Up, Up, and Away!

They made these cute capes at our Super Saturday enrichment a while back. I was teaching something else, so I didn't make one. Since we were going to be in Utah right during Isaac's birthday, I got the pattern and instructions from the sister in our ward who was so nice to give me all the help I needed. It turned out. Upon close inspection, it doesn't speak well of my sewing skills (it's not perfect), but it will work for Eleanor's 4-year-old cousin.

Since I didn't have Isaac around to model it the day I finished it, I used Eleanor. This is the batman side. It's reversible.
Supergirl!

Getting ready for take-off. I hope he likes it. I'll have to try to get a few pictures of him wearing it.

Poor Baby!

Last Wednesday, we were out in the backyard, minding our own business. Grant and Eleanor were picking figs from our tree and putting them into a box. I was standing near the tree with Phaedra on my hip. I heard a buzzing sound near my ear and looked towards it. To my utter horror, I watched as a stupid jerk of a hornet flew into my baby's mouth! I screamed to Grant as I started trying to fish it out of her mouth. With some trying, I got it out, but not before it bit her on the cheek and tongue and left its stinger just inside her top lip. She was okay for one second, but then the pain hit. She started to wail. We hurried inside, and Grant got the stinger out. We gave her ice and baby tylenol, and I comforted her the best I could.

With all the commotion, our neighbor's dog started barking. Once Phae was sucking on ice, she perked up to be herself again. All she wanted was to go look for the dog. I took her back out, but they had taken the dog into the house. Once she was calm, I had a good cry. I hated watching her go through that. We were getting ready to go to Grant's parents' to give them the figs. We put the kids in the car, and Eleanor began to bawl. She cried, "I didn't want that bee to sting Phaedra!" She has so much empathy for such a little girl. She told us the bee stung her thumb (where she had a paper cut from the morning). The whole ordeal was especially troubling for me. I don't have much trouble with bees, hornets, or wasps. I wouldn't consider myself deathly afraid of them. I don't run away screaming when they come around. On the other hand, when you take any one of those and imagine them inside someone's mouth, I have to shut my eyes and shake my head to get rid of the image. I would put that pretty high on my list of worst fears.

Collective Soul was pretty lucky I liked their music enough during high school to buy this album in spite of the cover.

So, I felt so bad to have to watch a hornet fly into my sweet baby girl's mouth. Phae's lip was getting puffy, and her whole left cheek was bright red. She fell asleep in the car, tired from missing her afternoon nap that day. When we got there, she started out a little forlorn, but then she was her usual self. It helped that Grandpa was there (she has such a soft spot for him), and she got to see their dog. We watched her closely, but she didn't swell up except for her lip and cheek.

I took these the day after. I was in no mood to document the experience the night it happened. The redness and swelling had really gone down the second day. You can see where it bit her on the cheek and the bruising from the bite.

She had a rough night Wednesday night. I thought it was because of the hornet sting. The next morning, I realized that she had a new tooth cut through during the night --on top of all her other troubles. The tooth just to the right (her right) of her bottom two is peeking through the gums in this picture.

As if all that wasn't enough, while I was feeding her breakfast Thursday morning, she was doing her usual practice of climbing out from under her tray and standing up in her booster seat. As I helped her sit back down and tried to buckle her in again for the hundredth time, I tried to be really careful not to pinch her with the buckle. It's harder than you think with this wiggly girl with her pudgy legs. Yup, that red mark on her leg is from me pinching her leg in the buckle. I felt so bad! Poor girl!

It doesn't end there. I was right when I said I thought she might be getting four teeth at once. Yesterday, her top left of her two from teeth cut through the gums, and she has two more top teeth really pushing to come through soon. When I say her teeth cut through, I really mean it. I never saw this with Eleanor but with two of Phaedra's teeth, they push through so suddenly that her gums bleed. One time, she even had a flap of broken gums by the tooth. Ouch! I'm just glad I let her gnaw on a big chunk of apple most of the afternoon. That probably helped her with some of the pain. She sure has been a trooper with all of her injuries.

