Canuck Chronicles: You know...

it's been a long time since your last post when your husband, not even a contributor or avid reader of your blog, comments on how long it's been since you last updated your blog! To be precise, it's been almost two months now. Eleanor turned 6 months old yesterday. Yes, holy crap. Time is flying! She does her tummy time and is sitting, albeit wobbly. As for rolling, I believe she may not have the appropriate motivation. Most babies hate being on their tummy so much they roll right away, Eleanor just puts her head down dramatically...and waits. Why do all the work when someone else will do it for you?! Her progress with sitting has been fun to watch. She would 'turtle', basically bend over her legs completely, and get quite upset. She holds herself upright now and reaches for things to, of course, put in her mouth. :) In spite of it all, she's a fan of sitting. This new POV of the world is much more interesting and she let's you know it-especially if you've left her, heaven forbid, lying on her back! She does get wobbly when reaching for something off to the side- throws off her balance, you know. She is still chewing on everything but no appearance of teeth yet. We'll be starting solids soon, within a week or two, so put all that chewing and drool to good use. Ew, I know. :P Eleanor has also found a new method of communication. To her usually coos and gaws, we add...grunting. She grunts when she's dissatisfied, when she's talking to herself before falling asleep, and when she wakes up in the middle of the night...before falling back asleep! We continue to learn about the magic world of sleep. I am now a true believer in all that annoying motherly chatter about children getting enough sleep. In fact, I find myself trying to reverse bad habits and hit the hay before 10pm. Alas, old habits die hard. After a few rough nights we moved up Eleanor's bedtime though to 7pm and she's sleeping much better now. Who knew??

Will has had some time in the city with us, about a month or so, but is likely off to another project out of state soon. It has been nice to have an ally to mull over the challenges of parenting (mainly those that have to do with sleeping) and to have someone to help out with bedtime and mornings with Eleanor. I hadn't realized what a nice treat it was to sleep in or have someone else put her down for the night until then! Will continues to introduce his daughter to all sorts of music and dance moves-truly fun to watch, I tell you! She smiles whenever he comes in the room and watches him all the time. It's sweet. :)

I am finally over my bronchitis and trying to get back into some kind of normal shape. I'm happy with just being able to go for daily walks and accomplishing household chores without being winded or needing more than...mm...1 nap. :P We had some lovely weather last month and we went out and got some sun daily. I am waiting for more summer-like weather before heading out again more regularly. I will have to get out sooner rather than later though as I am back to work part time in a few weeks. I am sure I will miss Eleanor miserably but am looking for the silver lining in having something my own, not related to being a wife or mother. I will keep you all posted on how that goes!

On a final note, we have had a few visitors as of late from north and south. I'd like to think that I'm the main draw but I know Eleanor is the biggest attraction. To those of you who graced us with your presence: stop by again soon! To those who haven't yet: what are you waiting for?? :) See oodles of photos below: