Grandma's Book

We just got a package today from Grandma. She sent a few things, including some fall stickers for the windows, a t-shirt for Eleanor and a fantastic rhubarb recipe. But, the crown jewel of the package was a book, made especially for Eleanor, of Grandma and Grandpa's new driveway. Wow, did she love it. I think I am going to have to laminate it so that she doesn't destroy it as she reads and rereads it.



Eleanor's favorite page included the pictures of the red dump trucks. She made some beeping sounds -- the kind a truck makes when backing up -- and pointed out the various parts of the truck.



My personal favorite page was the page with the mini-loader on it. It was so sweet of Grandma to think of Eleanor when the mini-loader arrived and photo document the whole process. The mini-loader has been one of Eleanor's favorite trucks since the day Henry was born, so to have one in the book was pretty special.



We want to send a huge thank you to Grandma for her thoughtful handmade gift. It was obviously created with a lot of love. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

In other news, today was a big day for Henry as well. He had his 2 month checkup. Unbelievable, that our little tiny baby is already two months old. And, his big sister is 21 months old. Where does the time go?! Anyway, Henry got a clean bill of health and seems to be growing like a weed. He absolutely detested the shots though -- he got as mad as a hatter when the nurse gave them to him. I imagine he will sleep well tonight.

Caught a Smile!

I caught a good one on camera. However, I was in such a hurry to get the shot that I got a pretty good shadow from the leaves on the top of his swing! Hey, at least I caught the moment.

Here is Henry smiling:

Ah Nuts!

Eleanor is cracking me and Vince up this morning with some of the things she is saying. Since I am allergic to nuts, we haven't given her any nuts of any kind yet. So, in the morning when Vince adds some almonds or peanuts to his cereal, he tells her that she can't have any because it has nuts. Somehow this translated into "ah nuts!", which she has been saying all morning.

Another major crack up -- every time she has gas she first blames it on everyone else in the room (Henry's, Mama's, etc.) and then says "peeeeyoo". Hilarious.

The Castle

Eleanor has a new favorite toy. (Thanks Linda and Alec!) I thought she might only like the Haba Dragonstone Castle (with inhabitants) so-so because I thought it was so ridiculously cute, which is usually how things work. The castle and it's inhabitants, a knight, princess and dragon, are made of nice colorful cloth. The castle has many cool features -- a little bee that buzzes back and forth along a string, a little chicken attached by a piece of elastic that sits in a pocket, mirrors, a window and best of all the door, which fastens with Velcro.



Eleanor's love of the castle borders on obsession. Every morning or after her nap since Wednesday, she has grabbed the castle and said "pay dis" (translation: play with this) and then after we have it set up she says "nah doo, mah womwam" (translation: make the man and woman knock on the door). For hours on end we have made the little man and woman knock on and then go through. Sometimes we vary the game a bit and the man and woman dance or give each other a little kiss, but mostly they just knock on and go through the door.



We have another Haba toy, the Dream Journey, which is a little car with three little men/women in it. Eleanor has had this since she was younger but never really loved it. She is now using the little car as a bed for the man and woman and the wheels from the car for the bedside lamps.

So, I wanted to add this one to the list of favorites right away!

Disturbing Food News in the NY Times

I just read two disturbing articles in the New York Times about food. I thought I would make mention of it here for those who might not have seen the articles and would like to work themselves into a worried frenzy just as I have.

The first article, Doctor Links a Man’s Illness to a Microwave Popcorn Habit by Gardiner Harris, talks about a man who died from eating too much microwave popcorn. Apparently there is something in the butter flavoring called diacetyl that causes lung problems. Argh! I have eaten so many bags of microwave popcorn -- in high school I ate about a bag a day when I got home all by myself. Now I mostly make it myself in a pot -- it tastes much better with real butter anyway -- but do I need to worry that one of these days my lungs won't work? Microwave popcorn is officially banned from our house.

The second article, Some Food Additives Raise Hyperactivity, Study Finds by Elisabeth Rosenthal, discusses a study done in Britain that linked some preservatives and colorings to hyperactivity. Double argh! Now I have to fret over things I am feeding to Eleanor (and soon Henry) even more than I already do. While we try to make most of their food, use organic food as possible, and grow some things in the garden, I am a pragmatist and sometimes something packaged is just easier than whipping up something from scratch. At any rate, I am sure this is something that I will drive myself crazy about.

Those are my thoughts for the night. I'm going to try and find a happy article to write about now!