For All My Family in Utah

Wish you were here.

Come see us soon so we can enjoy the beach together.

Beach Bum

Eleanor loved the beach while we were staying at the coast (several weeks ago, now). Every morning, we would wake up, and she would say, "I have a great idea. Should we go to the beach?" Then, she would repeat her question every 15 minutes or so until we told her we would go. I'm still playing catch up, but I'm planning on posting some fun beach pictures as soon as I get a chance.

It's a Good Day

I just wanted to update to say that things have been a little better the last few days with Eleanor. I really had to vent a little the other day, and I want to clear the air that I'm not that frustrated all the time.

I think the main problem had to do with the potty training issues. Thank goodness for mineral oil!! That stuff has saved us with Eleanor so many times. Remember those old commercials for Roto Rooter? I've had that little ditty in my head these last few days. "Mineral oil, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain." Plus, since her body has been, as you might say, "catching up" over the last few days, we have had quite a few opportunities for her to have successful potty training experiences. I think (hope) that has really helped to build her confidence in that area. We made it through Friday pretty well without as much drama. I got the girls out of the house in the afternoon so we wouldn't be tempted to bother Grant while he was busy with homework. There was some drama in the evening, but at least Grant was there to help me out a bit. Our weekend has been too busy and action-packed for tantrums. Today, she was emotional at church, but I felt for the poor girl because she got to bed really late last night (We were out late at a family reunion).

I also have been feeling bad the last week or so that I didn't come up with more to say on Eleanor's monthly post. I think I was just too hot and tired to really remember much to write. Since then, I have thought of a few things I want to write down before the end of this month when I will probably forget.

Eleanor goes through phases with favorite songs to sing in the car. Right now, her favorite is "It's a Good Day," by Perry Como. This is purely due to my influence, and it makes me so happy that she likes it. It's one of those happy songs that I like to turn on when I need a pick me up or a change of attitude. Sometimes, I'll inadvertently sing a line from that song around the house, and she'll prompt me with the next few words to keep me going. Also, every now and then, she'll just randomly tell me, a toy, or someone that it's a good day for shining your shoes. I love it!

Have I ever mentioned that Eleanor calls convertible cars "broken cars." The first time she saw one this spring, she was very concerned about what happened to the top of the car. Since then, she likes to spot them while we're out and about and point them out to me. While we're riding around, she'll often tell me, "I want to see a broken car." I tell her we just have to watch for them, and maybe we'll see one (and I hope it doesn't rain and blow our chances).

With potty training, I am finally seeing Eleanor want independence in some areas where she previously didn't care about it. She used to want me to help her get dressed instead of doing it herself. Now, I just hand her the clothes and let her know if they are going on backwards. At first, I treated it like I assumed she wanted to do it herself, even if she didn't, but since she has been potty training, she seems to ask for help less and less. When she takes a bath, I've stopped washing her off and washing her hair. I just put soap in her hands and direct her what body parts to wash. Then, I give her the sprayer to get her hair wet and put some shampoo in her hand. I help scrub here and there, but she's doing really well. Sometimes when we are out walking, she'll insist that she doesn't need to hold a hand, that she will keep up and stay close. You can see on her face her sense of accomplishment when she does this, and she's still obedient to take a hand as we cross the street. She's saying more and more about being a big girl and the many things she can do, as if she's really proud of herself. This is such a nice change from my girl who forever wanted to stay the baby! I love watching her gain this confidence. It also has cut down on my work load to have her take care of herself a little more.

