Eileen is a Swimmer

Subtitle: Watch your back, Michael Phelps


We went to Tennessee last weekend, and while we were there, Eileen got to swim in my parents' pool.  She LOVES the water, and she's a natural- she is already kicking her feed and "paddling" when you hold her into the water.  Eileen also puts her face in the water (though I think it's more an attempt to drink the pool water than just putting her face underwater to swim).

At first, I just stuck her feet in the water to see if she liked it.  The baby was so happy that I felt terrible about dragging her upstairs to change her into a swim diaper and bathing suit.  So we just let her skinny dip.

Splashing Daddy in the face

Swimming!

On Sunday, we were a bit more civilized and put Eileen in a swim diaper and hat.  Once again, she had a wonderful time:

Eileen and David

I had to include this b/c... LOOK HOW BIG SHE'S GETTING

Eileen loving being in the pool

Mamaw & Aunt Patti watched.
Mamaw got hot, so she put David's t-shirt on her head.

Aunt Patti helped Eileen dry off... and gave her a few hugs

I'll post more pictures from Tennessee, but it seemed like the pool pictures deserved their own posts.  Eileen really, really loves the water!

Eileen Eats Ice Cream

I let Eileen try some of my ice cream sandwich.

She took one tentative lick, then another, and another.  And then she started biting into the ice cream sandwich:

I think she's a fan!

On Our Way Home

Today, we're driving back from a visit to Tennessee.

I'll post more pictures later this week, but I wanted to share a few:

Eileen playing with the iPad on the way to Tennessee

Mammaw feeding Eileen
Eileen: "Mom, get the camera out of my face while I'm trying to eat."

Happy Baby, Happy Mammaw!

Eileen's Accomplishments

Eileen has been very busy over the last two weeks!

She LOVES books 

She has been working hard at the law office with Alex, our runner at the law office the last two summers.  Alex just left to start at the University of Alabama.  Good luck Alex!

Eileen also discovered the fun of playing with door stoppers at the office.  She managed to disrupt an entire deposition doing this.

On August 2, Eileen stood all by herself!  She remained standing for a few seconds before freaking out and sitting down.  On Sunday, August 7, Uncle Hines was helping Eileen to stand up and he let go of her.  She kept standing for about five seconds before realizing that Uncle Hines was no longer holding her up.  She then looked at him and cried until he grabbed hold of her again.  Since Sunday, Eileen has been practicing standing as often as she can.


Also on August 2, Eileen said "mama" for the first time!  What a happy moment for me!  She only says "mama" when she's really mad. Otherwise, she calls me (and everyone else) "dada".  

Standing while Daddy feeds her Puffs

Worn out from the standing... relaxing with Daddy

Eileen first waved bye-bye on August 3.  We've been working on this a lot, and she finally tried her new trick out to wave "bye-bye" to Daddy Dave.  Like her other tricks, now that she's mastered this, Eileen loves to try it out as often as possible.


 She also likes to bang her toys (or anything else she can grab) together to make noise music.

This week, Eileen learned to get into my diaper bag, pull out her Puffs treats, and empty them onto the floor.  They must taste better when eaten off of the floor.

Hmmm... what is in here?

Puffs on the floor.  Empty Puffs can (to the left).  Mess for Mommy to clean.

They really do taste better off of the floor!

Baby leaves a path of destruction in her wake...

Last night, when we celebrated Daddy Dave's birthday, Eileen tried steak for the first time.  She LOVED it!  She doesn't care for chicken, though.  My little girl has great taste!

Eileen is also fascinated by the iPad.

I'm sure that she'll do something else that is amazing only to her parents over the weekend, and I can't wait to see what it is!

GO DUKE!

Guitar Hero

Lately, David has begun playing his guitar for Eileen.

She LOVES it!

Baby loves music!

Crawling closer to check it out...

"Helping" Daddy play the guitar...

Why I Disappeared Last Week

Last week, everything I own broke.

Baby (and Mommy) were not amused

Well, that's the way it seemed.

My cell phone died.

Eileen didn't seem to mind that the phone was broken...
and no, she did not chew on it until after it had died.

My car's transmission decided to go on the fritz.

And my computer would not turn on!  (Thus the lack of any posts...)

By Wednesday, things had begun to turn around:

David replaced my iPhone with a DROID... and I love it!

My transmission needed to be serviced, rather than replaced.  So it cost $150 instead of $2,500.

And my computer was under warranty!

"Things are lookin' up!"

I just had to go to Birmingham to the Apple Store to get it serviced.

As it turns out, the only problem with my computer was that the charger was broken.  But it would be replaced for free!

My only complaint is that the hippies who work in the Apple Store were so busy giving the stink eye to my perfectly-behaved baby (seriously, Eileen was an absolute angel!), that they forgot to give me half of the charger.  I discovered that part of the charger was missing when I arrived home in Beatrice, which is over 200 miles from Birmingham.

An angel

The folks at Apple did overnight a new charger to me.  I received it on Friday.

My favorite part of the ordeal was that Eileen and I got to eat lunch with one of our favorite people, Margaret!

Margaret and Eileen.
Margaret gave Eileen her straw and made her SOOOO happy!

It was a long and exhausting and very, very HOT! week.  But we survived and we're back!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Two years ago today, David and I said "I do."

 Last year we celebrated by eating the top layers of our cakes.

I was 26 weeks pregnant...

This year, we are privileged to celebrate with Eileen!