Swim Class

So, Ellie is enrolled in a swim class - not so much for swimming at this age but to learn breath control and acclimate to being in the water. We go every Saturday, and the class consists of lots of song singing, group activities, and circuits for the individual babies. There are usually about 4-5 babies in the class (with a parent), and it's safe to say Ellie is the smallest by a long shot. Since she loves bath time and the occasional recreational swim, we thought she would be all about swim class. Not so. She's clearly the worst student of the bunch. Let me clarify...

We really envisioned Ellie loving all of the activity, splashing to and fro, and even bonding with us during class. So far, we're 0 for 3 for those goals. As the other kids frolic in the water and laugh with glee, Ellie literally stands there stone faced with her fingers in her mouth. Not even a crack of a smile... We're not sure if she thinks she's better than everyone there, is too cool for school, or if she's simply overstimulated with all of the action. I'm hoping it's the latter.

Below, I've documented a typical swim class with Ellie. Let's hope Nana can bring the joy of swim class to Ellie next week;)

They have "motorboating" where they put the babies in a noodle contraption. The babies are supposed to learn to kick there legs and grab the ball floating around. As you can see, Ellie is totally unimpressed.

As Ellie floats into a corner by herself, she's still totally unfazed.

We're still skimming the surface, but next week the goal is to get Ellie completely submerged. Then, the goal is to increase the amount of time under water to improve on breath control.

This is the most action we got out of Ellie during class...

This circuit is called Monkey Bars where they teach the babies how to grab onto the side of the pool. Our finger sucking daughter didn't care for this exercise either.

Again, refusing to give up her beloved fingers during slide time. Too cool for school.

We end the class each week like this. Ellie graced us with her full attention and no finger sucking but looks less than impressed with this activity as well.

6 months

 Our sweet Eleanor Jane is 6 months today! We are having a ball watching her very colorful personality continue to develop.

Ellie's 6 month checkup this morning brought us these stats (plus the doctor confirmed what we already knew - we have a VERY active daughter on our hands):

Head: 73% (43.2 cm)
Height: 33% (25.25")
Weight: 36% (15.4 lbs)

For those of you keeping score, her head percentile continues to increase, while her height and weight have consistently decreased. I think it's official - Ellie's size will closely resemble that of her parents (and also of a lollipop). All percentiles and candy references aside, we think she is just perfect;)

Ellie has come a long way in 6 months. We love that she can interact with us now, semi communicate what she wants with grunts, kisses, and smiles, and is extremely aware of her surroundings. For the most part, Ellie wakes up happy and goes to bed happy as long as she's stimulated in various environments throughout the day.

Our daughter loves being outside, in the water, and in any chaotic environment that she can people watch (grocery stores, airports, shopping centers). Ellie continues to live the Austin life... this morning she went to baby yoga with our nanny, Laura. Our daughter will master her downward dog before we know it!

Justin and I head to Sonoma next week, our first trip without the little nugget. While we're away, Nana is sure to spoil Ellie. While I'm a little (or a lot) anxious about leaving Ellie, it will be so nice to get 4 full days of adult time, amazing food and wine, and uninterrupted sleep. We may need to sneak in some FaceTime while away... yes, I've turned into "that" parent.

Ellie letting me know the photo shoot is O-V-E-R

 All geared up for the KU game on Saturday, only to realize it wasn't televised in ATX.

Brunch at Taco Deli with Ellie's birthday buddy, Nora. These babes share a love of water bottles...

Sunday Stroll in the hood...

Heaven on Earth

We spent last week in Florida with Miss Eleanor. Our first stop was in Pensacola to visit Uncle Nick and Aunt Jane. They bought their first house in Cordova Park, and it is just perfect. The neighborhood has a midwest/KC feel - very Americana. (Dog) Cousin Norm welcomed Ellie with open paws sniffing and kissing her as much as he could. Ellie got a kick out of Norm and consistently flinched whenever he got close.

Next stop, Santa Rosa Beach (aka our Happy Place)! It's utterly impossible to visit SRB without completely relaxing and soaking in all that the Emerald Coast has to offer...  crystal clear ocean, white, powdery sand, insanely nice people - all in a super kid friendly setting. We rented a house in Watercolor with The Hales (Dylan, Maggie, and Jack), and it was amazing. We were just a stone's throw away from all of the Watercolor amenities and the Seaside shops and restaurants.

We spent the first two nights cooking at home after the kiddos went to bed (6:30 bedtime for both meant a full night of adults kicking back). Our last night there was parents night out! Thanks to Bama and Gampa (and Nick and Jane), we hit the "town" - sunset drinks at Bud & Alley's, dinner at The Pizza Bar, night cap at The Great Southern, and dessert at Heavenly. Doesn't get much better than that (except for our 10:00 bedtime).