Eleanor is obsessed with birthdays. Any time we tell her we have a surprise for her, she says, "Oh! Is it my birthday?" She likes to wrap things (toys, trinkets, food) in other things (towels, paper, a box) and give it to people as their birthday surprise. When she sees cake, she thinks it's birthday cake, and wants to know whose party it is. With her birthday coming up next month, I'm trying to decide if I want to just do a family party or try a friend party this year, too. I could do a double party for both my girls. I feel like if I do a friend party, I have to have some sort of theme and entertainment and all sorts of planning. I'm not good at that stuff. The more I think about it, the more I just want to keep it simple. Does anyone have any great ideas for me to do a party for Eleanor? Maybe if I could just get the ball rolling, it wouldn't be that bad. I'm stuck on coming up with a theme. I hate commitment!

Play Date at the Park

On Wednesday, we tried to take a break from the tantrums and get out. Eleanor and Boo* have been very best friends ever since Boo and her family joined us for a day at the coast. We are in the same ward (church congregation), but Eleanor is in an older class. They see each other at the end of church when Eleanor comes into the nursery with us, and they act like old friends who haven't seen each other in years. Their faces light up, and they call out each other's names as they rush to each other. It's adorable, if I do say so myself. So, we went to have a play date with Boo at the park.

We didn't start off on a good note. I don't know the parks around here very well, and I thought the one in our neighborhood might not be as exciting with its old equipment, so we went to one that I hadn't visited for a couple of years. I had forgotten that the last time I took Eleanor to that park, we had a problem. The problem we had then (and this time, too) was that all the equipment is plastic, which easily forms static electricity, and Eleanor HATES to get a shock. I tried to coax her onto the slide, telling her I would hold her hand. I hadn't touched anything, so I figured I was shock-safe. As soon as she reached for me, my hand gave her a really bad ZAP. Trust broken. So, Eleanor stood, whimpering, watching as Boo climbed and played all over the place. Any time I tried to convince her to play with Boo, she would say, "But it's too shocky!" At first, I had no sympathy for her; I was just frustrated (previous post explains my short fuse).

Then, I started thinking that the whole reason I arranged a play date was to get rid of some cabin fever for her and hopefully cheer things up at home. So, we decided to switch parks. Luckily, Boo's mom, Prissy*, is a really easy-going and understanding friend. Sadly, though, just as we were leaving, we realized that among the large group of kids swarming the park that day was another one of Eleanor's friends. But we were just leaving, so they didn't get a chance to play.

Plan B was to give the park by our house a try, even though Eleanor goes there pretty often, and the equipment is older. The girls loved it. All they needed were swings and slides, and that's what it has. The nice part was that there were no other kids; we had the park all to ourselves. I had to convince Eleanor that nothing would shock her, and it was a hard sell after shocking her at the other park. I could only convince her to go down the slide if Boo went with her as a choo-choo train. Eleanor liked that so much, she wanted to go down together every time. Here are some fun pictures of these cute girls. Notice how Eleanor does what Boo does. She's such a follower!

*Boo and Prissy are not their real names. Their family uses pseudonyms on the net, and I'm trying to respect their safety.

On Thin Ice

Eleanor has been in mega-drama mode lately. It is wearing my patience thin. I think it might be related to potty training, but maybe it’s just a phase. Whatever it is, I am so ready for it to end. I couldn’t even leave the house on Monday because I was so busy dealing with tantrums and drama. I had all kinds of chores around the house that needed to be done, but I realized I needed to make grocery shopping my main priority for the day. Instead, I dealt with Eleanor all afternoon, trying to get her pleasant so I could make it through a trip to the store without having her lose it in public. She never came around. I ran a quick errand when Grant came home just to get away from her, and we had to scrounge for dinner. It was a complete waste of a day!

Last weekend was more of the same. I felt like a “desperate housewife,” meeting Grant at the door to hand off the kids so I could get away and try to find my sanity. This week has been awful. Phaedra is clingy and moody because she is teething, and I can’t even focus on her because of all of Eleanor's issues. I’m losing patience, I’m losing sympathy, and I’m exhausted.

