Santa Claus is Coming

Its the silly season and we have been busy! Eleanor starting eating her first vegetables yesterday - carrots. She hasn't decided if she likes them or not. She takes a bit and then makes a face like, "Are you expecting me to eat that?" I think they are growing on her though. We have taken some pictures of her eating carrots, but haven't had time to download them yet.
We did go see Santa today and have scanned in that picture and posted it. Last week when Hannah was at the mall there were no families in line to Santa at 11:00. Unfortunately, on Christmas Eve, when Mommy and Daddy finally got organized to go there was a line. We had to wait awhile, but Eleanor seemed to enjoy meeting the big man in red and was very interested in grabbing his beard and glasses. He got away clean and we got a cute photo.
Hoping everybody has a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday time!!!

Kitchen Play 2

Eleanor banging away.

Kitchen Play

Eleanor is very good at using her hands to get stuff to her mouth. While she is waiting on her meals or playing her likes to bang kitchen utensils on her tray and eat them. Sometimes she's eating one and banging the other. The fun ends when her toys fall on the ground or next to her in the chair (until someone picks them up for her. We here this fun game will get even better...) Life must be good as a baby!

6 Month Check-Up

Eleanor had her 6 month check-up this week and is doing "mighty fine" according to Dr. Chaney. She weighs 15 lbs 15 ozs (almost 16 lbs) and is 25 inches. She got her last round of shots until 1 year and is very thankful for that!
She is also getting to delve into the world of solid food further than rice cereal. Starting off with other cereals and then moving to vegetable and then fruits. She also sometimes gets a crusty piece of bread to naw on while mommy and daddy are eating dinner. She thinks it tastes better when eating at the table than in her high chair.
Her tear duct is still blocked, but other than that she's doing great!

Hat Club

Andrew, Sam, and Eleanor were all members of a beanie hat club the other night. Their ears were warm!

Sitting on the Boppy

Here's Eleanor using her Boppy pillow to help her sit up. (She is also getting to play with the junk mail...life is good!)

Reading the Mail

One of Eleanor's new favorite toys these days is paper. She likes the sound it makes as she crumples it up and that she can stuff it in her mouth. We have to keep an eye on it though so it doesn't disintegrate in there! Here she is helping Daddy "read" the mail. (She gets the junk.)

All in Baby

After Thanksgiving dinner Uncle Sam, JonJon, Daddy, and Mommy played some poker. Eleanor helped JonJon with her special "All In Baby" bib. Hopefully, it brought everyone a little luck!

Thanksgiving

Its been four years since we have had Thanksgiving in the United States. It was a fun day with the extended Hoy family. Eleanor had a lot of fun watching David, Hannah's cousin. She knows that he is more her size and can't wait to be able to chase after him! The only Hoy missing was Uncle Zach, but we will see him at New Year's. We enjoyed all the traditional favorites like corn pudding and pumpkin pie. Yum, yum!! The pumpkin pie was in fact so delicious we had to make another one...
Here we are as the family and all the delicious dinner.

Jolly Jumper

Eleanor is really enjoying playing in her jolly jumper these days.

Hanging Around

Here's Eleanor in her jolly jumper (movie to come soon). Now that she is getting bigger she loves hanging and jumping around in it. Chewing on the toys is also another favorite pastime.

NZ Cousins visit

Recently, Daddy's cousin Teri and her husband Dale came to visit. We had a great time catching up. We toured took them on a tour of downtown Paducah and Metropolis, IL (just across the river) and while there stopped at the giant Superman for a photo op.

Happy, Happy

Eleanor loves playing on her mat with Mommy and Daddy. Here she is playing on Mommy with her lovely big smile! When given the chance she will stuff anything into that wide open mouth. She is getting very good at grabbing things to put there as well! Watch out!

Rolling Over

Eleanor has been able to roll over for a couple of weeks now. She was caught on camera today and I have connected the clips together. She did roll over in the first clip, however the battery died. Successful takes happened later after the battery had a rest.

Following Links

The link does work, however you have to be a member of snapfish. If you are not a member use the link on the side to go to "Our Flickr Page". The photos are also there.

Frank and Cate's Wedding

Frank and Cate got married on a beautiful fall evening. We remembered our camera this time and got some good shots of friends and our family. You can view all our pictures from the weekend at snapfish. Hopefully the link works!

At the Park

Andrew took his last test for his appraiser's license last week and passed! Eleanor helped him study and helped him take a break before the exam by playing in the park. It wasn't her first visit, but it was the first time we had the camera and 2 adults! She really likes the swing and doesn't think the slide is too bad either.

Halloween

For Halloween Eleanor was a duck. She went to Frank and Cate's rehersal dinner and spent most of the night sleeping in the sling. She was able to show off her costume the next morning at brunch for the bride.

Fall Afternoon

Fall is truly here now. We are enjoying the cooler weather and have had to start getting out the warmer clothes. Several of Eleanor's newborn outfits have had to be put away, but some still fit (OK, they are gowns...so no legs.)!

