Crawling!!

Eleanor is finally crawling! She crawled all the way across the living room before we made this video. She's still a little slow, but it's amazing how quickly she is improving.

Laughing at Daddy

Eleanor kept laughing at her daddy when he popped out from behind the counter and made silly sounds. Is this not the cutest baby you've ever seen??

Welcome, Summer!

I THINK she likes the pool...

Mmmm, pasta!

10 months!

Wow, we're in double digits now!  Eleanor was clapping for her daddy's silly sounds. Ignore the red puffiness in her face - read the post below. 

Here's a bonus picture for the month!

Roseola

Well, it turns out that Eleanor had the roseola virus, otherwise known as baby measles! When we went to the pediatrician the other day (when Eleanor's temp was 103.9), she said, "Don't be surprised if her fever breaks and she breaks out in a rash.  In fact, call me if that happens, because I want to know if I'm right."  Well, I called her back 2 days later!  I don't know how well you can tell from these pictures, but Eleanor has a red rash all over her torso, back, head, and neck.  Her eyes are pretty puffy too.  She seems to feel much better now though!

Here's a description of roseola.  It describes what Eleanor has had 100%!

It's possible to have the virus without having noticeable symptoms. But roseola usually starts out with a sudden, relatively high fever, often above 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

The fever typically lasts three to five days and may end abruptly, followed by the telltale rash. The rash may last for days or only hours.

The rash is pink and may have small flat spots or raised bumps. These spots may have a lighter "halo" around them and may turn white if you press on them.

The rash isn't itchy or uncomfortable, and contact with the rash itself doesn't spread the illness. It's usually seen on the trunk and neck, but it can extend to the arms, legs, and face.

If your baby has roseola, he may also be irritable and tired and have mild diarrhea, a decreased appetite, and swollen eyelids. The lymph nodes in his neck and at the base of his skull may also be a bit enlarged. In general, children with roseola don't appear especially ill, considering how high their fevers get.

On the plus side, this means she is probably immune to roseola now for life!

Nursing in Public

Over the past couple of days, I have heard several stories in the news of women being asked not to nurse in public, and it makes me a little angry.  I think it's ridiculous to ask a woman to go nurse in a bathroom or some other private place, and I guess part of this is because I grew up in Peru.  As a kid, I always saw women nursing their babies in public, and they weren't discreet about it at all.  They would completely pull their breast out in the middle of a church service to feed their baby.  And you know what?  Nobody cared.  Everybody there grew up exposed to this, so nobody thought twice about it.  In Peru, feeding your baby is perceived as a normal, natural behavior - which is exactly what it is.

So why is it such a big deal here in the US?  Why do we see nursing as something dirty that should be done in private?  Why is an exposed breast such a horrifying thing?  (And I should point out that a breast is rarely exposed for more than a second or two during nursing, and not at all if the mother uses a cover.)  I personally did always cover up when I nursed in public - these days Eleanor gets way too distracted so we usually nurse in the car - but it doesn't bother me when people don't.  I really wish that more women would nurse in public because the more it happens, the more our society will come to accept it as part of nature instead of seeing it as "freaky", "creepy", or "disgusting."

I also want to add that anybody who thinks a woman should go nurse in the bathroom has obviously never breastfed.  Just think about the logistics.  For the first 3 or 4 months, it took Eleanor 45-60 minutes to nurse.  Most public restrooms don't have chairs to sit in, nor do they have lids on the toilet that you can pull down and sit on (and those are usually dirty when they do!).  So do you sit on the toilet seat for 45 minutes?  Gross!  Or, do you STAND, holding your 8 to 15 lb baby in your arms for 45 minutes while you nurse?  I don't know about you, but that sounds extremely uncomfortable to me!  On top of all of that, this means that the mother is spending up to an hour in a room by herself while the people she came with are eating their dinner or shopping or whatever it is they are out doing.  It is lonely and isolating.  No wonder more women don't nurse if this is what they are expected to do!

By the way, in Florida women are legally allowed to breastfeed anywhere that they are allowed to be.  It is illegal for a store manager or other person in charge to ask a woman to leave or stop nursing.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Forget all of the sweet baby books about animals and colors; Eleanor goes for books like Soul Catcher! Hunter loves his science fiction books, and maybe he won't be the only one in this house.

More videos

This is Eleanor just a couple of hours after her fever broke yesterday.  As you can tell, she seems to be feeling just fine!  Hunter is making a funny smacking sound with his mouth, and Eleanor thinks he is so funny and likes to imitate him.  By the way, she is half naked because her fever had been so high.

Here's Eleanor showing off her amazing skills with the gumball machine!  (As a side note, this toy actually belongs to a friend's baby. We swapped a bunch of toys for a few weeks so our babies could have something new to play with for a while. I thought it was a great idea and wanted to pass it along!)

This last video is just kind of funny. Eleanor tries SO hard to crawl, but usually just ends up going backwards. I just love the silly face she gives halfway through!

Update

Well, Eleanor is not all better.  Her temp has gone higher and higher throughout the day and got up to 103.5!  When I saw that, I literally jumped up and frantically searched for the phone to call the doctor for the second time today  They had us come in (and her temp was up to 103.9!) and the pediatrician said the ER doc did a good job and covered everything, so she is sure it's just viral.  She gave us ideas for keeping the fever down (lukewarm bath, slightly higher doses of Tylenol/Motrin, Pedialyte in addition to nursing, etc.) so we'll be working on that.  Eleanor is now sleeping peacefully.  Poor baby...she is so tired and sick.  Her parents are ready for her to be well!

