Ella supervises as Des spoons soil for the baby plants. This of course requires a drink and snacks.
Tag Archives: Eleanor
March 4th, 2018
Both kids seemed dubious that this shopping trip would indeed lead to the zoo. Dad also learned that you can’t hand a string cheese to Eleanor- she will find a way to bite/rip it open.
As Ella would say, “RAWW!”
The celebrated red panda was less than enthralling in person. Looked like an orange raccoon, didn’t do much.
With Eleanor learning the rule of holding hands, these two elicited multiple “aww’s”
A peaceful photo, moments before Mr. Gorilla banged on the window and both kids jumping
Born January of last year, Kgosi is still small enough for the kids to refer to him as “baby gorilla”
Titled: Fries on the Serengeti, or how dad learned that an order of two fries at the African Grasslands restaurant is a significantly different portion than at the jungle. Not shown: other healthy foods like pouches, fruit and string cheese.
Upon entering entering the elephant complex, Eleanor began waving and saying, “HI! HI!” to the elephants 🙂
A budding photographer, documenting his play-doh work
Eleanor looking to brother for bath play inspiration
March 3rd, 2018
The morning started as a house divided, with mom and brother getting a haircut with aunt Megan. Eleanor and dad head to the children’s museum for some rigorous fruit sorting-
Ella was surprisingly cooperative while donning her smock for water play
It took a while, but she finally got to take her turn pushing around one of the carts. Now she was on a mission.
Driving tractors like a pro
Desmond and mom joined us, where Des was quick to overcome his fear of walking over netted surfaces (this part of the playground and zoo hasn’t traditionally been his favorite)
Sign now reads, “Days without arm-stuck incidents: 0”
Des is getting old/tall/strong enough to play with the big-kid gizmos
Meanwhile, sister doesn’t quite have the weight to actuate much of the gadgetry
Balls + columns of air = magic!
The seasonal winter display included a “sledding ramp” (think air hockey table) and snowball-throwing zone
Eleanor, the Fearless Climber
…and carousel chicken rodeo wrangler
Desmond predictably opted for the train ride, though auditioning a new seat rather than his familiar caboose spot
Eagerly waving to brother, “Hello! Good-bye! … “Hello! Good-bye!”
A nice weekend lunch out, Des gives the Ethiopian restaurant “two pieces of injera up!” Or maybe it was just getting to eat with his hands?
After naps, it was both warm and windy- prime kite flying weather (for early March anyway)
Eleanor joyfully exercising her newfound freedom of running through fields
Not shown: mom’s large box kite proved too much to navigate in the high winds. Comedy ensued.
We weren’t the only ones with the kite idea-
Eleanor showing great restraint with not eating the play-doh. That did not last long.
March 2nd, 2018
Eleanor nursed with mom for 16 months, but over the coming weekend mom was going to wean. Ella signs “please” one last time-
March 1st, 2018
When coworkers bring treats to mom and dad’s work, team Llama kids benefit (if they eat their dinner)
February 27th, 2018
Sometimes even Eleanor takes a few minutes to fully wake up in the morning, but never without her new bunny friend
With a warm(er) day, it’s an evening outside after pre-school/daycare
A bit older and more eager, Des is jazzed to ride his bike around- even just in the garage while dad takes the trash and recycling out. Safety forever first, so Desmond requests his helmet
February 25th, 2018
The Sunday morning crew, watching a few minutes of Planet Earth II
Ella modeling her new hat ma made
Ma also brought over a Peter Rabbit stuffed animal for each of the kids. Des has already decided on a new nap time buddy-
More Ella and dad naps
All bundled up, sporting her new hat
As Des continues to learn about making good choices and practicing good behavior, mom and dad have instituted a “pom pom jar” for rewarding unprompted good deeds. As Desmond reaches each new level, he gets increasing rewards: an ice cream outing, a movie at the theater, and eventually a new lego set. While filling the whole jar is several months away, he did get to the first level, so a trip to eCreamery was a special post-nap treat.
Eleanor was selflessly willing to show her support for brother’s good behavior
Eleanor can spot a dog a 100 feet away, through pedestrian and vehicle traffic 🙂
To the victor goes the spoils
Eleanor hugged her new best friend, Flopsy
February 24th, 2018
Despite the impending late-winter storm, dad and the kids venture out to “the plant store” for seed trays and soil. “Come for the gardening supplies, stay for the pictures with old pickup trucks!”
Eleanor was eager for a good stretch of the legs
She does not trust giant tortoises, alive or bronze. Don’t worry, grandma will protect you.
These two are cute, not cute enough to convince grandma and dad to take them into the fragile housewares section.
What’s better than a weekend lunch at the food hall?
Apparently there are paparazzi amongst Team Llama…
Making some banana bread, just because
The “D” wasn’t detectable after baking, but worth a shot
Peter Pan for family movie night
Des’ glow-in-the-dark dinosaurs finally brought upstairs from Christmas. Not quite installed yet, it does appear they’re doing the dinosaurumpus (thanks again, great-grandpa Irv!)
