one month old

our girl eleanor ruby turned one month old yesterday. in turns i feel like time is flying and that she can't possibly only be 30 days old. this week she slept for her longest overnight stretch yet--five and a half hours! this feat has yet to be replicated, but we're definitely looking forward to it. she also bravely look her first few bottles of milk this week. we're trying to get her ready for when i go back to work, and though she ate very reluctantly at the first few attempts, she's getting the hang of it. admittedly, well-timed bottles made my thursday trip to the hair salon and last night's restaurant dinner a bit easier (for me, at least--not necessarily the person giving the bottle!). we will always attest that she is the cutest baby in the world, but it's true that eleanor has been losing her hair on top (like papa, as some [not me, mind you!] have pointed out) and has a touch of baby acne at the moment. i'm interested to see how her hair will grow back--based on rob's and my blond young years, i suspect it'll be lighter. here she is in action on the living room floor with tucker the turtle and a pinwheel toy that makes a pleasant click-clack sound. the dress--her first "big girl"/non-onesie or sleeper outfit--is a gift from sarah and orion. unfortunately, you can't see the embroidered mermaid princess detail at the hem. it's been a busy few weeks with lot of visits from friends and family. samantha, sarah and i spent a lovely long weekend catching up and doting on the baby. i hadn't seen the two of them together since our wedding almost two years ago and it was wonderful to sit and chat and knit and have meals together and revisit a few old local haunts. jackie stopped back through iowa city to see samantha and we got this group shot.

on monday, brandy, mike and jack ventured east from des moines to iowa city. eleanor and i went to lunch with them as well as sarah and o. nory was a trooper and cashed out almost the entire time, so i was able to eat my atlas buffalo chicken burrito with both hands.

jack is getting bigger and bigger by the day (okay, i don't see him every day, but just a few weeks ago during their last visit he seemed smaller!) and had some fun crawling around at our house. check him out, along with brandy's other doings, at earth mamaspace. as you can see, oscar has been relishing the additional attention from guests that we've had a hard time giving since eleanor was born. he's always quick to find someone willing to invite him up on the couch and perhaps indulge him in a belly scratch.

this weekend, my grandma, aunt chris and cousins michael, sarah and matthew drove down from libertyville to meet their new great-granddaughter/grand-niece/cousin, respectively. we had breakfast at bruegger's this morning--matthew gave a cheer for chocolate milk. yesterday at the ronalds st. house, he spotted a little diamond-shaped prism that was discovered when the kitchen cabinets were pulled out. it probably once hung in the window above the sink. we told him he could have it and it never left his hands. he had fun "reading" the menu through it and spinning it like a top.

here are chris and sarah with eleanor. the little one was a bit of a show-off yesterday and this morning--hardly fussing or crying at all. we were even able to take a swing through the IC farmer's market (where we ran into grammie jean).

here's michael with the baby and my parents in the background. those beautiful gladiolas were a farmer's market gift from my aunt and grandma.

sarah was a great baby-holder, with grandma looking on. eleanor appears to be in a "no photos, please" mood.

The Golden Compass

We found this awesome thing for those of you who love the Golden Compass Books by Philip Pullman. You can learn what your own daemon is!

Uncles, Aunts and Cousins

This weekend had a lot of stuff going on. Carrie blogged about some of it already. First off, I just wanted to do a quick house update. Not a ton has been going on over there but a number of small things continue to be done weekly and I thought i'd catch you up.

We have a new mail-slot which is quite cool I must say. Dave put this in for us... thanks Dave.

Our front light has been installed now (the old gas light was removed.) Here it is.

Last week our 4' cedar fence was finally installed and the garage was completed. You can see both in this picture. The garage still needs to be painted, the planter caps need to be finished and the yard re-seeded and mulched.

Here is a picture of the new deck that Dad did for us. Also pictured is the picnic table that he made for us a while back. They make quite a nice combination. Now all we need to do is put a grill back here! Thanks Dad! Kathie also helped him a couple days on the deck... want to make sure she gets some credit too!

Yesterday I had Dave's help working on cabinet removal in the kitchen. The cabinets are coming for installation in 10 days and we need time for the tile guys to come back and add on/repair a couple of places now that the area is cleared out. Because of this, we couldn't leave the job until next weekend. Here is a picture of us getting started near the stove area.

Here is the sink area at the end of the day. No sink... no cabinets... ugly paint.

I know that Carrie already put a picture of this on here but here is another cute picture of Henry meeting his new cousin and holding her for the first time. He was a very good baby-handler.

Here is Aunt Sandy's first meeting with her new niece. Sandy brought her a great dreamcatcher which we have up in the nursery. Here's to sweet dreams...

Uncle Will also got some baby-time on his first visit to see his new niece.

Henry and Will had to do some horse-ing around. Taking cell phone photos from what I can tell.

Lastly, this morning, the horseplay continued. Will decided to show Henry what Ed Grimley's pants used to look like. I have to say that I like the look and hope he'll stick with it.

gDiapers

Not really "baby" interesting, but I found this on the diapers that Carrie and I have been using:

NRDC's This Green Life says, "gDiapers seem to have the environmental edge."
February 27, 2007
This month's edition of the Natural Resources Defense Council's This Green Life, authored by Sheryl Eisenberg, revisits the environmental diaper debate. The article states "gDiapers seem to have the environmental edge over more conventional choices because they send no material to the landfill, use no elemental chlorine or plastics, and require much less washing (therefore, less water and energy usage) than regular cloth diapers." Read the full article here.
Sheryl Eisenberg is a longtime advisor to the NRDC and writes the column, The Green Life, that is published by the NRDC. NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. They use law, science and the support of 1.2 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.

We've been pretty happy with them so far. Not much laundering, and they have been doing a better job containing leaks and blowouts than the disposable Pampers/Huggies that we occasionally use. Plus they're so darn cute!