10 months

It's crazy to think that Eleanor has been alive outside my belly as long as she was inside. How is this possible? 

Our daughter continues to entertain us every day. She's been in the most amazing mood lately, even with a nasty ear infection and terrible diaper rash.

Tidbits this week:

Ellie's quite the dog lover now and her newfound love is teetering on obsession. She even says duh-gy... so cute. As we stroll around town with her in the Bjiorn and she spots a dog, she kicks her legs, flails her arms and squeals until the dog acknowledges her.

We've started watching sign language DVDs, and Ellie can't get enough of it. Just within the first week, she's responsive to several signs - milk, water, dog, fish, more...

Ellie went under water about 10 times at swim class this week for 4 whole seconds. I'm pretty sure my heart stops beating every time she's submerged.

Ellie can climb all 17 stairs in about 90 seconds or less. She seems to be extremely coordinated because she hasn't slipped or fallen once (knock on wood).

We had so much fun with Uncle Nick and Aunt Jane in town last weekend. Ellie performed, as expected, and the Hawks even squeaked out a win for us. Saturday UT/KU game, followed by a pub crawl + Sunday brunch and South Congress + Monday Drag/Downtown/Tex Mex = fun, family weekend. The weather here has been just perfect - 70s and sunny during the day and cooler at night.

Peek-a-boo!

A little chair chewin'

No pressure, Ellie.

Lovin' some play time with Uncle Nick!

Our Boys in Blue

So close!

Game Time

Ellie loves Auntie Jane and her cell phone

Happy Hour on Town Lake

10 months and ON. THE. MOVE.

Hello Blue Eyes!

No fear climbing

Can't get enough of car keys

Our Tiny Dancer

Ellie got ahold of Justin's wallet and played with the contents for a good 30 minutes. Pure heaven.

Silly, Happy Girl

Whew, we're still catching up from holiday travels and several weeks of being sick... It's great to be home and back into our routine.

Ellie has been in the best mood lately (and I'm sure as I type this, that will change). Literally, she wakes up happy, smiles and giggles all day, and goes to bed relatively happy. Someone needs to pinch me now.

A typical day in the life of Ellie right now consists of constantly moving (CONSTANTLY), waving like it's her job, chewing on paper/cardboard boxes/board books, squealing, obsessing over any and every dog in sight, dancing, clapping, stair climbing, and drinking from her new sippy cups.

Ellie had a busy week of swim class, music class, 3 play dates, a trip to the children's museum, and a stroll along South Congress fill her dog watching needs.

During swim class, Ellie went under for a full 3 seconds, held onto the side by herself, and rocked out during the Bye Bye song (see video below). We start the next session of swim class next week, so we look forward to seeing her continue to develop her aquatic skills.

We started a new Music Class session, so there were a few new parents and kiddos. As these newbie parents watched Ellie's energy during the class, you could just see the wheels of disbelief turning. One parent came to me afterwards and said, "Wow, your daughter is so........ social." I think it was a backhanded compliment letting me know that my daughter is a total ANIMAL. These parents probably think we keep her caged and deprived of any attention when we unleash her during music class.

We look forward to having Uncle Nick and Aunt Jane in town this week for the KU/UT game! For those watching the game, keep an eye out for the 4 of us - we're sitting across from the KU bench, about 20 rows up. Those Longhorns won't know what hit them;)


Creative play, just feet away from piles of toys...

Ellie recently learned to wave, and she's proud to show off her new skills...

Ellie stumbled upon an empty travel toothpaste tube and became infatuated with it...

Ellie's reaction to "no?" Pull out her bag full of tricks (waving, squealing, dancing, nodding)...

Another favorite activity... play with anything and everything in the trash. This girl has got it bad for any paper product...

At swim class, they call this Monkey Bars. The babies hang onto the side to build their strength, which will later help them pull themselves out (without needing a ladder or boost)...

At the end of every swim class, each baby gets a spin on the floating platform while we all sing "Bye by Ellie, bye bye Ellie, bye bye Ellie, we're glad you came to swim." Ellie found this a perfect venue  to show off her new wave. She even kicked it up a notch with a double wave...

One of Ellie's favorite treats are pieces of dried mango. It becomes a sticky mess, as you can see, so we try to avoid this snack until right before bathtime...

