Bradley + Eleanor = Love

What better way to start another blog post than another bunch of Eleanor photos.

She has a little bit of a protruding sternum. Apparently you won't be able to notice once she fattens up a bit. I have already have this thing about wanting my babies to be fat, like I need another reason to be a bit of a fanatic when it comes to feeding Eleanor. Skinny legs also make my baby feeding impulses go crazy.

We are just loving this little girl up. And sad to say, I think we're enjoying infant Eleanor more than we did infant Bradley. We're much more relaxed and are able to go with the flow a bit more. Which is really nice because that means we aren't neglecting our sweet Bradley boy as we give lots of love and attention to the new addition. And Bradley is going through a HUGE Daddy phase anyway, he likes me but he adores Nathan and wants to be with at every opportunity. I don't blame him, I'm a big Nathan fan myself!

I think it helps that Nathan is certainly Mr. Fun. He was able to make sure Bradley didn't miss a single swim class after Eleanor was born. Bradley had a lovely time with his new friend Lucy!

Getting out of the pool. Bradley hates to use unkind words, but what a dumb part of a class that's supposed to be about swimming.

Bradley is so cute.

And also this: Bradley helping Daddy put beer into the mini fridge. Both of my boys were far too delighted to do this together.

And if anyone is jealous with the arrival of baby Eleanor, it's me and Nathan being jealous of the kisses Bradley now gives to Eleanor every chance he gets. He had never kissed anyone before and we're not really sure how he decided to start kissing her in the first place. Maybe he saw Nathan and I kiss her. Regardless, Eleanor is now thoroughly hugged and kissed whenever Bradley is around. Nathan and I will now ask him for kisses but he doesn't really seem interested in giving them to us. I think we've both managed to coerce one kiss out of him but it's been tough work. However, he'll happily kiss the kitties ... I am NOT cool with the kitties ranking higher than me on the kissing scale.

I think this photo is the most accurate depiction of Bradley and Eleanor's current relationship

Eleanor is being fussy in this picture. Super Bradley loves her anyway.

In theory, it's really sweet to have both of your children on your lap at once.

Sweet children with their daddy

However, if one of those children is super cuddly Bradley then you have to do some work to let him love up on his little sister without crushing her with his giant and surprisingly heavy head.

So. Much. Love.

My turn with both of the kiddos!

We caught Bradley this morning running into Eleanor's room to rock her little bassinet while at the same time leaning over and trying to give her kisses. Lots of mmmm mah sound effects. Super adorable, but we're going to have to watch him.

Bradley not only loves Eleanor, he loves all the baby items that are for her now. What a stinker.

I'm really enjoying having a summer baby. It's kind of wonderful to get to see so much baby skin on a regular basis.

And my recovery from childbirth has been great except for my inability to sit still. Nathan is really bossy and says things like:

Are you seriously making a cake four days after giving birth? Stop carrying Bradley around. Now is NOT the time for you to sort through all of Eleanor and Bradley's clothes. You're refusing to take any Ibuprofen because it's wimpy? You had an epidural during labor, this seems like not as big of a deal.

Such a silly boy. And then when I'm finally laid up on the couch because I feel terrible and I can't understand why after I was feeling so good earlier in the day he's genuinely sympathetic and brings me water and Ibuprofen. I love this man. I should go make him cookies as a thank you ...

But I really am feeling like I'm back up to 100% now. And I'm greatly enjoying getting to go on outings with Eleanor!

Bradley seems to really like finally having a backseat buddy on a regular basis

Our friend Fatima helped me take Bradley to the park a few times this past week and I have to say that it's pretty fun to have someone ask you how old your baby girl is and get to tell them 9 days. You get a good reaction. It's sunny and I don't want to be indoors. Neither does Bradley. Eleanor has some of her best naps at the park, it works out great for all involved.

This video was taken right after we had gotten back from one of our park outings. Bradley really likes Eleanor but I think it made him a bit nervous to not see Mommy or Daddy for most of the day for a couple days so he's been sticking rather close lately. I'm feeding Eleanor while this AMAZING Bradley display took place.

Don't worry, there is yelling almost constantly after the 30 second mark. What a kid. And if it seems like the video ends rather abruptly it's because the excited boy was whacking at the pillow two inches away from the infant's head.

Bradley is SO so SO much fun these days. As of yesterday he has started saying uh ohhhh for just about everything. I knew he was awake from his morning nap today because I started hearing uh ohhhh's coming out of his room. When he combines this with pointing at things he wants he's pretty irresistible.

