Eleanor's ONE month!!

Time to start up the every month blog check up for baby E (at least this will get me to actually blog again!). One month has FLOWN by... Eleanor is still in the little lump stage... just eating, pooping, and sleeping... and is an oh so adorable lump :) ! I would say the first 2 weeks she slept about 23 hours a day and I never even heard a peep out of the baby... then week 3 and 4 came and she's started to wake up a bit more... still sleeping a lot but definitely starting to become a "looky lou" and just checking out the world around her! She was over a pound heavier than Ruby when she was born and you can definitely tell... she's a great eater and sleeps much better than her bigger sister did. Overall, she's perfect... just like her sister!

Ruby's one month...

quick confession...

Sometimes when Eleanor is really hungry and her adorable little mouth looks like a fish searching around for her food source, I cuddle her up to my face to it's like she's giving me kissing on my cheeks. Forced kisses no doubt. But I can tell she secretly likes it...

ode to Ruby...

We may be doing a lot of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over sweet baby Eleanor over here, but Ruby is holding her own in the precious category... Like I mentioned before, Ruby grew like a weed when I was in the hospital because I came home to a little girl and not a baby - but even more than her size, her understanding and vocabulary have skyrocketed in the past few weeks... A few of our favorites...

"Mama. Just a second!" - Once I heard her start to say it to me, I realized how much I say it to her! It's just cute because she uses it in the right context. "Ruby - we need to change your diaper." "Just a second!" is her reply as she pops out her head from her room and points her middle finger at me (no - she's not flipping me off - she has used her middle finger as her main pointer finger ever since she was a wee one...)

"I yike it!" - She says "like" with a "y"... "Baby Eleanor will yike it" or "Mama, you yike it?" It's just precious.

"Pom on!" - She's gotten better with her "c" sounds, but it's just so darn cute when she says "Pom on, Daddy!"

"A tiger gonna get us!" - Ruby's imagination has taken off! She will tell me "mama - the elephants are gonna get us! Hide in the closet!" At first I was concerned that she was so frightened of these imaginary animals, but now when she mentions them, we talk about the Mommy Tiger and Baby Tiger and get out our "tiger wand" to shoo them away... diffuses the problem... but an active imagination no less!

"I fine!" - When we ask if she wants something, often times her answer is "No thank you. I fine!" What manners, little one!

"Aww Man!" - After something drops or she can't quite reach something, her reaction is "Aww man!" - and throw in that cute toddler accent and it's freaking adorable.

I'm sure there are more Ruby-isms, but these are the only ones that come to my head currently... That Ruby. Never a dull moment!



Video taken like day 2 of being home... she sure does love her sister!

First photo shoot...

Some shots from the hospital...

some thoughts...

Some thoughts on life with 2 children... 5 days in...

This was the scene in our kitchen last night... Ruby is counting, no, SCREAMING to ten while Daddy hides in the other room, she yells "Ready? Coming Daaaadddddyyy!!!". I'm loading/unloading dishes and running the garbage disposal. Ruby screams in the other room when she finds Josh and runs to "base" i.e. mama's legs - all the while screaming and laughing. I'm yelling to Josh "Can you start Ruby's bath in 10?" and then I look down... Eleanor is and has been sound asleep during all of this in her little lamb's chair. I mean OUT. It was then I realized that Eleanor and Ruby have had and will have very different experiences in these early days...

"Peaceful, easy feeling" - Eleanor has been (love) poked and (kindly) man handled by Ruby. She has been fed on the go (i.e. baby on the boob when I'm chasing around Ruby outside). She has slept through noises and cries and screeches I didn't think was possible. Don't get me wrong - she gets PLENTY of love and hugs and PLENTY of mama cuddles and daddy hugs (Josh took the week off so we're able to each man a kid during this week...), but it's just a different start compared to the quiet, tranquil, peaceful home Ruby would nap in as a 3 day old...

"No" - I'm very aware of how often we are telling Ruby "No" lately.... "No Ruby - don't touch her eyes" "No, mama has to feed Eleanor right now - you can hold her later." "No sweetie, daddy can't pick you up right now, he's holding Eleanor"... and it makes me sad. I mean. Yes. There are things she cannot do... poking her sister's retina is one of those things... but I'm trying to tap into the different parenting resources of my brain to turn these "no" moments into more teaching moments and then making "down time" super special. For example - when she tried to poke E's eyes, I turned it into a "while we can't touch her eyes, why don't you show me her ears..." moment. And when E was sleeping and Ruby was getting stir crazy, I said "Ruby! Let's make cookies!!" Just trying to make her "big girl" status something exciting... I think I'll get better with time...

