LOST: Eleanor's neck

Her head just perches right on her shoulders (especially when wearing her mock turtleneck sunblock rash guard)!

Hey, babay!

William discovered he can wink!

Big mouth

William asked me, "Is this a big mouth?"

                         Yes, it is!

William's photos

William's perspective is coincidentally my chest height, so he winds up with alot of these bent over, double chin pictures as I try to get my face and not just a boob in the shot.

Pinwheel

Poor guy lost it out of the window the next day, and is now convinced that the "bad guy" (AKA the a-hole that broke Nang's windows to find something to steal) actually took his "flower."

Uncle Mac's last day

On Uncle Mac's last day on our block, William got in a little time in his truck bed pretending to be a manly man. I don't really know what to point out first in this picture because there is so much odd here. 

Nang's hat looks a tad...small? Eleanor's overdressed in her fancy smocked bib, and William's rocking his Vietnam flip flops like any good Texas cowboy. 

What's El doing this week?

Eleanor's mobile. She's rolling across rooms to get where she wants, and she cannot be stopped. She simply goes around, under, or through any obstacle in her desired path. She's getting up on all fours swiftly and easily, and rocking back and forth getting ready to crawl and really wreak some havoc around here. She also crawfishes, and I find her stuck under stools and chairs either completely proud of herself and babbling away about her accomplishment or crying her eyes out because she cannot get where she wants to go. 

Brother Sister

Sometimes I walk in on something that I wish would last longer.  William is helping Eleanor learn to work her wrist rattles. 

First time in shorts

Eleanor rocked her first day in shorts by posing like a swimsuit model...over and over. 

Big girl stroller

Mimi discovered that Eleanor can handle the big girl stroller. She looks like she's thoroughly enjoying herself, yes?

First haircut

I gave El her first haircut, and it involved darting my hand around with scissors to take a few awkward snips. This was a second attempt at straightening out the previous chops. Hopefully this will eliminate the greasy, forehead plastered bangs that have been happening by he afternoon.

What's Eleanor doing now?

She's crawfishing like a pro and getting stuck under everything. Go, Eleanor, go!

Ba starts learning about hair

Ba did Eleanor's hair for the second time ever this morning. The first time involved a clip bow, and he got a good chunk of hair into it but instead of pointing the hair to the side, he clipped it with the tail to the front. Not a good look. This morning I thought a headband would be more Ba's speed. The first attempt is odd but promising!

I can read!

William wanted to read me the books at bedtime tonight - a first! I was interested to see what he meant by reading, and planned to humor his request by being sufficiently impressed by the effort. I wasn't prepared for him to recite all of the words to a 22 page Thomas the Tank Engine book and the much shorter "Llama Llama Nighty Night!" He humoresques me by letting me take a few pictures.

Tee tee turtles

William's turtles get to air dry on the rack today.  The pink one is Eleanor's, but pink turtle loves purple turtle (it's complicated), so William keeps them together at night which is where the problem starts.  When William's diaper leaked in his bed, it woke him up, and he came to our bed, and leaked some more.  Upon surveying the damage in the morning, the turtle trio, and two beds of sheets and mattress pads went into the laundry.  After washing everything, William let me know that he also leaked on his kitty cat, so she needed to be washed also, and he put her into the laundry hamper like the OBEDIENT child he is!

Gimme a break!

I still haven't learned to be careful what I wish for...

Bonding with Ba Co

Eleanor had a little bonding time with her Ba Co, and Ba Co rewarded El's sweetness with a first taste of watermelon.

Uncle Mac's last day on the block

On Uncle Mac's last day on our block, a tree limb fell, so he and his chainsaw paid a visit. An Uncle Mac visit means William can practice being a manly man - wearing Kelly's cowboy hats and work gloves, sitting in the bed of pickup, and "fixing" with a variety of screwdrivers and wood pieces. We're going to miss Uncle Mac!