Tuesday, I had to try to go to the store again. Eleanor barely touched her lunch, and then she wanted peanuts. I told her she could have some if she ate more of her sandwich. She bawled and threw a fit all over the house. She wouldn’t let me put her sandwich away, because she said she was going to eat it (knowing it was her only way to be able to have peanuts). But when I told her to eat it, she said she didn’t like it. I finally told her she had lost her chance. It was time to go to the store, and she lost her chance to have peanuts. I had to put her in a time-out just to get her to snap out of it and stop bawling all over the house. After that, I just started getting things ready to go to the store. Phaedra was fussing at me, and Eleanor was still whimpering. When Eleanor saw me put ice in my water bottle, she asked for a piece. I gave her one. She shared with Phaedra until I got Phaedra her own ice in her solid food feeder. Then, they sat happily on the kitchen floor, both eating their ice. If I had known that was all it would take, I would have gotten out the ice even sooner!

Peekaboo!
Helping out.

Have I mentioned they love to match? I put them in matching clothes once, and Eleanor has requested to be matching many times since then. When I get her a shirt, she asks me if Phaedra is going to wear one just like hers. I think it's fun, so I do it while I can. I'm sure there will come a day when she won't want to match her little sister.

Today (and some of yesterday), we've had potty drama. Without too many details, Eleanor has needed to go, but she wouldn't let herself. Today has been rather unpleasant. We finally had a victory a little while ago, so I'm letting her relax and watch a show while I type this. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Silly Girl

Why play with blocks when you can climb in them?
I thought she would need help getting out, but apparently not. She's such a tricky little thing.

Oh! Blocks to play with. I didn't notice these before.

Yesterday, Eleanor dumped out all the blocks onto the floor. I asked her to pick them up once she was done playing with them. She started to pick them up, and I set Phaedra down. Immediately, Phaedra started putting blocks in the bucket, one by one, along with her big sister. It was so cute!

Phaedra has hit that age where anytime I pull out the camera to get a picture of her, she drops whatever she is doing and cruises over to me as fast as she can. She wants to play with my camera much more than she wants to pose for it, so it can be really hard to get a picture of her actually doing anything before she gets over to me.

11 Months Old

Only one more month before my baby is a year old! I feel so conflicted. I feel sad that it went by so fast. I want to turn back time and enjoy those baby months a little longer. On the other hand, I'm excited to see her grow up. She's already becoming such a little person with a mind of her own.

Phaedra is so close to walking. She actually took a few steps while we were staying at the beach house, but they were those wobbly, quick steps taken to get from one hand-hold to the next. She seems to think crawling is an inconvenience now. She walks along objects as long as she possibly can before getting down to crawl. She loves to walk holding onto fingers, but she gets distracted by objects around her. She doesn't walk for the sake of walking; she holds onto fingers to get to her next destination. She can walk pretty well just holding on with one hand. I'm sure she'll be walking on her own very soon.

She is such a climber! She quickly found and mastered the stairs when we went to the beach house, but she would only up the stairs. She would get to the top and try to maneuver a safe way down, but she would get nervous and decide to stay upstairs. She figured out how to climb onto the ottoman at the beach house. She can climb onto our family room couch if there is anything in front of it to give her a boost --even if it means climbing a person. She is very determined to learn to climb onto that couch by herself, since we put everything we don't want her to reach on it, but so far, her legs are just a little too short. She can climb onto the bricks in front of both of our fireplaces, causing me to run for her whenever she gets to the living room one. She can climb Eleanor's step stools, both steps. She has climbed onto our dining room chairs, and she has also had them fold on top of her several times since they fold up so easily.

She can say a fairly recognizable version of the words Daddy, Mommy, and dog (or doggie).

She must have a dance mix in her head all the time. When she hears a song playing (even if it's the ABC's on some musical toy), she stands up, points her fingers in the air, and bounces up and down. That girl can boogie! Even when she climbs out of her buckles in her booster seat and wiggles out from under her tray, she stands up, points her fingers in the air, and dances to the song in her head. When she does this, we usually tell her to sit down, and she usually squats down for a second, just long enough for us to tell her she's a good girl, and then stands up to dance once again.

