Eleanor at 24 Months

As of this morning, Eleanor now weighs 22.8 lbs, has a head circumference of 18.5" and is 34" tall.

I left the house for two hours yesterday, to take Will to the movies, and when I got back, Nora jumped into my arms and said 'mama!' and then laid her head on my shoulder and cuddled for the next hour. She would NOT let me put her down. Apparently shes in a clingy stage! Its very sweet, but also very hard to get anything done sometimes. Most of the time however I do enjoy her wanting to snuggle with me. Any time I sit down, she immediately seeks me out and sits in my lap. She is still though and leans against me, snuggling into my chest (unlike Will, who was a wild child and couldn't stop wiggling to save his life). There is very little wiggling and no roughhousing, so most times I really enjoy it. I know that it won't last forever and she is growing SO FAST. I love feeling her tiny body tucked against mine! She also enjoys foot rubs, so I often rub her feet while shes sitting with me as well. This girl is living the good life!


The cuddles also extend to her trying to breastfeed as well. Even though my milk has been totally gone for almost a month now, any time I sit down, she want to come over and relax in my arms and suckle. I am surprised she does it even without milk, but I suppose she enjoys the comfort. I certainly enjoy the cuddles as well. Its the best of both worlds really, I get to have her still and in my arms, and I don't have to deal with the hassle of having milk!

Michael got some smoked salmon the other day, and he decided to offer Nora some bites of it. It was her first ever taste of fish, and she loved it. So much so that she kept asking for more and ended up having 4 or 5 big bites of it. Amusingly, after the first bite she started doing a little circular happy dance, every time Michael gave her another bite. Shes such a funny kid! I love that she has such an adventurous palate and is willing to try just about anything. In that way she is the polar opposite of Will! I sure hope she stays that way.

She has been trying out a lot of new sounds recently. I can hear her wandering about the house, unleashing a stream of different sounds, in different pitches. I hope this means she will be saying some new words soon! She has said a couple of new word-like sounds and is trying to repeat words more and more. When the kids run down the hallway, I will say, "1,2,3, go!" and she will repeat, "go!" as she runs. Yesterday we were at the store and I was talking about buying butter, and she said, "butt!" She also said 'bubble' perfectly in the tub the other night. Generally when she does try to say words, she either comes very close or says the word perfectly, but she is still a long way off from truly talking yet. As much as I love that she is quiet, I am dying to know what is going on in her head, behind that Mona Lisa smile. Its funny to think that Will was talking fairly intelligibly by this age!

Nora has discovered a new favorite activity: swinging by her arms. Whether we are at the park, or standing near a tree with low lying, horizontal branches, she will seek out parallel bars and swing on them to her heart's content. And she is strong! She can pick up her legs and swing back and forth for up to 30 second at a time! I am amazed! Her absolute favorite place to swing is above a slide. They have these little bars above most slides now, so while she doesn't actually like going down the slide, she does love to swing back and forth just above it. She is such a little daredevil at times!

I cannot believe that my sweet girl is TWO! It feels like just yesterday, I woke up with contractions, and had her two hours later. She has been the best addition to our family. She is easy going, good natured and sweet, with a great sense of humor. She absolutely knows what she wants and how to get it, even without speaking. She loves to wear fancy dresses and loves pretty shoes even more (and I love to dress her up!). She definitely has opinions about what clothes she wants to wear. She wants to do everything that Will does, and the two of them often have a good time together (even when hes torturing her). She eats just about everything offered to her and is just the easiest little girl in the world. We just have the best time together. Words cannot describe how much I love her. I get teary just thinking about it. I feel so fortunate to not only get to know this sweet little person, but to be her mom and shape and influence who she becomes. She is my treasure and I thank God every day that shes mine! Happy birthday to my sweet girl!