Eleanor Makes Cranberry Sauce

Eleanor loves to help me cook. Today I proposed letting her make the cranberry sauce all by herself. She jumped at the chance. I wrote out the recipe in pictures and made sure she understood what to do. She measured, mixed, stirred and told me to stop if I was helping too much.

Rainy Day Fun

It doesn't rain here much.  So, when it does, there's always a sense of excitement (and mass hysteria).  I went to a baby shower this morning and while I was gone, Eleanor played in the rain.  Matt took some pictures of this joyful playtime.  I hope you enjoy them as much as Eleanor enjoyed the splashing.

 There's a clogged drain over in this corner.  It makes for great puddles.

 Eleanor recently taught herself to skip.  She now skips whenever she gets the chance and has so much fun doing so that sometimes I skip with her.

Halloween Fun

 

Last year we didn't get any Halloween pictures (maybe because Charlotte was about 6 weeks old at the time).  We got a couple hundred this year.  So, prepare yourself.  On Friday we took the girls to Fuller's Harvest Festival, where we celebrated the harvest of candy and Korean BBQ.  They had rides and games and cotton candy (which Eleanor said was "too sweet."  Bizarre).  Eleanor wore her octopus costume again.  Charlotte dressed as Ponyo.

 

Eleanor and her friend Max

 

On Halloween, we went with some friends to Montrose, where several stores were passing out candy.  There were hundreds of kids and adults dressed up.  Eleanor got creative with her costume and decided to be an octopus fairy.   I happened to have a Snow White costume, so I wore it.

 

Charlotte went as Ponyo again.  At one point two Japanese boys recognized her costume and got very excited.

 

There were some interesting and creative costumes.

 Matt particularly liked the militant telatubby.

 Here are some of the friends we went with.

 Eleanor was not that great at the Trick or Treating part.  She didn't want to fight her way through the crowd to get candy from strangers.  About half way through she asked to go home because she "had enough candy."

 There was a scary spider.

 And Max was there as well.

   

The Many Faces of Charlotte

Charlotte is a climber.  The problem is, she's like a cat.  She has no problem climbing up, the getting down is not as easy.  This chair is one of her favorite places to climb.  She loves to sit like a big girl.  We've been trying to teach her how to get down by herself, but she hasn't quite mastered it yet.  This morning I heard a thump and then wails.  When I got to her, the lower half of her body was still in the chair, her head was resting on the floor and her arms were flailing.  She falls with flair.

 Also in Charlotte news, she is dangerously close to walking.  She took her first independent steps a couple of weeks ago.  She still prefers the stability of crawling, but her bipedalism is coming soon.

 

 The following pictures I did not take.  They are from camp day at Eleanor's school.  A mom by the name of Mykle Parker took them.  She did a great job.  Among the many activities involved in camp day, Eleanor got to paint in the garden, drink hot cocoa, make trail mix, fish, go on a bear hunt and use her flashlight to read in a tent.  Eleanor absolutely loves her school.

School for Eleanor

Eleanor started school this week.  For the past three mornings, I've walked Eleanor into a classroom, helped her with an activity, read to her and then left her with people I hardly know.  Eleanor has done surprisingly well.  She did not have to be pealed off of me.  She didn't even cry.  Her school encourages parents to read to their children for the first 15 minutes of every day as a transition time (K-2).  This is a commuter school--no buses, most students live too far to walk.  The first day, we went as a family to mark this milestone in Eleanor and our family's life.  We took a couple of pictures, but they didn't turn out so great. 

On the way to school.  It's about a 10-15 minute drive.  Eleanor was excited, but a little nervous.

Each day of the first week, Eleanor's teacher has an activity planned.  On Tuesday, the students were decorating the name tags for their cubbies.  Eleanor made each of her letters into flowers.  Then we went and hung it in her cubby.

Eleanor is pointing at her cubby, on the bottom.  This is where she stores her lunch box, blanket for rest time, extra clothes and back pack.  During the first week, the kids are allowed to bring a comfort item (stuffed animal or toy).  That goes in the cubby too.  Eleanor is very attached to her cubby and wants one at home too.  We're working on that.

We read a couple of books.  Eleanor loves the classroom library and the organization of it.  There is another baby close to Charlotte's age.  The past two mornings she and Charlotte have played together.  I love how parents and families are welcomed and encouraged to be in the classroom (at certain times).  When the Good Morning song begins to play, the parents are to leave. 

So far, Eleanor has loved everything about school.  She seems to thrive in the structure and the routine.  She has made friends and says that no one gets in trouble.  I'm sure she will have some struggles at some point, but she is off to a great start.  We are so thankful that she got into such a good school.