It’s been 3 months since our last post, and that is years in baby development.. Eleanor has gone from sitting to creeping/crawling.
Eleanor’s crawling, while somewhat non-traditional, enables her to explore all corners of her living spaces. She is endlessly fascinated with non-toy objects. Anything from a can of pop to the advertising inserts in the Sunday paper to to an empty canteen, cookbooks, Dad’s camera bag or Mom’s purse, can keep her attention. Her speech development continues at a rapid pace with words like Hi, Mama, Dad, and Bye mixed among frequent bursts of babble. She loves to practice standing, and is beginning to try to pull herself up using the edge of the sofa or a chair.
Mom has been enjoying extra time with Eleanor while on Summer break from teaching, and Eleanor has taken a leave of absence from Mother Duck Learning Center until the beginning of September. They have kept busy with such activities as swimming class with Renae and Malcolm, Music in Motion, walks to Grass Lake and nearby Kenny Park. Eleanor consistently loves being outside.
We have recently enjoyed visits from Uncle Erik and Auntie Elayna, raspberry picking at Applewood Orchard, milk carton boat races and fireworks at the Minnepolis Aquatennial.
Click here to view some recent pictures.
The rolling continues…and…
Eleanor is sitting up unassisted!
Click here to enjoy new pictures from the last couple weeks.
Click here for Christine’s live countdown timer until the school year ends: 53 days!
New photos are posted! Click here for selected March pics.
Highlights:
- New shoes!
- “My first Jeep” (Way to support the American auto industry, Eleanor!)
- First art project at “The Duck,” a hand painted Shamrock.
- Visit from Auntie Elayna
Eleanor continues to explore the world and take it all in… this month she enjoyed her first St. Patrick’s Day and Vernal Equinox! She also continues to demonstrate enthusiasm for eating her socks, feet, hands, blanket, toys and anything else within reach.
Enjoy!
We cannot believe Eleanor is only two weeks away from being 6 months old! She continues to change, grow, learn, and explore new things in her world each and every day. She is becoming much more observant of her surroundings and loves to always be part of the action. Eleanor reaches out at just about anything and everything within reach; specifically she loves to touch her parents’ faces and has mastered clamping onto David’s glasses! Uh oh!
We recently had a wonderful visit to Marshall, MN to see Uncle Erik and Auntie Annie and Eleanor is looking forward to a nice visit from Auntie Elayna in March. In addition to all her activity, Eleanor has started to consume some solid foods once a day (rice cereal with carrots or sweet potato).
Click here to view selected photos from the last month.
As January comes to a close, Eleanor battles with monthly respiratory virus #3 and we look forward with more intent to the Springtime. At 4 1/2 months old, she’s continued to grow long and lean, and be very healthy (despite the colds) – she now weighs in at 14# even.
While her playtime has been hampered this last week of January, she’s enjoyed bonus quality time with Nana and Bill and Mom and Dad. She continues to work on rolling (almost) and can move great distances on the play mat by wriggling worm-like. She tracks people and objects very precisely, and has learned to sit up with a little assistance from the Bumbo seat, she can grab her foot with her hand, and holds and releases objects with far more dexterity and purpose than previously. Based on observation, we continue to see that she is likely continuing a Yussen women’s tradition by being a lefty! The pictures of her manipulating the pacifier are an example of this. As well, she loves to grasp the milk bottle, though half of the time she unknowingly knocks it out of her mouth and causes a commotion for herself.
Click here for our January 2010 album.
We enjoyed our first road trip and up north getaway with Eleanor over New Years Eve/New Years Day. We cut a couple hours off of our traditional trek to Lutsen/Grand Marais and stayed just past Two Harbors. Lodging was a serene and historic B&B called the Northern Rail. We stayed in a Conductor suite, consiting of a living room with electric fireplace, and a short hall separating that half of the “boxcar” from the bathroom and bedroom. Both rooms offered a spectacular view of the snow-covered up north landscape. Despite the arctic temperatures (-25 last night!), Eleanor managed to join Christine on a brief snowshoe expedition around the railcars. We visited the Rustic Inn Cafe for New Years Eve dinner, and the Northern Lights Roadhouse for New Years day, after a brief visit to see a wonder of mother nature– the frozen falls at Gooseberry.
Eleanor was a marvelous traveler on our car ride, sleeping nearly the entire duration. The bitter cold was a bit tough for her to tolerate, but it’s these experiences that build thick Minnesotan skin. We look forward to many trips up north in future years, where Eleanor can put on her own snowshoes or downhill skis! For now, we’ll settle for the adorable pink bundle in her thick snowsuit.
Click here for the full album
Eleanor has just entered her 16th week of life and celebrated her first Christmas with the Porters and Mays. She met many cousins for the first time, and cousin Abby and Cameron’s daughter Marian (who is 4 months older than Eleanor, to the day).
She can now hold onto things for a long time, and continues to work on her mobility. Eleanor is sitting upright better in the BUMBO seat as her neck and back strength increase. She is also enjoying trying to stand and push up on others’ legs, with help. This is especially a favorite activity with Grandpa Bill. Her legs and arms are developing strong muscles!
Eleanor continues to love a wide variety of music; special favorites are the Raffi CD. We are reading books to her every night before bed which she seems to like.
Over 50 new photos have been added to the collection and the galleries from 2009 have been merged into one to make room for new albums to come! Click here for the new photos and year in review (reverse chronological order).
Eleanor has reached her three-month Birthday this past Sunday with gusto. She is growing in leaps and bounds and becoming more physically and vocally active all the time.
Since we last wrote, she visited the Linden Hills Reindeer festival (see photos) and celebrated her first Hanukkah. She doesn’t have the coordination for spinning dreidels yet but she has been enjoying reading Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah and Lots of Latkes. She will enjoy the many wonderful gifts given by her family (dashing new clothes! yea!).
Click here for the new picture album.
As the temperatures dipped into the teens and twenties this first week of December, Eleanor has recovered nicely from her first illness. Her spirits are higher than ever, having defeated the pesky cold and minor ear infection. She continues to exercise her vocal cords with various joyful sounds and has begun grasping more and more in the clutches of her strong little fists.
Eleanor has been out shopping with us lately, enjoying the holiday ’scene’, and has also had a lot of fun at daycare this week.
Click here to view our latest photos.
Photos from Eleanor’s first Thanksgiving and her blessing ceremony. We have much to be thankful for this year, and many true blessings from Eleanor, our family and our friends.
The bumbo seat trial was a partial success. Soon she’ll be able to sit up unassisted!
Click here for the new gallery photos
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