Eleanor.

Sometimes, it is heartbreaking to have these perfect, beautiful little ladies. This one's for Eleanor.

Tonight, Josephine was not very happy. Not hysterical, just pouty and fussy. I was pumping and she was in the swing across the room (Bill had to run outside, so I was thinking he'd be right back). And, Eleanor was absolutely unable to stand Josephine's unhappiness. She stood over the swing and told her "Baby. Stop. No. Cry. Sad. No. Happy." And, she pet her head gently. She sang softly to her. She danced. She kissed her head and feet. She tried to feet her a bottle. She fiddled with the knobs on the swing. She covered her with blankets. She just did everything she could think of to make Josephine happy. And, that is my Eleanor. She can be sassy. She has her moments. But, she is intuitive, sensitive, smart, and does everything with such a good heart.

She is also funny. Her new thing is a game called "Fast." This actually consists of Eleanor just running from place to place, screaming "Fast! Me fast! FAST! MEEE!" It basically gets increasingly frenetic to where she is slamming into things. As in, she runs from the kitchen, careens off the wall, and runs directly into my bed with her face. Then she does it again. Of course, all the while, screaming "Fast!" She loves "Fast." I do not. Because, if you know Eleanor, you know it might as well be called "Disaster."

She hits high notes. We have a classic Disney songs tape (yep, a tape). On it is "Spoonful of Sugar." If you had any childhood at all, you know the scene during that song where Mary Poppins is looking at herself in the mirror, pauses, and her reflection hits a "cheeky" riff of high notes. Eleanor rocks that out. Even if she's reading a book or coloring in her car seat, she just keeps doing what she's doing and sings the long high notes. It's awesome.

Everything is now "Nice." I made an awesome dinner tonight (coconut rice, tofu (with cinnamon and cayenne), and broccoli and celery (with fresh ginger, coriander, and garlic)). Eleanor really likes the spices and unusual flavors I use. And, as she pounded the food, she kept saying "Nice. Yeah, nice." "More. Please. Nice, thank you."

I know there's more, but it's 1 am. And, I have a chance to sleep, so I am going to take it. It is this time of night when I can't wait for morning and a chance to see smiling Bayly girl faces.