She loves to make new sounds. She used to study me whenever I made the sound you make when you flick your tongue against your top lip while humming (sorry, that's the best I can explain it). She would watch me closely, sticking her tongue out and in, trying to do what I was doing. She would even do the motion with her tongue sometimes to cue me to do it so she could study it a little more. She figured out how to make the sound a month or so ago, but it sounds a little different since she has no top teeth.

Eleanor has certain favorite songs she likes in the car sometimes. When we listen to those, Eleanor and I are singing along, and I can hear Phaedra back there, clicking her tongue to the beat.

Phaedra gets more difficult to feed each day. She wants independence! It also doesn't help that I think she is teething again. I only get a few spoonfuls in her mouth before she is waving her hands at the spoon when it comes near and shaking her head at me. I have to keep plenty of finger foods near by to give her something she feels like she is doing herself while I try to shovel in the baby food. I don't have much choice when she only has two teeth. Lately, she's really noticing our food and wanting it. The crazy girl, though, will eat just about anything she finds on the floor, including all sorts of things never meant to be digested by humans, but as soon as I put some of our food on her tray, she examines it and plays with it as if I'm trying to poison her. She often throws it on the floor so that as soon as she's finished eating, wiped off, and set down, she eats it off the floor.

As I said, I think she is teething. It doesn't look good this time. She has a swollen spot to the side of her two bottom teeth, she's swollen where her top two teeth will come in, and she's possibly working on one next to the top two. I just hope they take turns instead of coming in all at once. Poor girl! I wouldn't be too surprised if they did come in all at once, considering how cranky she has been these last few days.

Phaedra has a great sense of humor. When I'm trying to soothe her a little bit to help her wind down and go to bed at the beginning of the night, she tries to do things to make me laugh. It all started one night when she was snuggled in my arms and suddenly lifted her head up and gave me a few hearty pats on the chest with her hand. It was so sweet and random, I couldn't help but laugh. She laughed, and then she did it again. Since then, she tries that when she's feeling silly at bedtime. If that doesn't work, she tries other ways to play with me and egg me on until we are both goofing off and giggling instead of getting her sleepy. She is so fun!

I love how she puts one arm around yours when you hold her. It seems like it took forever before Eleanor would do this. Phaedra wiggles and squirms so much that it doesn't help much in holding her, but it is very endearing. She gives great hugs, where she wraps one arm behind your neck and lays her head against your shoulder. I love those hugs. On one of these hot summer days, we went to Ben and Cindy's house to swim in the evening. Studio Grandpa showed up briefly to drop off Lucero and the kids. Phaedra and I were in the pool, but as soon as she saw Grandpa, she wanted him. He said hello to her, but she kept hanging on the edge of the pool and climbing her little feet up my front to try to get to him. I finally told him, "Grandpa, this little girl wants you." Obviously, he didn't want her all that much since she was dripping wet, but he picked her up and held her at arms length. She got reached one of her arms up to his shoulder and was trying for all she was worth to pull him in close for a proper hug. It was a funny sight to see her clinging to him and trying to snuggle up, with her dripping body held away so only her head and arms were close to him.

She has become an expert at squirming out of your arms when she wants to get down. These last two weeks at Eleanor's swim lessons, she has fought me to get down and get to the water. Luckily, last week I brought a toy to entertain her so I wouldn't have to fight her the whole time. I can't believe how well she can make it so hard to keep hold of her!

I think we can safely say her eyes are going to stay blue. There has been much speculation since I have no siblings or parents with blue eyes, and neither does Grant. Somehow, those genes broke through, and she is our little blue-eyed girl. Maybe she got them from her Great-Grandma Wallace. Any traits or qualities she wants to inherit from my Grandma Wallace are fine with me; she truly was an elect woman.

Phaedra will be a year old in the blink of an eye. I have enjoyed her so much these past 11 months. I'm sure I will continue to enjoy her. She is such a sweet, dear little girl. I love my girls so much.