We're afraid that our little girl is not going to take to a pacifier, we've tried a few times but she mostly just makes faces and spits it out. It's been so convenient to be able to give Bradley a pacifier when he's tired or upset, this may be a big change of pace for us. However, in the meantime she's absolutely fine with sucking on Nathan's and my pinky fingers. Our child has a taste for human flesh. I told Nathan this and he told some friends that we were calling Eleanor our little zombie baby. Um, NO, no we are not.

Mmm pinky!

Nathan's one complaint this time around is that he doesn't get to cuddle with the infant through every nap. I'm not too distressed that he doesn't get to do this because the following ALWAYS happens. 

Conscious Nathan with sleeping child

Literally five minutes later.

Our new friends and neighbors have been so great with this whole new baby business. We feel very fortunate that even with the move we have plenty of support. Bradley went next door to play with these neighbor kids the other day, I don't know who had a better time (this is a video from when Nathan was around to get out the sprinkler for them to run around in with Bradley)

And here is some Eleanor fashion! I put her in this first outfit mostly to mess with Nathan, except it backfired and he thought it looked adorable. Perhaps because she looks like a baby ballerina!

Auntie flower themed outfit courtesy of my Aunt Diana. Eleanor loves it!

And thank you to my friend Jennifer for sending us this adorable onesie for Eleanor. She loves it, she loves both the kitty onesies you sent us. A mother can tell!

Our little family! Both Eleanor and Bradley were very tired and you can really tell that our usually happy Bradley boy is not his cheerful self in this photo. However, we're all in a photo together so I call it great success! My parents will be here on a visit starting tomorrow, hopefully we can get more family photos while they are around. Can't wait!

Meet Eleanor Kathryn Scott!

Meet Eleanor Kathryn Scott, our little sweetheart. We are so in love with her already.

She was born last Saturday, June 22nd, at 11:20 PM. I started having contractions off and on starting at 6:30 AM but we weren't sure they were anything more than Braxton Hicks until about 5 PM. So during the afternoon we ran errands and I even made a trip to the Apple Store solo to replace the phone I had dropped the previous day. Definitely had a contraction while I was there and had to casually take a seat while chatting with one of the employees.

I was fortunate enough to have a helper as I waited through some contractions at home.

And after we figured out that yes indeed, this was the real deal, we dropped Bradley off with our amazingly nice friends Jayme and Tim who are mommy and daddy to Bradley's little friend Eli. Bradley barely even noticed us saying goodbye, he instantly started playing with toys and having a delightful time.

We arrived at the hospital at about 7:15 PM

Baby wants out!

And Eleanor officially joined us at 11:20 PM

Labor was pretty nice, I got an epidural after we had been there about an hour and had to push through four contractions and that was it! I even got to pull her out at the end. Sounds more hardcore than it is, she was mostly out already and the doctor told me that I could pull her out if I wanted to so I just leaned down and pulled her onto my chest. Hurray!  

She weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long. And while we were so happy that she was a pink, healthy baby from the get go, this mommy was DELIGHTED for purely superficial reasons that her little girl was born with a full head of hair and even sweet little eyebrows.

This picture was taken about an hour after she was born

I can't believe how tiny she is. Especially since I gained about 10 lbs more this pregnancy than I did with Bradley. I was fully expecting a 9 lb baby. Nope!

It doesn't get much more fresh baby than this

And as you can see, Bradley really missed us for the two days we were gone. He had no fun at all first at his friend Eli's house and then back home with our friend Fatima for day two.

Poor sad child

 So while that was going on we were doing this with little Eleanor. Bonding and loving her up!

Nathan took Eleanor's first official video

And he is so so happy with another infant to snuggle with. Someone is definitely going to be a daddy's girl.

I was pretty excited to have an infant to snuggle with as well. I keep saying that I'm enjoying Bradley more and more as he gets older but man, there is just something about having a tiny infant in your arms that is just amazing.

One of the things we were immediately struck by when we first saw her was just how much she looked like infant Bradley. Their faces are pretty much identical. I found a picture of newborn Bradley for comparison. No question that they are related!

And yes, looking at this photo of infant Bradley made me a bit melancholy

Nathan went and got our sweet Bradley man so he could meet his little sister in the hospital. He was very interested in her until he spied her little snot sucker stuck in the clear hospital bassinet and decided it looked kind of like a ball and needed to play with it immediately. Not five minutes into being around his sister and already stealing her things.

