Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Toddling Thru: 2nd half of July

Where did we leave off?  Oh yeah, Daddy's Birthday!
Eloise participated in an in-school field trip where she got to see a lot of fun animals for the first time. 
Check out Eloise petting 2 snakes!
 Now that Daddy has his new garage and table saw, his dream of building Eloise her own picnic table became a reality.  Check out that craftsmanship.
We wrapped up our birthday celebrations at Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Mike's house.  The girls all had a blast playing in water there that we like to call "Grandma & Grandpa's water park."
Reese & Eloise on piano

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Toddling Thru: 1st half of July

Between our extended 4th of July celebrations and celebrating Mommy's birthday, we have been swamped! We kicked off 4th of July, by eating some yummy patriotic cookies & hanging out at Grandma & Grandpa's house. 
Eloise had her 1st covered wagon ride at St. James Farm.  We would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been there.  We learned a lot & Eloise was very impressed by some of the history. 
We headed out to the Eyes to the Skies Festival in Lisle in hopes of seeing the hot air balloons.  Due to wind and threat of rain, the balloons weren't able to launch so we enjoyed some carnival games and rides.  The best part was the corn dogs & lemonade. 
To kick off Mommy's birthday week, we celebrated with Grandma Karen, Grandpa Kevin, and Auntie Lo.  It was such a perfect summer day that we all got in Grandma & Grandpa's pool and then ate BBQ ribs afterwards. 
 Since Mommy & Daddy's birthdays are so close, we celebrated them together that night!
 On Mommy's actual birthday, we went out to dinner at Sushi Mono and then headed to the Popcorn Shop in Downtown Wheaton for some birthday treats.  
All night long on Mommy's birthday, Eloise was saying, "Happy...to you...Mommy!"

Next up - Daddy's Birthday & more Summer fun!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Toddling Thru: 22 months



This month was all about...

Family Fun.  Throughout the middle of the month, we made the rounds celebrating Father's Day with all the Dads & Grandpas (aka Papas) in Eloise's life.  She had a great time playing with her cousins filled with lots of giggling and chasing. 

Daddy's New Garage.  Eloise enjoyed watching the various stages of the garage build.  By far, her favorite part was getting to run around on the foundation as if it was her personal stage.  All we are waiting for now is a paint job & an extension of our driveway.  Daddy's list of projects has already started!

Summer Fun. With the weather warming up this month, Eloise has been all about Water.  We spend lots of time blowing bubbles, playing at the water table, watering the flowers, and playing in the pool.  We are pretty sure that Eloise prefers filling up the pool with the hose and scooping out leaves and grass as opposed to actually getting in and playing.  

Transportation.  Whether we are sitting outside or driving in the car, Eloise is on the hunt for trains, planes, and cars.  She loves to point them out when she sees them and continues to do so until they are out of sight. 
A typical car ride includes:
           Eloise: "Mommy...Mommy...Mommy"
           Mommy: "Yes?"
           Eloise: (puts her hand to her ear) "Choo- Choo!" or "Car!" or "Pane!"

Question Game.  Eloise has started a fun game of "What's that?"  She will go from item to item in the house, outside, or at restaurant and point to something and say, "What's that?"  Once you tell her what it is, she will say, "Yeah" to confirm that she is please what you told her.  Sometimes the process keeps repeating itself over...and over...and over.  What a clever girl - she is just trying to make sure that we are consistent with our answers!

Potty.  Now that Eloise is in the Older Toddler room at daycare, she is exposed to all things potty and loves it.  We hear about the potty all the time - "I potty" or "My potty" or "Mommy potty" or "Da potty."  We've got potties on every floor now.  During a recent trip to Home Depot, we were checking out all the bathroom fixtures and turned down the aisle of toilet seats.  Eloise was so excited and pointed with excitement at all the potties before her eyes!  Hey, whatever gets this kid potty trained - I'll take it. 


This book is Eloise's favorite right now.  We got it from one of our friends that put together a big basket of books as their shower gift.  She has been requesting it almost every night and even reads it to herself sometimes.  The funniest part is that she has parts of it memorized so she will recite certain words or sounds while she is reading to herself.  The last line of the book is "Help!" as all the dust bunnies get sucked up into the vaccuum (sorry - spoiler alert).  When she gets to the last page, she actually yells, "Help!" and then says, "Ni - Ni" signifying the end of the story. 
  
Selfies of the Month