Photo Shoot...

I have to say. This was by far the fastest photo shoot I've done. Well..that's not saying TOO much...cuz I've only done 2 prior to this, but still. It was quick. Thankfully I had M along with me to help get her to smile. Otherwise I would have only had shots of her running away from me...and probably of me tripping and falling down the stairs. This girl is fast! I guess our tiny living room isn't ample enough space for an 18 month old to really run. :) Mental note: must take her to open spaces more often. Might wear her out longer :)

Anywhoo...these turned out so great. I can't believe how big she's getting...and how much she's changing. Her baby face is slowly disappearing...and a toddler face is emerging. I want to squeeze her and shove her back in to my favorite feety jammies we brought her home in. Sigh...why oh why does it have to go so fast? Anyway...thought you'd enjoy these :) All I gotta say is....we're in trouble.

18 months old...

Dear Eleanor,

I can't believe you're 18 months old today. I can't believe my little baby is growing up so fast...right before my eyes. You have made my life so wonderful. You amaze me every day with the things you learn. My favorite time of day is first thing in the morning. You are so excited when I come in to get you. You have the best smile that makes your eyes dance. I love your little bit of curl on the back of your hair. Your face is starting to change into a toddler face. Today you looked at me while I was rocking you, and my heart hurt. I know you won't want to be rocked too much longer...so I treasure the times you let me snuggle you.

You had to give up your pacifier this week...and you're doing so good. You still have nap time struggles...but you're working through them. I realized today you are a clothes horse like me. After we got back home from shopping you started pulling out all your new clothes and swung them around on the hanger. We tried them on and we laughed.

I love you so much...and I wish there was a way for me to express it even more than just saying I love you. Someday you'll understand the intense love I have for you. Happy half birthday my angel.

Love,

Mommy

We're Baaaack...

Whew...we made it back yesterday afternoon. And we're pooped. Like...seriously...exhausted. We now need a vacation to some exotic location to recover from our other vacation. :) We had such a great time!! Eleanor did fabulous on the car rides down and back...we are so lucky we had Grammie C entertaining her on the way down. Otherwise we would have been miserable.

We got some great pictures of her with all the characters...and she didn't get scared at all. I was worried that she might freak out with all the big stuffed animals coming at her...but she loved it. Here's one of my favorites I got of her with Donald Duck. She walked right up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever.

Life is back to normal today. Last night we started with our big plan of getting rid of the pacifier. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But it will definitely be a rough week for all of us. Better to do it now than later I guess. Hope you all had a great week while we were gone :)