How did this happen? How did my little pumpkin pie get to be 11 months old already? I feel like we only have a few weeks left of being able to call you a baby! Not gonna lie, this month has been rough somewhat like the last month. With more teeth on the horizon, your sleep has definitely been affected. When Daddy kisses you Good Night, he often laughs and says, "See you at 2am." Unfortunately, he is not joking. I keep telling myself - this too shall pass.
Eloise almost made it through the first year with nothing more than a few runny noses and coughs until last Friday. She woke up Friday morning with a 102 fever and a grouchy disposition. It was a rough virus that brought on fevers topping off at 103.5. Yikes! After 4 days of cuddles, tylenol & motrin, tears, and exhaustion, her fever broke on Monday and she woke up smiling as usual on Tuesday.
Eloise has a new trick - she says Piper! Every time Piper walks past her, she says her name. We always guessed that Piper would be one of her first words since we say it (or scream it - sorry) all the time. She has definitely become more interested in her lately as well - reaching out to pet her and handing her toys. Thankfully, Eloise & Piper seem to get along fairly well. At times, Eloise seems overwhelmed by Piper's barking or taken back by how fast she will run past her. They both want what the other one has. Piper takes most of Eloise's toys and begs for food at every chance she gets. Eloise feeds into all of this because she hands her toys to Piper and throws her food on the ground for Piper or simply leans her food-covered hand over the highchair for Piper to lick. I know, I know - germs! Someone once said to me that you have to make peace early on with your dog and baby sharing spit. Honestly - best dog-baby advice ever.
Remember when I said we were detoxing Eloise from Macklemore's "Thrift Shopping?" I think we have successfully done that but now she is all about the "Cups" song and watching that video. Brad has always been the King of online videos so I blame him, haha. Thankfully, Eloise has great taste in music as she loves jamming out to NKOTB! Sorry Brad - now we are even.
As mentioned in last week's post, we ventured out on our 1st Family Vacation this past weekend. We went to Timber Ridge Waterpark at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva. It was a great place to go for our 1st night away since it wasn't too far of a drive. All the rooms at the waterpark are suites and have a full kitchen. Brad & I both were reminded of our college apartments when we saw the layout of the kitchen. It was a nice perk to have a fridge & freezer for Eloise's food and some treats for Mom & Dad. The Waterpark isn't huge but it's great for a weekend stay. They have something for all ages - small slides, big slides, splash pool, water fall, indoor & outdoor pools, and a Lazy river. Eloise perferred the lazy river over the pools for obvious reasons - warmer water and calmer. She was a little freaked out by the pools at first but eventually warmed up to the idea of playing in the water. Thanks to Dad for willing to continually dunk himself underwater to make her laugh!
We have put this off long enough but we finally broke down spent a surprisingly large amount of $$ on baby gates for the house. With two large staircases going up to our 2nd floor, we had a lot of area to cover. It's funny how our house continues to transform every month, week, or day to adjust to Eloise's next milestone. She is on the verge of walking as she now she can stand on her own. She has really perfected her squats as she will go from sitting to squatting to standing unassisted back to squatting. The best part is that she does this in the middle of the room with nothing to hold on to. Her cute baby rolls are starting to disappear before my eyes. What can I say - the girl already knows the value of a good squat!
Have you ever seen those Japanese Waving Lucky cats? Eloise has learned how to wave good bye and say "Bye-Bye." The way she moves her little hand reminds of these cats and you can't help but laugh when you see her do it.
We went out to eat with Eloise this past weekend for dinner & frozen yogurt and then lunch the next day. It feels like a rite of passage to order off the Kids Menu. Eloise is such a busy body staring at everyone around our table, that it's hard to get to focus on eating. No surprise that the frozen yogurt was a big hit! Brad was worried she would get a brain freeze if she ate it too fast but she seemed to do alright.
The Birthday Celebrations continued this past weekend for Mom & Dad at Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Mike's. The girls took advantage of the warm weather played in the 2 pool that Grandpa had set up for them. Eloise was a little unsure but loved watching her 2 big cousins splash around.
Every night while I'm making dinner, Eloise entertains herself by going through the cabinets. She was sticking with the cabinet with the tupperware in it but this week she explored to the other side of the kitchen and found all the food! She had a blast "picking out her dinner."
Here is Eloise's signature "Hello" pose. When she answers the phone, she puts it behind her head.
We started brushing Eloise's 6 teeth this week & she loves it. She giggles the whole time. Here's hoping that she always thinks brushing her teeth is this fun!
Side note: Mommy's hair looks really good from the back here. Haha.
We went swimming for the first time in a big pool! It was a blast. We definitely have a future swimmer on our hands as she promptly dunked her face in the water multiple times and came up laughing every time.
No surprise with the parents that Eloise has that she is very chatty. From the moment she wakes up until we put her to bed, she is chattin' it up. It's really fun to listen to her change the inflection in her voice as if she is asking a question or thinking about something. Her actual vocabulary is limited but we are sure she thinks she is telling us all sorts of stories when she is babbling. Earlier this week, she started saying, "Hello." She first started doing it when she was holding her play phone pushing her walker. We say, "Hello...what are you doing?" and she will parrot back, "Hello."
Once again, my weekly blocks failed me by not letting me make a "44" - oh well. In lieu of our tradition weekly chair photo, here is Eloise in some sitting position.
What did Eloise do this week?
Celebrated the much anticipated Engagement of Uncle Brian & Aunt AJ on 6.29.13 in Las Vegas
Played with bubbles in her diaper - as if there was any other way to do it.
Celebrated 4th of July with matching star outfits with Mommy
Saved the best for last...
We throw temper tantrums now like a little drama queen.
It's actually cute and funny to watch her lay down on the ground face down and fake cry...for now.
