Before I forget...

Baby brain continues so I need to stop for a moment and post some items that I have on my mind before I forget. And really, who am I fooling? I didn't have a memory before the baby arrived. Excellent.

First off, the Monkey is getting much better at sitting. I typically sit on the floor with her, spread my legs, put her between mine and we sit together. This provides her the bumpers (my legs) to bounce off of if she sways here or there. She's been really great at holding her balance and as of late, has very rarely needed my legs to help. I will say, she occasionally flails backwards so I'm glad I'm still there to support her. She needs me there for a bit longer. Oh, and I read somewhere (likely BabyCenter.com) that in order for a baby to crawl, they need to have mastered their sitting skills. The two go hand in hand as far as core strength goes. Interesting.

Also, we're big into "touch - feel" books right now. I've had them in her rotation for awhile and have been meaning to get these titles and authors down for future reference.  Oh, and one quick plug for Roger Priddy books. We have some that are "touch - feel" but others that are not and either way, these books are great for Eloise's age. The pictures are huge and very colorful and she is forever mesmerized by them. The ones we have are all board books, which we love. Example - My Big Animal Book.  She also loves Happy Baby 1, 2, 3.

Ok, back to the touch and feel books. These are the ones she currently loves (all book titles are linked above and below so you can find them if you are interested):

B is for Bear - Roger Priddy - after reading this book, she thinks all books are "touch - feel" and she dives at the pages thinking she'll find a fuzzy dog or "ducklings all covered in down." So cute.

Animal Hide-and-Seek - Jenny Tyler - this one is touch and feel and also has flaps to find the animals hiding. She loves the flaps as well.

Tails - Matthew Van Fleet - another big fav around here. She loves all of the movement and again, the areas where she can pet the different kind of tails - her fav is the "stringy" tail. Very cute book.

Another item on my "don't forget" list - here are some videos of Eloise on Christmas. Video 1, video 2 and video 3 (all are linked). These were taken throughout the day.

Speaking of Christmas, our tree is coming down today. I'd love to keep it up longer but it's literally petrified. So I've removed all of the ornaments, taken down our wreath on the front porch, stockings are packed and poinsettias are gone - were saying good bye to Christmas 2009 officially today. As soon as Mike gets home, we will remove the lights from the tree and get this fire hazzard out of here. It really was a beautiful tree and a perfect first Vail family Christmas tree. But it's time to say good bye. Until next year!

Here are a few of the very first pictures taken of Eloise. Such a precious little nugget.