Snow play

We got out several days last week to play in the snow - all this is before the 7-8 inch snow fall we got yesterday!. Eleanor really enjoyed "sledding" which meant we pulled her on a sled (no hills this year). She did not so much enjoy walking in the snow, because she couldn't do it well. That part often ended in tears.

After an afternoon of sledding, Eleanor actually fell asleep on the sled on the way home. We didn't realize until we were almost all the way home, but we just picked her up, put her in her crib, and she continued on with her nap. This girl sleeps absolutely anywhere - I love it!

More pictures next week from this week's snow fall!

Valentine's Day and visits

Right before the snow came in, Chris' parents came down to visit for a night. It was cold, but we took walks around the neighborhood to the park - probably the last walk we've taken in a week due to snow/ice on the roads. Then we went to the Tribe game on Valentine's Day. They also brought Eleanor some cute new outfits for spring - which we both love!

After they left, we continued our Valentine's Day brinner tradition by having french toast for dinner.

Overall a great weekend before the snow came in and trapped us for part of the week. In this area, neighborhood roads rarely get plowed, or in our case, were plowed three days after the snow came down when the roads were already fixed into a firm sheet of ice. We definitely took advantage of the snow while we had it since we don't get it often here!

Sledding

We've gotten snow twice this week in Williamsburg, for a total of maybe about 6 inches - huge for our low-lying area! We took Eleanor out last year, which until now was the most snow I had ever seen in Williamsburg. She enjoyed it and has seen snow already this year when we went up to visit our families for Christmas. I will post more pictures of her soon, but for now, enjoy this video of her sledding!

sledding from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

Making Valentines

Eleanor had a Valentine's Day party at day care last week so she was supposed to bring in valentines for all her friends. The other day I got out some paint and paper for her to start making her valentines. She did a great job for the most part painting on paper, but that only lasted about 15 minutes.

After some time, she started painting her hand and her stomach - thank goodness I decided to leave her shirt off for this activity!

The she decided she wanted to eat the (non-toxic) paint, so I had to take the paint brush away. She definitely threw a fit when I took away the brush.

All in all a great activity for the morning with some great results.

Shoes

Ever since I took Eleanor shoe shopping, she has been obsessed with shoes, particularly mine. Every time I pull out a pair of shoes, she wants to wear them around the house. It's kind of cute, she will shuffle around in them until her feet fall out and she says, "uh oh." I think it's because I made her try on so many pairs of shoes and walk around in the store. The thing is, she's different sizes in different brands of shoes, so I have a general idea of what fits her, but I bought her one size in one brand and ended up having to take them back to exchange because they were way too big for her.

Anyway, she's pretty cute and is getting funnier and funnier in the little things she sets her mind to - for example, she wants Maynard (her doll) to wear shoes all the time now. She also thinks it's absolutely hilarious for Maynard to play basketball. Her requests get stranger every day.

Dancing Eleanor

Eleanor loves to dance. I'm not quite sure where she gets all her dance moves from, but she truly enjoys it. This is a video of her and a friend dancing at a basketball game up in the rafters after it ended. They were having a blast together :)

 

Dancing at a Tribe Game from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

January wrap up

We had a good start to the new year with a smooth transition of Eleanor switching day cares and a couple trips up to northern Virginia for a shower and to visit family, as well as Chris' long weekend snowboarding. We officially bid the holidays goodbye and have settled in for the somewhat long rest of winter. It is cold here, but not cold enough to complain and seemingly not cold enough for a legitimate snowfall either. I used to be more of a fan of winter when I only had to bundle myself up, but bundling up a very mobile toddler takes a lot of time and is not very much fun. We were still able to go out for bike rides quite a few times this month and go for a few walks in the afternoons, too. 

We've done lots of snuggling inside in sweatpants on the couch with the fireplace on.

We've also had lots of ice and rain, but like I mentioned earlier, no snow that really sticks.

Basketball games continue to get us out of the house at least once a week. Eleanor loves going to the games and seeing lots of friends. There are a few older elementary-school-age girls that sit behind us that she always tries to "keep up" with, but mostly unsuccessfully. She and her friend did get the opportunity to dance on the court during a media time out and received a hat for her efforts. They danced to Taylor Swift's Shake it Off, or as Eleanor calls it, "shake shake."

I took Eleanor shoe shopping one weekend to try to find some shoes for her to wear in the wedding in March and she is now obsessed with shoes. She loves to put on shoes, particularly mine, and walk around the house in them. 

Eating has been getting messier and messier here. She is enjoying using silverware now when we let her, which is infrequently because as soon as she gets a fork or spoon in her hand, all eating ceases and playing begins.

I was able to go out to celebrate one of my friends having a new baby for a girls night. We went out for Mexican food and had a great time leaving all of our kids at home. 

Eleanor has also gotten more and more interested in cooking. Whenever I am in the kitchen these days, she wants to be picked up and sit on the counters to watch. I am thinking we will get her a kitchen this year for either her birthday or Christmas, because I think she will really enjoy it now. She still doesn't quite get it, but I think by the time she's two, she'll be very excited about it.