1st Christmas

I know, I know... it's been 19 days since the last post, and I'm sure some grandparental figures are antsy for updates. I can assure you, we've had our hands full over the last month. I was sick for over 2 weeks, then Justin got sick, then Ellie got sick, and we topped it off with pink eye for Ellie. Pepper in some teething for good measure. Also mixed in there was a 10 day multi city "journey" to visit various family and friends. Needless to say, we're EXHAUSTED. It's never felt so great to be at home, healthy, and back into a routine. While the last month has been a real challenge, it reminds me of just how lucky we are.

In the midst of the holiday craze, Ellie turned 9 months. Since we were on the go, our pics below are a week late and showcase Ellie's lovely case of pink eye.

Some highlights of our trip:

KC: 

: Oklahoma Joe's homecoming dinner

: Lunch with the Lunds and Dreilings. Getting to meet sweet Georgia was the best. She wins the award for best baby hair, hands down. Lucy and Ellen fought over who could feed Ellie. They ended up taking turns which was adorable. Ellie reveled in the big girls...

: Play date with Ellspermanns, Bennetts & Lash kiddos. Natalie and the Imbers joined in the fun too.

: Eve's Eve party at the Dreilings

: Christmas Eve visit to see Mrs. Johnson

: Christmas Eve afternoon in urgent care (Ellie developed a really bad rash all over her face and spiked
a high fever. Turns out it was just a contact rash and the fever the result of her fighting a virus.
Nonetheless, we're glad we had her checked out.)

: Christmas Eve night with The Lawrences at Uncle Mark's house

: Christmas morning with the Jurys/Lawrence ladies at Grammy's house.

: Christmas afternoon at Dad's house


Chicago: 

: Cousin Elizabeth was so nice to share all of her toys and baby gear with us. Ellie just loved having a built in playmate for a few weeks. Elizabeth only refers to Ellie as "Baby Ellie"... we're convinced that she'll still be calling her that 18 years from now:)

: Spending time with Bama & Gampa, The Woods, and the Detricks was so much fun. Justin's cousin, Andy, his wife, Charity, and kids Sarah & Pete came to visit from Ohio. It was great to catch up with them as well.

: Ellie looooved the Woods' dog, Bernie. Bernie was so sweet and gentle with Ellie. We let Ellie know multiple times that she can love on our family members' and neighbors' dogs all she wants... we're non-commital on the dog front as we have our hands full!

Now that we're all finally well (knock on wood), we've spent the New Year getting back into our routine. It's been cold in Austin, so we're housebound more than we'd like to be. We got out yesterday for our first walk in weeks (usually a daily happening here), and Ellie was in HEAVEN.

We look forward to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2013!

KC Bound! 

Ellie and Papa Jack read the paper together every morning. Well, Papa Jack read while Ellie shredded and ate the paper.

Snuggle time with Grammy

No fear here. Ellie holding Santa's hand:)

Play date. Ellie loving on Chase Bennett

Molly and Georgia Lund rocking amazing hair at the Eve's Eve party at the Dreilings

Dede and my Elf

Jeff and Brandi Dreiling, the wonderful hosts

Johnson and Justin cut from the same cloth

Just another day in the life of costume junkie's wife

Ellie's not impressed

Ellie loves her Auntie

Nana time!

So pretty, rash and all...

Cousin Elizabeth sweetly sharing her toys. Pretty sure Ellie slobbered over every single one.

Bama and her girls;)

Since it was bitterly cold, this was the closest we got to the great outdoors. WE DON'T MISS CHICAGO WINTERS!

Cousin love! Challenging to get a pic of the girls sitting still...

Homeward bound. We travel light these days.

Ellie's geared up for this afternoon's game.

Justin shaved his beard into a mustache for a day. Ellie hangs her head in shame...

Brrrrrrrrrrr

Super excited to be outside!

Thomas Girls' New Year's Eve cocktails

One of my favorite Christmas gifts. Justin customized these "Rock Chalk" shoes... look forward to sporting them in a couple of weeks at the UT/KU game in ATX.

9 months, pink eye and all! She's so active that we had to bribe her with various gadgets...

Mid sneeze pic

Grammy had a stuffed raccoon (long story) that Ellie was pretty obsessed with. Judging from her reaction, I think she thought it was a dog...

Ellie was deprived of her daily outdoor walks for about 3 weeks. She was all smiles on our walk yesterday...