Before we left on Sunday afternoon, Aunt Val graciously brought over a delicious breakfast for all of us. Cousin Rob also joined us from Tulsa, so we had a big Thomas/Detrick crew! It was great to catch up with everyone before wrapping up a fun filled week in SRB.

Every time we visit, Justin and I seriously contemplate selling everything we own and moving down there to become beach bums. So tempting! We always seem to plan the next trip before returning home. ... hoping for a Spring 2013 trip.

Now that we're back, Ellie is in full swing - SUPER close to crawling, eating solids, puckers up to give kisses, and is as active and vocal as can be. She loves her (homemade) sweet potatoes, peas, and squash. She's not so keen on applesauce. I've tried applesauce 4 times, and she makes the funniest face after every bite and spits out most of it. My most recent attempt was a couple of days ago, and she literally puckered and shivered after every bite. I'm going to table the apples for awhile why we try some new foods;)

Today is Grandma Betty's 80th birthday! Happy happy birthday, Grandma! How incredibly lucky we are to have you as a grandmother. 80 never looked better - you age with such style and grace. We hope you enjoyed your day!

Football is back!

It's finally starting to feel a bit like fall down here. Well with 106 degree record breaking day on Friday, it didn't physically feel like fall... but when football is back, fall has arrived.  It did cool down to 90s on Saturday, so we snuck Ellie J out of the house for an hour in between naps. One of our favorite activities is heading down to the South Congress area for some strolling, shopping, people watching, and coffee drinking. Baby girl loves it as much as her folks do.

We managed to make it back in time to watch the KU game.  We (I) was super pumped that we got to watch it at home.  Too bad the new Hawks played like the old Hawks and gave the game away in the last 2 minutes.  What a waste.  Had to go for a run on the trail downtown to blow off some steam after that one. Homemade pizza and a movie topped off a fantastic little Saturday.

This week we watched a new episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations filmed here in Austin during SXSW 2011.  He hit one of my favorite spots, Barley Swine (had my birthday dinner there last year) as well as two of the top BBQ joints in Texas. One of them is J. Mueller which has been called the Obi Wan to one of the greatest pit masters of today, Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ also Austin.

Lund keeps giving me a hard time since we live 5 minutes away and have never been to J. Mueller.  So I figured there was no better day than today... First Chiefs game of the year!  They open at 10:30am, so we figured if we got there by 11 we'd be fine.  That was a miscalculation. By the time we got there at 11, there was already an hour long wait (thank God for DVRs). It was well worth it. The meat was delectable (even by KC standards).

Unfortunately, the Chiefs game had the same result as the KU game - a LOSS.  Brutal weekend for KC sports (Yes, I'm also referring to Mizzou getting smoked by Georgia at home - how's the SEC feel now?). Dylan is totally dominating me in Fantasy Football this week even with Tony Romo going off on Wednesday night. So for those keeping score at home, that's 0 for 3 at the Thomas household. Sarah picked Houston this week in the eliminator pool, so that means she'll pretend to like at least one aspect of football for another week.

Now - we are officially entering beach week.  A welcome break to our happy place. Not to mention an introduction of Ellie J to Uncle Nick and Aunt Jane. Off to Pensacola on Tuesday for a few days at brother and sis's, then over to Watercolor for a long weekend with the Hales.  Bama and Grandpa are coming down for the weekend as well as Aunt Val and Cousin Rob.  We are pumped.

I'm convinced Ellie J. and Jack will love the beach as much as we do. Can't wait to get them all sandy.

Loving graffiti on South Congress

Parents of the Year, I know... but Ellie is obsessed with bottles, and this one was no exception.

Hollywood

J Mueller spread

Patiently waiting in line at J Mueller, all in Chief's' gear

Quite the smoker...

10 minutes after we showed up (and less than an hour after they opened), John deemed the joint closed. 

Just in case patrons didn't understand what "closed" meant...

A typical line at J Mueller

Go Chiefs!

Watching the Chiefs game with Daddy

Lip Smacking Ellie

Justin taught Ellie a new trick, and she now practices it all. day. long.

Labor Day Weekend

Ellie decided to cat nap her way through the long weekend. When she's not getting her beauty sleep, our daughter is a talkin'... it's pretty entertaining because her face looks as though she really has something important to say. I just wonder what's going on in that little noggin of hers;)

Ellie's also showing signs of wanting to crawl. She either intently pushes up with her arms or plants her face on the ground and pops her rear end in the air. But never both at the same time... it's just a matter of time. I secretly want her to be immobile for a bit longer because I'm not quite ready for baby proofing our house or chasing her down.

One week until we head to Flah-ri-da. We can't wait to introduce Ellie to our Happy Place!

Proudly holding her own bottle

New favorite toy... look how excited Justin is.

Finger sucking is serious business.

A few videos, some of which are a little long because I haven't learned to edit yet.