51 weeks old: SHE'S WALKING!!!

First the big news of the week: Eloise is walking! She took her first steps on Sunday! Evan was in the kitchen cooking Sunday night dinner as he does every week and I was on the floor with Eloise in the living room. All of a sudden, she stood up and sort of stumbled toward me. It seemed like she didn't realize what she was doing. Yippee!!! She's certainly not off and running but she has taken more solo steps each day. Here's a video from this morning:

The day after she took her first steps, Eloise got a push walker from IKEA, which has quickly became a favorite toy. Even though I tightened the wheels, she pushes that thing around pretty fast, to the point where she's breathing hard from exertion. It was veering to the left initially, I think because I accidentally tightened that wheel more, and I was impressed that she figured out how to correct course right away. These little moments when I watch her problem-solve make me very proud!

Push Walker from Sarah Zuber on Vimeo.

Password: Eloise2014

Last week we met up with Terri and her almost 2-year-old daughter, Finley, at Blue Lake Park for some fun at the splash pad. It was Eloise's chance to get past her scary splash incident at the Jameson Square Fountain a couple weeks ago. She absolutely LOVED the splash pad! She walked all over the place including through the sprinklers! She didn't mind getting water on her head and face at all. I was surprised and relieved. Finley was very sweet with Eloise, even though she wanted everything Finley had, including her very cool lunch sack.

Stop holding  me back for this picture, let's go!

On Saturday, our Friday play group plus some additional alumni from our original new moms group had a joint first birthday party for all the babies at Laurelhurst Park. It was neat and a little sentimental to celebrate, the year really flew by! One woman organized compiling a photo album with pictures of our babes as newborns and now with a little blurb about their personalities. Another woman got a sheet cake with all the babies' names on it and we sang happy birthday. It was a nice day for a potluck picnic, mingling with all the moms and partners, and babies playing together.

 The cake!

Eloise and Evan on the picnic blanket

Eloise and Metta

Astrid, Metta, and Eloise

And finally, on Sunday afternoon Eloise had her first taste of ice cream. She didn't know how to lick the cone so she just opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out. She kept going back for more so she must have liked it! Caramel with salted dark chocolate ganache.

Yep, I like it

50 weeks old: hiking, standing, and fathers day

Eloise went on her third hike a week ago with our play group and it was the first time she tolerated being in the backpack carrier for the whole time! I don't know what it was, maybe because she could see all her baby friends. We went to Oxbow Park and it was a really nice day.

I prefer to look at the river

Then, last Wednesday we were in the kitchen and I look over and Eloise is standing in the middle of the floor! Didn't pull herself up on anything, not holding onto anything, just stood right up. I cheered and she looked really excited and pleased with herself. She squatted back down, crawled a couple feet to the right, and stood up again. That's the one I caught in a photo:

Ahhhhhh! This is awesome!

Since last Wednesday she has stood up like this a few times every day. I'm wondering if she'll take her first steps before her first birthday! 

I'm solo standing. NBD.

Father's Day was Sunday and Evan requested we spend the first part of the day getting garden starts from Portland Nursery and planting them, and then head to Salem an hour South of Portland to have dinner with his family. Eloise liked looking at all of the plants at the garden center.

Helping Dad pick out tomatoes

In other news, Eloise continues to add more dance moves to her repertoire:

And finally, a few weeks ago I introduced a bunny "lovey" to Eloise's crib as a transitional object to help her self-soothe at night and during naps. Sometimes she lays her hand on it, she almost always plays with it when she wakes up, and when she's irritated she throws it overboard.

Mom, you didn't get in here fast enough after I woke up. Bunny overboard!

Peaceful snooze with the bunny

49 weeks old: more walking on fingers, babbling, and feeding adventures

I accidentally got a picture of those cute little bottom teeth, yippee! This was during a photo shoot for a family alphabet photo book we'll give Eloise for her first birthday. She was letter A for Apple. I can't be on the ground photographing her without her crawling over to climb on me at some point, and that's what was happening here.

Eloise is all about walking while holding onto fingers these days. She wants to do it All. The. Time. Anytime we go somewhere she has to get the wiggles out at some point by walking around a bit. Here we are having breakfast at Grand Central Bakery last weekend and Evan took her for a walk. She always smiles ear-to-ear!

Eloise has been expanding her "vocabulary" by babbling with different sounds and inflections. I heard N this week, I don't think I've heard that sound from her before. She seems to be talking in her own language. I love it! I noticed her mimic "All done" the other day so we repeated it back and forth a few times. I would never understand it if she didn't say it right after me but it's really cool to see her learning language.

As Eloise nears her first birthday, I've been thinking more about starting the weaning process just afterward. I've been experimenting a little with the don't offer/don't refuse method this week just to see how she would respond. Sometimes she asks by fussing or just pulling on my shirt, and other times we'll go a longer stretch. It's bittersweet to think about losing this special connection we have but also having more freedom. As she's gotten older she is now doing some acrobatics while nursing, which is hilarious. She also continues to expand her palate, which is fun to see her reaction to new foods.

Acrobatics

Spaghetti squash and meatballs

And a couple randoms from the week:

This is new - where did she learn it?!

Evan took these through the patio door - silly Eloise!

48 weeks old: 11 months old, words, straw drinking, spoon eating, and Jameson Square fountain

Today marks exactly 11 months out in the world for Eloise! I am amazed at how much she has blossomed just in the last couple weeks. All of a sudden she has two teeth, her eating and drinking skills have improved by leaps and bounds, she understands lots of words and phrases, even says a few, loves to walk holding fingers, and shows so much more of her happy personality.

She now says the words Dada, Mama, and Up and uses them appropriately! Just this morning she was with her dad and when I walked by she said, "Mama? Mama?" Oh man, what an incredible feeling. I couldn't even list off all of the words and phrases she understands now. She knows milk, eat, water, and when I ask for whatever piece of dirt or lint she finds on the floor she puts it in my outstretched hand! She also shakes her head yes and no. Her newest thing is when I say no, she shakes her head. It's like things just suddenly started clicking.

Since she got her two teeth it seems like she has become much more skilled - and interested - in eating solids and drinking from a straw. She is also showing definite food preferences. She especially likes Baby Puffs vegetable and rice snacks and HappyYogi yogurt and fruit snacks.

I can totally drink water from a straw

Hands off my Baby Puffs!

Over the weekend we had some nice weather and decided to take Eloise to Jameson Square fountain, a kid-friendly water feature. Evan helped her stand in the shallow water and she was taking it all in when suddenly a bigger kid splashed her in the face and she cried. I accidentally caught the moment in a sad photo. You can see the water droplets in her eye!

That was scary!

Afterward, we went to a little boutique nearby called Posh Baby and picked up her first toddler utensils and a couple plates. The first time I gave her the spoon to try to use herself, she knew what to do! I was totally impressed. The other hand still does most of the work but I'm so proud of her.

Day 1 with the spoon - peaches!

Day 2 a little messier - yogurt!

Eloise loves to put things in and take things out of containers in her play these days. Here she is eating bits of tuna and cheddar that she put in the cup holder.

And finally, Eloise still loves the water. Her latest thing is putting her face in. Sometimes she blows bubbles and often she gets a mouthful of water. Here she is in the bathtub with a bubble beard after inhaling a little bit of water. It doesn't stop her.