If you weren't convinced before now that Ellie looks like yours truly, you will be with this:
Me and Grandpa Charlie circa 1980
My Great Aunt Sally, who lives in Georgetown, sent me this photo. I can't stop looking at it - it looks as though Ellie was digitally added into an old time photo. Crazy, I tell you!
We had another busy week of chasing Ellie around the house. Even when our daughter sleeps, she moves. We did find that she'll sit still and go into an almost trance-like state when we put on her Baby Einstein video. Watch closely for her subtle, yet hilarious facial expressions:
Just when we thought Active Ellie couldn't get any more active... Our daughter is constantly on the go and into EVERYTHING.
Justin took Thursday and Friday off work. Since I don't work on Fridays, we spent the day together - a walk, lunch out, a busy day of chasing Ellie around the house, and then a quiet night in.
Saturday Ellie showed off her skills at swim class. She now goes under water, completely submerged for 1 whole second. Even though most of the other kiddos in the class can go 2 seconds, our teacher wants Ellie to stick with the 1 second for 1 more week since she's the smallest in the class. The pushy parent in me wants to nudge Ellie to do 2 seconds and prove to the teacher that being small doesn't limit us (ahem, I mean her).
Sunday we had brunch out with Andy & Essie and the Hacks. Ellie reveled in the action and being passed around like a hot potato. We're so thankful that most restaurants in Austin are kid friendly;) Later that afternoon, Justin and Ellie vistited The Johnsons out in Cedar Park. Per usual, Ellie was enamored with Cameron and Lana. the "big kids." She literally went from total meltdown mode on the ride out there to sheer joy being with the Johnson girls. It sounds like they enjoyed the visit just as much since they were fighting over who got to hold Ellie.
We thought daylight savings time would take some adjustment with an infant, but we all survived with no problems. Since Ellie goes to bed at the ripe hour of 6:30 p.m., it's really nice that it's already almost dark out by then. Plus, getting up early and having the sun up is a double bonus in my book.
New happenings this week:
: Her newest shenanigans is that she won't sit still long enough for a bottle. She'll only drink about an ounce at a time. You can imagine our patience level with that (if any parents have advice on that front, I'm all ears).
: The Johnsons gave us a ton of hand-me-down toys that Ellie just loves. You'll see them in the videos below. Part of the bucket 'o goodies were 3 Baby Einstein DVDs. Ellie is all about it. She stands at our ottoman, and goes glassy eyed instantly.
: Ellie takes big girl baths now! Ellie will get the full body wash, play for a bit, and then she stands up and tries to hoist herself out of the tub when she's had enough. Pretty funny...
: We discovered a super cool park not far from our house. There's a great playscape there and bucket swings for Ellie. I thought Ellie would love the swings, but she mostly just pans the playground for big kids to watch and obsess over.
: We think Ellie is teething again. She's had a little fever, and will go from playing happily to suddenly losing it and chewing on everything in sight.
: Ellie now feeds herself (and loves it). She'll eat small bits of soft food (steamed carrots, bananas, puffs). I see a trend of her preferring this over pureed, spoon fed grub. Works for me as it keeps her finger busy and not constantly in her mouth while we try to distract her to shove food in her mouth.
We head to Chicago next week for a few days, and we can hardly wait. To prepare for the cold weather destination, we stocked up on warm gear for Ellie. It'll be interesting to see how Ellie reacts to the chilly weather...
We like to bring Ellie into bed with us for a bit after she wakes up in the morning. Saturday morning, it was Justin catching up on news, while I tried to keep Ellie from jumping off the bed.
Happy Girl
More mischief - big fan of the dishwasher. Waiting for the day when she tries to climb IN.
Lunch out at Clark's Oyster Bar, a new restaurant in Clarksville.
Inching in on diapers in basket...
Then tossing them about the living room - new favorite game.
This girl loves her buttons!
A perfume insert from a magazine kept Ellie occupied for HOURS last weekend. It was a little weird having my 7- month-old smell like a musky cologne.
Eleanor's first Halloween was a success! First of all, thanks to all of you who sent cards and goodies to the little lady. Who knew there was such a market for "Happy 1st Halloween" cards? God bless Hallmark.
So, I decided that we needed a family costume this year. Halloween is Justin's favorite holiday, so why not dive into our first parental Halloween with a bang? In the spirit of the London Olympics and our limber, ultra active daughter, we thought Ellie as a gymnast would be perfect.
