Month 12 aka Happy 1st Birthday

 Well Miss Eleanor, we made it. A whole year, and we are all coming out on the other side. It's been a wild and crazy year. You have such a personality. You are definitely unique and your own person. You were all tulle and tutu's the day of your birthday. These pictures were taken around 4:20pm, your official birthday. A whole year old.

 Birthday snuggles from your big sister. She loves you so much and can't wait til your older so you can play and be buddies. It warms this momma's heart to hear her talk to you and ask your opinions and chatter away to you. You generally want nothing to do with hugs, snuggles or cuddles. You just want to go, go and go some more.

 You opened a few presents, but really only wanted the paper.

 Your beautiful cakes from Aunt Nickey. The big cake was the real cake for us to eat, then the little smash cake.

 Your dad made you the cutest little cake topper. It is a close match to your sisters.
 

 You were very unsure of what was going on with the candle and the cake. After the candles were removed, we had to stick your fingers in the cake and then eventually you got the hang of it.

 The inside of the awesome rainbow cake, that wasn't smashed.

Happy birthday baby girl. It's been a long year, but at the same time, it has flown by. How does that happen? We have certainly had our challenges, but we have all become stronger, and there is always more love then I am sure your Dad and I thought possible.
You completed our family. A family of four. Your Dad and all his girls. lol.

You came into the world with so much hair, and it's usually pretty crazy looking. You will pull bows and elastics out when you realize they're in. You are crawling for little spurts, but mainly get around bum scooting. You are so quick at it. You pull yourself up on everything and walk around holding onto things. I am sure walking by yourself won't be a long way off. You like to get into everything. My goodness. Nothing is safe near you. You will even eat the plant or the dirt, depending what you can get into. You are finally sleeping all night in your crib and most nights you go down pretty well. Other nights it's a bit of a battle, but that is the way life seems to be with you. You don't make things easy for us. lol. But you're so cute and those big blue eyes melt our hearts most days. The screaming and screeching, not so much. I really can't wait for you to start talking and communicating better. You are so excited to see your Dad or I after a day of daycare. You love going though and love being with the other kids.

Eleanor, my wild child. We love you so much and wish you the happiest of birthdays, and here's to a great year ahead, full of new and exciting challenges. Cheers to the first of so many more birthdays. We love you.

 Right after you were born. The afternoon you completed our family.

And later that night, meeting your sister for the first time. By far, one of my favourite pictures of all time.

A rare site

 Went for a hike recently and Eleanor decided to fall asleep in her carrier. A very rare site, don't think that has ever happened. (ps-how cute is that little hat?)

And done. She probably slept for a good half an hour like that, bouncing around on my back.

Month 45

Time is not just flying by, but rapidly disappearing. Your fourth birthday is right around the corner. Hard to believe. A month of school down, and you are still loving it. You travel on the bus daily and get upset when mom is there to pick you up instead of going to Kristins. Oh the drama.

 You are loving ballet class.Miss Dani, your teacher, is so nice and patient with everyone. You are learning lots of different ballet positions and various balance and acro things too.

You of course LOVED the trampoline.

Audra, my little ham and clown. You are so funny somedays. We love it when you bust out the belly laugh and get your sister laughing too. You want to do everything and be independent most of  the time. (except for the times that you "can't" do things. Not sure why that's started or why you pull that nonsense, but hopefully it goes away soon!)

Who says school isn't exhausting? lol. didn't even touch your ice cream. That's how we knew you were definitely tired.

You and Dad making mom's birthday cake. So cute. It was a yummy cake and I loved that you wanted to make it for me.

Waiting for the bus. This was picture day. The little dress was made for you by mom. It is so cute and I think we'll be able to wear it into the winter with a shirt underneath. You love dresses and always want to wear a dress to school. I try and make sure you do, I'm sure there will be a time that you won't want to wear dresses anymore. Can't wait to see how your school pictures turned.

Wow you're getting so big. The time is just zipping by. You are making friends and having lots of fun at school, which is great and makes this momma happy and proud that you are adjusting so well.

Apple Season

 Another year, another trip to the apple orchard. It was such a great morning. We went to Frootogos up in Waterdown. They have a great selection of apples and their farm is nice and big.

 Eleanor was perfectly content to sit in the wagon and chomp down apples. For someone with 4 and 1/2 teeth, she got through that apple in no time.

 Early in the season so lots of low apples for Audra to pick.

Another great year for apples. Made lots of applesauce and some apple snacks, and we've been enjoying our picked apples for lunches. Yum.

Our little ballerina

 This weekend saw Audra starting ballet. She has been sooooo excited to start. She loves to dance and had so much fun in her previous dance class that I knew it would be a hit.

