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