Update:  (Yes, I'm updating an update.)  When she woke up she was soaked with sweat - apparently her fever broke!  It gradually went down throughout the day and she was at 98.6 when she went down for the night.  Whew!

Blast off!

Today the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched for the final time. This was the view from our yard.


In honor of the launch, Eleanor wore a special shirt that her Grandma gave her when I was only a few months pregnant. She actually slept through the launch, but oh well!

And finally, who knew that pine straw and ceiling fans are all you need to entertain babies? This isn't a terribly exciting video, but it's just a minute of Eleanor entertaining herself.

Our trip to the mountains!!

This is our internet and cell phone signal free REMOTE cabin!  Our Corolla almost didn't make it, but I'm glad it did!

The view from the front porch to the trout pond

The front porch!

Trying out our new Beco Butterfly baby carrier...I love it!

Looking Glass Rock (from the Blue Ridge Parkway)

Looking Glass Falls - It may not look like it in this picture, but Eleanor LOVED the waterfalls!

Checking out the trout at the fish hatchery

Eleanor's first fire!

Hooker Falls, just a few minutes from our cabin

(I have no idea how it got its name.)

Hiking up to Triple Falls

She loved riding on Daddy's back!

Triple Falls - much more impressive in person!

The river

Hanging out on the front porch

9 month pictures

Please forgive the poor quality - I don't have a scanner so these are pictures of pictures.

Reading with Eleanor

Reading is by far Eleanor's favorite activity. She loves it when one of us sits there with her and she hands us books out of the basket. With each book she'll turn the pages and listen either for the whole book, or just for a page or two before going back to the basket. When we finish a book she'll either turn back to the basket or tap the book, meaning she wants to read it again. Today I read one book to her 7 times in a row until I just couldn't take it anymore! I love watching her turn pages and occasionally smile at the pictures.

For some reason this little Winnie the Pooh book fascinates her. I think it's just the size of the book because she doesn't really let me read it to her - she just wants to hold it.

After over 30 minutes of reading, here's where the books stand: books we read (some over and OVER again) on the left, reject books on the right.

She loves it when I buzz like the bees in Winnie the Pooh! Oh, and there is a budding little tooth under that finger!

9 month checkup

Eleanor had her 9 month appointment yesterday and she's doing great!  She weighs 17.3 pounds which puts her in the 25th percentile where she has consistently been since she was born.  I'm kind of surprised she didn't move up the scale because she eats like CRAZY and I think she's starting to get a little chunky.  Anyway, she is 28" long, but Eleanor moved while the nurse was doing the measurement and I'm pretty sure she's taller than that.  That puts her somewhere in the 60-75th percentile, but she's consistently been in the 90th since she was born.  Oh yeah, and her head is in the 90th percentile but no surprise there since her parents both have giant heads and can't wear the hats the sell in stores.  :)  (I special ordered the hat that Hunter always wears when he's in the sun!)

The pediatrician didn't seem concerned that she's not crawling or pulling up yet because she's doing so many other things well.  (Standing for long periods with something to balance on, using the pincer grasp, etc.)  She seemed impressed that Eleanor is already saying "kitty."  The appointment went well and she said Eleanor is in perfect health.

For the past two days or so, Eleanor has been waking up at 5:45, not napping well, and she has been super fussy.  Last night I followed the advice given in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (love that book!) and we put her down at 6:00 instead of 7:00.  It worked like a charm.  Something else woke her up at 4:00 so I nursed her, but then she went right back to sleep until 7:15!  She woke up happy and has been so sweet all morning!  This early bedtime is just a temporary thing, by the way, until she seems to be back to normal.

Some favorite books

Eleanor loves to read.  Well, okay, she loves to turn pages, look at pictures, and listen to us read to her.  We probably have upwards of 50 board books, but there are a few that are definitely her favorites.  These books pretty much always keep her attention and she's happy to read them over and over again until Mama or Daddy get tired of them!  Here are some of Eleanor's picks:

I read this one to her today at least 4 times in a row.
She still wasn't done, but I had to read something different!

This was Ada's "Father's Day gift" to Hunter when I was 4 1/2 months pregnant with her.

This one truly seems to be her favorite, which makes us happy.  It's a very special book to us because it's the first thing we ever bought for Ada together.  Eleanor loves turning the pages and reading it over and over.  And over.  And over...

My new toy!

Yesterday Hunter came home from work with a small box wrapped in blue copy paper.  (Yes, he had it delivered to work and made an extra effort to wrap it in blue paper, not white.)  He said that he wanted to give me my Mother's Day present early because it was "time sensitive".  I knew that he was planning to get me something, but I was thinking small and the time sensitive comment threw me off.  Anyway, I was completely shocked when I opened this!

It's an iPod touch, which I have been wanting for a while, but of course it's the kind of thing I would never just go buy.  It's basically everything that an iPhone is without the phone (and the additional $30/month that will cost you).  It plays music, of course, but it also has wifi so it's like a little mini computer I can take with me anywhere.  I love it!!!  If you have a an iPhone or an iPod touch, please leave me a comment to let me know what your favorite app is.  So far my favorites are Facebook, Pandora Radio, and NPR.

Oh, and it was "time sensitive" because we're going out of town next weekend and he knew I would want to get everything set up on it before the trip.  Smart guy.

Wow, what a Mother's Day gift, and what a surprise.  I told Hunter he has now set the bar high for Mother's Day!  ;)

Some new pictures

Reading with Daddy

Hanging out with her buddy Elijah

Eleanor's first Peruvian food!  (That's pollo saltado)

Plotting her escape