We started swim lessons again last Saturday. We took the same class last year, so Eleanor remembered it. She loved it last year, and she's loving it even more this year. She tries to say, "swimming," now, and the closest I can come to writing it is "ibfwee." She really loves ibfwee.
I told Kari about the class, and we're so glad she and Audrey were able to join us! Now, we'll see each other every Saturday!
(Audrey liked splashing-- who could blame her?)
Practicing getting out safely.
Eleanor had noodle legs when we were supposed to be practicing jumping in. She just wanted to climb back in the water when I put her on the edge. She didn't understand how standing up for me would get her into the water.
We eventually got the hang of it.
***
Eleanor did something new last Friday, and I just think it's so cute. It's probably just because I'm a new mom and everything she does excites me, but oh well. To understand this story, you will first need a little Eleanor vocabulary lesson:
dah-doh: this is her adorable way of saying the word, towel. It's one of my favorite words she says.
go-eee: this is how she says go. She'll convince you to pick her up, point her hand in some direction, and command, "go-eee."
Ok, so this is what happened. She was sitting on the end of our bed while I got dressed. She pointed to a sweatshirt next to her on the bed and said, "dah-doh." I explained to her that it wasn't a towel; it was a sweatshirt. She looked at me, puzzled, put up both her hands in a questioning gesture, and said, "go-eee?" with a questioning tone. It was her way of asking, "Where did it go?" Since then, she has used her question about many different things. I'll have to try to catch a picture or a video of it. I think it's adorable!
***
On Sunday, I thought Eleanor was learning to defend herself with her words, but I have since then decided that I was probably mistaken. She had a piece of apple, and another little girl reached out for it. Eleanor quickly drew the apple up close to herself and said sharply, "Nice!" (as in "be nice"). Well, like I said, I thought she was defending herself. Since then, she has declared, "Nice!" just before she does something mean here at home. I think she's saying it because that's what I tell her when she does something mean, and she has no concept of what I'm saying. She only knows Mommy says it right after she is naughty, so she might as well say it before. Oh well!
. . . Here comes the next generation of heartbreakers!
On Sunday, my mother and Gary came over to visit, and we went walking around the neighborhood. As we were admiring the dogwood trees in bloom, we picked a couple of blossoms. Eleanor looked so pretty with a flower in her hair.
In case you didn't notice, I got a new haircut. I love it! All that unhealthy hair got chopped off and I'm left with soft, healthy, lightweight hair. (And I think it looks pretty cute, too.)
I love Grant's face in this one. There's a guy who is happy to be a dad and happy to see his daughter enjoying herself. Grant is such a good dad. He already has such a good relationship with Eleanor and helps me with her so much. I am so blessed!
Eleanor loves to swing; it makes her squeal and giggle.
Check out her right leg. If she gets nervous at all going down the slide, she just throws on the brakes; she stomps down one or both feet or sticks a foot against the side of the slide. Sometimes she makes it to the bottom in one slide, and sometimes she goes halfway and then the other half.
She told us when she was done with the slide, but she wouldn't let us leave the park without going back for a little more swinging.
This face has been occurring more frequently in pictures. She's making a clicking sound with her mouth because sometimes, when I try to get her to look at the camera, I snap my fingers over my head. Since she can't snap her fingers, she makes the sound with her mouth and sometimes holds a hand over her head. She'll mimic just about anything; it's scary but true. 
No idea what brought about this face!
Or this one.
She's trying to wink in this picture. She's about to close both her eyes, thus completing the wink.
I eventually did manage to get some pictures of just the blanket.
Eleanor got to hold her new cousin, Adelynn. She gave "baby" lots of loves. You can kind of see Eleanor's left hand on her side. That hand was almost constantly patting the baby; she knew just what to do.
What a sweet baby.
I like the smirk on Adelynn's face in this one.
Eleanor had lots of fun playing with Carter, too. She just loves Carter, and Carter is really good to her. I didn't get any pictures because they mostly played in his tunnel, so you couldn't see them anyway. We heard many squeals and giggles as we watched the tunnel roll around the room. After some time playing, Eleanor came back wanting to hold the baby again (she couldn't favor one cousin over the other).
We started swim lessons again last Saturday. We took the same class last year, so Eleanor remembered it. She loved it last year, and she's loving it even more this year. She tries to say, "swimming," now, and the closest I can come to writing it is "ibfwee." She really loves ibfwee.
I told Kari about the class, and we're so glad she and Audrey were able to join us! Now, we'll see each other every Saturday!
Practicing getting out safely.
Eleanor had noodle legs when we were supposed to be practicing jumping in. She just wanted to climb back in the water when I put her on the edge. She didn't understand how standing up for me would get her into the water.
We eventually got the hang of it. 