"So Big" - Ruby is HUGE. I know it's all because now that I'm holding a 7 pound baby, a 30 pound toddler seems huge. BUT. Seriously. She. Is. Huge. I teared up at the hospital when Ruby first came to visit because she's not a baby anymore! All of her features are little girl-ish... not baby-ish. AND, she's talking up a storm. I was in the kitchen and she came in and said "Mama. Dad need you." What??? Did my daughter just relay a message?? It's crazy.

"I think we got better..." - Ruby was an easy baby. I mean, not the best sleeper at the beginning, but overall pretty chill baby. Eleanor. My word. She. Is. Chill. Let it be known - 5 days in - she is CHILLLLLL. She sleeps A LOT. She's a great eater. She is just content wherever you put her. She'll fall asleep on her own or just look around... and patiently wait for you to pick her up. Or not. What??? I mean - I could give the credit to Eleanor, but just because it's day 5 and I've already blogged twice, I'm gonna give the credit to me and Josh... :)

My heart is full. So, so full.

she's here!!

Eleanor Benson Dunlop was born on July 29, 2012 at 1:52AM. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces, 19.5 inches long, and just as beautiful as can be.

We are all home and adjusting to being a family of four... which is such a crazy thought to me I don't think I've fully processed it! Ruby is a great big sister.. so many kisses and hugs for "baby sister Eleanor" and tells me all the time "Mama, that my baby!" I will try try try to post more - if nothing more than iPhone photos. More updates soon!

Josh's 30th!

Josh's big 3-0 was this past month (I am so behind in posting it's ridiculous...) and I put together a little surprise party for the man. At first it wasn't really going to be a surprise... but then I went so long without telling him that I thought - why not?? I had 14 people from various parts of CA all meet at a local ice cream shop to start the weekend...

The unsuspecting victim...

Surprise, Josh! Ruby is wary of surprises...

Boys in blue... out for a day of hiking, breweries, and fun!

The girls stayed in and played with babies, read trashy magazines, watched trashy TV, and ATE like it was their job...

It. Was. HOT. So the kiddie pool was brought out and enjoyed by all - big and small. Lounging was a theme of this weekend...

Happy 3-0!! Carrot cake (his fave) for the man of the weekend!

Boys will be boys with fire...

Overall, SUCH a great weekend. I'm SO THANKFUL for everyone making the time to come down and hang out with our little family of 3 (soon to be 4!) and celebrate Josh! I'm also so thankful it was last weekend and not this weekend - this weekend I am going through a "I'm so over being pregnant because I no longer have ankles I'm so swollen" phase, so I wouldn't have been much of a host :)

Happy birthday, Josh!

** thanks to Auntie Kim for all the pics... again... **

Happy Canada/Camping Day!!

It's Canada Day! Josh was able to celebrate by doing one of his favorite things with one of his favorite people. Josh was able to go camping with Ruby (in our backyard)! He was so excited... and she actually got into it!! It was ADORABLE watching them blow up the air mattresses and getting all their blankets in order and packing up for the night under the "stars"/tent...

Nonna and Papa and Lola!!

"...and Nonna and Papa and Lola!!!" This was a phrase we heard A LOT over the past month. My parents were in town for the month of June and they've just left to go back home. It is so sad to see them go - they had such a great time with Ruby and were able to play and do things with her that only grandparents can do. They did the zoo, fed the ducks, butterflies at the history museum, the carousel, the beach, countless games of hide and seek, numerous parks, and just spoiled that girl to no means (I mean, ice cream for lunch...? spoiled!)! Ruby and Lola became best of buds. We were so blessed to have them come and hang out in Santa Barbara with us and I was spoiled to not have to cook or go to the store for a whole month! Talk about wonderful! On top of that, they pretty much furnished our house and hung all our "art" and styled our house. Ummm... grandparents, personal shoppers, chefs, AND stylists?? COME BACK!!! :)

Ruby's language skills have just skyrocketed these past few weeks... I think it's because her Nonna is a talker :) Full sentences, complete thoughts, and she remembers random things and repeats them at appropriate times... she's really growing up fast!

A common question Ruby asks these days is "Back?" as in "You're coming back, right?"... Friday night when she asked that question to them, and all of us knowing that no, they weren't coming back in the morning, was heartbreaking! I, of course, cried when they left. But, thankfully, two year olds don't always pick up on that kind of stuff and she remains unphased... although she's asked for Nonna, Papa, and Lola countless times today...

Thanks for coming Nonna and Papa... we love you!! Come back soon!