Thank you, Aunt Heather!

Eleanor's "Aunt" Heather (my best friend growing up) sent Eleanor a gift card for her birthday and I wanted her to see what we got!  I took Eleanor to Target and she picked out this walker/doll stroller.  ;)  As soon as we got it assembled tonight she pulled up on it and started pushing it around the house!  It's great because it doesn't move too fast for her, it gives her just the right amount of support, and it has a little shelf on the back where she can store her "treasures".  She loves that little bear by the handle too.  Plus, she can push her new doll all around the house!

Thank you for my new walker, Aunt Heather!

Swimming with manatees!

We decided on a whim to go to Sebastian Inlet State Park this morning, and it was the best decision ever!  They have a tidal pool that is amazing for small children because the water is so calm and shallow.  (Just be sure you don't go at low tide or there's no water there!)  I knew there was an occasional manatee sighting there, but apparently right now it's mating season so they were everywhere!  It was awesome!  I think we saw as many as 8 or 9 manatees.

Our first sighting

I think you can see 4 in this picture

Yes, that is a manatee's head like two feet from my baby!

(I was in the process of moving her away!)

Up close

There was quite a crowd watching the manatees

Our lone dolphin sighting

More manatees

Of course, we also had a little playtime on the beach...

...and in the water!

I'm not sure why, but I love this picture.

Here's a video of the manatees

A new trick

Hunter taught Eleanor a trick with her new birthday toys.

Basket baby

Look who I found hanging out in a basket with her books!
 

More party pictures

My sister-in-law is an amazing photographer.  Here are some of her pictures from Eleanor's party:

We rented a pavilion on the beach for the party

The cupcakes were enjoyed by all!

Evan used ice to cool the baby doll on a hot summer day

The birthday girl samples some of the party food

The favor bag included a whistle...I'm sure some of those have mysteriously disappeared by now!

A few videos

Here's a few videos of my growing girl! She may not be walking alone yet but she is learning how to push her car around. She only does it when you put her there though, so I'm wondering if we should get something that's designed to be a walker for beginners.  The second video is of her playing with her new birthday blocks.

(We just had our carpets cleaned if you were wondering why we have furniture up on blue styrofoam and no books on the shelves.)

One year update

Here's what Eleanor's up to at one year old:

• At her checkup yesterday, she weighed 20 lbs and was 30.25 inches long.  This puts her in the 40th percentile for weight and the 80th for height.  As the pediatrician said, she's still long and lean just like she's been since the day she was born.
• She points at stuff ALL the time now.  I try to tell her the names of everything, and it seems to be working.  In her room she knows where everything is and will point to her map, her pictures, her ceiling fan, and her name when I ask her where they are.  For her name I actually spell it and she points to where it is written on the wall.
• She also has a pretty good vocabulary.  She has said mama, daddy, kitty, turtle, desert (pointing at paintings), toys, picture, tree, painting, swing, yes, nose, telephone (teh-own), and book all pretty clearly - or at least well enough for me to understand.  There have been lots of times that I think she's saying a new word correctly but I'm not quite sure if it's just a coincidence.  This morning she seems to be working on the word balloon.  (We have one hanging around still from her party.)
• She loves music!  There's this one song from her music class where you pat your knees with the beat while you sing it, and she loves that song.  Occasionally she'll stop what she's doing, look at me, and pat her knees.  If I start singing it with her she gets a HUGE smile on her face.
• She's still not walking, but she's doing just about everything else.  She'll crawl, pull up, cruise, etc.  A part of me is a little anxious for her to start walking, but then I realize it will just make my life more difficult so I don't worry about it.
• She understands the meaning of "no", which is helpful.  I try not to say it often at all, but when I do she usually stops what she's doing.
• Eleanor is apparently down to just one nap a day.  It started taking her forever to fall asleep for her morning nap, so yesterday I experimented and didn't even try putting her down.  She went straight through the morning with no problems and then took a 2+ hour afternoon nap.  I was kind of hoping maybe she would start sleeping later in the morning to make up for it, but 6:45 AM it is...
• She is making the transition to whole milk with no problem.  The first time we gave it to her she drank it from her sippy cup like she had been doing it all her life.  We're now down to nursing only twice a day (morning and night) and I plan to wean her completely in the next couple of weeks.  In some ways it's a huge relief, but it's also sad because I will definitely miss it.
• I love watching Eleanor play by herself!  She's hilarious.  She will play alone for up to 30 minutes and she talks to herself and to her toys.  She has a little cloth bird house and we've decided that's where she puts the things that she really likes (her "prizes").  Sometimes I'll find it full of blocks or Fisher Price Little People or puzzle pieces or who knows what else.
• She still only has two teeth!  That sure doesn't stop her from eating though!
• She loves to make silly faces and will try to get you to make them back at her.  She scrunches up her nose, sticks out her tongue, or shakes her head back and forth.  If you do it back to her she thinks it's hilarious!

I guess that's it for now.  I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast!

Birthday party

Eleanor had a turtle birthday party! I was a little busy and forgot to take a lot of pictures, but I did get a few.  I might have more from my sister-in-law to add later.

Her turtle cupcake pull apart cake

The other turtle

More cupcakes!

Eleanor is a little concerned.  There's fire and lots of people singing to her.  What is this all about?

Hunter insisted that she eat the head of one of the turtles.

Yes, that's Eleanor holding a lighter.  Can you guess which of her parents handed that to her?

Uncle Japheth showing off his coloring skills.  We got coloring/educational sheets from the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.

The ball pit while it was still relatively calm...

Recreating a scene from Up! later that night at home.

First birthday!

There's a story behind this little birthday cake. A very good family friend - so close we called her our "Aunt" - gave me this cake (part of a doll tea party set) for my sixth birthday. One month later she was killed by a drunk driver. It became a family tradition to always put this cake out at our birthdays.

Wait, what?  I'm SUPPOSED to tear the paper?

Oooh, a tag!

I think I like this doll!

I just love to pull her magnetic pacifier off!

Checking out my new picnic basket

Who cares what's inside the box when you have two cool pieces of paper?!

(And yes, I lost my pants since the last pictures.)

Get these blocks out, Mom!

I love my new blocks!

I'm already quite good with them!

Check out the next picture...

Action shot

You want me to do what with this cupcake?

Here's a video of Eleanor exploring her first cupcake.  The funny thing is that she had her first cornbread about 10 minutes earlier and went nuts over it.  I guess it's a good thing that she prefers cornbread over sweets!