Noodle Party

Somebody got really into her pasta tonight.






So much so that, at one point, she accidentally started eating her necklace.



Woah, dude.

Partying with Cameron

And pretty much the sweetest hug of all time.

Our California Trip

We had such a great time down in California. It was wonderful seeing all our friends and our old haunts. Oh, and the sun.

Here's a fast-forward version of the fun.



Apologies to those not pictured. We were a little inconsistent with the photos...

What a difference two years make

Okay, so we didn't get the framing right, but we're technically standing in the same spot so...





Hard to believe how much has changed in what seems like a flash.

We had a wonderful time again in La Quinta.*

More photos to come.









*Earthquakes and aftershocks aside.

Had an awesome time in Los Angeles

Ellie's pointing to a whole bunch of new pics over at flickr.



La Quinta, here we come...

Yo Gabba Gabba meets Yo Nappa Nappa

Now Ellie's ready to get back to her roots in LA.

Well hello there, Alex

It's baby week for Ellie and she mainly vacillates between casual disinterest and mild distress.

Here's the rare exception, actual interest...





Also, happy stripes day!

Kind of obsessed with our own personal drawer

You're not going to believe this, but...

ANOTHER DANCE PARTY!

3...2...1...

DANCE PARTY!

Digging our new breakfast bar

Not to mention our new step stool.

Parked

We're glad to be back home, but hanging out in Madison Park is pretty cool too...

WOWSERS!

Man, have I ever done a lousy job on the blog the last few weeks. All I can say is that between work and the last mile of a big remodel and the massive rewiring project that's related to it and the unrelated sewer line break that has suddenly expanded it, things have been falling through the cracks a bit.*

We haven't even been taking pictures, let alone posting them.

Sigh.

But here's a quick iPhone shot from a few days ago with Eleanor perched at the (then unfinished) breakfast bar in the new kitchen (which is now totally done/totally awesome!).




Bunch more shots coming soon and a better job blogging as well...





*and not just the cracks that I've put in our walls/ceilings during the aforementioned electrical work.

And Poppy too!

Fun with Grammy

Eleanor (along with Mindy and I) has had a great time staying with Grammy over the last few weeks as the remodel stretches on (and on).

They did some baking...











And some hugging...

Sleeping beauty

A new look

I got tired of all of our videos getting cut off, so meet BabyBendy's new and improved look...

One year in about nine minutes (consider yourself warned)

It's impossible to put into an entire year into words, so I won't even try. But when we look back on Eleanor's second year, we're amazed by how much she's changed. She's still sweet and funny and beautiful and smart, but she's so much more her own person now. And it seems like it happened in an instant.

But of course, it didn't.

That's one of the reasons we try to take so many pictures (and one of the reasons for this blog). So we can look back on the year and remember all the wonderful moments that tend to fly by in the midst of life's rush.

So here you have it, 365 days in the life of Ellie. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year so special.



(Wow, top billing for Chris, Robyn and Graham. Nice work!)

Eleanor just stole your soul...

After breaking one of our cameras and insisting, "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine!" whenever the other one makes an appearance, we thought it might be a good idea to get Miss Eleanor a camera of her own.

Meet the Fisher Price Kid's Digital Camera.



It's drop-proof, takes real digital pictures, has its own LCD screen and is pretty much nicer than the first three digital cameras we owned.

Ellie loved it and proceeded to begin filling up her portfolio instantly.


"Grammy"


"Mom Changing Me #1"


"Mom Changing Me #2"


"Self-Portrait #4"

Not featured, "Pictures of My Hand (Series)", "Pictures of the Counter Top (Series)", "Pictures of My Shirt (Series)."

Happy birthday, Eleanor!

Well it's hard to believe that it's already been another year, but our amazing, beautiful, genius, awesome daughter turned two today.



Thanks to all the family and friends for the cards and calls and more.

Ellie had a great birthday, despite not being at home (we're still staying at Grammy and Poppy's as the remodel enters week 3)...

We had a fun morning and were serenaded from Copenhagen by Aunt Jules.



We had our first official two-year old strong statement of contrary opinion at the photographer's, we got some very cool presents (including our very own camera*), went to our favorite restaurant, Tutta Bella, watched some Yo Gabba Gabba and basically reveled in our cuteness.




It's been another amazing year with our girl. Thanks to all the people who helped make it great.

We love you, Ellie!






*See next post