Such a big girl
Having dinner together on a Friday night, just because we can
Eleanor shows aunt Kellie her birthday present from brother works
Meanwhile the older kids engage in a dramatic round of “Chutes & Ladders”
Not pictured: some really great pasta sauce uncle Mike made
Saying goodnight to mom while she’s at the opera
Two cousins, zero serious photos (as Des would say, “that’s okay!”)
Eleanor always on the run, this time with brother’s BB-8 ball
Des presenting a card in envelope, “Here Dad, this is a Darth Vader card!” In all fairness, with the two lit-up lightsabers and noises, it was awesome. Though this was followed shortly by, “(handing wrapped present to dad) Here’s the R2-D2 coffee (mumble) [french press] we got you!”
Summarizing both kids’ interests:
Ribbons are fairly entertaining
Singing, to various degrees
Grandma supervising the tower build
Walking downstairs Christmas morning to see that Santa had arrived
…and ate the pretzel left out for him the night before. And the reindeer somehow ate most of each petite carrot, but left just enough crumbs behind to remind the faithful of the plate’s original content. Christmas magic.
Eleanor, either happy about the orange in her stocking, or just excited to be awake
“Mom, can you open both of these like right now?”
R2-D2 and Stormtrooper plushies for the win (in hand going to sleep most nights since)
Desmond presses forward, Eleanor pit stops with a pouch
TWO oranges? Woah!
Pretzel break.
Desmond opening his first gift from Santa, a barn puzzle!
Sister opening her very own set of crayons
Beyond excited to tug at bows and rip paper
Sometimes you just need take a breather
Brother and sister opening Chutes and Ladders together. These two <3
Des modeling his new Cars robe
This time, the injustice was her inability to get her new forks out of their packaging instantly
Trial run with the new spoon- it works.
Desmond surveying the pair of new LEGO Junior sets (brilliant product, by the way)
Des and his new big boy camera
Christmas lunch with great-grandma Kathy
Cousin Viv supervising the first lego build, Des happily the assistant builder
Viv carefully studying the build instructions
…though occasionally pausing for a photo shoot as Liam puts Des’ new camera through the paces
Upon returning home for nap time, Desmond felt his new Lightning McQueen lego car need to be tucked in for a nap as well
Desmond and Cal continuing the Christmas cheer
Eleanor walking over to mom, and judging from the look on grandma’s face, the first time she saw Eleanor take more than three steps. At 13 months, Ella is practicing more persistently than her brother, who after initially discovering his walking ability, shelved it until a few months later
Squeaker/shaker toys… for babies!
Grandma and Des, reading his new book Here We Are
Aunt Kellie, grandma Anne and dad’s first Christmas together in seven years!
Grandma offering structural engineering advice
Snoopy Bob Cratchit watching after the house, it was so fulfilling to enjoy the first Christmas together as a foursome. Complete.
Celebrating Aunt Kellie’s first birthday back in Omaha, with sushi! While it looks like a crazy pile of wasabi, Eleanor is actually just a fan of the edamame hummus.
The boat arrived with dry ice flowing stern to bow
Eleanor relaxing with mom during Ernie’s birthday party
Desmond and Cal go (sit?) for a joy ride, though Des later someone talks Calvin into pushing around the yard
This is a stare of toy happiness, not toy jealousy…
Eleanor and dad hanging out with Nora
While everyone was napping, dad found a garter snake while mowing. It cannot be overstated just how brave dad was in eventually capturing the snake for Desmond to see later.
Baby’s first time sitting in a shopping cart
First time at the checkout register, Eleanor is dubious of the man touching all of our food and hiding it in brown bags
Nap time is the best time
Generations 1, 3 and 4
Desmond felt it was best to gather all the balloons together in the middle of the room, as you do
Balloons = magic
Some truly remarkable women and mothers in this group
Inspecting the found ladybug
These cousins remain in motion
CAKE! It took a few tries and some coaching, but he blew the candle out
The look of pure bliss
Little heart, so full
Liam reading Des’ card
Snoopy and Woodstock play music and light up?!
Big brother sharing his card, Ella was equally impressed
Desmond quickly settling in story-listening position as Uncle Mike read one of his new books
Eleanor hopped in and contemplated the book’s plot and sub-themes
Eleanor showing off her most recent nighttime party trick: waking up and sitting, without making much more than a peep, then falling asleep again.
A rainy day trip to the zoo with grandma and Calvin
Grab all the fishies!
Mesmerized
Lunch with monkeys, everyone’s favorite
Started to dry up by mid-day, but it was getting close to nap time
It was the perfect windy afternoon to (belatedly) try out mom’s birthday kite
Des exploring the rose garden at Memorial Park. This may or may not have been while dad was driving home to get his grabber tool to retrieve some kite parts accidentally dropped into the storm drain.
Mom quickly learned that getting a kite off the ground with a baby carrier on was a non-starter. Dad gets it flying after a few sprints.
It’s mom’s kite after all, so gives it a go with Desmond giving chase
Desmond exercising his “outdoor voice”
Eleanor also gets into the kite-chasing fun
Quite the speedy crawler
