Eloise is not claustrophobic. And she loves her Dadda

Old pictures, but I wanted to make sure and share the.

I took pictures of Eloise for Dylan's Fathers' Day present.

Unfortunately, she was not in the best mood that day...haha. Grumpy face

And...she loves rolling under things, like this futon or our bed. She does get stuck sometimes, which makes her less than happy, but she is so cute when she explores the underside of things.

Isn't that little leg and gripped toes so cute?

Eloise Jayden: 8 Months Old

I have a million posts to do about our 2 1/2-week adventures on the West coast, but before that, I thought I would share her 8-month-old photos (before I get THAT far behind and she turns 9 months old). She turned 8 months old on July 2nd.
I just can't believe how FUN she is getting! This is such a great age (yes, people really do say that about EVERY age, and it really is true). She is so interactive, is perfecting her beautiful laugh, chatters all the time, and is getting so mobile.
During her 8th month, Eloise:
- cut her bottom two teeth
- flew across the country to Seattle, then down to California, and back to North Carolina
- met (most of) her aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of extended family on both sides
- learned how to scoot (on her 8-month-birthday), army-crawl-style
- started squealing with delight at things she loves
- started "waving" - even though she's not sure what it means yet
- started self-feeding (on her 8-month-birthday), beginning with pieces of bread and Cheerios
- met Mickey Mouse!!!! while at Disneyland for the first time

In honor of meeting Mickey for the first time, and going to Disneyland, we did Minnie Mouse polka dots for her background

My favorite

waving!!

Action shot! crazy excited face :) -- and check out those teeth!!

Those thighs KILL me. So happy to be standing up, too

Back shot for Auntie Karen (she is obsessed with Eloise's cute little back and shoulder blades), AND -- look at that hair!!!

Fun at Disneyland!

The last time I went to Disneyland, I spent a lot of money to go on rides such as Peter Pan's Adventure and Finding Nemo. This would have been fun...if I had a small child with me. Instead, we went on these rides because Julie had a small child still growing in her stomach. This time around, that small child was on the outside of Julie's stomach and so we thought going to Disneyland would be much more memorable. And it was, but not for the reasons I was expecting. With the aide of helpful uncles and friends, Julie and I were able to go on some of the classic fun rides at Disneyland--Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain (my first time. I was so brave...just don't ask Julie if that statement is true or not), Big Thunder, etc. Those rides were a good time, as always, but for some reason they didn't feel as fast, as long, or as thrilling as they used to. About halfway through our visit I thought, "I'm just getting older and the "magic" of Disneyland is gone."

At least the lovely Cannon girls were thrilled to be at the "happiest place on earth."

When Julie suggested that we go on "It's A Small World" with Eloise, I was less than excited to hear squeaky voices of mannequins from all over the world singing at the top of their lungs the same 10 or so words over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. It was beastly hot (though not as hot as North Carolina) in line and we figured out after about 30 minutes that we were in the handicapped line (where each wheelchair took a considerable amount of time to be safely fastened to the ride). Julie and I both moaned in the heat and would have paid good money to have sound proof ear plugs to stop the theme song from sucking our will to live out of us.

Me: Please, Heavenly Father, make the music end. I can't take it, anymore! Wheeze: Bah-bah-goo-bah.

Finally, we got on the ride...and Eloise loved it. The whole time she looked in awe and amazement and was bouncing up and down looking at the various stereotypes of people around the world in mannequin form. While I saw every string holding the characters in place, it was wonderful to Eloise. Although that stupid (I mean silly; we're trying not to use the "s word" in our house) song was stuck in my head for days, I was really glad that I was able to share this experience with my baby girl and capture the "magic" that is Disneyland, again. It's nice having someone make you step back and realize how interesting and exciting this world is; or in other words, make you feel like a kid again.

This picture was taken many months ago when it was possible to find a hat too big for Wheeze.

 

The three of us with the mouse that started it all.