Early on in the fall we enjoyed a picnic and walk at LBL one afternoon.

Baby Shower

Some of our friends threw Eleanor a baby shower recently. We feel very blessed to have such nice friends and are very lucky because they gave Eleanor a lot of nice toys, outfits, and other baby items. Eleanor was excited because she likes playing with lots of people and getting dressed up in her dress. She had such an exciting afternoon that she didn't have much of an afternoon nap, good thing she took two good ones before the fun began!


Check out the size of that cake! It was delicious and there was lots of leftovers!






With Mommy, MarMar, and Great Gran.

High Tech High Chair

One of Eleanor's first gifts was this fantastic high chair. She has been eating rice cereal for a while not, but she is now able to sit in her own chair. This makes is much easier for Mommy and Daddy to feed her. Eleanor now knows when she sits in her chair its time for a meal and opens her mouth like a little bird for that first mouthful. She likes to play with the toys that make this such an exciting high chair. (Daddy also finds this toy extremely exciting...)

Just updating

Well, we have been a little bit slack lately in updating the blog, although not without lack of trying. The videos wouldn't post and it took a little bit of time to figure out the problem.
We have been busy putting the finishing touches on our rental house and have found a tenant. Yeah! Eleanor helped by playing and sleeping while Mommy and Daddy worked.
Eleanor got her four month check up earlier this month and got a very good report. She weighed 14 pounds and is 24 inches. She didn't think much of the shots...
In other big news, she has started rolling over. We went to get her out of bed this morning only to find her in a different position than when we left her!
Here are some pictures of Eleanor playing after a bath. This seems to be her favorite time of the day.

Soon to be Musical Genuis?

Eleanor recently got a "kick and play piano". Daddy and Eleanor both think its great! Here is some video of Eleanor "playing" the piano. She can push and kick the keys to make music.

Bath Time Movie

Eleanor loves bath time! I hope my video editing debut doesn't detract from the star of the show....

End of a Big Day

Could this face be any cuter?

BBQ on the River

Wow, this event has gotten really big! We went down to the river and enjoyed lots and lots of BBQ! It was so tasty we licked our fingers clean! We tried to listen to the band in the Beer Garden, but Eleanor wasn't old enough to get in! Instead we sat behind the booths. When we got Eleanor out of bed the next morning she smelled like BBQ.

Congratulations Andrew!

Andrew has passed the second test on the way to get his real estate appraiser's license! To celebrate JonJon performed this party trick with a sword and bottle of champagne. Of coarse with champagne flowing we filled up the glasses and toasted to Andrew!

Yum, Yum

Eleanor has started investigating the big wide world of solids. Ok, so she's only tried rice cereal and only gets to eat about 1/2 a teaspoon, but she is really catching on. Here are some pictures of the first time she tried this interesting new texture.

Assisted Sitter

Eleanor can sit with assistance. She loves these chairs the best. She can reach out and grab her favorite toys and then eats them. Unless, of course, its jewelry! We also think its really cute the way she puts her hands together on her chest and under her chin. (Well, OK, we think its cute when she does pretty much anything....)

Corvette Kid

Jonjon recently entered his corvette in the Corvettes on the River Show. We went down to show our support and voted his corvette number one. He was hard to find because there were lots of red ones, but we found him in the end. It was a very hot day so we had lunch and ice cream and then went home.

Jeff and Shelley's Wedding Trip

Ok. So we are a bit behind in updating with pictures from the end of August, but somehow time disappears...We had a great time seeing (Hannah and Andrew) and meeting (Eleanor) everyone.

Eleanor went to her first baseball game and sat with the girls (OK, Tommy's not a girl, but he does happen to be sitting with them...) and fell asleep so didn't watch much.

We had a fantastic time at a BBQ at Jeff and Shelley's and played with new friends Drew and Wilson. The night of the wedding was also nice, but we forgot our camera so no pictures...:(

Telling Stories

Eleanor has really started "talking". She loves to tell stories to anyone who will listen. When she wakes up from a nap instead of crying these days she fusses for a few minutes and then starts another tale.

Crossing Hands

We think its cute the way Eleanor puts her hands together.

Sleepy Time

Who's putting who to sleep here? You decide....

I can see you

Here are just some cute pictures of Eleanor after a bath. She is pushing herself up pretty well these days. We don't think it will be long until she can roll herself over.

Congratulations Daddy!

Andrew has started taking classes for doing appraisals. He passed his first test, "Well done!" Eleanor says!

Grabbing what's in Sight

After studying what's put in front of her and then studying her hands Eleanor loves to grab and play with things. Her favorite things at the moment are Mr. Turtle and Mommy's bright green bracelet. Now she is just working on how to get them in her mouth. She's very close!

Eleanor loves Mommy

Eleanor has been learning lots - like how to hold her head up all by herself! She is very attentive to what's going on around her. Little E hasn't been taking all her naps lately, but instead has been telling us lots of stories. She also likes to give "eskimo kisses" (rubbing noses together). Another growth spurt is happening too as she is hungier more often! We're sure she'll settle back down to her routine though.