Thomas Tidbits...: Staycation & Tiny Dancer

Last weekend we decided to take a mini staycation while our nanny, Laura, had jury duty. We spent Sunday night at the W Austin, and the best part about it was that it didn't cost anything. I guess one of the perks of Justin traveling so much for work.

Our first stop was the pool, until it promptly started raining as we settled in. Eleanor liked the pool OK, but she much preferred meandering the deck checking out all of the sunbathers. We then walked over to Frank's for a Chicago dog, and then back to the hotel for a quick drink (read: us chasing Eleanor around the empty hotel bar area), and then back to the room for bath and bed. I'm pretty sure the highlight of the hotel stay was our daughter pushing the buttons on the elevator.

Monday morning we ventured to Annie's for breakfast, and then off to tour our first preschool for next year. How is our precious daughter already old enough to be in preschool - time is flying!

We had a busy week of work and play with Eleanor. We think she's working on her 8th tooth, and we've also battled a few nights in a row of night terrors. So sad that such a small little peanut can have nightmares. Oh how I wonder what she's thinking during these fits... probably a life without rocks, dirt, raisins, and doggies.

This weekend was super low key, which was so welcomed after being on the go all summer. We walked over to Zilker Park and hung out there for a bit, and Eleanor was in HEAVEN. She was literally rolling around in the grass and running non stop for an hour. We capped off the weekend today with a bike ride and swim date, complete with popcicles, in the backyard with our 2-year-old neighbor, Audrey.

New happenings the past 2 weeks:

: Eleanor has some new teeth coming in, and when we ask her to see her teeth, she scrunches her eyes, opens her mouth, and covers her teeth with her lips. See below for visual.

: Our daughter has some new dance moves... she's really into spinning, literally until she's dizzy.

: We have a blueberry fiend on our hands. E will snack on blueberries for 10-15 minutes at a time, quickly popping one after the other. If the berry isn't firm, she pokes her finger in it, and throws it on the ground.

: In addition to exploring her artistic side, we also have a sticker fanatic. It started with tape, so I thought I'd buy her some stickers for her artwork. A sheet of stickers lasts exactly 10 seconds, after she piles one on top of the other, and she then immediately asks for "mo."

: I'm amazed at how much Eleanor actually knows and understands. For instance, I'll ask her to "go get a diaper, and bring it to Mommy." It's not 100%, but usually she'll comply. I also ask her to get a certain book off the shelf, and she knows exactly which one to grab. If she could only communicate as well as she receptively understands. We still have lots of grunting and annoyed moaning sounds. We're trying to teach her to "use her words" and patiently wait for her to communicate.

: E is really into flowers now and insists on smelling every bud she passes. It makes for a long grocery visit as we pass the floral department;)

Early morning snuggles

Little cabana lady relaxing at the W. This so called "relaxing" lasted exactly 8 seconds. Then, she was running around like a maniac making sure that the all poolside adults knew she was the only kiddo in sight.

Rough life, Ellie.

E taking in the beautiful view from the W, overlooking Downtown Austin and the W pool.

One last viewing before bed.

I brought Eleanor into our room last week in the middle of the night because her night terrors were so bad. Some good old fashioned back rubs and snuggling did the trick, and we got to wake up to this angel.