But he was very sweet with Eleanor and all my worries about him hating her or hitting her seem to be not much of a concern at the moment. Until they're both toddlers. But surely MY darling children will get along perfectly! 

He was very worried about her during her first bath, which he got to watch. She did not enjoy it and Bradley was very concerned when he saw her cry. Such a sweet boy. 

We took him back to his friend's house after a fairly short visit. Thank goodness for meeting some wonderful people in the short time we've lived in Kansas City, I was originally very worried about what we would do with Bradley while we were in the hospital but everything worked out beautifully.

Speaking of beautiful ... I originally said I wasn't a big pink fan and preferred red for my little girl but I think it's apparent that I've changed my mind.

Yup. A bit of pink going on here. And a bow! We have a GIRL! I get to do these things! Hurray!!!

And it's fun to see how different Eleanor is from Bradley already. Nursing with her has been a breeze from the get go but she definitely does not have Bradley's voracious appetite. But she constantly wants to be sucking on something, anything, and has already discovered her fingers which never happened with Bradley. 

I love this picture because when I was a kid I didn't suck my thumb, I used two of my fingers instead. And here she is doing the same thing. I guess it's genetic!

We were really happy when we got to leave the hospital and it was amazing to see a tiny baby in this carseat once again. 

Yes, I'm leaving the hospital in the same dress in which I arrived. Fits a bit easier now!

Last time with Bradley we were able to get some amazing photos just from the photography service at the hospital but we had no such luck this time around. Luckily, I made a new friend at Bradley's swim class who is both nice AND great with a camera so we're going to just try to see what we can do on our own. Got some great shots already, we're going to try for more later this week!

So so grateful for people with photography hobbies. I'm also grateful for my smartphone, which I pretty much always have on me so I can seize the moment when Eleanor is being adorable. 

Excited face

Serious face

 Video of Eleanor being ADORABLE

Eleanor passed out across my stomach. Such a sweet, tired girl!

Bradley won't leave you alone if you have Eleanor. It's amazingly sweet and rather surprising. He didn't seem extraordinarily interested in her at the hospital but now that she's home he gives an excited cry if he sees a parent holding her and runs over. He typically does this:

 But he'll also do this.

And Nathan took this amazing video right before we got Bradley ready for bed tonight

If not for Eleanor, the following would have been my blog post for the week. Bradley has been a rock star at his little swim class and continues to amaze both me and Nathan with his complete disregard for personal safety and comfort in his efforts to move move move and explore explore explore!

Climbing out of the pool is actually the one aspect of his class in which he's rather average because he doesn't see why he would want to leave the amazing pool of fun.

A GIANT waterfall? Get me in there, Daddy!

There's also a fountain area. These are five dollar swim classes and they let you come early and stay late at the coolest kid pool around. We love how family friendly this place is.

He's also been getting his molars so he's been a bit fussy lately and has been getting his pacifier a lot more during the daytime. He also gets more cuddle television time that in theory is relaxing.

Starting position

Oh wait, if I could do this on Mommy somehow that would be ideal

Yes yes, this is how I prefer to watch my show

Or perhaps like this. Yep, that's my very pregnant belly in the bottom of the picture.

Bradley has also become quite the help around the house, here is he helping me vacuum.

Three days before Eleanor was born I took Bradley out for gelato on a hot day. One of the wonderful things about Bradley is that there are few questions regarding his wants and desires.

There was even accompanying sound effects as he grunted and yelled and generally worked hard to earn every bite of gelato he got.

Bradley had grown increasingly interested in my big belly over the last few weeks. He would laugh and poke at my belly button if I pulled up my shirt. I thought it was cute when he would try to pull up my shirt to get at my belly button but it got a little less cute when he tried to do it when I was wearing a dress. Didn't see the shirt thing turning into that, we stopped having our special belly bonding time soon after a few woohoo dress moments.

But it was pretty adorable while it lasted.

Bradley is on the path to independence at mealtimes. It's a messy path, but it's a path. Here he is feeding himself a smoothie.

The video is priceless. Nathan and I were cracking up.

And because I can't leave without one last picture of Eleanor ... here is one of her first smile caught on camera! We just melt whenever we look at her. It's hard to believe she's only been in our lives for a few days, we love her so much!