Father/Daughter Dance

Eleanor and Matt had their first Father/Daughter Dance at Moccasin Elementary in February. They were both so excited and got all snazzied-up for the event. Eleanor couldn't wait to dance with her dad and have a special night together. Matt felt the same. Matt took Eleanor out for dinner at Sonny's (her choice) and then off to the dance. He said they no sooner walked in the door when Eleanor found her friends and took off, leaving poor dad on his own. But he wasn't on his own for long. He said he found over a dozen old school buddies also there with their daughters. Eleanor did make her way back to her ol' dad and did a little dancing to her favorite song "I Love You Like A Love Song".

One-and-a-Half-Year-Old Hank

Hank is 18 months old and just as cute as possible. He's a riot to have around with his missing-tooth grin and his cowboy-esque dance (one hand up, opposite knee raise, with a twist). He had his well-baby check and is continuing the same path of 20-25th percentile weight (23.8 pounds) and 90th percentile (34 inches) for height.


His vocabulary is really starting to take off. He's still on single words only but has quite a few:

Mama, Dada, ball, book, bite, moon, cheese, banana, bite, neigh (horse), moo (cow), ni ni (night-night), bath, swing, high, bear, fish, dog, bird, hat, booger, eye, head, baby, boat, hot, Eleanor, Hayley. He also says and signs: more, milk and done. Each day he says a new word.

As of this post, his absolute favorites are:

drink: milk (wants it ALL THE TIME)
comfort item: bear blanket (sleeps with it every night and won't let kids at daycare touch it)
thing to do: play OUTSIDE (run around, swing, sidewalk chalk, play, whatever so long as he's outside)
food: spaghetti though he loves pretty much anything set in front of him.
book: Dr. Suess board books, he can't get enough of: There's A Wozet in the Closet, Hand Hand Finger Thumb, ACB, Hop On Pop, Big Dog Little Dog.

 

Steak Night!

 Got Milk?

 Hanks first tractor ride

 

 Spaghetti Night

 Eleanor reading Dr. Suess to Hank

Eleanor is Six!!!

My baby girl is six. I can't even believe it! We let her have a slumber party this year. I figured it would be easier since Matt is working 6/12s and I'd be pretty much on my own. She had her friends Emma and Caelyn over. We made sleeping masks. And they pretty much ran around like wild animals and sat down just to eat Bagel Bites and ice cream sundaes. I'm pretty sure they were awake until midnight because at 11:30pm they were in my bedroom telling me about a dog walking across our driveway. They were afraid it would jump into the second floor window. Overall it was a fun night but I'm not sure we'll do it again :)

 I had to call Carolyn and ask what she wanted me to pick up from the store to give to Eleanor. She mentioned a Bambie stuffed animal. I couldn't find one but found a cute googly-eyed cow. When I came home and showed it to her she loved it. I reminded her it was for Eleanor. She said, "Well, we can get her something else."

 My big girl!

 Carolyn LOVES the cotton candy

 Cute little sleeping masks

We just had parent/teacher conferences and Eleanor is still doing outstanding. We were told by her teacher that all Kindergarteners must read at a level 4. Eleanor hasn't been pushed to her max yet, but is at least at a level 24. That's a 2nd grade level. Her writing is nice and neat. The only thing she needs to practice is making sure not to write some of her numbers backwards.

1. Eleanor, how old are you today? 6
2. How does it feel to be 6? I don't know (laugh). It feels the same.
   
3. How was your day? Good!
4. What was the weather like? I forgot. I don't know.
5. What do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned in life so far? No smoking.
6. How do you think you’re different from a year ago? I got older and bigger and I learned more.
7. What’s your favorite thing about yourself? (long pause). I'm sassy (giggles)!
8. How do you like Kindergarten? Good. I wish I could skip 1st grade and 2nd grade and go to 3rd grade already. Why? Because I want to read more.
9. Who’s your best friend? Emma
10. What do you like learning about? Books
11. Is there anything you’d do to improve your educational experience? What does that mean?
12. Tell me about our family. You know about my family because you're in my family. Matt, Tara, Carolyn, Hank, Me and Carolyn.
13. What do you like about having a sister? Kinda good. Well, it's fun only...she doesn't like me sometimes. And she's really loud. Is this going to be on Facebook?
14. What do you like about having a brother? Fun! I can't wait when he grows up and we can fight!
    
15. In the past year, what have been some of your favorite books, movies, and music? I Love You Like a Love Song Baby (song), Shopping (book) that's one book I like. I was easy to read. I like Nanny McPhee.
16. What’s your favorite TV show? iCarly, Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, and Good Luck Charlie.
17. Okay, do you remember what you watched last night? Tintin
18. If you had a whole day to do anything you wanted, what would you do? Go to Disneyland, waterpark, leave the house to myself.
19. What’s your favorite toy to play with? The remote control car that Carolyn got. Oh, and that ball that Hank got.
20. What’s your favorite thing to do at school? Breakfast. Yes, they make good food!
21. What do you want to be when you grow up? A dentist or a doctor.
22. What kind of doctor? A dentist or maybe a real doctor.
    
23. Do you think you’ll ever get married? Yes!
24. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? 21.
25. What have you learned about boys this year? (sticks her finger in her mouth and makes a gagging noise) They stink when they don't take baths or showers.
26. What’s your favorite food? Spaghetti and meatballs and pizza with sausage and Spaghetti-Os and macaroni and cheese.
27. And your favorite candy? I don't eat candy that much.
28. Anything you’re scared of? Monsters. Aliens. Bad guys like robbers.
29. Anything else you’d like to say? I don't know. I lost a tooth!
30. Can you think of any questions I should have asked but didn’t? I didn't go to Disneyland.
31. So what’s your favorite dessert? Ice cream. Oh, it's called...that one with the cow on the box. That party... Birthday cake ice cream.
32. Anything else? No.

Loving Boys, Losing Teeth

These past few months, Eleanor has grown tremendously. Not only is she reading and writing in what seems to be beyond anything I did as a Kindergartener. But she's also wanting to be more mature than I really care for her to be. She watches all these 'big kid' shows - Ant Farm, Austin and Ally, iCarly (she also still enjoys some Phineas and Ferb and Spongebob). And she talks about boys. Not often, but I've heard her mention Jacob a time or two. And supposedly multiple boys in her class are writing about loving Eleanor. Just the other day I found this note...

And now, with just days until my little girl turns six, Eleanor loses her first tooth.

We've told this girl for years, she needs to stop growing and how we want her to stay little forever. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working for us.

Summer! Already?!?!

Hey, I'm not complaining! We've just set record highs for 7 straight days. It's been great to spend time outside. We've been grilling, swinging, playing in the sandbox, coloring the driveway in sidewalk chalk, going to the park, riding bikes, riding scooters, washing cars, even running through the sprinkler. And it's MARCH!!! It's unreal.