Eleanor's TEN months!

This month was the fastest month ever. Ever. There's no way that Eleanor is 10 months old! I"m not sure what made it go by so quickly, but man. All of a sudden she's double digits! This month Eleanor became mobile. Very. Mobile. Full hands and knees crawling but now pulling up on everything (or trying to... please note the notch on her forehead from a failed attempt). Don't get me wrong - this girl loves to be held (and will demand it) but she can hold her own on the ground. Food? Not an issue anymore for this little one. Tonight she pounded down a meatball plus her other purees and yogurt... and milk. You'll notice in the pictures below that she's not the happiest of babies in this photo shoot - this girl is teething. Hardcore. She's squawking and screeching like a little monkey and sounds somewhat like a Muppet. Such a joy. We just love her! Happy ten months, baby!

Ruby at ten months... don't they look so different??

Eleanor's NINE months!

Eleanor is rounding third base to being 1 year old! And I'm happy to say she's turned a corner with food!! Eleanor now cannot get enough food in her mouth fast enough. FINALLY! She has one bottom tooth poking through (another one as of today!) and is an army crawling machine. She's definitely going through a growth spurt currently. Eating and sleeping like a boss! She's trying SO HARD to crawl on those knees of hers and is so close! That said, she'd rather be standing while holding onto fingers. I keep putting her back down to crawl. One thing at a time, Eleanor! We lowered her crib, put away the "baby toys" and packed up the smaller clothes. She is just about the happiest baby you ever did see... and always happy happy and showing that toothy grin! Happy 9 months, E!

Ruby at nine months... opposite front tooth popping through!

Cousin cuteness...

Joey, Lindsey, and Kayleigh were in town for spring break. We took the whole week off and were able to spend the entire week with our dear friends. It. Was. Wonderful. I (hopefully) will post more later on it with iPhone pics, but here are a few from the real camera. Oh man. So cute.

And matching jammies... Beware: cuteness overload.

Eleanor's EIGHT months!

Eleanor is 8 months old! Oh my word. She's getting so big and is CRAWLING. WHAT?? Not knees and hands crawling, but army crawling all over and everytime she moves I just think to myself, "Man. Life is about to get crazy..." She's in love with that little tongue of hers and sticks it out all the time. She has the CUTEST little gummy grin and shows it off quite often. When she gets excited, she will grab anything that is close (mainly faces) and shove it into her mouth and chomp on it. She also is starting to squeal. It's adorable. Still not into food... she's fed herself a puff or two here and there and sucks on big chunks of apple or carrots, but as for purees, not so much. She is wriggly! It's hard to document these monthly photos now because she's constantly moving and about 90% of the photos I have are blurs... but here we go: 8 months documented!

Ruby at 8 months...

Portland!

Last time we went to Portland was for my brother's surprise 30th birthday party - Ruby was about 17 months old and Eleanor wasn't really even a thought in our heads. This time was for that same brother's wedding.

It was a "tweed" wedding and everyone decked out in their favorite tweed or vintage ensemble. Ruby was the flower girl and did great! The rehearsal all she did was run down the aisle to my mom and for the actual ceremony we actually had to go get her because she was taking so long to get down the aisle... that girl sure does know how to capture an audience! (sorry - below are all phone shots... in the dim lighting... not so clear).

The surprise of the night were the "Ukeladies" - a band of 10 woman all playing the ukuleles (one playing a base made out of a garbage can and broom while another played the washboard and kazoo... I kid you not). Here they are playing Like A Virgin. They were so awesome.

So great to be together with the family again... Ruby had a ball and Eleanor was just spoiled to the bone.

Before we flew home we were able to meet up with an old friend, Miss Maia! She just had a beautiful baby girl just shy of 2 months before we were in town and she was up to the challenge of hauling 2 girls under 2 to meet us at the museum. What a woman! :) Here are all the ladies at the museum in PDX. So great to see you, Maia!

Sad, sick girls...

We have some sad, sick girls on our hands. We found out (through a trip to the ER!) that Ruby has a double ear infection with pretty swollen tonsils. This, I'm sure you can imagine, is not fun for an almost 3 year old. Lots of TV this past weekend, lots of snuggles (including getting coughed on and sneezed on... lovely), lots of books, lots of keeping Eleanor and Ruby separated, lots of crying, and lots of resting our bodies and fluids. It's been a LONG weekend to say the least.

Ruby slept through dinner last night (and tonight) and it was so surreal. It was the first time Josh and I had dinner at home without Ruby since she's been born! It felt like we were back to one kid where Josh and I could have a conversation and only have one other babe at the table.... and it was sad! Not sad that we got to talk, but the whole time we just kept saying "This is so weird. It just doesn't feel right..." and it's NOT right! Ruby is such a HUGE part of our family to have her down and out definitely takes its toll on all of us. Poor baby.

In other news, Ruby's a rockstar at swimming!

And Eleanor is growing up way too fast... she's sitting up, responding to her name, loving to gum anything she can get her hands on, making lots of sounds and noises, and moving around... man, time is flying with her.

We went to Portland for my brother's wedding... such a great time! More on that soon (I feel another blog post coming on... what?? 2 in a row!!)

Hoping these sweet girls get better soon.

Eleanor's SEVEN months!

Well here we are... closer to 1 year old than a newborn. Crazy! Eleanor is becoming mobile... gone are the days of "hang out here" and I come back from unloading the dishes to find her in the EXACT same spot. No no. Now it's "hang out here" and I come back with a load of laundry and she's scooted her way off the mat towards one of Ruby's toys. She's sitting up very well and has such great posture... makes me self conscious of mine! Such a smiler. Loves to bounce and be "SUPER BABY!!" when we put her in the air like superman. Giggles with daddy's beard on her neck and loves the growling noises and "attack kisses" her mama gives her. But no one compares to big sis... that big sister can be in another room and as soon as E hears her coming, her eyes will search and search until she finds her and then, bam, huge smile. Loves that sis. Food... well, no food. She refuses! Gag reflex like non other. Ruby would chow food - anything we'd put in her mouth. Eleanor wants nothing to do with it and goes as far as throwing it up when we once snuck it in her mouth... no more of that! It honestly melts my heart when I watch Ruby and Eleanor play. Just this morning Ruby was singing Eleanor songs took a toy from her mouth and when I asked her not to do that she replied, "But mama, I want to see her smile at me... she's happy I'm her best friend!" to which Eleanor smiled. Oh man... pass the tissues!!

Sassy sisters!!

Ruby at 7 months...