As I started to research options for Ellie's leotard, I was bound and determined for the leotard to be a true replica of the 2012 USA Olypmpic gymnasts uniforms. However, I found it it was nearly impossible to find a gymnast's (not dancer's) leotard small enough for our little peanut. After hammering about 20 different seamstresses on Etsy with no luck, I realized I needed to get creative. I reached out to ladies that specialized in American Girl doll clothes. After some major negotiations and about 30 measurements later, I was able to convince a wonderful woman to take a chance on us. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much since this was her first custom leotard for a 7 month old.
Then came me as her gymnast side kick mother (lesson learned was that I hung up my leotards 15 years ago for a reason - 33-year-olds shouldn't be caught dead shimmery numbers like the one below). Originally, Justin was going to be a male gymnast, but when we found out Monday (10/29) that his stirrup pants from Leotards.com were on backorder, we had to improvise QUICKLY. Thanks to a suggestion from our neighbor, Brian, we thought it only appropriate that Justin dress as the renown coach Bela Karolyi. After multiple trips to multiple costume shops so that Justin could perfectly match his wig to his mustache, we were in business.
All in all, we were pretty happy with the finished product... our neighbors got a kick out of us doing a victory lap around our cul-de-sac at 5:00 p.m. Since Ellie goes to bed at 6:30, we came home early from work to gear up and get maximize photo ops. If only Ellie would have smiled and even pretended to look at the camera... oh well.
For your reference, the official 2012 Gymnasts' Olympic Uniform. The inspiration behind Ellie's leo...
Last week, Justin and I celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss. It seems like just yesterday that we were surrounded by friends and family at Watercolor... a truly unforgettable weekend! We are humbled by all that we've experienced together in the last 2 years: a memorable wedding, a Grecian honeymoon, a pregnancy, and now life with our precious Eleanor.
A trip down memory lane:
Justin was traveling on our actual anniversary (10/23), so we decided to postpone our celebration until this past Saturday at Outstanding in the Field. Thanks to The Lunds' recommendation, we celebrated our 1st anniversary last year at OITF. We were so smitten with the experience that we decided to make it an anniversary tradition.
For those of you unfamiliar with the set up... It's basically a traveling restaurant on wheels that makes stops at various farms throughout the country (and now international locations too). These culinary geniuses pair up with a local celebrated chef and serve 100+ guests on a farm. In true farm-to-table fashion, most of the food is sourced from nearby farms.
The meal this year was just as delectable as last year's. Rene Ortiz of La Condessa was the the guest chef again, and he did not disappoint. He even served us some of the new grub that will be featured in his new restaurant, Sway, opening in a few months.
While the chef was the same, the locale changed. We dined at Boggy Creek Farm, another urban farm (like Rain Lily from last year), which is just a 10 minute drive from our home. The farm house on the property was the 2nd oldest house in Texas - pretty impressive.
Bring-your-own-plate action makes for a colorful, eclectic table setting.
Parent's Day Out! A 4:00 dinner time was perfect for parents whose daughter insists on waking them before the sun rises.
Chicken coop
Historical Texas farmhouse
The kitchen
Founder Jim Denevan sharing the history of OITF.
Gorgeous table setting
Mouth watering menu
Beautiful farmland
First course: Butternut squash, baby arugula, radish, candied turnips, green beans, hatch chile, farm egg, feta, buttermilk dressing
Third course: lamb shoulder, pecans, green beans, parsley, polenta, Texas gold cheddar
The finale: Apple pie, rosemary honey caramel, Paragon cheese, Austin Beerworks ice cream
The man of the hour, Rene Ortiz. He made the rounds during the last course to answer questions and greet the guests.
Now, onto Ellie news! She is on. the. MOVE! She has full run of the house now and loves pulling up. Her two bottom teeth have come in even more, and Ellie constantly runs her tongue or lips over these new additions.
Ellie has recently become very clingy when I'm around. Justin's taking it personally, but I'm sure she'll go through a Daddy-only phase in due time.
We are getting excited for Halloween, aka Justin's favorite commercial holiday. We're putting together the final touches and hope that it all comes together as we're expecting. Stay tuned for photos!
A sneak peek into our Thomas Family Halloween costume
Fingers.
This is how Ellie greets me when I go in to get her after a nap.
Sitting Pretty!
Ellie's new waking hour is ~6:30 a.m. Not working for the parental units. When she went down for her first nap Sunday morning, so did we. This is how I found Justin when I woke up. A fort of pillows and Ellie's blankies pieced together...
