby. And Abby loves Eleanor.
She is growing bigger every day, and is growing out of a lot of her clothes. Sniff. On the plus side, she is fitting into some of the outfits we bought her months ago. Like this one.
It's true, she does. And one of the Jack & Janie dresses I bought her. Squeeee and squeee.
We visited the Higginson clan out in Springville and Eleanor got to meet Brian & Lisa's oldest son Vaughn. He's a fan, I think.
We asked him if he wanted to give her a kiss but he kept saying no. He apparently just wanted to gaze at her intensly. He did this for quite some time, several times throughout the visit. Not that we can blame him, but it was very Heathcliff-esque.
Eleanor and I have a season pass to Seven Peaks. She loves, loves, loves being in water, but the drippy weather has kept us a bit home bound. Boo. However, today we got some lovely sunshine, so on with the shades, and away we went! "Don't cha wish your baby was hot like mine?"
Don't cha.This past weekend Clayton was going to make a trip to Michigan to check out the law school he has been accepted to there. (Oh ya- Clayton got accepted to two law schools and wait-listed at two others. So in the fall it looks like we will probably be in Spokane Washington at Gonzaga.) However, flight loads to Detroit were bad (non-rev travel is always stand-by) so we decided to take Eleanor on her first trip instead. Eleanor had not yet met her uncle Tyler and aunt Rachel, so we went to San Diego!
SkyWest sent Eleanor a cute little onsie that says "SkyWest Airlines - Future Flyer". She had to wear it on her maiden voyage of course. However it looks a touch boyish, so I made her wear a ridiculously frilly headband to compensate. Mother's vanity, oh well. Due to a full flight, Clayton and I couldn't sit together on the plane. I was a tad nervous, but luckily the people next to me both had noise reduction head phones and I was able to relax a little. It turns out I had no need to worry. Eleanor did great on the flight. Once we were safe at the gate in San Diego I took a minute to pose her for some shots.
"I mean seriously, we get it. I'm on a plane. Big deal."
We had a lovely weekend with Ty and Rachel. They took us to Coronado Island where we enjoyed the beach. Eleanor had a lot of "firsts" this trip.
She didn't enjoy the sunscreen application, nor the wind. But the second her toes touched the (very cold) water she perked right up. She is definitely a water baby.
Our little nugget barely fits into her swimsuit. I love her little tummy poking out from under her tankini. She is so very edible.
Notice the sad face for being out of the water?
On Saturday night Eleanor and I both experienced a first. Our first major league baseball game!
We got to cheer the San Diego Padres onto a victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Baby was super well behaved at the game. I thought the noise might bother her, but she took it all in stride.
Rachel, Tyler, Marianne and Eleanor.
Everyone got free shirts at the game. I love free stuff! Eleanor wore hers instead of a blanket. And Clayton said this is the first and last time you will see him in a Padres shirt. P.S. We are not Cub fans, no no no. We are St. Louis Cardinals people through and through. Eleanor already has two Cardinals outfits, but they don't fit yet.
Our little family.
Doll-baby on a hotel bed.
Our flight home. It was a SkyWest flight which was fun for me. We got to sit together which was nice as well. Little E was perfect again. It was Sunday so she is wearing her church clothes.
Back home again. Ready to greet the hoards of people waiting to adore her. Like the co-presidents of her fan club. (P.S. My dad is in his painting clothes.)
And Great-grandma, who always wants to "tickle, tickle,tickle the little pet."
P.S. Note the size of her thighs! Awesome.You probably wouldn't guess if you knew me, but I do not want to give Eleanor "tastes" of things she shouldn't have until she is at least a few months older. However, having said that, I will confess that one night a few weeks back I was enjoying some Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream and couldn't resist. So I gave her a drop. A drop I tell you. I took a picture afterwards to illustrate how much I gave. You can barely see the amount on the end of the binkie.
At first she seems annoyed. Probably at the cold, then she licked and licked and made a grand old mess. Seriously- note her onesie. She seems to be a fan. I only gave her three drops total.
Ya- that messy brown line above the words? All chocolate. How can such a small amount make such a huge mess? And I'm not sure about the books that say babies can't distinguish tastes yet. She seemed to know it was good stuff. Oh well. Bad mothering, I know. I haven't tried it again, but I can't make any promises about frosting.
Eleanor is smart. I know everyone thinks their children are clever, but I'd say that most people are just pleased with whatever their kids can do. Not realizing that it isn't anything special. We are not that naive. Here we have proof that our daughter is a bona-fide virtuoso. She is just barely two months old and she can already make spitting sounds. I know. It's insanely cute and remarkably advanced for her age. All kidding aside, she loves to chatter back and forth with us, and recently she started copying us when we make a certain trilling sound. Here is the video of her doing it. You will have to pardon how much I talk on the video. I hate how stupid I sound on tape, but Eleanor responds to us talking, so to get the results, blah, blah, blah... So here it is. The most adorable thing ever recorded of a baby. Ever.
I thought I would post just a few shots of what Eleanor has been up to lately. A lot of hanging out with mom, a few visits at Grandma and Grandpa's, a few at Tom & Jenni's. Basically a lot of what mom used to do, just minus the flying. We did go on her first walk finally. To the mall- what a momma's girl. Ok, so it's three blocks away, where else were we going to go for her first time? For the record, she loved it.
Her new favorite shoes. Wendi and Mark Fullmer gave these to her. Could you die?
Eleanor at the park getting ready to leave. We got to spend some time with Camille & Michael Davies and family for Camille's birthday.
See! Works every time.
May 3rd we blessed baby Eleanor. She was an angel all day long. We had a big group of Howells and Firths and friends join us for the event. Thanks to everyone for making it such a special day!
Natalie and Autumn taking turns
The Howell side
The Firth side
Our little family
