Thomas Tidbits...: Let's Go Fly A Kite!

It's been a crazy yet fun week. I had an all week sales training out on Lake Travis, which is always a great learning experience. However, I missed Eleanor like crazy. I usually left right when she woke up in the morning and got home right as she was going down. I never thought I'd be THAT parent to be speeding like a maniac to get home to sneak a couple of minutes with my baby before she went down for the night.

We kicked off the weekend after a long work week with dinner out with friends at Fabi and Rosi, a cute little spot in Old West Austin. We had trouble getting reservations at about 8 of our favorite spots, so we opted for a restaurant we found when we first moved to Austin. We ended up getting home by 9:15 (I know, wild and crazy night) and had a drink with our nanny, Laura, and her mother. Laura's mom was in town for an interview and is trying make the move from LA.

Saturday, we strolled South Congress to people/dog watch and do a little shopping. We then met up with Ryan and Steven Johnson at a local KU bar to watch the Hawks dominate.

We ventured out for a very "Austin" Sunday to wrap up the week. We met Ellie's birthday buddy, Nora, and her mother, Elisa at the Zilker Park Kite Festival for a picnic. Nora was super sweet and pretty much just smiled and took everything in. And then there was our daughter, rolling in the grass, crawling away from us as fast as she could, stealing Nora's food, terrorizing a 3 year olds action figures... I think you get the picture. After the afternoon nap, we hiked the Greenbelt - very serene and a perfect way to soak in the beautiful weather.

In other news, we are officially building another house! The builder that I work for, PSW, presented us with an opportunity we couldn't refuse, moving to a quaint 4 home community in our favorite Austin neighborhood, Clarksville. One of the things we miss most about Chicago is truly living the urban lifestyle - proximity to downtown and being able to walk to most of our hot spots. Our future address at 609 West Lynn will fit the bill with various restaurants, grocery stores, retail, parks, and schools within a stone's throw of our future home. We'll likely start building in the next few months and move in toward the end of the year.

Tidbits from the week:

: Eleanor has mastered dismounting from the couch and also going down the stairs (video below).

: We transitioned to whole milk this week, and it was a breeze. Eleanor is quite the milk conesseiur - 8.5 months of nursing, 3 months of formula, and now big girl milk.

: Ellie got ahold of a chip at our picnic and was in heaven. She's never eaten salt, so you can imagine the sheer joy.

: Climbing has been a favorite activity this week, so much so that Ellie tries to climb in/out of the bathtub during bathtime.

: Our daughter continues to love animal books and even tries to mimic our animal sounds. You'll see her sing-songing in a video below with one of her favorite books (Moo Baa La La La)

: Ellie's appetite has been pretty impressive lately. I think she's going through a growth spurt because she's finally grown out of her 3-6 month clothes.

KU watch party for the Austin KU Alumni Association. Ellie sported her sparkly KU gear and made a scene just before she crashed for nap time.

Can I just freeze time? Love this sassy little girl...

Dad, check out this sweet tree bark I can't let go of...

On the move

Elisa showing Eleanor the magic of bubbles.

Sweet Nora playing "ball" with Justin.

It couldn't have been a better day for a kite festival. It was difficult to capture the expansive Zilker Park and the THOUSANDS of kites.

Eleanor and Daddy hiking on the Greenbelt

The owner of Peekawhoo, one of my favorite places to shop for baby gifts, sent Eleanor this adorable Easter basket. You can tell I spend too much money there when I'm getting free goodies for no reason.

Eleanor did this for about 20 minutes in my bathroom as I got ready for date night...