 So cute prancing around in her little leotard and tutu. The little ballet shoes kill me. So adorable.

Her teacher is Miss Dani, and she's so nice with the kids. Made them all feel relaxed and I think they all had fun. Audra already can't wait to go back.

Bento Lunch Love

 The past two weeks or so worth of lunches, or nutritional breaks. Throughout the summer, Audra has been eating bento style meals for lunch. She is not a big fan of sandwiches, so had to be a little creative in making lunches. Bento style has worked so well for her, that it's become the go-to for school now as well.

 All it takes is some fun picks, lots of variety and she is happy.

 A few days with shaped hard boiled eggs. She loves beans, so that has been a staple. Lots of meat and cheese for more protein and some fun shaped veggies and fruit.

 Pancakes with syrup for the morning nutritional break one day was a big hit.

 Her Camelbak water bottle doesn't leak (yay!), so I send that and usually a juice box so she can stay hydrated. There is also a water fountain in the class for them. And her balanced day lunch bag is fantastic. It has a 1 section and a 2 section so she knows which side to eat from on her breaks.

 Made a batch of blueberry muffins and those have been a hit too. Froze a bunch so we can pull them out when needed. I'll throw in granola bars or bear paws and she likes that. Not a fan of yogurt or applesauce, but that's fine. We'll try it again and see what happens.

 Leftover chicken nuggets? Another big success.

 Smaller bento for nutritional break 2, as it was sub day.

Everyone jokes and says will this continue when I go back to work? Well I don't see why not. Can make most of it ahead of time, and really it takes no time to cut with a cookie cutter. I have been trying to vary it up for her so she eats it. The teachers know her condition and that she needs to eat. She usually comes home with a bit, but for the most part her lunches are being eaten. Yay!!! And what doesn't get eaten, she eats for an afterschool snack. Very minimal waste at the end of the day.

11 months

 11 months old. Wow is time flying by.

 Miss EJ, you are getting so big, so quick. You are a ham, and so funny. A loud little beast, all the time, whether happy or sad. You are certainly full of personality.

 Monthly pictures are certainly a challenge now. There is no keeping you still.

 A few outtakes. You just want to be on the move all the time now.

 Your new favourite game is peek a boo. It's hilarious to see you play it with us. You get so excited. You love all sorts of blankets and I think you will be a blankie girl. Which is fine. But no blankets are safe near you. You love wrapping yourself up in them and rolling around with them.

 You are now a standing machine. Wherever you can get yourself up to, you do. You throughly love it in the tub and have quite the proud look on your face. You have gotten graceful with falling back when you let go, you just don't have the strength or balance to keep yourself upright yet, but I'm sure soon. And you have been getting on hands and knees like you might crawl soon, but you usually right yourself and bum shuffle away.

 Those little feet of yours, man, I feel like they are never going to grow. Those slippers are ones I made for Audra, and she didn't wear them long. You have been in them forever. Other slippers and shoes that we bought still don't fit. I am hoping we find something that fits come winter time. lol

Ahh, the walker. Our new favourite baby item. We never had one for your sister, as she wasn't into absolutely everything the way you are. But this wonderful invention helps to keep you somewhat contained and not able to get into everything. You have gotten so much better in it. You fred flintstone it all over the place now.Those little feet moving you around the main floor now. It's awesome to see you in it and able to get around. The base is a little wide and you crash into things constantly, but you have figured out how to backup and swing around to get to where you want to go.

Month 11 and you still spend your nights in the swing. Naps are in the crib so maybe one of these days you will sleep through the night there too. lol. It's just so nice to get a full nights sleep out of you. You are not a child who loves sleep. Your sister was a sleeper, you are the complete opposite. Things have only been a bit quieter since your sister started school. You are loud all the time little girl. We have fun though, run errands and lots of playing without anyone taking toys from you. You are so happy to see Audra when we go pick her up from school. And Audra is so excited to see you too. She wants nothing more then for you two to play, and I hope that time will be soon.

You went to daycare for two days last week and had fun and were a good girl, yay! I guess it was just Laura and Kristen, so the three of you had fun. And Laura was all excited to help. Awww, so cute. Mom was excited to have two days off and got quite a bit done. I am just happy that you were good, didn't cry and scream and were happy to see me at the end of it all. Audra adjusted well and I am glad that you are too. Kristen is awesome and we are so lucky to have her.

Well my baby girl, our time is pretty much up. It will be a whole different ball game in less then a couple of weeks. It's been a long year, but of course I wouldn't have traded it for anything. We aren't having a huge party for you, but will celebrate over thanksgiving with family. As long as there is pretty paper to destroy, you won't care what's in the birthday packages. lol.
We love you lots our little screamin' mimi!