Goat, Kick, Bean, & Baby.

Eleanor's vocabulary expands daily in ways that are so fun for me! Over the last week, she's learned a few fun new words. I am sure there are some I am forgetting, but here are the highlights.

"Goat" - We went with the Criss Kids to the playfarm last week. One of our first stops was the rainbow slide, right next to the goat pen. Two Criss boys were very excited for the giant rainbow slide, and imagine their even madder excitement/terror when ahead of them in line was a tiny goat climbing up to steps to slide. Charlotte, Connor, and Jonas spent about 10 minutes trying the coax the goat back down the steep steps. Finally, the goat decided it was time to come down. He flopped his bulging goat belly onto the banister of the stairs, and slid down Mary Poppins-style. And pounded directly into the midsection of Connor Criss, knocking them both to the ground. Meanwhile, Juliet, Eleanor, and I were petting the properly penned up goats just nearby. Juliet was whispering a bewildered "goat" and Eleanor started in. The two of them repeated "goat" over and over in low voices, while trying to decided if it was worth the risk to pet the goat. It was, until another aggressive goat ran up and scared the gall right out of them.

"Kick" - Eleanor (and parents) spent Saturday evening with her Bayly grandparents. Grammy Patti took Eleanor in their backyard pool, and they worked on Eleanor's swimming skills. Grammy is a swim coach, so she knows her stuff; this is what they do. Eleanor sits on the pool's edge, and Grammy counts 1, 2, 3. Eleanor launches in at "3," and then Grammy lets her attempt to kick while she supports her and moves her forward. Grammy (and me from the sidelines) were telling Eleanor over and over to kick. She started to get the hang of it, and also seemed to get the jargon. As she propelled off of the wall, she started to say "kick, kick, kick" over and over. Very cute.

"Bean" - Sunday, I made bean soup. There isn't much of a story here, other than to say that Eleanor can't get enough of bean deliciousness. And, when she wants them, she calls them by their name.

"Baby" - Lately, Eleanor has also been saying baby. It began about nothing. Just staring off into space muttering about a mythical "baby." Then, she started pointing at things and saying "baby." Then, she was presented with a "baby" doll. And, she immediately knew what to do - hug, snuggle, kiss, and drag it around constantly by its head (not advised). Now, "baby" is part of the constant repertoire of words to say. And, this came at a good time, because we are expecting a baby January 18th, 2009. Lots more to come on this obviously. We are about 12 weeks, 3 days now - so, it was about time to make this announcement. And, if we didn't do it soon, Eleanor would do it for us.