THESE SHOES WERE MADE FOR WALKING!
July 24, 2006: It was one small step for . . . okay, so maybe it was not that big of an event, but it was a BIG deal -- Eleanor is walking! The big day was June 11th! Eleanor was using a stool to sit down and stand up. We were just thrilled that she was so steady when she was standing that I said "Eleanor, why don't you walk to Daddy?" And so she did! Just like that! Apparently we just needed to ask! And while we were thrilled (yes, Rich cried), no one was more thrilled then Eleanor! Who knew that someone could get so much joy from something we often take for granted. Not a day goes by when she does not burst into giggles and huge smiles as she totters along the sidewalk. She started out with her Frankenbaby walk, progressed to chimp, and is now at drunken sailor! Running cannot be far behind.
I am back at work full-time now and the transition was very easy for two reasons: Heather and Lily. Lily is the daughter of our friends Beth and Pete. They got back from China about a month after us and Lily is about a month younger then Eleanor. Heather is our nanny extraordinaire whom we share with Beth and Pete (Mary Poppins has NOTHING on Heather and I love Mary Poppins). Lily and Heather come to our house and much fun ensues on a daily basis! Lily and Eleanor love each other! The proof -- while it might not have been her first word, one of Lily's first words was "Na Na" (that is Eleanor to you and me) and the real proof happens everyday after naps: Eleanor usually wakes up before Lily and so when Lily wakes up, Heather takes Eleanor to Lily's room and Eleanor waits at the door and when Heather opens it and they see each other, Lily screams in happiness while Eleanor simultaneously screams "HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" Should you be visiting Chicago, I highly recommend our house as a destination for this moment alone. It is good stuff!
Eleanor is talking a lot more -- you can ask her to repeat words and she tries them all -- the "b" words are favorites: baba (daddy), ball, balloon etc. My favorite is when I ask her to say "please" everytime she says "da." It never changes -"daaa!" I always thought that please sounded differently, who knew that I was mispronouncing it all these years! The thing that amazes me the most is how much she understands which I believe to be most everything. For example, last weekend she decided to put her sandals in the seat compartment of her firetruck -- both Rich and I watched her do it. She then had lunch, took a nap, played and then we decided to go outside I searched everywhere for her sandals and could not find them, I finally said "Eleanor where are your sandals?" She promptly marched over to her firetruck lifted the seat and there they were! Brilliant! Also not to be missed are her impressions of a dog, a monkey, a fish, an alligator (and others), as well as a rousing game of identifying her bodyparts!
As for other aspects of our life, one of the things that you are told during the adoption process is that you will be asked a lot of "interesting" questions from well-meaning people. Some of my favorites to date (all from strangers): "how much did she cost?" "was this your first-choice for having a family?" "is that your daughter?" My response "yes." Her response "she does not look like you." And my favorite to Rich when he was outside alone with her: "Are you gay?" Need I say more?
All in all life is great and Eleanor continues to amaze us. I do not really think a lot about our life before Eleanor because it does not come up on a daily basis, but I do have moments when I am doing something from my pre-Eleanor life and it is hard to not compare and contrast one's life before and after. It is a weird thing because I have come to realize that while I am the same person, in all my other life changes, life did not change all that much -- I might live in a new city or house or have a new job or get married, but really the four corners of life remained the same. Until Eleanor. She takes up a lot of space both literally and emotionally and life is different now. I am the same person in the same city, in the same house and yet, nothing is the same. In a good way. A very good way.
|
