Merry Christmas!!

We are in Michigan enjoying family, wonderful meals, a bit of snow, and of course the holiday spirit. We'll get some pictures up soon. For those of you we were not able to see, we miss you and hope you are celebrating the season in a very merry way.

Tree Topper

I was feeling that our tree was a little bare on top, so the other day I made a star. I had this idea floating around in my mind, and I have to say, I think it turned out rather nicely. I drew a star on the fabric, cut through two pieces and sewed them together almost all the way around. Then I turned it inside out, stuffed it with Poly-Fil and stitched up the little hole. I sewed a cone of fabric on the back so it would rest comfortably on the tallest point of our tree. Here is the finished product:



And a side view:

She's Two

Eleanor's birthday week has been incredibly fun. We got a huge box of birthday gifts from Nonna and each day she has opened one present to a chorus of Ohhhs and Ahhhs. We also had a drop in Music Together class on Tuesday and everyone sang Happy Birthday. That same day we tried to go see the Nutcracker Fantasy at the Puppet Company but Eleanor lost interest about three quarters of the way through so we just came home. Thursday a few friends came over for some pink sparkly birthday cake and another round of Happy Birthday. Seems that Eleanor loves singing and having Happy Birthday sung to her. Unfortunately, birthday week is ending with a bang. Eleanor was up about every half hour to forty five minutes last night crying. She has been unable to tell us what is bothering her but luckily we have her two year "well" visit today so we can talk with her doctor. Now, post doctor visit, we know that it is a recurrence of her ear infection. Hopefully this time she can kick it!




I also decided that this might be a good place to record some of her favorite things, since I haven't done anything with the baby books since Henry's arrival. (Everyone said that would happen!) So, here is a brief list of questions with Eleanor's answers and then my assessment of the situation based on watching her:

1. What is your favorite color?
She says, "Red, Blue too." (I'd say she likes blue too.)

2. What are your favorite toys?
She says, "Baa sheep, car vroom vroom, moo cow, a purple one too." (My take -- definitely giraffe and blankie. Though she has been loving the little plastic bathtub animals lately too. Plastic animals include: baa sheep, moo taw (cow), penny (penguin), munch (monkey), etc.)

3. Where do you like to go when we go outside?
She says "Tree, Daddy outside too." (She usually likes to go for an adventure walk or Glen Echo.)

4. What is your favorite book?
She says, "Purple one, green one." (This week it is probably Amelia Bedelia.)

5. What things do you like to do or play with?
She says, "Baa sheep, giraffey too, love giraffe." (I'm starting to think she may not really get what I am asking. My take on her likes: read, play, adventure walks, and generally run around.)
6. What is your favorite food?
She says, "Soft food, Daddy's food." (I think she loves ice cream, raisins, clementines, noodles -- macaroni and cheese, grape juice, and orange juice. She will eat just about anything though!)

What fun it is to have a two year old!

Budding Photographer

Eleanor has been fascinated with the camera lately. Maybe it is because we have barraged her with paparazzi style photo sessions since her birth or maybe it is the new video camera we recently got. Whatever the cause, she wants to hold the cameras and take pictures. So, we have given her the old PowerShot digital camera to play with. Here are some of her very first shots, some assisted by me, others taken on her very own:

Eleanor's stool


Giraffe and duck


Momma's knee


Momma and Henry

Library Books - week of December 3, 2007

We finally made it to the library -- a week ago. I've added a couple train books to our handy train book list. Here are two of this weeks other hits:

1. A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa by Jonathan London, illustrated by Denis Roche
This is the most requested book since our arrival home from the library. Eleanor likes trucks almost as much as she likes trains. This book has an added bonus, a little squirrel to find on every page. I think more than anything she just likes saying "rattley-bumpa".

2. Wombat Divine by Mem Fox, illustrated by Kerry Argent
We picked up a couple of Christmas books and I think this one is pretty cute. Eleanor doesn't seem thrilled with it but the story of a sweet wombat who wants desperately to play a part in the Nativity play strikes a chord with me.

Eleanor's Winter Pals -- Snowmen and Women

Eleanor has been enjoying the company of some soft wintry friends. We had a bunch of teddy bears, snow men and one Christ-moose (thanks Jess!) in with our ornaments. These stuffed buddies have taken up residence on one corner of the couch. We also added one new snowman last week in a moment of weakness on my part when we were at Target. The round little guy with the red hat and scarf came into our family after having made two consecutive visits to the doctors office and to Target for antibiotics for each of the kids. Eleanor occupied by jumping the snowman along by the puff on his hat waiting for a prescription? Done and done.



Anyway, we also had our first snowfall last week. Vince was so excited about it that he brought a heap of snow into the dining room at breakfast time and proceeded to create a lovely small snowman with a large carrot nose on the table for Eleanor. I don't think she quite knew what to do!

Belly Laugh

Henry had his first giggle on Friday. I don't know what Eleanor was doing but whatever it was, it made Henry produce a big, giggly gut-laugh. I wish I could have recorded it -- what a sweet little sound.


(By the way, this picture is not from that moment when he first giggled, just thought it was cute.)

Trains, Trains, Trains!!!

We visited Brookside Gardens yesterday and was it ever fun! There was a lovely model train exhibit set up in the conservatory. So, even though we had to wait for a half hour for it to open and it was cold and rainy outside, we had a marvelous time. The outside time in the rainy garden was pretty nice too -- Eleanor is definitely the boss these days. She has started telling us which way we should go when we are out on adventure walks. If there is a bridge, her decision usually involves crossing the bridge multiple times.







The train set up was really amazing. There were several trains running on different tracks, including a freight train complete with caboose and an Amtrak train that made stops at a little station. My personal favorite part of the exhibit was the model of the Wheaton ice rink. I was talking to a gentleman who had helped set the display up and he said it had taken 600 man hours to complete!! I guess they had to set up the entire display on plywood, cut holes to put the plants in, and of course put all the tracks together. I think it was worth it though based on Eleanor's reaction and the squeals of delight coming from the other kids.

A New Obsession

I haven't been writing as much as I would like lately, due to the fact that I have been obsessively sewing. I have been using a book that I mentioned before called Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I just want to make every single thing in the book immediately and even as I sit here typing I feel my fingers itching to get back to that old sewing machine. The moments when both kids are asleep are so few and precious, like moments when I used to skate and would fly around the rink by myself free as a bird. I don't mean to sound as though I dislike spending time with my kids, of course I love being with them more than anything, it is just nice to have a moment to do something other than nurse, change diapers and deal with two-year-old tantrums.

So here are the things I have been working on lately. Yesterday, I attended a baby shower for a friend and was so pleased to give her a handmade bag, bib and burp cloth with some of my favorite California Baby bubble bath. I even made the tag to match from a coupon sent by Target that was the perfect color. Vince must have thought I was crazy -- as soon as the kids would go to sleep for the night, I would hole up in the laundry room with the machine, the iron and the book to sew. I think it turned out nicely:



Now, I am knee deep in my first (small sized) quilt. I had the most fun picking out fabrics but, boy, is it difficult to figure out which things will match when put into a quilt. I probably spent at least 45 minutes deciding which patterns and solid colors to buy, all the while worrying that Henry was going to wake up and Vince would be stuck at home with no milk. It all turned out just fine -- I got some fabric and Henry was still blissfully asleep when I returned. So here is the general plan for the quilt, I've gotten some of the panels together and am going to work on it a bit more right now!