Eloise Jayden: 7 Months Old

Our girl turned 7 months old a week ago!
I honestly cannot believe it - she's well over half-way to a year now, and is getting smarter and bigger and more mobile every day.
Not a ton of new developments since last month, except her ever-perfecting sitting up. Not crawling yet, but can get pretty much anywhere she wants to get by rolling and rotating and flipping and flying (or so it seems). She loves her Dadda, and loves her Mama (and especially Mama's hair, to suck on and pull and play under a canopy of). Getting less and less interested in her toys and more and more interested in non-toys -- water bottles, Dadda's watch, cell phones, mirrors, magazines, pieces of mail, stroller belts, etc. etc. She loves exploring and doesn't keep her attention on one thing for too long - typical 7-month-old, right?
She did graduate to size 3 diapers this month, and is quickly filling out all of her 9-month clothes. She even just moved on to a 12-month size of her BYU shirts yesterday (but they seem to run small). Her laugh continues to change and get sillier and sillier, and now is something like a raspy cough-y smoker's laugh.
Our sleep-training over the last month has gone surprisingly well, and she is now taking at least 2 naps a day, usually about 3 1/2 hours total of napping during a day, and her night-time sleep is still at a steady 11-12 hours/night. It's a whole new life we've got going on over here since she started napping. I've been able to have a few hours a day of "me time," and that has made all the difference in the world to my happiness, my lunch-eating, and my sanity. I love this little girl so much, but man, is she a MOVER! She rarely sits still, but she will sometimes snuggle for 30 seconds or so right before I put her down for a nap, and I CHERISH those times.
As usual, I can't decide on just a few pictures, so you get photo overload.

She could not stop attacking her bear this time. So cute. She wanted to get those pink bows SO badly. TACKLE!

Miss Blue Eyes

Look how much bigger she is next to her bear now than she was just a couple months ago!

Daddy got home, and made her laugh and laugh and laugh

New trick this month: blowing air through her lips. She will do this over and over and over again, and here is a shot of her lips pursed to blow air

This is for Uncle Quinton - she's already imitating you, and she hasn't even met you, yet!

Probably my favorite.

Full-body excitement for Dadda!!!

Best face ever, right?

Another close-contender for favorite

Daddy-Daughter Date

On Saturday, Julie threw a baby shower for a friend from the church. As such, Julie asked (and I happily obliged) me to get lost (in kinder words) for a few hours. I was very excited at the prospects of hanging out with the Wheeze. I told Julie that one of my conditions was that I got to dress her. I picked out a cute jean dress for her (so that nobody would think she was a boy) and a matching ECU ball cap.

The start of our little daddy-daughter date was not so great. Eloise was upset at being in her car seat and screamed for much of the drive. All of that screaming made it harder to think about fun places Lo Lo and I could go. In my desperation, I thought that Toys 'R' Us would be fun...but it wasn't. Eloise was uninterested in any toys I tried to give her. The only thing that kept her attention was a pack of whiffle balls. With Toys 'R' Us being a bust, I had to think of something else quickly.  It was way too hot and muggy, so I decided being outside was not an option. I took her to campus to see if anything was possibly going on there.

And there wasn't. But, for some reason, I thought it was a good idea to take Eloise bowling. I had to get creative to figure out how we could bowl together. At first, I put Wheeze on the ground to watch the bowling ball leaving my hand to hitting the pins (or the gutter). (Note: I took no pictures of this event in case any of our readers are from Child Protective Services). When she started to wobble in her sitting position and almost fell, I decided it was time to pick her up. I put Eloise in my left arm and threw with my right. Any time we hit pins, I'd throw her in the air and say "we did it!" This brought about many cute giggles. That is, until she got tired. Then, nothing I did would make her smile. So, I took her back into the car and she fell asleep almost immediately. So, I drove around for a while to keep her asleep. I turned on the ECU baseball game because I had nothing else to do, pulled off the road and took a nap.

Our 'date' only lasted three hours but it is amazing how little stamina babies have. Eloise cried, was uninterested/grumpy or slept through about three-fourths of our time together. And you know what? It was great. I don't know if there's anything better than being a dad. The only thing that is equal to it is being a husband to Jules. Life is good.