Baseball with Ba

Ba sent Eleanor and me the following text from the Astros game:
"Eating peanuts and egg rolls (flautas) and ice cream!!! Loving life."

Japanda

 

Every morning, right after this little guy asks me how my "nap" was, he asks, "Where's Ba?"  This morning I told him that Ba was out of town on business.  "Oh, he went to Japanda for business, right?"

Snot-nosed brat

OK, not the brat part...

Lashes

What's Eleanor doing this week?

She wants to sit up. When we put her sitting up, she can stay for a few glorious, squealing seconds before she flops over (action shot included)

Po' baby!

Eleanor has a bit of a stomach virus (mother-diagnosed) - a lot of stuff is coming out at both ends. She's nursing or whimpering, and we're parked on the couch today so she can do the former.

Firsts: dentist

William visited the dentist for the first time on Wednesday. He wasn't too nervous about the whole proposition once he saw the waiting room full or toys, cartoons on the TV, and video games to play. He struggled against the hygienist before she was fully finished with his cleaning, but he doesn't seem permanently scarred. We left with a swag bag: Lightning McQueen toothbrush, toothpaste, a report card (his first 'B'), a ball, Tinkerbell sticker, and a T-shirt. He changed into the shirt immediately, and was so proud of it that he wanted to wear it for pajamas that night. I don't remember the dentist being like that when I was little.

Bird night light

This is bird nightlight #2. He brought Version 1.0 to me broken into a few pieces and told me it didn't fly. When he recapped the story later, I learned that he threw it at the TV thinking it would fly up into "the sky and clouds." He asked me to order him a new bird every night at bedtime for about a month after the accident, and it arrived today. I whispered to him before I left him and the bird alone to remember that this one definitely doesn't fly.

5 months old

Eleanor and William especially enjoy each other's company first thing in the morning. At five-months old, she's found her feet and spends a large part of her day staring at them, grabbing at them, and losing her balance and rolling to her side once she has them in her grasp.

Blue Steel

Our friend Linda's "blue steel" photo pose makes for an impressive track record of good pictures (plus, she's super cute).  I wasn't blessed with a photogenic face, so imagine my surprise when I found a blue steel of my own.  Of course, it can only be recreated in a reclining position, looking back over my shoulder, but I'll take what I can get!

Finger or thumb?

The desire to have it all begins so early.

What's Eleanor doing this week?

She's rolling over! And practicing this new skill every hour. All night.

Beaver

While I worked on quotes at the computer, Eleanor sneakily gnawed on this chair. It took a pool of slobber landing on my foot to realize what she was doing.

Potty training prizes

William gets a prize for using the toilet for his business instead of his diaper.  He loved this little mask, but in typical frazzled family style, we lost it within 24 hours of purchase.  Bummer.

Edit: The mask has been FOUND!  (in Mimi's purse, of course)

Model parenting

Someone shat herself while we were at MimiPapa's (William's term for his grandparents' house), and outgrew the backup outfit in the diaper bag. I blame her...obviously. She blames me...also obviously.

Potty training rewards

We're working on the potty training with Big Dub, and it is progressing slowly. He gets a different reward for going in the toilet at each of his frequently-visited houses (ours, Ba/Om Noi (?), Mimi/Papa (M&Ms)). At our house he gets a SURPRISE which he has come to expect every time he goes #2 in the pot. At first, I had actual surprises, and when I ran out, I made things up, but last night William declared a pair of Eleanor's 9-month pajamas to be his surprise for a successful toilet sit. There wasn't any space left for his double diaper once he squeezed himself into the outfit, so he couldn't sleep in it.

ELvis

The bow and smocked dress PROVE that she is a girl, people.  Don't you know anything about baby fashion?

Temper tantrum

There's no telling what will cause a temper tantrum or riotous laughter. This tantrum went down at a restaurant when Mimi and Mama brushed away the pretend poop that William squeezed out of a rubber lizard that he perched on a menu. Drama.