A Few Things to Remember

Be still my reading teacher heart. 

11 Month Update

This week Eliana turned 11 months old.  She decided to celebrate 11 months by getting her first ear infection diagnosis.  Yuck!  I stayed home with her for two days.  Then, Fred wasn't feeling great, so he stayed home a day with her.  She went to the sitter's on Thursday, and she got more daddy time on Friday. Overall, I think she's feeling better.  Whew!

In the past week, Eliana has become quite the walker.  She basically prefers walking rather than crawling.  I'm also impressed that she has learned to stand all by herself without the help of anything.  Lately, her walking gets pretty fast.  She almost trips over her own feet when she gets excited to go in a direction.

You can't really tell in this picture, but E had a pretty crazy case of bed head when she woke up from her nap.  She seems pretty happy about it.  :)

Pretty happy at the beginning of the photo shoot.

This is the part of the photo shoot that Eliana gets mad because she wants to hold the camera herself.  Please don't judge my wardrobe.  It's pretty typical when I'm lounging around the house.  

E got some new toys from a nice teacher friend at school.  Eliana likes to push her teddy bear around in her new stroller.  So cute!

This area is the danger zone for Eliana.  Today, she got mad and bit the TV stand.  This led to a one hour screaming fit.  I think biting the TV stand contributed, but I later learned she had a bad case of diaper rash.  Poor girl!  

Such a sweetie!

She thinks she's big stuff because she can walk and chew on her sippy cup.  

And...I caught a stink face.  

I love these little feet at the bottom of the picture.  So cute!  

Eliana loves my cell phone.  If I'm texting someone or looking at something, she grabs my phone from me.  A few seconds later, it will end up on the floor.  She just doesn't want me to have it.  Little stinker!  

Fridays are Daddy days with Eliana

Since I work every Sunday, I get to take another day off during the week and Fridays are my days to spend all day with Eliana. She's only coming up on 11 months old, but I'm already cherishing these days.

We play games like hide-and-seek, (basically I hide and E comes walking/crawling until she finds me), we watch "The Wonder Years" on Netflix, I remember watching that show when I was a kid, E loves the theme song, then we play with all her toys during the rest of the show.

I love my days with my girl, I should confess that I love these times WAY more that I thought I would...I mean how could you not love holding your baby girl as she drifts off into sleep. I love being a dad.

Wordless Wednesday

In a Week

A lot happens within a week when you're a 10 month old. This past week Eliana decided to walk about 6 feet on her own. She does this every once in awhile. I've also noticed that Eliana has a slight attachment to a certain blanket, which is fine since she doesn't suck her thumb or take a paci. I've also noticed that E loves cheese. I'm pretty sure it's been her diet for the past week. I've tried to feed her things that she normally likes, but it's the cheese she really wants. I guess I don't blame her.

Currently, I am blogging from the car, which is parked in the garage. I'm scared to make any noises because Eliana is sleeping in her car seat. She decided a 40 minute nap was all she needed at the sitter's today. Silly girl!

In other news, I'm pretty proud of myself for making my first pie from scratch. I made a pumpkin pie, and had enough for pumpkin muffins. They are delicious. I also had enough pumpkin purée to freeze for later. Happy fall to us!

Here are some pictures for the week. The flower costume was for the Fall Family Festival at church. She was all smiles. The costume was too small, but we got it from another family. I made the mistake of not trying it on her before the event. Oops. Thankfully, it was cold, and her blanket covered the part that didn't fit.

Freeze

There are moments that I wish could be frozen in time. For me, these moments come when I have my sweet girl giggling at me while I'm holding her in my arms. They also come when Fred and I are both able to relax and spend time laughing and loving Eliana. I guess I just realize she won't be this little forever, and time goes too quickly. I would love to freeze these moments and revisit them anytime I want.

Tonight I had a few moments like this while Fred was in class. E and I had a little bit of time before she was ready for bed. We laughed, played, and I'm convinced she was trying to give me kisses. I loved every minute.

Happy, Curious, Doll Baby

Eliana (aka E bug, Sugga Bugga, E bear, Bugga Boo, etc),
You have changed A LOT since I last blogged.  Life has gotten a lot crazier since I started working again, and your dad started grad school.  So, here's the update on what you're up to.

You really enjoy going to the babysitter's house 4 days a week while I work.  Some days you don't seem like you want to come home with me.  While you are there, you play with 3 other kids, and I think you like that.  I always feel bad when you go to the sitter after I get there.  However, your dad reassures me that I should feel good about this because you like it there so much.  He's right.  We are blessed to have such a great place for you to go.

On Fridays, you stay home with your dad.  You enjoy staying home with daddy, and he really enjoys getting to take care of you all day by himself.  When I'm around, you want me to do everything for you.

It was only a few short months ago that you figured out the whole crawling thing.  This progressed to pulling up on things.  Then, you started getting good at walking while holding on.  Now, you stand for pretty decent lengths of time.  You also take a few shaky steps on your own.  We are pretty sure you will be walking before your first birthday.  This is exciting, but I still can't believe how big you're getting.

Lately, we have been getting a kick out of your stories.  You babble away like you are saying the most interesting things.  We think your stories are fascinating, and I'm sure it won't be long before your stories actually make sense.  We also learned that I say the word 'seriously' a little too often.  It sounds like you are repeating me after I say it.  Oops.

Your personality is really starting to come out.  Many people at church describe you as happy.  Others have considered you curious and a doll baby.  We agree with all of those descriptions.

We can't believe that it is time to plan your first birthday.  It seems like this year has flown by.  Where did all of that time go?  Weren't you just a little peanut all snuggled in my arms just yesterday?  We have truly enjoyed every stage of your development this year.  It has been such an adventure in so many ways.  We love you so much, and we feel so blessed to be your parents.  You have changed our lives in so many ways.  We look forward to all you'll start to do before your birthday.

This is your first time coloring.  You like to eat the paper and  crayons.  We'll keep trying until you get it.  

This was the beginning of pulling yourself up.  Notice the Xbox controller on the couch.  You are probably trying to get it. You like to play with daddy's controller and the remote.

You like bath time.  Now, you take a bath in the big bath tub.  Lately, you like to stand up the whole time, which is a little tricky for me.  

This is the scrunchy face.  You make it when you're excited and sometimes when you're upset.  It makes us laugh, but you don't really do it as much anymore.  

You got a new toy on mommy's birthday.  I'm not sure how that worked out.  :)

Occasionally, you snuggle for a few minutes and watch TV with daddy.  He enjoys these moments.

You're a big 9 month old.  

You like to grab our glasses and daddy's hats.  

This is your first trip to an orchard.  We picked out some pumpkins on this trip.  

You're looking like such a big girl these days.  You just got to start using your snack catcher.  It doesn't "catch" the snacks because you shake it around until they all fall on the floor.  Then, you eat them.  It would be nice if you would figure out how to use it better because it grosses me out that you eat off the floor.  

2nd zoo trip.  You don't seem to notice the elephants behind us.  

Happy 10 months!  It was hard to get good pictures of you because you were all over the place.  

Happy girl!

This little stinker face cracks me up.  I see it when you know you're not supposed to do something like eat toilet paper.

Here's your pumpkin.  You must have thought it tasted pretty good.

Daddy helped carve your pumpkin.  You were a little more interested in the lighter, which was quickly moved out of your reach.  Ha!