"Hat Day!"

Eleanor has sure enjoyed being the birthday girl this month. We've had enough family birthdays this summer that Eleanor knows all about birthdays and what to do. We went to McMenamins about two weeks ago, and Grant got a sandwich with those decorative toothpicks in them. They looked familiar enough to Eleanor that she kept telling Grant, "Hat day? Hat day?" We finally figured out that she was saying, "happy birthday," so we sang the song and she blew on Daddy's toothpicks. Anytime you sing the song to her or tell her happy birthday, she blows-- even with no candles around. So she was ready for Sunday when we had cake and ice cream as a family to celebrate her birthday.

When it was time for her to open her presents, she decided she would pound on this toy instead of opening the present in front of her. None of the cousins were competing for the toy, and all the attention was on her. Who could ask for more? She was content to just sit and pound.

I convinced her to open the first present, and that seemed to get the ball rolling, with just a few stops to pound. Ben and Cindy gave her a stuffed lion that she HAD to take with her to the store today. Lately, she has to put something in the doll stroller to take in the car with her. Luckily, she doesn't insist on bringing things into the store. They just ride to and from in the car with her, and of course, they go into Grandma's house whenever we go there. Today, the lion was her tag-a-long of choice, even though she usually wants a baby. You should hear her roar-- it's rather meek.


Carter was kind enough to help her open the present from his family. What a good cousin! Eleanor got a ticket to go watch The Little Mermaid with Carter and Adelynn. That will be so fun!

No more presents. I'm reading a book.


This is her cake. It's flip-flops if you can't tell. I decided to do flip flops for several reasons:

1. She loves when I put my flip-flops on because it used to mean we were going to swim lessons. Now it means we're going outside to see the dog (a.k.a. do laundry) or if we're at the coast, it means we're going down to the beach.
2. She likes to try to wear my flip-flops.
3. Whenever she's anxious to go somewhere, she hands me my flip-flops.
4. She calls them, "flop-flops." It's one of my favorite things to hear her say.

Blowing out the "candles." I don't know if this happens in your families, but my mother, Grant's mother, and I never seem to have candles on hand when we need them. So, she blew out a pair of matches. Oh well. She blew them out all by herself without any prompting.

Alex got a great video of her blowing out the candles. When I get a copy of it, I'll have to post it.

Mmmmm, cake & ice cream.

Grandma and Grandpa Matthews got her a set of play food and utensils so she can play that she's cooking. She's giving one of the hot dogs a try.

Doing some serious shopping. Aunt Kathi gave her this basket with some fruit in it and a card on top. As soon as I lifted the card out to read it to her, she saw grapes and said, "Grapes. Aaah-um!" as she popped one in her mouth. The girl doesn't waste any time.

Riding the horsey Grandma & Grandpa Cline got for her. She can color on this horsey and it washes off and she can do it again.